For those of you interested in where the Ellsworth name derives, the following was found in a book at Ancestry.com called: "Our Ellsworth Ancestors." The book indicates that the following information was copied from Genealogical and Historical Sketch, Media Research Bureau, 1110 F. Street, Washington, D.C., reported to be "out of business" back in August 1955. In any event, it is fun reading about the Ellsworth name.
(Photo is of my grandparents George Albert Morris and Elena Halladay Ellsworth.)
The Ellsworths and Their Name
"The name of ELLSWORTH is said to have been derived from the residence of its first bearers at a place of that name in Cambridgeshire, England. It was originally spelled EELSWORTH, meaning "Place of the eels," being situated on a stream which was at one time famous for its eels. The name is found on ancient records in the various forms of Eelsworth, Elesworth, Elsworth, Ellesworthe, Ellesworth, Elswort, Elesworde, Aylsworth, Ayleworth, Aylworth, Elworth, Ellisworth, Elsworthe, and Ellsworth, of which the last is the form most generally accepted in America today.
"Families of the name were to be found at early dates in the English counties of Cambridge, York, Kent, Glouster, Devon, Somerset, Essex, Oxford, and London and were, for the most part, of the landed gentry and yeomanry of Great Britain. "Among the earliest records of the family in England were of Albin de Ellesworthe of Cambridgeshire in 1273, Samson de Ellesworth and Robert de Elesworde of the same country at a slightly later date. Thomas de Ellesworth of the same place in 1292, Sir John Ellsworth of the same line in the early fourteenth century (who is claimed by some authorities to have been an ancestor of the emigrant Josiah or Josias. Henry Ayleworth of Gloustershire in the early fifteenth century (who was the father of John, father of John and Walter, of whom the first had John, who had Anthony, who was the father of Richard, Mary, John, Francis, Edmund, Peter, Paul, and Frisroid, of whom the first had a son Edward who was the father of the early seventeenth century of Tracy, Richard, Gyles, Thomas, and several daughters), Johannes or John Aylesworth of the latter sixteenth century (who was the father of Ashton, Edward, William, John, Robert, Wilter, Anthony, and others, of whom the first made his home in Kent County and was the father of Thomas, John, Walter, Roger, and several daughters, and the younger sons also left numerous issue), and Robert Elesworth of London before 1668.
"It is not known definitely from which of the many illustrious lines of the family in England the first emigrants of the name to America were descended, but it is generally believed that all of the Ellsworth's were of common origin at a remote period.
"One of the first of the family to emigrate to America is believed to have been Jeremiah Ellsworth, who is said to have resided at Rowley, Mass., sometime before 1650 and to have been married in 1657 to the Widow Mary Smith. No definite record of his immediate family has been found, but it is supposed that the Jeremiah Ellsworth, who is said to have removed from Rowley to Brentwood, N.H., in the early eighteenth century, as well as others who removed from Rowley, Mass., about the same time to New Hampshire, were the descendants of the emigrant of that name. The last mentioned Jeremiah is said to have had four children, Aaron, Jonathan, Hannah, and John.
"The before mentioned emigrant Josiah or Josias Ellsworth is said to have been the son of one John Ellsworth of Yorkshire, a descendant of the Cambridgeshire line, and to have come to Winsor, Conn., about 1646 or shortly thereafter. In 1654 he married Elizabeth Holcomb, by whom the was the father of Josiah, Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Thomas, Jonathan, John, Job, and Benjamin, all of whom left numerous issue and have many descendants in America today.
"One Christopher (some authorities say, Theophilus) Elswort or El(l)worth who came from Holland, where he is believed to have gone from England, to New York about 1655, is believed by some authorities to have been the brother of the emigrant Josiah or Josias of Windsor. He is believed to have been the father of among others, a son named Clement, who married Anna Maria Englebert and was the father of Theophilus and probably of others as well.
"Arthur Ellsworth of Aylsworth of Kingstown, R.I. before 1679,is also said to have been a brother of the emigrant Josiah. By his wife Mary Brown he is said to have been the father of Robert, Arthur, John, Phillip, Chad, Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Martha.
"The descendants of these and possibly other branches of the family in America have spread to practically every state of the Union and have aided as much in the growth of the country as their ancestors aided in the founding of the nation. They have been noted for their energy, industry, ambition, integrity, piety, patience, perseverance, ingenuity, initiative, loyalty, and courage.
"Among those of the name who fought in the War of the Revolution were Captain Charles of Connecticut, Captain Peter of New York, and numerous others in the ranks of the various other New England and Southern colonies.
"Robert, John, Henry, Thomas, Walter, Edward, Jeremiah, William, Jonathan, Arthur, Peter, and Josiah are some of the Christian names most highly favored by the family for its male members.
"Two of the many members of the family who have distinguished themselves in America at various times were Judge Oliver Ellsworth of Winsor, Conn., famous jurist, who was born in 1745 and died in 1807, and Colonel Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth of New York and Virginia, noted military officer who was born in 1837 and died in 1861.
"One of the most ancient and frequently recurrent of the several coats-of-arms of the English family of Aylworth or Ellsworth is described as follows: ARMS - Argent, a fess engrailed between six billets gules.
CREST - An arm habited sable issuing out of rays or, in the hand proper a human skull argent."
