A L E T T E R F R O M
M R . W A S H I N G T O N
I found the document below in the National Archives.
Since there are so few Ellsworths around,
I decided to research the fellow addressed so affectionately
in Washington's letter, to see if he was one of ours.
...and he was!
~Lyne Raff
| Oliver
Ellsworth is listed among National Archive sources as one of the Founding
Fathers of the United States, and though he was among the men who did not
sign the Constitution itself, he was on the Committee of Detail, five men
chosen to actually draw up a draft constitution so the convention would
at last have something on paper. Members of the Committee of Detail were:
Nathaniel Gorham of MA, John Rutledge, Edmund Randolph, James Wilson, and
Oliver Ellsworth of CT. The date was July 24, 1787. On August
6 they completed a draft which included a Preamble and twenty-three articles,
embodying fifty-seven sections.
He appears
to be in our Ellsworth line among the decendants of Jonathan Ellsworth
of Hartford, CT, one of the brothers of Josiah2, who was the g-grandfather
of Elizabeth Ellsworth, wife of Joseph1 Cheuvront. [see
more Elizabeth Ellsworth lineage here]
Many Ellsworths
have served in the United States Congress. (See their biographies
here) |
Oliver Ellsworth's lineage* goes as
follows:
Oliver Ellsworth, April 29, 1745,
in Windsor, CT, d. November 26, 1807
s/o David Ellsworth, 17 Jul 1709-5
Mar 1782, Windsor, Hartford, CT., and Jemina Leavitt, Suffield, Hartford,
CT
gs/o Jonathan Ellsworth, 28 Jun
1669-13 Sep 1749, Windsor, Hartford, CT, and Sarah Grant, 19 Sep 1675-9
Nov 1755, Windsor, Hartford, CT.
ggs/o Josiah1 Ellsworth, 7 Aug 1629-20
Aug. 1689, Cambridgeshire, Engl., and Elizabeth Holcombe, 16 Nov 1634-18
Sep 1712, Suffolk, MA
*source: LDS FamilySearch records
Biographical information about Oliver Ellsworth
A More Perfect Union:
The Creation of the U.S. Constitution
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/conhist.html
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF OUR FOUNDING
FATHERS,
National Archives and Records
Administration
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/confath.html
Oliver Ellsworth bios:
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/connect.html#ellsworth
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000147
transcribed here by L. Raff
Oliver Ellsworth, Esq. Philad., 8th March 1797
Dear Sir,
Before I leave this city which will be within less than twenty four
hours,
permit me in acknowledging the receipt of your kind and affectionate
note of the 6th, to offer you the thanks of a grateful heart for the
sentiments
you have expressed in my favor, and for those attentions with which
you have always honored me. In return I pray you to accept all
my good
wishes for the perfect restoration of your health, and for all the
happines this life can afford. As your official duty will necessarily
call you to the Southward I will take the liberty of adding that it
will always give me pleasure to see you at Mount Vernon, as you
pass (illegible) . With unfeigned
esteem & regard, in which Mrs. Washington
joins me, I am
always affectionately yours
GWashington
|
Other Ellsworth resources on this site:
Ellsworth Lineage
Ellsworth notes
Oliver Ellsworth/Geo Washington
Hinkle/Ellsworth info |
