Urbin S. Ellsworth, of Vermilionville, Illinois, has for years been a
prominent factor in the affairs of township, county and state, and is too
well known to need introduction here. A work of this character, however,
would be incomplete did it not include some biographical mention of him. The
history of his life, in brief, is as follows:
Urbin S. Ellsworth was
born on his father's farm on section 31, South Ottawa township, LaSalle
county, April 19, 1851, and is a son of the venerable pioneer citizen,
William A. Ellsworth, of this county.
William A. Ellsworth is a
native of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, born January 8, 1818, a son of
Eliphalet Ellsworth, who was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. The
Ellsworths figured among the prominent early settlers of this country. From
the Connecticut branch of the family is our subject descended. One member of
this family, Oliver Ellsworth, was the chief justice under President
Washington, and this chief justice had a son, William Ellsworth, who was at
one time the governor of the state of Connecticut. Eliphalet Ellsworth's
grandfather was an ardent patriot during the American Revolution and fought
the battles for independence along with his son. Eliphalet Ellsworth served
a short time as a soldier in the war of 1812; after that war he settled in
Pennsylvania and was for a number of years engaged in agricultural pursuits.
His last years were passed in LaSalle county, and he is buried in the
Vermilionville cemetery. His son, William A. Ellsworth, before he was of age
came to this county, stopping first on Hopkins' Hill in South Ottawa
township, where Philip Watts now resides. Here he went to work by the month,
and when the canal grant came into market he claimed an eighty-acre tract of
land on section 31, which he still owns. This land he improved, building
thereon the first brick house erected in the county, making the brick
himself. That was in the year 1844. He continued his residence here until
1856, when he removed to Deer Park. In boyhood his opportunities for
obtaining an education were not of the best and he was practically thrown
upon his own resources at the age of twelve years. That he has made a
success of life is due wholly to his own efforts. He has amassed a
competency ample for his family needs. When a young man be joined the
Congregational church, and for more than sixty years has lived consistently
with the tenets of that religious body. December 18, 1845, be married Miss
Lydia, a daughter of John Clark, who came into LaSalle county from
Holderness, New Hampshire, she being a native of the village of Campton,
that state. Mr. Clark was a Scotch-Irishman, who removed with his family to
Illinois and settled in LaSalle county in 1839, the year succeeding the
advent of Mr. Ellsworth. To Mr. and Mrs. John Clark the following named
children were born: John, a resident of Henry county, Illinois; Charles, who
died in Missouri, leaving a family there; Moody, deceased; Sarah, deceased,
was the wife of John Elliott, and Lydia. The children of William A.
Ellsworth are: Ada L., the wife of Ransom Bullock, of Tonica, Illinois;
Urbin S.; Orin W., a druggist of Keokuk, Iowa; and Sarah, wife of James D.
Selah, of Ewing, Nebraska.
Urbin S. Ellsworth remained a member of
his father's household until his twenty-fifth year. He attended Jennings
Seminary at Aurora, where he graduated in the classical course at the age of
twenty-three, and afterward for a few years taught school in winter and
farmed during the summer months. He has been identified with the farming
interests of Deer Park and South Ottawa townships for more than a quarter of
a century. Early be became recognized as one of the reliable men of the
township and during his residence here has been connected with every
movement having its welfare in view. His safe and conservative views upon
public affairs brought him into notice and his services in various official
capacities were required. He is a Republican. In his early political
experience he filled the offices of township assessor and clerk. In 1875 he
was elected a trustee of the schools of the township, and is still serving
as such, now rounding out twenty-five years of service in this office. He
was elected the supervisor of the township in 1888, and filled the office
five years. He was on the committees on equalization, roads and bridges, to
settle with the circuit clerk, and on fees and salaries. As the chairman of
the committee on drainage and waterways he h.ad much to do with shaping
legislation connected with the Chicago drainage channel and always fought
strenuously for the rights of the people of the Illinois valley. At this
time Mr. Ellsworth was also a member of the committees on contingent
expenses of the house, education, corporations, agriculture, fish and game
laws and military affairs. In the fall of 1890 he was elected a minority
member of the state legislature and succeeded himself as such in 1892, being
the only Republican elected in the county that year. In the fall of 1894 he
was elected a majority candidate by a majority of two thousand and five
hundred votes. During the session referred to he was the chairman of the
drainage and waterways committee. He had in mind a measure for the
improvement of the condition of the insane of the state, during his whole
service, out of which the sentiment for the establishment of the Hospital
for the Insane was developed. The Hospital for the Incurable Insane was also
established as a result of the movement thus put under way. 'Mr. Ellsworth
also worked for the revision of the revenue laws of the state, and for the
adoption of the Australian ballot law. He was in the fight of the joint
session which elected General John M. Palmer to the United States senate and
helped disrupt the F. M. B. A. organization by supporting their state
president for senator, which the F. M. B. A. members would not do. In the
spring of 1899 Mr. Ellsworth was again elected to be the supervisor of his
town and is serving on the committees on asylum, rules and settlement with
the county treasurer.
Mr. Ellsworth was married December 18, 1876,
to Victoria B. Gibbs. Mrs. Ellsworth's father, William T. Gibbs, was born in
Chittenango, New York. He was superintendent of a reformatory at Lenox,
Massachusetts, in his early life, and in 1855 moved to Aurora. Illinois,
where he was for a time engaged in the milk business. In 1862 he enlisted in
the Union army as a member of Company H, Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry, and was
made the captain of his company. He served through the war as a gallant
soldier, and at its close entered the service of the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad Company, in their shops at Aurora, where he remained until
his retirement from active life in 1877. He died July 5, 1899, at the age of
eighty-four years. His wife, before marriage Miss Harriet Dickerson, was
born in Ulysses, New York, and their only child is Mrs. Ellsworth. Mr. and
Mrs. Ellsworth's children are: William B., born October 21, 1877; Ada A.,
September 9, 1883; and Dorothy R., May 31, 1890. Their son was educated in
the State University of Illinois.
Mr. Ellsworth has held the
position of consul in the camp of the M. W. A. in his township for the past
four years.
Extracted 13 Jun 2019 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 656-658.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
