LEWIS ELLSWORTH
Past Master 1853
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Lewis Ellsworth was born in Walpole, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, July 22, 1805, the son of Nathan Ellsworth and Betsey B. Palmer. He moved to Rutland County, Vermont in 1823, where he learned the tailors trade and in 1827, moved to Troy, New York and engaged in the merchant tailoring business.

He married Chloe Marie Skinner, of Lebanon, New York, in December, 1828, and from this union five children were born: Eva F., Milton Skinner (Past Master 1867 and 1868) and Lewis Carpenter, both sons becoming members of Euclid Lodge and two children who died in infancy.

In 1836 he moved west and  purchased four or five hundred acres of land, opening a general store in Naperville in 1837. He sold his general store in 1848 and in 1850 started a nursery business, the DuPage County Nurseries. In 1839, he was elected the first Probate Judge of DuPage County and served four years. He was one of the incorporators of the Union Agricultural Society and subsequently became its Vice President and President. He was also a member of the State Agricultural Society, serving as its President in 1859-60. He also served as a Member of the State Board of Agriculture. In 1876, he was elected and served as Naperville Village President. President Abraham Lincoln appointed him as Collector of Internal Revenue and counted him among his intimate friends. He served on the Naperville School Committee from 1839 to 1842.

He died January 15, 1885, and was buried in the Naperville Cemetery. The funeral services for Judge Ellsworth were held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Canon Knowles of Chicago, and Reverend Martin Van Buren Averill (Euclid Lodge Member), of Naperville officiating. The beautiful little church was crowded with those who sought to pay a last tribute to the man who had dwelt among them for so long, and who had inspired them with a desire to lead a better and nobler life.