Ely, George

ELY, JOHNSON

Posted By: Laura Schnabel (email)
Date: 2/6/2007 at 11:48:12

Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Webster and Hamilton Counties, Iowa

The Lewis Publishing Company, 113 Adams Street, Chicago. 1888

Page 368-371

George Ely, section 24, Fremont Township, is one of well-known farmers of Hamilton County, where he has lived since 1865. He was born in Wayne County, New York, in 1839, a son of Henry H. and Nancy (Caruthers) Ely, natives of New Jersey.

In 1843 the family moved to Hillsdale County, Michigan, and three years later to Stark County, Illinois, where they lived at breaking out of the war of the Rebellion. In August, 1862, our subject enlisted at Lincoln's call for 300,000 men, and was assigned to Company F, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Infantry. He was taken sick, and after being in the hospital some time was sent to Jefferson, Indiana, and transferred to the invalid corps, and the rest of his time was engaged in guarding the arsenal. He was discharged in July, 1865, and returned to his home in Stark County.

The following October he came to Hamilton County, making the journey with a team. He had but $103 in money, and with this he bought sixty acres of land in Wright County, which he afterward traded for eighty acres in Fremont Township. In 1883 he bought his present homestead of W.S. Worthington and L. McMurray, and the George Ely farm is now one of the best in the township. His farm is located one-half mile west of the Boone River, and the soil is rich loam and well adapted to either grain or stock-raising. His residence is located on a natural building site and is surrounded by trees and shubbery. His barn is a substantial, convenient building, 40x56 feet in size, and a modern windmill supplies an abundance of water for his stock, conveying by pipes to his different yards. Everything about the Ely farm is indicative of the thrift and enterprise of the owner. From his humble beginning in this State he has come to be one of the substantial men of Hamilton County, and while in the spring of 1866, after struggling through a hard winter, he was obliged to sell $20 worth of clothing to buy provisions for his family, in 1883 he was able to buy 320 acers of land and pay $30 an acre for it. Thus may be seen the result of a few years of honest toil added to economy and good management.

Mr. Ely was married May 9, 1860, to Carrie Johnson, a native of Sweden, born April 11, 1841, a daughter of Olaf and Julia (Jensen) Johnson, who came to America when she was twelve years old, and settled in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Ely have eight children-George Ellison, Gertrude Estella, John, Anna May, Carrie Atta, Charles Henry, Warren and Laura. They have lost two children-Frankie and Lettie.

In politics Mr. Ely is a Republican. He is one of the successful men of the township, and is numbered among its representative citizens.