Bio of WARNER, Ellsworth C. (b.1864), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical

Vol III, pg 371-372
ELLSWORTH C. WARNER
Each individual ascends the ladder of fortune to that height which his own merit
and ability enable him to reach. The career of Ellsworth C. Warner, president of
the Midland Linseed Products Company of Minneapolis, presents a striking
illus­tration of this fact, for he began life as a country school teacher and
has steadily progressed through the force of his personality and the strength of
his mental endow­ments until he is now at the head of a gigantic industry and is
also prominently identified with other business interests of great magnitude,
all of which profit by his keen sagacity and enterprising spirit.
Ellsworth C. Warner is one of Minnesota's native sons. His birth occurred at
Garden City, this state, in 1864, and his parents were Amos and Aurelia (Dilley)
Warner, the former of whom was born in New York state and the latter in Ohio.
The father was one of the honored pioneers of Minnesota, coming to this state in
1851 and preempting a claim in Minneapolis on the present site of the station of
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. Finding the soil too sandy
for farming, he abandoned his claim and with an ox team journeyed to Garden
City, in Blue Earth county, Minnesota, where he took up a government claim, on
which he continued to reside until his demise, at the advanced age of
ninety-five years. In addition to his activities along agricultural lines he
engaged in teaching school and also conducted a drug store. He was likewise
called to public office, serving as town treasurer, and was one of the best
known and most highly respected residents of his section of the state. The
mother passed away when eighty-five years of age.
The grammar and high schools of Garden City, Minnesota, afforded Ellsworth C.
Warner his educational opportunities and he afterward took up the profession of
teaching, having- charge of a country school during the winter months, while
during the summer season he was employed along various lines. In 1886 he was
appointed state register of grain receipts, being one of the first men in
Minnesota to fill that position, the duties of which he discharged with
efficiency and conscientiousness, win­ning the commendation of all with whom he
had dealings. In recompense for his services he received the sum of one hundred
and twenty-five dollars per month and after acting in that capacity for a year
he resigned, entering the employ of the Mankato Linseed Oil Company. He started
in an unimportant position, his initial salary being fifty dollars per month,
and as his experience and value increased he was entrusted with greater
responsibilities, soon acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business. In 1889
Mr. Warner embarked in business on his own account, purchasing a linseed oil
mill at La Crosse, Wisconsin, which he sold to the National Linseed Oil Company
about 1890. He then entered the service of the firm as manager of its mills at
that city and at Dubuque, Iowa, and St. Paul, Minnesota, receiving a large
compensation in recognition of his ability. He remained with the concern until
it was absorbed by the American Linseed Oil Company in 1897 and in the following
year the Midland Linseed Oil Company was organized with Mr. Warner as president,
while E. C. Bisbee was made vice president and W. C. Stone became secretary and
treasurer. They also became members of the board of directors, which likewise
included W. D. Douglas, who was a passenger on the ill-fated Titanic, losing his
life in one of the greatest ocean disasters of modern times. Mr. Warner has
since been at the head of the com­pany and his notable executive powers and keen
discernment have enabled him to develop one of the colossal institutions in
American industrial activity, its products being shipped to all parts of the
world. Its plants are considered the most modern to be found in any section of
the globe and are located in Chicago, New York, Toledo and Minneapolis.
In 1894, in association with E. S. Warner and C. H. McGill, Mr. Warner purchased
the McGill-Price Printing Company at St. Paul and they are now engaged in the
litho­graphing, book-binding and printing business, conducting their interests
under the style of the McGill-Warner Company. The present officers of the
company are: E. C. Warner, president; C. H. McGill, vice president; and E. S.
Warner, secretary-treasurer, and theirs is one of the largest and most
successful institutions of the kind in the United States.
The financial institutions of his home city have enlisted Mr. Warner's interest
and cooperation and other industries besides that of linseed oil manufacture
have felt the impetus of his quickening intelligence and well formulated plans.
He is one of the directors of the First National Bank and a stockholder in the
First National, the Northwestern National, vice president and a member of the
executive committee of the Union Investment Company, and is likewise serving as
vice president and a director of the Northwestern Fire & Marine Insurance
Company. He takes an active part in the management and direction of these
institutions, all operating in the United States, in addition to which he has
extensive interests in the Dominion of Canada, all of which receive his careful
personal attention. He is president of the Atlas Elevator Company, the Canadian
Elevator Company and the Winnipeg Elevator Company; vice president of the Grand
Trunk Pacific Elevator Company, Ltd.; and a director of the Empire Elevator
Company and of the Thunder Bay Elevator Company, all in the Dominion of Canada.
His interests and activities have covered a broad scope and in every sphere of
life in which he has operated he has left an indelible impress through his
ability and a tireless energy which never stops short of the attainment of its
purpose.
On the 15th of January, 1890, Mr. Warner was united in marriage to Miss Nellie
F. Bisbee of Madelia, Minnesota, and they have four sons: Ellsworth B., Maurice
A., Harold A. and Wendall E. The family residence at No. 3030 West Calhoun
boulevard is a center of social culture and from it emanates the spirit of
gracious, warm-hearted hospitality. Notwithstanding the heavy demands made upon
his attention by his extensive business interests, Mr. Warner has always found
time for active participation in the social amenities of life and is a member of
the Minneapolis Club; the Minikahda Club, of which he has been president; the
Automobile, Lafayette, Interlachen and Woodhill Country clubs. He finds his
chief source of recreation in golf and is an enthusiastic devotee of the game.
With a mind commercially comprehensive, quick to perceive and to act, he has
taken advantage of circumstances and bent them to his will. He is a dynamic
force in any movement with which he is associated and is entitled to
classification with the empire builders of the Northwest.