Sources & Information:
This particular family branch does not give or provide satisfactory records. Manoah along with his brothers Freeman, Matthias and Mordecai were among the Sandwich Freeman who took the oath of Fidelity in Sandwich in 1681. He moved to the Harwich area before 1692. Children all born in Sandwich.

Any genealogical credibility must include adequate research of all available records and documents. Just because a record is old does not make it a perfect documentary, of the facts, since it still depends upon the credibility of the original source material. Then again one is always looking for the older unknown records that may be stored away in some ones attic or Public Library or Government record storage. The long forgotten data.

There is a publication "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs", relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, by William Richard Cutter, A.M., published in 1908, Volume IV, page 1829 and the family of Lt. John Ellis, of Sandwich, Massachusetts. The author does not even mention or include the names of Manoah Ellis or Mary Burgess as a part of or member of Lt. John Ellis's family.

In the Bronson and McLean study that ran in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, beginning in July, 1965 issue, Manoah 2 Ellis, b. about 1659, slips in as the 4th child of Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis. They say on page 267 he married about 1679 Mary _____. Also that it has been claimed that she was Mary 3 Burges, daughter of John 2 and Mary 1 (Worden) Burgess of Sandwich, who is said to have married an Ellis. They further say that perhaps some reader can produce evidence to support the hypothesis that Manoah Ellis's wife was this Mary Burges. Also that they found neither probate or gravestone records of either Manoah or his wife. They further say that the records are scarce and unsatisfactory for this branch of the family and we have had to base a number of relationships on circumstantial evidence.

In "The Family of Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich, Massachusetts", compiled by Colonel Harry H. Ellis, USA, Ret'd., on page 10 he shows Manoah 2 Ellis as the 9th child of Lt. John 1 Ellis and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis. On page 11 is shown the family of Manoah 2 Ellis indicating he married about 1679, Mary _____. Last name not known.

He also indicates the records are scarce and unsatisfactory for this branch of the family. Among the listed children of Manoah 2 Ellis is Elnathan 3 Ellis, b. about 1686 from which Col. Harry H. Ellis is descended. On page 15 is listed the family of Elnathan 3 Ellis. He further indicates that Elnathan married Mary Burgess, dau. of John and Sarah (Nickerson) Burgess, on 2 March 1715/16.

Bronson and McLean report on page 262 October 1965 issue of NEHG Register that Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis's son Lt. Matthias 2 Ellis married about 1678/9 Mercy 2 Nye, born 4 April 1652, died after 13 November 1744 and before 7 November 1749, daughter of Benjamin and Katherine (Tupper) Nye.

Col. Harry H. Ellis on page 10 states that Lt. Matthias 2 Ellis, born on 2 June 1657 married Mary Burgess, daughter of John and Mary (Warden) Burgess, NOT Mercy Nye, as noted in the Bronson and McLean report.

In "The Ellis and Stowe Genealogies" and the "Ellis Genealogy" by Capt. Caleb H. Ellis, received from R. P. Adams, August 1964, at the Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it does not list Manoah 2 Ellis among the children of Lt. John 1 Ellis and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis. They do list a Manoah Ellis as added to the list of townsmen in 1681 which is their only reference to Manoah Ellis. They do refer to Matthias Ellis, son of John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis, born 2 June 1657, married about 1678, Mary Burgess, daughter of John and Mary (Worden) Burgess, died 21 August 1748.

There is also a LDS Archive Record sheet submitted by Mrs Henry V. Larsen, Salt Lake City, Utah, showing the family of John 1 Ellis and Elizabeth Freeman with 13 children. No 8 is Manoah Ellis, born about 1660, Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts. This sheet also lists No. 6 as Matthias Ellis, born 2 June 1657, Sandwich, Barnstable, Mass., died 21 August 1748 and married to Mary Burgess.

The items of note that cause me to lean in the direction of Lt. Matthias 2 Ellis's wife being Mercy Nye, daughter of Benjamin 1 and Katherine (Tupper) Nye, is Lt. Matthias's will, dated 13 November 1744 in the town of Sandwich, Massachusetts. In the NEHG Register, October, 1965, page 263 and 264 is twice mentioned the wife of Lt. Matthias as Mercy. In this instance I must still go along with the Bronson and McLean study that Mercy is indeed the wife of Matthias until others can come up with a better credible record.

Note from Chuck Spence, < espence@@stny.rr.com >, dated 16 March 2000, Manoah died 30 August 1748 in ECN Summer 1995, pg. 50. Death @@ age 96 years. CORRECTION - Manoah's death date is unknown. -- We had referenced his ECN query regarding the source of an erroneous date which was published in a 1993 Burgess genealogy.

Other References:
Genealogical Register July, 1965, page 172-173 and October, 1965, page 267-268 Harwich, Mass. Record Page 50.
LDS Family Group Records, Vol. 157, page 1680.
LDS Family Group Records, Vol. 158, page 1680.
A brief genealogical and biographical records of Charles Roscoe Howland, brothers and forebears.
The Family of Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich, Massachusetts, compiled by Colonel Harry H. Ellis, U.S. Army, Retired (deceased), Dallas, Texas.
History of Harwich, 1629-1680, by Josiah Paine, page 109.