James O. Ellsworth.—The subject of this review, who is a prominent farmer and stock raiser in Jewell county, an honest, honorable and progressive citizen, patriotic in his motives and straightforward in his methods, was born in Sinclair township, Jewell county, Kansas, June 29, 1871, the son of Albert W. and Mary Dudley Ellsworth. His father was a native of Vermont and his mother of Ohio, but on the paternal side Mr. Ellsworth traces his lineage back through Revolutionary ancestry to France. The first American ancestors of the Ellsworth family came to this country with Lafayette, when he came from France with aid for the thirteen colonies, at a time when the American cause was in sore need of assistance. Albert W. Ellsworth was a cabinet maker by trade. In 1870 he came to the Sunflower State, taking land in Jewell county, where James was born. Kansas was the frontier in the early '70s and the Ellsworth homestead was never quite safe from Indian depredations and raids. Albert Ellsworth took an active part in the defense of his home against the Indians in the fight at White Rock Creek; he was one of the first officers of the county and continued to take an interested and active part in public life until his death in October, 1885. James Ellsworth began his education in the public schools of Jewell county, subsequently graduating from the Formoso High School. For one year he took higher academic training at the Salina Normal School to prepare himself for a teacher, which vocation he followed eleven years, during two of which he acted as principal of the Lovewell schools. An open outdoor life had always appealed to Mr. Ellsworth, and having been reared on a farm he turned to agricultural pursuits. Starting with an eighty-acre farm, by good management, thrift and economy, he has added to the original home until he now owns 240 acres of the finest farming land in Jewell county. From the beginning Mr. Ellsworth specialized in thoroughbred stock, making a specialty of Duroc hogs and Short Horn cattle. In addition to raising stock he has traded in cattle and hogs, but has gained such a wide reputation for the standard of his live stock that he disposes of all at private sale. Mr. Ellsworth is a member of the Duroc Association, holding stock in that concern, as well as in the First National Bank of Formoso and the telephone company, of which he was the first secretary. For years he has been active in all township affairs, having held the offices of clerk and treasurer. Having been progressive in ideas and methods, working for the benefit of the community, Mr. Ellsworth has gained many friends, and at the present time is a candidate for county commissioner on the Democratic ticket, at the earnest solicitations of his many friends and supporters, who persuaded him to make the race. He is a popular member of the following fraternal organizations: The Masonic order, Modern Woodmen of America, Eastern Star, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

On March 8, 1896, Mr. Ellsworth was united in marriage with Rosa A., the daughter of Edgar E. and Eleanor Walker. They were natives of Wisconsin, who came to Kansas in 1871, locating in Grant township, where Mrs. Ellsworth was born, December 2, 1877. Her father, like so many of the early settlers, engaged in farming and stock raising, so that she grew up on the farm, attending the public schools, and later graduating from the high school at Narka, Republic county. The fathers of both Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth enlisted in the army at the call for volunteers at the opening of the Civil war. Mr. Ellsworth enlisted at Chicago under Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who was his cousin, and served during the entire war. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth—Nita G., Vernon, Ruth A., Clair E., J. Orville, Marion, Josephine O., Milford D. and Francis D. Nita is attending the high school, but with the exception of Milford and Francis, all the other children are attending the same school their father did when a boy. All the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.