Bertram Ellis (1860 - 1920)
Born at Boston (MA); died at Keene (NH).
Lawyer, newspaper editor, state politician.
Portrait by Walter Gilman Page, 1901.

Ellis (1860 - 1920) was born at Boston (MA), but grew up at Keene (NH). After education at Keene schools Ellis received his undergraduate degree at Harvard College (1884) and his law degree at Harvard Law School (1887). Then he moved to New York City, passed the bar exam (1888), and joined the prestigious New York City law firm of Evarts, Choate & Beaman.

Ellis stayed only a short time in New York City. He had health problems, and he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he practiced law until 1890. But then his father suffered what became his final illness, and Ellis moved back to Keene to be with his father.

At Keene Ellis did not practice law. Instead he joined the New Hampshire Sentinel as a reporter. Soon he bought an interest in the newspaper, and when Editor Thomas C. Rand retired Ellis succeeded Rand as political editor (served 1893 - 1917).

During 1895 - 1896 Ellis served on the staff of Governor Busiel, who was waging a great effort to keep the Boston & Maine Railroad from controlling all of New Hampshire's rail traffic. Busiel had the support of an aroused public and his effort was successful; the Sentinel supported Busiel. Ellis was elected a State Representative(1897), and he served two terms as Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations. He served two terms in the State Senate (1899, 1901), and in 1901 was President of the Senate. In 1904 Ellis was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated Teddy Roosevelt as President, and as a Roosevelt Republican Ellis served again in the legislature (1905, 1907). He remained active in Keene and state affairs until his death.

References: Hobart Pillsbury, New Hampshire: A History (1928), vol. IV, pp. 107-108.