Nobles County MN Archives Biographies.....Ely, John D. 1856 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 21, 2006, 11:04 pm Author: Arthur P. Rose (1908) JOHN D. ELY resides in Dewald township, his home being on the southwest quarter of section 13, six miles west of Worthington, where he has resided for the last seventeen years. When he purchased his place in 1891 there were no building improvements and only a small part of the land had been broken; today his farm is finely improved and he has established himself as one of the substantial farmers of Dewald. He raises stock quite extensively and devotes his energies principally to dairy cattle, believing that in them, rather than in beef stock, lies the future prosperity of Nobles county farmers. Mr. Ely descends from French stock. Sometime in the eighteenth century the Elys were forced to leave their native country and seek a home in England because of strife between the Protestant and Catholic adherents, the Elys being Protestants. In the new home they encountered the same difficulties and were forced to leave England. The family, in company with others of their faith, migrated to a small island to the south of Ireland, where a permanent home was established. The island is now known as Ely, having taken the name from the family, the biography of whose descendant we are now writing. The American branch of the family was founded in an early day. Two brothers, one of them Nathaniel Ely, from whom descends the subject of this sketch, came to America and settled in New York state. The family became a prominent one, and when the revolutionary war broke out several of the name took part in the war for freedom. One of them served as a colonel in the American forces. John D. Ely was born in Dekalb county, Ill., Oct. 6, 1856, the son of Joseph and Anna (Woodard) Ely. His parents were natives of New York state and are now living in Rock county, Wis. For only two years did the subject of this sketch live in his native state, his parents moving to Walworth county, Wis. Eight years of his life were spent there, and the following ten in Rock county, Wis. He left home in 1876 and for two years was employed on his uncle's farm in Ogle county, Ill. He then rented his grandfather's farm in the same county and was in business four years for himself. He came west in the spring of 1882, took a homestead in Hand county, S. D., and engaged in farming there for nine and one-half years. He came to Nobles county in the fall of 1891, bought the southwest quarter of section 13, Dewald, and has made his home there since. At Rochelle, Ill., on Oct. 23, 1880, occurred the marriage of Mr. Ely to Addie Eyster, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Billman) Eyster. The father died May 1, 1889, the mother on Feb. 4, 1867. Mrs. Ely was born in Rochelle March 26, 1861. To these parents have been born four children, as follows: Ollie Ann (Mrs. Arthur Boddy), born Aug. 27, 1881, residing in Saskatchewan, Canada; Nettie Marr (Mrs. Henry Dilly), born Sept. 13, 1883, residing in Summit Lake township; Addie Viola (Mrs. Richard Matheson), Elk township, born Sept. 26, 1885; Lois Irma, born Feb. 2, 1893, residing at home. During his residence in Nobles county Mr. Ely has been clerk or member of the school board of district 42 ever since becoming a resident here with the exception of the last three years. He has also held the office of road overseer for many years. Additional Comments: Extracted from: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY MINNESOTA BY ARTHUR P. ROSE NORTHERN HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY WORTHINGTON, MINNESOTA PUBLISHERS 1908 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mn/nobles/bios/ely111gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mnfiles/ File size: 4.0 Kb