Henry W. Ellsworth

The grandson of Oliver Ellsworth and son of Henry L. Ellsworth, Henry William Ellsworth was born in Windsor, Connecticut on May 14, 1814.^[1] He graduated from Yale University in 1834,^[2] graduated from the New Haven Law School,^[3] and became an attorney in Lafayette, Indiana.^[4]

In 1844 he was a Democratic Presidential elector from Indiana.^[5] In 1845 he was appointed by President James K. Polk as Minister to Sweden and Norway, and he remained until 1849.^[6]

Upon returning to the United States, Ellsworth resumed practicing law, and was retained by Samuel F. B. Morse to handle several lawsuits concerning the validity of Morse's telegraph patents.^[7]

Ellsworth was a poet and frequent contributor to The Knickerbocker magazine.^[8] His best known poems include "Lines to an Absent Wife" and "The Cholera King".^[9] He was also an author of historical and other works, including 1838's "Valley of the Upper Wabash, Indiana".^[10]

Ellsworth died in New Haven, Connecticut on August 14, 1864.^[11]