Left: James "J. E." Edward Ellington, and Right: Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington, the parents of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington.

 Left: James "J. E." Edward Ellington, and Right: Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington, the parents of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington.


Both of Duke Ellington's  parents were pianists. Daisy primarily played parlor songs, and James preferred operatic arias. They lived with Daisy's parents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place) NW, in D.C.'s West End neighborhood.

 


Duke's father James was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on April 15, 1879, and moved to D.C. in 1886 with his parents. 


Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1879, the daughter of two formerly enslaved parents.


The couple had three children, Baby Boy Ellington 1898–1898; Duke Ellington

1899–1974; Ruth Dorothea Ellington Boatwright 1915–2004.

.


James "J. E." Edward Ellington

Born 15 Apr 1879 in Lincolnton, North Carolina.


Son of James Ellington and Emma (Unknown) Ellington


Brother of Jerry Ellington, Mary A Ellington, Joe Ella (Ellington) Rudisill, Columbus Ellington, Carrie Ellington, William Ellington, Laura Ellington, John Ellington, Bettie Ellington, Louise Ellington and George Ellington


Husband of Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington — married 3 Jan 1898 in Washington D.C.


Father of Edward Kennedy Ellington and Ruth Dorothea Ellington


Died 28 Oct 1937 at age 58 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.

.


James Edward Ellington was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on April 15, 1879, and moved with his parents, James Ellington 1838–1921 and Emma Ellington

1842–1904  to Washington D.C. in 1886. 


They were among thousands of Blacks who had moved north, away from the rural and semi rural towns of the South, between the Civil War and World War I.


At an early age, James played the piano by ear and could sing excerpts from several operas and operettas during family gatherings at home.


James Edward Ellington, in addition to his work as a butler, driver, caretaker and handyman for a prominent Washington, D.C. doctor, worked as a part-time butler at the White House on several occasions during the Warren G. Harding administration in the early 1920s. He also  made blueprints for the United States Navy.


Sources: Biography.com, Duke Ellington and His World: A Biography By A. H. LAWRENCE(New York: Routledge, 2001)

.


Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington  was born on April 29, 1899, to James Edward Ellington and Daisy (nรฉe Kennedy) Ellington in Washington, D.C. Both his parents were pianists. 


Daisy primarily played parlor songs, and James preferred operatic arias.[7] They lived with Daisy's parents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place) NW, in D.C.'s West End neighborhood.[8] 


Duke's father was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on April 15, 1879, and moved to D.C. in 1886 with his parents.[9] Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1879, the daughter of two former American slaves.[8][10] James Ellington made blueprints for the United States Navy.


note: 

8 Lawrence 2001, p. 1.

10  Hasse 1995, p. 21.


James Edward Ellington's father, James Ellington was enslaved in South Carolina. 


Read more here about James Ellington.

According to Rudolph Young:


"James Ellington was sent to work at the Stonewall furnace. Slaves were sent from the South Carolina coastal areas out of the reach of the union army which had occupied parts of South Carolina early in the war. 


Stonewall furnace was built by James Madison Smith in1863 and named for Stonewall Jackson. Smith sent the wages to the slave owners in South Carolina. 


After the war, James Ellington remained in Lincoln County, NC.

 He moved his family up from SC. He was a farmer. He probably would have remained in Lincoln County had his daughter not married Daniel Rudisell and moved to Washington, DC. 


The Ellington family followed the Rudisell family who followed the Hoke family. 

John Ellington, James' son, married Hannah McDaniel. 


After John worked as a schoolteacher in Lincoln County, he too moved to Washington, DC. There is a branch of the Ellington family living in the county today. James Ellington, the son of James and Emma Ellington is the father of Duke Ellington. 


The other Lincoln County families who married into the Ellington family are Beam and Schenck."


Source: Young, Rudolph, "The Catawba Valley and Other Places. An African American Journey into the Antebellum Past," n.d."

.

.


James Ellington's mother, Emma was born in South Carolina around 1842-1843 (March 1842 according to the 1900 census). Her last name may have been Innis or Agois. Her last name is listed as Walker in her son, James', death record.


Around 1857 she married James Ellington, for about 1858 their first child Jerry was born there.


By 1870, they were living in Ironton, Lincoln, North Carolina, and between 1879 and 1900 they moved to Washington, DC.


Mother of 12 children born between 1858 and 1879, the last of which was James, father of Edward “Duke” Ellington.

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