Ellis County was created on December 20, 1849, from Navarro County and organized on August 5, 1850. It was named in honor of Richard Ellis, 1781-1846, a Virginian by birth and education, a jurist and statesman of Alabama from 1813-1825, who moved to Texas in 1825 and served as president of the Constitutional Convention in March 1836 and as a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. Waxahachie is the county seat.