James W. Ellsworth Papers

James William Ellsworth (1849-1925) was an American coalmine owner, banker, and art collector. The coal town of Ellsworth, Pennsylvania is named after him as a result of his mining interests there.

Ellsworth was born in Hudson, Ohio and attended the Western Reserve College and Preparatory School, now known as Western Reserve Academy. In 1869, Ellsworth joined the coal-mining firm Ames & Company. He assumed ownership interest in 1873. The newly renamed James W. Ellsworth & Company operated mines in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and offices in Chicago, New York City and Pittsburgh. Ellsworth also owned a number of residences including ones in Chicago, New York City, Hudson, Ohio, Switzerland and Florence, Italy.

In 1874, Ellsworth married the Chicagoan, Eva Francis Butler. They had two children, Lincoln and Claire before Eva died in 1888. In 1895, Ellsworth married a second time to Julia Clarke Fincke. She died in 1921. Ellsworth financed the 1925 attempt by his son, Lincoln, to cross the north polar basin with explorer Roald Amundsen.

Ellsworth was initially reluctant to participate in the development of a World’s Fair in Chicago. After he learned that the planners of the Fair envisioned an international exposition rather than a localized county fair, Ellsworth joined the Board of the World’s Columbian Exposition (WCE) and directed all his energies toward the successful development of the “Dream City” that was to mark the 400th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas. Ellsworth’s contributions included negotiations with the nation’s railroad companies to raise capital, the purchase of the Lorenzo Lotto portrait of Columbus used on the Fair’s commemorative medal, and service to the Committees on Liberal Arts and Music in helping to secure the loans of European artworks for display in the Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry). The Fair attracted 26 million visitors during its six-month run and was pivotal to Chicago’s reemergence following the fire of 1871.

Following the Fair, Ellsworth served as the president of the Union National Bank of Chicago from 1896 to 1898 where he was a signatory of National Bank notes. He also served as president of the Caxton Club, and was a member of numerous other groups including the Jekyll Island Club and American Numismatic and Archaeological Society.

In 1907, Ellsworth sold his coalmines to Bethlehem Steel and purchased the Villa Palmieri in Florence, Italy, in part to further his interests as a collector of art and rare coins. He died there in 1925.