FRANK ELMER ELLIS (1861-1937)

I recently wrote about the Clemens collection. formed in St. Louis before there was any coin dealer in town. I wonder who was the first coin dealer in town. It may have been Frank Elmer Ellis.

Frank was born in Pennsylvania on September 5, 1861, the son of John Ellis and Henrietta Corley.

Ellis was a stamp dealer working out of his home at 817 Sixth Avenue in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He advertised as a coin dealer in the February 1897 issue of The Philatelic West. He eventually established a full-page ad inside the front cover of The Philatelic West.

He opened the St, Louis Stamp and Coin Co. in 1897 at 1240 Franklin Avenue in St. Louis. The following year he moved to 312 North 4th Street. He then moved to 1003 Pine Street in 1901.

Frank was married in St. Louis to Anna Magdalena Seim (1877-1939) on November 28, 1901. They had a daughter, Ruth Magdalena Ellis (1902-1975).

Ellis began mail bid auction sales in 1902 with St. Louis Stamp & Coin Co. from his address at 1003 Pine Street. Their sixteenth sale was their first public auction sale held on April 13-14 1906. He then returned to mail bid sales.

He ran advertisements to buy guns, swords and pistols. He also advertised frequently in German language newspapers.

In 1904, he hired Burdette Johnson to work as an assistant at his store, then located at 115 North 11th Street. In July of 1907, he sold the company to Burdette G. Johnson and his cousin, David A. Sutherland for $6500.

After sale of the coin company, he moved to 30 Elm Place in Webster Grove, Missouri. and worked as an antique dealer.

The date of death for Ellis is listed as February 1, 1937. His obituary describes his cause of death.

He was buried at Saint Paul Churchyard in Affton, Missouri. His wife outlived him by 26 months and is buried in the same cemetery.

Burdette Johnson was the successor to Ellis as owner of the St. Louis Stamp & Coin Co. He took a small local operation and built it into one of the most important national dealerships. He is also noted for his mentorship of young collector Eric Newman.

Johnson was born in Desoto, Missouri, on January 2. 1885. He was the son of William Johnson (1849-1931) and Lou Ella Conway (1859-1914). The family moved to St. Louis when Burdette was 12.

He was self-educated and did not complete the ninth grade. After learning to read, Burdette claimed to read a book every day. His numismatic memory was as good as any encyclopedia.

He worked as a cashier for Prudential before 1902.

Johnson was admitted to ANA membership in February 1903 as member 473 from his address at 1814 Oregon Avenue in St Louis.

Johnson and Sutherland bought the St. Louis Stamp and Coin Company from F. E. Ellis on July 7, 1907, for $6500. Johnson managed the store for a weekly salary of $25. He then bought out Sutherland on September 21, 1908, for $2750. He continued to run mail bid sales and auctions until 1915. In 1912, Johnson sailed to Europe on a buying trip. He would make another twenty trips to Europe to acquire inventory he could resell at a profit.

Johnson was a suitor for Stella Hall (1894-1950) and he proposed marriage in 1910. She married Charles Henry Cowan, III (1890-1969). and they had a child, Mary, in 1912, On a visit, Johnson saw that Mary was living in poor conditions with parents who had substance abuse problems.

Johnson arranged with the parents to take Mary to St. Louis and to raise her there. Although she was not adopted, he treated her as a daughter and supported her until her marriage to Winston Vance Cruzon (1912-1993) in 1939.

In 1932, Johnson was hired for the laborious process of appraising the estate of Virgil Brand as it was divided between two disagreeable brothers. Johnson handled sale of some items from the Brand estate.

In 1940, Eric Newman was able to acquire a small group of banknotes from the estate of Colonel E. H. R. Green. Newman and Johnson then formed a partnership. Johnson would provide the funds and Newman would arrange for the purchases. Then each would select coins from the group and the remainders would be sold with the profits shared equally.

In 1941, Newman arranged to buy the set of five 1913 Liberty nickels from the Green estate for $3000. They bought an additional group of three 1913 Buffalo Nickels for $1000.

Johnson never married. He died on a street car on the way to his office in St. Louis on February 24, 1947. His funeral was held at his residence at 712 Audubon Drive in Clayton, Missouri. He is buried at Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis.

Eric Newman and another attorney were co-executors of the estate. The estate was valued at $212,700 to be shared equally by his unadopted daughter, Mrs. Mary Cowen Cruzan (1912- 1996) and a cousin, Mrs. Mary Hedgecock Sheffield. The heirs did not want Johnson's library and gave it to Newman for a small amount.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE CLEMENS FAMILY (https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n22a15.html)

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