Orlando Ellsworth

Orlando Ellsworth (January 13, 1813 – June 27, 1872) was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing southern Milwaukee County, and was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War.

Biography Orlando Ellsworth was born and raised in Otsego County, New York. He traveled west, arriving at Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Territory, in 1836. He established himself on farm land just south of the village of Milwaukee, which would (in 1838) become the town of Lake.

He associated with the Whig Party, which put him in the political minority in Wisconsin in those early years. Nevertheless, he was elected town clerk in Lake. After the Republican Party was established, he became a member of the new party and was elected, in 1857, to the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Milwaukee County's 9th Assembly district (at the time comprising the towns of Lake, Oak Creek, and Franklin). He subsequently served as chairman of the Lake town board, in 1860.

Civil War service

After the outbreak of the American Civil War, Ellsworth assisted in raising a company of volunteers for the Union Army. Ellsworth was elected captain of the company, which was enrolled as Company K in the 24th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. They arrived at Louisville, Kentucky, on September 20, where they were assigned to the division of General Philip Sheridan, in the Army of the Ohio, under General Charles Champion Gilbert.

Personal life and family Ellsworth's father, Stukely Ellsworth, was a prominent politician in the area and served several years in the New York State Legislature. After four aborted pregnancies, Gomber gave birth to a child on her fifth pregnancy, and the child was roughly a year old when she filed charges in 1863. Ellsworth fled the state shortly after the complaint was filed, and a jury eventually awarded Gruber damages of $5,000 ($110,000 adjusted for inflation to 2021). Ellsworth had transferred his valuable farm to a third party, but Gomber was eventually able to collect.