At one time there were 18 Ellises in Mancos Valley. Now there are just Rovilla and me. The Deans suffered the same fate except that there are no Deans in the valley any more.
Henry Royal Dean was born in Oahu, Hawaii, in May 1879 while his parents were serving a mission for the LDS Church there. When he was 18 months old, the family returned to Salt Lake City where he lived until 1898 when the family came to Mancos. He married Deloras Bruun in July 1904. Henry found employment with sawmills in the area and served as custodian and instructor for carpentering and woodworking for many years. He was active in civic affairs, serving two terms as mayor and 12 years on the town board.
Deloras came to Mancos with her family in 1886. Her her father operated a dairy. She worked for four years at the old Lemmon Hotel. It was hot there in summers and cold in the winters. The Lemmon Hotel was located at the south end of Main Street.
Henry and Deloras operated the Mancos Hotel for 20 years. Harry Ausburn constructed the Mancos Hotel in 1894. The hotel and restaurant was a family affair. The children were Coralie, Emma, Catherine, Vivian, Adrian, Robert, and Roy. The youngest son, Franklin, had been a Mancos police officer for less than a week when he attempted to place Jim Stevens age 72 in jail. During a fracas Stevens was somehow able to get Franklin's gun and shot him. Franklin died that, night Oct. 9, 1939 at the age 26. He had a wife and two children.
Henry died in May 1948. Deloras lived until the age of 90 and passed away in April 1973.
I knew the Deans' son Robert as Bobby Dean. He and his family lived west of the Methodist Church for a number of years. Bobby also served as the Mormon bishop for five years.
Francis Joseph Busch was born in Utah in September 1870. His parents were immigrants from Westphalia, Prussia. He married Mary Mae John, whose parents had come from Wales. Both families were musicians and Francis directed a well-known choir at the LDS Church for over 30 years. Their children were Oscar, Owen, Vera, Gene, Faye, Zora, Mary and Bonnie. They also had Myrna, who lived for only two years. Owen was the choir director at the LDs Church for a number of years. His son Francis was in the grade just below me in the Mancos schools. Gene married Almira Busch and they had two sons and a daughter. Gene was 81 when he passed away in February 1991.
Lee Reddert married Ruth Neeley in August 1929. They had two daughters, Rhonda and Guyla. Guyla was in my grade and passed away a few years ago. Lee was Master of the Masonic Lodge three different times. He passed away in September 1949 when a raft turned over while he was fishing on Joe Moore Reservoir. He was 43 years old.
Darrel Ellis is a long-time historian of the Mancos Valley. Email him at dnrls@q.com.