At the time, it was unorganized land of Brown County outside the frontier town of Green Bay, which was then part of the Michigan Territory.
[3] Ellis helped raise a company of volunteers known as the Green Bay Guards for service in the American Civil War.
[4] After serving six years as chairman of the Brown County Board of Supervisors, Ellis was mayor of Green Bay in 1876.
Ellis attempted to repair the debt by selling off his own possessions, and cashing in a $2,000 insurance policy, but his friends in the community offered to assist in covering the balance.
Frederick's brother, Eleazor H. Ellis, was the 6th Mayor of Green Bay, and in the 1870s became a Wisconsin circuit court judge.