Local author on "Starting Over"

Readers of the Kings County Advertiser may think of Glenn Ells as the mellow agriculturalist who writes the weekly column entitled “On The Farm.”

Members of the Hantsport and Area Historical Society learned he is much more then that when Phyllis Holmes introduced him as guest speaker at their Oct. 24 meeting. Ells is a farmer; a husband to Leta; the father of four children; grandfather to 13; a retired politician; a local historian; an authority on growing squash in Cuba; an author, as well as an interesting, informed and humorous speaker. His novel “Starting Over” was the theme of his presentation.

After being greeted with enthusiastic applause Ells shared a bit of personal background then proceeded to explain about the “Planters,” the settlers upon whom the book is centered.

Back in 1758, they could not cross the Ohio River to reach the fertile Ohio Valley. After reading and advertisement in the Boston papers about settlers being needed to plant the land left by the deported Acadians, they took a chance and relocated. Glenn’s ancestor Joshua Ells, a weaver by trade was among the 8,000 Planters who came to the Cornwallis Township and other townships in Nova Scotia and parts of New Brunswick.

Were farmers in the Valley

Five townships on the South Shore were all occupied by fishermen from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Here in the Valley, however, they were farmers.

Come 1768, things had settled down in the US and people were allowed to cross the Ohio. Thus the influx of planters ended.

Ells said, “by 1770, 10 years after the first settlers arrived, the population of Nova Scotia was 20,000. Three quarters of them New England Planters or their descendents.” Glenn was proud to say “ three Canadian Prime Ministers, Borden, Bennett and Tupper were descendents of that group.”

When he began, the speaker -- who has lived in Kings County for 70 years -- admitted he preferred a ‘question and answer session’ to just talking to the group. Consequently he had opportunity to field various questions, such as, “what made you think you could write?” From the answers it was learned that he had started writing a family history for his children in 2000. “In December of 2004 I had a dream that showed me how I could put together the Acadians and the Planters.” explained Ells.

Wrote the epilogue “I wrote the epilogue then I knew I had a story that fit the epilogue,” Ells noted. He wrote one chapter at a time long hand. His daughter checked it for content then another daughter put it in the computer. “It is a story about real people,” he noted, though the specific Acadians in the book are fictitious. When it was being read to his young grandson, the lad advised his mother: “Tell Grampie there is too much kissing in this book!” chuckled the blushing author.

Ells is proud of the finished product. He claimed it to be “ Step-by-step a local product, self-published on recycled paper.” The book Starting Over took about a year to write. “I didn’t want it to be too long,” he said, and a year and three months to publish. Financially, it has not been a disaster. “I sold enough to recover the printing costs,” he said with a grin. He is justly pleased with the artwork on the cover by local artist Matth Cupido of Canning.

When asked if the dream was really the spirit of his ancestors Ells left it up to the individual to interpret. Is Glenn Ells working on another book? “I haven’t had a dream yet!” he replied with a sly grin.

Eudora Patterson thanked the speaker and echoed the thought of those present when she declared, “It has all been very interesting!”