The White Lilly

lived on small, about 140 acre, farms. Ellis’s parents moved to Red Springs when work was offered there. So they separated from their Union County roots.

Ellis at first when he moved to Charlotte went though six or eight menial jobs. He got by living in a cheap run down boarding house. Seeing an advertisement in the Charlotte Observer newspaper kept in the parlor at the house for guests to read, Ellis found a job as a city policeman. He got about six months of classroom training and more out on the job. Ellis did traffic patrol, security at a bank, a walking beat in a department store neighborhood and then a nice long spell working on a homicide squad. Somehow this last stint made him quit the force after seven years time. He became a private detective by applying for, paying, and getting a license. He lived first at South Dotger Street in a small rental house. Later in North Charlotte he had a mill house on Linden Lane near the railroad tracks. Finally Ellis moved into an apartment above a small neighborhood grocery store on West Bland Street near Lances Crackers. One of his aunts had worked at Lances in the late teens and into the 1920s. Ellis ran a liquor store on corner near his apartment on West Bland Street. This was near to South Graham Street, South Mint Street, South Tryon Street, and South Boulevard. To get about town, for a while, he used the Red Trolley. Eventually Ellis bought a used black four door Buick sedan. It ran and rode good and did not burn much oil. There was a raccoon tail tied at the top of the radio aerial from the previous owner. Ellis let that be for good luck. Many farm people had moved into Charlotte early in the depression time when economic factors became hard. Earning a living on a farm had become difficult. Charlotte had jobs and living places to offer. Ellis ran the liquor store most of the week, closed on Sundays. He picked up odd detective jobs here and there when people or policemen contacted him. This was on and off part time work for him.