Miss Ellen

As I got serious about expanding my family tree, I got very excited about discovering who my ancestors were.  One such discovery was Ellen Dalton, my maternal 3x-great aunt.  It was not until 2009 that I found out about how special she was.

Ellen Dalton was born May 1, 1826 in Cincinnati, Ohio to John Dalton and Elizabeth L. Linke.

Ellen Dalton who was employed by Mary Todd and subsequently Abraham Lincoln’s family upon their marriage.  She served the family in Springfield, Illinois and at the White House.  She accompanied Lincoln's body on the funeral train as it made its way back to Springfield.  Lincoln's son, Robert, released her from employment shortly after the funeral and offered her passage to wherever she wanted to go. She decided to go to Circleville, Ohio, where her brothers who were both Civil War veterans lived. 

Once in Circleville, Ellen Dalton worked as a nurse for Z.R. Martin (a mayor) and Dr. Clark Hunsicker until moving to Somerset, Kentucky in her later years.

She first married John Tibbs.  John was a Methodist clergyman from Kentucky.  They had four children:  Herman, Laura, Benjamin, and David. 

On March 16, 1871 Ellen married William Lyons.  When he passed she moved to Kentucky to live with her son, Herman Tibbs.

Ellen Dalton died January 21, 1919 in Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky .

When Z.R. Martin heard of her death, he paid to have her remains brought back to Circleville and buried in the Martin-Hunsicker family plot.  

Circleville Herald April 22, 1933

Did You Know That '"Aunty Lyons", an old colored native of Circleville, was a nurse in President Lincoln's family when his children were young. She was an aunt of Edward Dalton of this city and later returned here and nursed in the family of Mrs. Clark Hunslicker of W. Union St.  She died in Kentucky at the age of 103 and her remains were brought here and interred in Forest Cemetery.

Both of the Lincoln museums (one in Washington, D.C. and one in Springfield, Illinois) referenced a black nurse named "Miss Ellen", but there was never mention of her full name.  A southern Ohio historian, Warren Gentzel, pursued her identity based on one piece of vital information that lead him to find her a last name (Dalton) and where she was from (Pickaway County Ohio). When the historian Gentzel made the connection, he set out to prove the woman buried in that Circleville cemetery was really the Lincolns'  "Miss Ellen".  

Circleville Herald November 12, 2005 by Darlene Weaver, Herald Staff Writer

‘Miss Ellen’ part of Lincoln householdEllen Dalton was born in Cincinnati on May 1, 1826, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Dalton.  Other siblings in her family were David and Luther.  The photo above was taken by a Cincinnati photographer when “Miss Ellen” was a young lady.
Dalton worked in the homes of others as a housekeeper and nurse.  Family lore says she worked for Martha Todd's family and stayed with her service when she married Abraham Lincoln.  She worked in the Lincoln White House during the Civil War and took care of their son Tad when he was small.  Sources in Washington only remember a black nurse called "Miss Ellen"; no last name could be recalled.  Ellen's brother served in the Civil War.  After her service to the Lincolns, Dalton returned to Circleville where she worked for the families of Z. R. Martin and Dr. Clark Hunsicker of West Union St.  She was first married to John Tibbs and had at least one son, Herman.  She later married William Lyons in Pickaway County on March 16, 1871.  Names of her husbands were used interchangeably; some references referring to her as Ellen Lyons Tibbs and others as Ellen Tibbs Lyons.  Her marriage to John Tibbs may have occurred in Cincinnati.  In her old age, after she was widowed, she moved to Somerset, Ky, and lived with her son, Herman.  It was there that she died, on Jan. 21, 1919, at the age of 92 years eight months and 21 days.  Her death certificate lists her occupation as a retired housewife and widow.  Her cause of death was senility and paralysis of the left side with infirmities of age as the secondary cause.  Her remains were shipped to Circleville and to Forest Cemetery for burial.  Although Forest Cemetery records do not show where she is interred, family accounts are that she was laid to rest on the Martin-Hunsicker lot, directly in front of the monument, across their heads.  There is no marker for her.  Relatives of Mrs. Tibbs still live in Circleville.  Her brother David died at the age of 101 and left sons, Fred and Marshall Dalton.  He is also buried at Forest Cemetery.  Ellen’s brother Luther had a son Edward Dalton.  Edward was the grand-father of Paul Jackson who still owns property on Corwin Street.

It took some time, but Gentzel was successful and on April 16, 2011 there was a new headstone unveiled at her grave during a special ceremony.