Sixty years ago this week, the Ellis family had a special guest over for Thanksgiving dinner.
Former President Dwight Eisenhower, along with his wife, Mamie; son and daughter-in-law, Col. and Mrs. John Eisenhower; and their children, David, Anne, Susan, and Mary Jane, came to Marblehead for a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Attorney Raymond Ellis on Bradlee Road. Ellis told The Daily Evening Item his son, Melvin, and Eisenhower’s grandson, David, were friends and classmates at Phillips Exeter Academy.
Eisenhower and his family drove into town from Exeter, N.H., and spent the entire day, apparently “unknown to newsmen and residents,” as a guest at the Ellis residence. Three other boys from the academy spent Thanksgiving Day in town as well.
Despite the notable attendee, Ellis said the holiday was “just a quiet family day.”
“We played touch football and Ike referred,” Ellis said.
Ellis said he, John Eisenhower, and the younger children challenged the Exeter boys and won.
Dwight Eisenhower arrived in town slightly before 11 a.m. on Nov. 29, 1963, and returned to Exeter at 7 p.m. The family reportedly stayed in a motor inn in Hampton, N.H. and “declined all comment to newsmen.”