Last updated: September 28, 2026
Person
Ellers, Charles John Henry
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Significance:
US Navy, Spanish American War
Place of Birth:
New York
Date of Birth:
November 9th, 1872
Place of Death:
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Date of Death:
July 19th, 1951
Place of Burial:
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Cemetery Name:
Stones River National Cemetery
Charles John Henry Ellers was born on November 9, 1872, in New York. His parents were German immigrants who had settled there to raise their family. At the age of 25, Charles was working as a salesman in Brooklyn, New York. Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish American War, Charles enlisted in the United States Navy to serve a one-year term on June 10th, 1898. His enlistment record described him as standing at 5’ 7” tall with a ruddy complexion, light brown hair, and brown eyes.
Ellers served as an ordinary seaman and cook on the USS New Hampshire, a ship originally designed in 1819 as a 74-gun sailing ship of the line. She was launched in 1863 and served as a storeship and depot ship for the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Following the Civil War, the USS New Hampshire served as a training vessel.
Charles’s service ended on September 27, 1898, when he was honorably discharged due to the end of the Spanish American War.
Shortly after his service in the Spanish American War concluded, Charles married Anna M. Ellers. The two took up residence in Durham, Greene County, New York where they lived through 1930.
According to the 1950 US Census, Charles Ellers had moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee where he resided in the Veterans Administration Hospital to receive care. The census was taken just one year before his death on July 19, 1951, dying at the age of 79.
Charles John Henry Ellers was laid to rest in the Stones River National Cemetery in plot P-6245.