Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth was born in Malta, New York, in 1837, and grew up in nearby Mechanicsville, in a poor and struggling family which depended on his labor. Although he longed to be a soldier and aspired to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, his family's economic situation forced Ellsworth to leave home at age 17 to seek his fortune. Settling in Chicago, Ellsworth was to hold various jobs as a clerk and later as a patent solicitor in Chicago. He simultaneously became commander of a volunteer militia in Illinois. Following an encounter with a French military officer in 1857, he introduced the French Zouave drill method and became its principal promoter in the United States. Ellsworth's U.S. Zouave Cadets, in colorful uniforms that Ellsworth himself designed, enjoyed some popularity with the public, which led in turn to an eastern tour and a performance for President Buchanan at the White House in 1860.
At some point, Ellsworth was advised by his prospective father in law to seek a career in the law. He subsequently found a position as clerk in Abraham Lincoln's law office. Although his ambitions in the law did not last long, he and Lincoln became fast friends. When Lincoln ran for president, Ellsworth was among his staunch supporters. After the firing on Fort Sumter and the attack on the 6th Massachusetts Regiment in Baltimore in April 1861, Ellsworth made a tour of New York City firehouses, seeking volunteers to form a regiment of Zouaves. The First New York Fire Zouaves (officially known as the 11th New York Infantry, and informally as "Ellsworth's Zouaves") were mustered within ten days and quickly shipped out to Washington to join the Union forces. With his unit assigned to assist in the capture of Northern Virginia, Ellsworth led the assault on Alexandria and was shot by a local innkeeper after removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the inn. He was the first Union hero of the war, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He thus came to occupy a prominent place in Civil War iconography. Numerous poems, pieces of sheet music, and other memorials were composed in his honor, and an entire generation of baby boys, born in the Union states, were named for him.
Bibliography:
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is divided into five series:
Series 1 (Correspondence) is ordered alphabetically by author of the letter, then chronologically. Series 2 (Documents) is ordered chronologically. Series 3 (Miscellaneous manuscripts) is ordered alphabetically by item type. Series 4 (Printed items and prints) is ordered alphabetically by author.
Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth Papers, Ms. Ellsworth, Brown University Library.
The Ellsworth Papers consist of approximately 225 items covering the period 1854-1861. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, but includes some official state documents from Illinois and Wisconsin, a fragment of Ellsworth's journal from 1855, and drafts of various other writings, along with a small selection of memorial objects.
The papers came to Brown from the family of John Hay, and form part of the John Hay Collection. After Ellsworth was killed in May 1861, his grieving parents received many offers to write his biography. However, it was only John Hay's letter that moved Ellsworth's parents to pursue the project. Hay, working with a committee of Ellsworth's friends, collected materials to be used in the biography, which he published in the Atlantic Magazine later that same year. (See John Hay,
Hay met Ellsworth when both men were in Washington as part of Lincoln's staff. Hay's memorial to Ellsworth thus reflects the personal knowledge of a friend and compatriot. Ellsworth, like Hay himself, was a close associate of Lincoln, and in that regard the collection is also substantially related to the McLellan Lincoln Collection at the Brown University Library.
The Ellsworth Papers were the gift of Alice Hay (Mrs. James) Wadsworth in 1954. Additional materials were received from Ambassador John Hay Whitney in 1958.
Brown University Library catalog record for this collection:
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum catalog has 22 entries for Ellsworth materials (letters, sheet music, papers, and publications), 4 of which are listed below:
The Lincoln Institute has prepared an illustrated biography of Ellsworth presented at the following site:
Mathew Brady's National Portrait Gallery, part of the National Portrait Gallery's website, includes a portrait of E.E. Ellsworth:
The Smithsonian Institutes's Civil War website features several pages on Ellsworth:
"Mr. Lincoln's White House," a Gilder-Lehrman Foundation project, has a page on Ellsworth:
The Chicago Historical Society hosts an online project "Wet with blood" on Lincoln's assassination and the memory of the Civil War and its relics (including those related to Ellsworth held at the Libby Prison War Museum):
New York State Library has materials on Ellsworth and his NY Fire Zouaves in their collection of broadsides. See subject and title indices at:
The Ellsworth Papers form part of Brown University's John Hay Collection and are related to the McClellan Lincoln Collection at Brown as well. Many additional related items are held at the John Hay Library and the Rockefeller Library including:
The Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection at the Hay Library has several pieces of sheet music related to Ellsworth's death in battle:
Related portraits and scenes in the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection include:
with enclosure
This item filed with filed with John Hay papers (Ms.Hay).
Subscription of men organized to form company
for letter to E.E. Ellsworth, sent in care of Abraham Lincoln, see Knox, Edward B.
On verso of letter from Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth, 1859 September 20, Chicago, IL
Incomplete
processed copy