Sacramento County
Biographies
REV. WILLIAM F. ELLIS
The pastor of the Church of the Immaculate
Conception in Sacramento ranks among the rising young clergymen of the
Sacramento diocese, whither he came by appointment immediately after he had
been ordained to the holy priesthood in Rome. The family of which he is a
member is noted for the scholarly attainments of its male representatives and
for their devotion to the cause of the church. Out of a family of seven
there are five now living, all of whom are men of conspicuous mental
endowments, and extraordinary intellectual attainments. The eldest, Rev.
J. H. Ellis, is pastor of the church at Jackson, Amador county,
this state. The third, T. H., is now a student in the Propaganda
University in Rome, Italy. The fourth, Vincent C., is a student in the
Catholic University at Dublin, Ireland. The youngest, James P., is a
civil engineer of superior qualifications. The father, James Ellis, is
himself a man of education and ability. During young manhood he had
married Miss Anne Clyne, who died in Ireland in June
of 1911, and who was a member of a distinguished Catholic family, one of her
brothers, Father P. J. Clyne, who died in Grass
Valley, Cal., having been long and successfully connected with the Sacramento
diocese.
The county of Westmeath, at no great
distance from the city of Dublin, Ireland, is
the native home of Father Ellis, and July 24, 1881, the date of his
birth. In young manhood he was sent to the national schools.
Religious training, begun with his first instruction by his parents, was
continued after the age of eleven years in the Christian Brothers college at Mullinger, where he
completed the regular course of study, graduating in 1897. Immediately
afterward he entered All Hallows' college in Dublin, where he took a course in
philosophy. The four years of study in that institution were most helpful
and profitable. With his graduation in 1901 he turned his steps towards
Rome, where he studied theology at the Irish college and the Propaganda university and in 1904 was graduated with high
honors. May 28 of the same year he was ordained to the Roman
Catholic priesthood in the St. John Lateran Cathedral at Rome. Under
an appointment to the Sacramento diocese he came to California, where he became
assistant to Father L. Kennedy in St. Bernard's church
at Eureka. From there he was transferred to Sacramento during December of
1909 as pastor of the parish of the Immaculate Conception. The first
services he held in a temporary edifice, which soon was enlarged. At this
writing plans are in readiness for a Romanesque structure of brick, to have a
capacity of seven hundred persons. The parish property consists of
one-half block, bought in 1909, and bounded by Orange, Sacramento,
Thirty-second and Thirty-third streets. On the corner of Thirty-second street and Sacramento avenue he has erected an
attractive parochial residence. Soon a parochial school will be added to
the group of buildings, and these, upon the completion of the edifice, will
give ample facilities for the training of children and the religious needs of
the five hundred families comprising the parish. On the parish there are
various organizations for the upbuilding of the
church, including the Altar and Sanctuary societies, Children of Mary and the
Holy Name society, all of which are proving most helpful as an aid to the
pastor in his many responsibilities.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 752-753. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.