Progressive Men of Iowa
1899

ELLSWORTH, Eugene Stafford, is a grandson of Stukley Stafford Ellsworth, of New York, who is a native of Otsego county and became prominent in the commercial and political history of that state.  Orlando Ellsworth, the father of Eugene, and his mother, Almira Shaw, were reared in Otsego county, and married there before coming west to Milwaukee county, Wis., in 1836. There he occupied a prominent position and served in the legislature of 1857 and 1858. At the outbreak of the civil war he raised a company of volunteers and was chosen captain. The company was assigned to the Twenty-fourth regiment of Wisconsin volunteers and was known as Company K. The regiment was ordered to the front in September, 1862, as a part of the Army of the Tennessee, and Eugene S. Ellsworth, then a lad of 13, went with them as a drummer boy. He remained with his company until the hardships of the campaign broke down his health and he was sent to the hospital.  After the close of his military service Captain Ellsworth removed to Iowa Falls, la., and remained there until his death in 1872. 

Eugene attended school in Milwaukee county until he went to the front with his father's company. In 1863 he went to Iowa Falls and engaged in hauling lumber, supplies and goods of all kinds from the nearest railroad points, then Cedar Falls and Marshalltown, some fifty miles distant.  In 1866 he took a course of study at Baylies Commercial college in Dubuque, and in 1870 went into the real estate business, and although the country was new, he soon built up a fine business. In those early days he also did a large amount of loaning on Iowa farms for eastern investors and still continues this branch of the business, which has grown to colossal proportions. 

In twenty-six years of business, amounting to millions of dollars, he has not met with any loss. In 1884 Mr. L. E. Jones, who for several years had been his confidential clerk, became a partner in the business, which is still carried on by the firm of Ellsworth & Jones. They have offices in Iowa Falls, Chicago and Boston.  Mr. Ellsworth has always entertained great faith in the future of the state of Iowa, which is well demonstrated by his investments in Iowa real estate to the amount of many thousands of acres of highly improved farming lands. These farms are carried on under his own direction with the aid of managers, and require many men to handle and market their products. In 1896 Mr. Ellsworth was chosen president of the First National bank of Iowa Falls. For several years he was a director in the lines of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railway, and for some years served as secretary and treasurer of the Town Lot company, organized for the purpose of establishing towns on the line of that road. He had the management of the business of this company, by which some thirty of the best towns in Iowa were brought into existence. 

Politically, Mr. Ellsworth is a republican and has served as mayor of Iowa Falls.  He has always taken a strong interest in educational matters and Ellsworth college at Iowa Falls, established in 1890, was named for him. It is well known as one of the most flourishing institutions in the state. He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1878 and has taken all the degrees up to and including the thirty-second. In 1887 he was eminent commander of St. Elmo Commandery No. 48, Knights Templars.  He also belongs to the A. O. U. W., and the order of the Mystic Shrine.  In September, 1872, he was married to Miss Hattie A. Northrop, of Otisville, Franklin county, Iowa, and they have two children: Ernest Orlando, a graduate of Shattuck Military school, and Caroline Parsons, who is now at Vassar college.

RATH, John, the well-known banker of Ackley, is a native of Germany, and came to this country when he was 13 years old with his brother George, who was only one year older than himself. They came by way of Havre, France, in a sailing vessel, which was forty-seven days making the voyage. The boys had only money enough to pay their fare to Galena, 111., and walked from there to Dubuque, following the telegraph line, as they could not speak English to enquire the way.  They arrived in Dubuque in the month of November, 1853, footsore and tired, and were warmly welcomed by their uncle, George Rath, who lived in that city. There was no railroad west of Freeport, 111., at that time.

Their father, Andrew Rath, was a weaver by trade, and their mother's maiden name was Anna Reich.  John remained in Dubuque in the employ of his uncle, who was engaged in the pork packing business, until 1861. During this time he attended a private school for about six months, which was all the English education he received. He had previously attended the common schools of his native town for several years. He was born November 26, 1840, in Breitenau ober amt Sulz, Wurtemberg, Germany.

In the spring of 1861 he went to Cedar Falls, and was employed there until August, 1862, when he enlisted for three years in Company B, Thirty-first Iowa infantry, and served until the close of the war.  With the First division of the Fifteenth corps, Army of the Tennessee, he took part in the first attack on Vicksburg in December, 1862; battle of Arkansas Post, Ark.; battle of Jackson, Miss.; siege of Vicksburg; battle of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge; all the battles of the Atlanta campaign and Sherman's march to the sea; battle of Savannah, Ga. He was in the first boat that crossed the river at Columbia, S. C., at midnight, by which the army gained a foothold on the Columbia side of the river. This movement resulted in the surrender of the city to Colonel Stone, commander of the Iowa Brigade of the Fifteenth army corps. He was in all the minor engagements up to the surrender of Johnston at Raleigh, N. C., and marched to Washington, D. C. Participated in the grand review in May, 1865, in that city, and was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, at the close of the war.

When Mr. Rath came to Ackley, after the close of the war, it was a town on paper and contained only one house. The railroad, now the Illinois Central, was not completed to the town until November of that year, 1865. He was employed by Mr.  Burns to manage a grain warehouse and lumber yard, and in 1868 bought an interest in the business. In 1870 he bought the other interest and remained sole proprietor until 1880, when his brother, Andrew Rath, became interested with him. During that year Mr. Rath established the banking business which he has carried on very successfully since that date, under the name of the John Rath Exchange bank. 

Mr. Rath has always been a republican, for several years was mayor of his town, member of the county board of supervisors for three years, and has held many minor offices. He is an active member of the G.  A. R., was commander of the post for two terms and is now aid-de-camp on the staff of Commander-in-Chief General Clarkson. 

He is a charter member of the Presbyterian church of Ackley, organized in 1867.  October 5, 1865, Mr. Rath was married to Miss Elizabeth Moser, of Dubuque, Iowa.  They have had nine children, all but one of whom are living: Carrie M., who died in infancy; William T. S., who is now assistant cashier of the bank; John W., who is married and lives in Waterloo; Amilia M., Elizabeth C., Charles E., Clara E., Walter F., and Howard G.

The information on Trails to the Past © Copyright    may be used in personal family history research, with source citation. The pages in entirety may not be duplicated for publication in any fashion without the permission of the owner. Commercial use of any material on this site is not permitted.  Please respect the wishes of those who have contributed their time and efforts to make this free site possible.~Thank you!