Our earliest known Ell ancestor is Johann Jacob Ell born about 1660 in the Tyrol region. There is some ambiguity as to whether our next in line ancestor, his son Johann Jacob, was born in Tyrol or in the village of Hilpertsau, Baden, Germany.
Sometime in the early seventeen hundredths, the son Johann Jacob Ell moved from Hilpertsau to the village of Durmersheim, Baden, Germany. The extended Ell family remained in Durmersheim until 1819 when our ancestor Joseph Ell immigrated to Russia. While living in Durmersheim, the extended Ell family was primarily engaged in operating inns and working as tailors. Durmersheim civil records show that our ancestor Joseph was a tailor.
When Joseph Ell immigrated to Russia, he initially settled in the Beresan Enclave village of Rastadt where his brother Jacob had previously settled. However, Joseph did not remain in Rastadt very long, as civil records from Odessa show that shortly thereafter Joseph and his family were living in the Kutschurgan Enclave village of Baden.
My next in line Ell ancestor, Johannes Friedrich, moved to the village of Selz before 1821 where he lived until his death in 1872. The meaning of the name Ell can be traced to a tailor’s or cloth merchant’s measure of length.