History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 118

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934

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Among his most noteworthy labors, says Apple- ton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, was his investigation of the hydraulics of the Ohio and Mis-

sissippi rivers, the results of which were printed by the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. He also published at Philadelphia, as early as 1855, a treatise on "Coast and Harbor Defences, or the Substitution Ci Steam Battering-Rams for Ships of War." Cur- iously enough, his idea of the battering-ram in naval warfare has been adopted by every nation in the world-every cruiser, battleship and fighting craft afloat today is built with a powerful ram-like prow, and can be used as a ram in the destruction of an enemy craft whenever opportunity presents. But the universal adoption of this principle proves the great- ness of his mind and this idea.

John I. Ellet, a brother of Charles Ellet, Jr., settled in San Mateo County as one of its path- breakers, in 1853, and named the town Belmont after the two bell-shaped mounds to be found there; he built the old Belmont Hotel, which is still stand- ing, shipping the lumber for it around the Horn in 1853. He afterwards moved to San Jose. He had two sons, John A. and Richard, and they taught in the College at Santa Clara, until the Civil War broke cut Then they joined the famous California 100, and were later transferred to the Ram Fleet. John I. Ellet left California in 1865, never to return to the Golden State, with whose development he had had an interesting participation. He arrived in New York harbor on the day when Lincoln was assassinated.

Charles Rivers Ellet, a son of the preceding Charles Ellet, Jr., was engaged at the outbreak of the Civil War in studying medicine, and he soon became as- sistant surgeon in one of the military hospitals. In 1842 he commanded one of his father's rams in the celebrated action at Memphis. After his father's death, on the organization of the Mississippi Marine brigade by his uncle, Alfred Washington Ellet, he was appointed Colonel and when his uncle was com- missioned brigadier-general, Col. Charles Rivers El- let was placed in command of the Ram Fleet. Choos- ing the ram Queen of the West as his flagship, he niade many daring expeditions on the Mississippi, and succeeded in running the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg after ramming the City of Vicksburg under Vicksburg's batteries, in a most desperate and spec- tacular dash. As he was cruising between that stronghold and Fort Hudson, on February 10, 1863. he made an expedition up the Red River and captured the Confederate steamer Era and a number of other vessels, and destroyed many stores of provisions. After descending the river successfully, a traitorons pilot ran his vessel aground, placing her in such a difficult position that she was disabled by the fire fiom the Confederate fort, and fell into the hands of the enemy. Colonel Ellet would have blown up or burned her rather than allow her to fall into the hands of the enemy had it not been for the fact that one of his trusted officers and a personal friend was left lying on the deck mortally wounded from a musket- ball, and for that reason the noted fighting craft was abandoned. Colonel Ellet, however, true to the tra ditions of a family as renowned for its valor as for its scientific ingenuity, made his escape by putting off boldly on a bale of cotton, from which he was res- cued by the Union De Soto, under his command. During the siege of Vicksburg and afterward, he rendered most valuable assistance to General Grant, which was later duly recognized in official despatches, in keeping open his communications; but in the per-

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formance of this duty his health failed, owing to the climate, and he died suddenly in Illinois, to which State he had retired for a brief rest.

Alfred Washington Ellet was born on October 11, 1820, on his father's farm in Bucks County, Pa., on the banks of the Delaware, the youngest of six stalwart sons, and next to the youngest of a vig- orous family of fourteen children. In 1824, his father's family removed to Philadelphia, where Alfred entered the city schools; but at the age of sixteen, a sudden change in health necessitated his abandoning further educational advantages, and he took to agricultural pursuits. He engaged in farming near Bunker Hill, ill., about twenty-five miles northeast of St. Louis. This rough, out-of-door experience developed in him a gigantic physique, and when he came to mian- hood's estate, he was six feet, two and one-half inches tall, and strong and enduring in proportion to his commanding size. He also developed temperate hab- its, a strong, moral character, and an uncompromis- ing sense of justice and right. By hard, intelligent industry, he established a home both for himself and l:is aged, widowed mother, in whose company on the streets of Bunker Hill his fellow-citizens often saw him-"his manner toward her ever that of a youthful and ardent lover toward his intended bride."

The humiliating defeat of the Union forces at Bull Run, so near their old home, fired Alfred Ellet's patriotic soul; and in July, 1861, as captain of a com- pany, raised by himself in and around Bunker Hill, he untered the service of his country, at the Arsenal in St. Louis, at the head of Company I, Ninth Missouri Volunteer Infantry. This entire regiment was com- posed of Illinois men, who had enlisted with the ex- pectation of being mustered into an Illinois regiment, under President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers; but the quota of the State was filled about a week be- fore they were ready for muster, and so they were at first accredited to Missouri, although they afterward be- came the Fifty-ninth Illinois Infantry. Captain Ellet participated in the early and meniorable Missouri cam- paigns, under General John C. Fremont and General S. R. Curtis, and was with his regiment in the Battle of Pea Ridge. While in camp, a few weeks later, he received an order to report to his brother, Colonel of Staff Charles Ellet, Jr., of ram fleet fame, and was made second in command of the Mississippi River Ram Fleet, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. As commander of that fleet, after his brother's death, his career was brilliant; and in recognition of his distin- guished service on the Mississippi, the War Depart- ment determined to enlarge his command, and on November 1, 1862, promoted him to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers and placed him in charge of both the Ram Fleet and the Marine Brigade. This new command of the Mississippi River Marine Brigade included the rams which did such effective service and helped to make the thrilling record of high patriotic endeavor and accomplishment which lias been told in detail in the "History of the Ran Fleet and the Mississippi River Marine Brigade in the War for the Union: The Story of the Ellets and Their Men," -- a handsome, compendious volume giv- ing the portraits and biographies of the famous par- t:cipants. In the ready adaptation of himself to the duties of both these commands, Brigadier-General Ellet's remarkable resourcefulness of mind amazed even his most intimate friends. He at once mastered

the knowledge of river-craft and navigation, and so well managed the affairs of the rams that he was able to maintain their equipment and high standard of efficiency, and later organize and equip the brig- ade. While not a military tactician, he gathered about him those who were; and being quick to see advantageous positions, he inspired everyone with his unquestioned courage and skill. He was a su- perb horseman, in action like a fierce lion stirred up in his lair, and he maintained the most admirable per- sonal bearing amid appalling perils. He was exact- ing of subordinates, although generous and just in recognition of service by inferiors, and unflinching in his attitude toward the enemy. He ordered the burn- ing of Austin, Miss., on May 24, 1863, in retaliation for information furnished by citizens to Confederates ct General Chalmers' command, which enabled the latter to fire upon a Federal transport; and although, like so many of the greatest Americans, he could not escape envy and detraction, his eminent career has given him a position in the annals of his country where his name is imperishable. He died in Kansas 111 1895. In the National Cemetery at Vicksburg, Miss., stands a bronze bust of him erected by the Government as a tribute to his valorous services.

The Mississippi Ram Fleet and Marine Brigade was the only independent volunteer command in the service. It was a part of the army and not of the navy, and as such was amenable directly to the Sec- retary of War, and in consequence every commis- sioned officer in it was appointed directly by the President and the Secretary of War instead of the governors of the states. Both the fleet and the brig- ade acted in closest cooperation under the command of Brigadier-General Alfred W. Ellet, and though subjected to the jealousies of certain naval command- ers, it was a most effective force in clearing the Mis- sissippi River, and thus played a very important part in winning the war for the Union. The outstanding feature of its accomplishments was due to the bold intrepidity of its commanding general, who, in point of fearless courage, had no superior. Another thing which contributed to his success, was the fact that he was heart and soul in the cause against slavery and for the preservation of the Union. At times General Ellet seemed to act rashly; but his rashness was a failing which leaned to virtue. He was a man ct strong moral conviction and character. After the war, as a private citizen in the state of Kansas, he espoused the cause of prohibition with the same zeal with which he had opposed slavery, entered person- ally into the state campaign and played a very im- portant part in making Kansas a prohibition state.

Edward Carpenter Ellet, the subject of this sketch, who is Brigadier-General Alfred Washington El- let's oldest son, was born in Bunker Hill, Ill., on September 17, 1845, and although springing from a family never wanting in its encouragement of the Federal Government, he deemed it necessary to run away from home when the War broke out, and en- listed on July 15, 1861, under President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, being mustered into service on July 25, 1861, in Company F, Seventh Illinois Regiment at the youthful age of fifteen years and ten months, being the first one of the Ellet family to enlist. After marching on Cape Girardeau under General Benjamin E. Prentiss, he was transferred, upon request of his father, to Company I, Ninth

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Missouri Regiment and he remained with that regi- ment until the War Department ordered Captain A. W. Ellet to report to Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., at New Albany, Ind, with 100 picked men for special and hazardous service. This was after the Battle of Pea Ridge, in which Edward C. Ellet had also participated, and after the regiment had marched to Cross Timbers on the eastern edge of Arkansas; and with Lieut .- Col. A. W. Ellet, Edward C. Ellet, as one of the one hundred chosen, started to join the then rapidly organizing Mississippi Ram Fleet. At New Albany, he was appointed aide on Col. Ellet's staff, and carried orders to the river boats then be- ing transformed into steam rams. He sailed with the Ram Fleet to Fort Pillow, then undergoing its fifty-two days of bombardment, and he was one of a small party who, a week or so after his arrival, planted the Stars and Stripes on that famous Con- federate fort after its fall.

The Ram Fleet then took the lead, and moved down the river to Memphis, where the famous naval battle was fought on June 6, 1862, and the Rebel fleet was destroyed, the Union Ram Fleet suffering the loss of its gallant commander, Col. Charles El- let, Jr., as narrated above. Edward C. Ellet, noted already as a dead-shot, was a sharp-shooter on the flagship, Queen of the West. After the fall of Mem- phis, the Ram Fleet moved down the river to Vicks- burg, pluckily passing the river batteries with only bales of cotton to protect their ship's boilers. While in Memphis, the youthful Edward C. Ellet was one of the four men who, under the leadership of Charles Rivers Ellet, pushed through the raging mob then surging the streets of Memphis to the postoffice build- ing, and there, while stoned and fired upon by the mob below, tore down the rebel banner, and placed Old Glory on the staff instead, and without escort safely returned to the Union boats. At Vicksburg. the rams, then under the leadership of Lieutenant- Colonel Alfred W. Ellet, found themselves alone in a hostile country, and learning that Admiral Farra- gut was with his flagship, the Hartford, and other naval craft below Vicksburg, Lieutenant-Colonel Ellet decided to communicate with him, so he called for volunteers to don citizens' clothes and steal their way across the well-patrolled point of land. Instantly his son Edward and three others stepped forward and volunteered for the hazardous journey, which they successfully made, after twice being almost cap- tured and after having been arrested by Admiral Porter's command, which suspected them of being spies .for the reason that they resolutely refused to deliver their message to Admiral Porter, since they had strict orders to deliver it to Admiral Farragut in person. Having thus at the risk of their lives de- livered their message to Admiral Farragut in person, they were treated by the great Farragut with the utmost consideration, and were sent back up the river with dispatches under an escort of one hundred marines. Edward C. Ellet participated in the siege of Vicksburg, where his command erected a defense and battery, which successfully bombarded the city.

About this time the rebel ram Arkansas came down the Yazoo River, ran through the northern fleets then lying at anchor and, thinking themselves se- cure, were commencing to clean their boilers. Lieu- tenant-Colonel Ellet again called for volunteers, this time to accompany him and attempt to destroy the

Arkansas by ramming her at her moorings, being then anchored under the protection of the Confederates' batteries of Vicksburg. His son Edward, still a pri- vate sharpshooter, was the first man to step forward for the service, much to his brave father's dismay. The trip was made. For over an hour they were under the fire of Vicksburg hatteries, concentrated on the little wooden ship. The Arkansas was struck and badly damaged, but owing to an eddy in the cur- rent, she was not destroyed. Her gunners worked hard as the Queen of the West backed away, and Lieutenant-Colonel Ellet and his son Edward drew their pistols and at such close range, literally laid the rebel gunners at their guns, effectively checking their fire. For this gallant performance, Edward Carpenter Ellet was appointed by Congress as sec- ond lieutenant at the same time that Lieutenant- Colonel Ellet was made a brigadier-general.

In the meantime, Admiral D. D. Porter being away, Admiral Farragut had run the batteries alone at Port Hudson and was below Vicksburg, from which point he sent word to Porter to dispatch him a cou- ple of rams, as he was afraid of a ram-attack from the rebels. In response, Colonel Charles Rivers El- let, commanding the Switzerland, and Colonel John A. Ellet, who was the son of John I. Ellet, the Cali- fornia pioneer heretofore mentioned, commanding the Lancaster, were designated to run the batteries of Vicksburg, and report with their rams to Admiral Farragut below. The Lancaster was sunk by the heavy shell fire from the shore and upper batteries; and the Switzerland had her boilers and steam pipes burst, but floated down the river out of range. Lieutenant Edward C. Ellet was on the Switzer- land, which was soon enveloped in steam, so that all the negroes in the engine room were scalded. A shot, weighing 120 pounds, had pierced the boiler, and even on deck the heat was intense to suffoca- tion. The engineer, Granville Robarts, a relative of the general, seeing the danger, stopped the engines and saved himself by jumping overboard into the river; then he caught hold of the slow moving wheel, which lifted him to the plank used by the deck-hands to dip up water, climbed back onto the deck after the heat had subsided, and went back to the boiler room after the explosion.

Lieutenant Edward C. Ellet served on the staff of General Ellet until the close of the war, and during that time he was appointed special messenger to take to Washington captured Confederate currency to the amount of $1,800.000; this he carried in two satchels and delivered it at the War Secretary's office in per- son to Secretary Edwin M. Stanton. While there he inet President Lincoln, who came into the war office on business while young Ellet was talking with the War Secretary. Mr. Lincoln sent for Secretary Chase of the Treasury, who also came. General Halleck happened in at the same time and young Ellet was introduced to all of them, was highly com- plimented, and given a three days' pass in the city. Upon Edward C. Ellet's honorable discharge Major D. S. Tallerday, commanding the Marine Regiment at Vicksburg on January 19, 1865, wrote underneath the precious document an unsolicited note of high acknowledgment and recognition, reading: "1 have known Lieutenant Ellet for the last two years. As an officer, he is ever ready to do his whole duty; he is

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brave to a fault; while as a gentleman, he is unex- ceptionable."

Thus, the services rendered to the Union by the Ellets was of the greatest value. They were inspired by pure patriotism. The idea of the ram fleet was conceived by a master mind, that of Charles Ellet, Jr., the foremost engineer of the nation at that time. They carried out their plans boldly and fearlessly. personally leading every charge, displaying the great- est courage and bravery amidst the greatest of dan- gers, not stopping at death itself. After the war, Ed- ward C. Ellet was appointed Military Constable of Yazoo County, Miss., and given a company of Union soldiers to aid him in enforcing law and order during the reconstruction period.

Miraculously escaping death from the yellow fever, he went West with a troop of soldiers on an Indian expedition as far as Fort Bozeman, Mont., in 1867. With two companions he made his return down the Missouri River in a skiff as far as Sioux City, pass- ing through the country of the hostile Sioux Indians at a time when buffaloes were so numerous that his journey was seriously impeded by vast droves cross- ing the river in front of them. From Sioux City he made his way back home to visit relatives at Bunker Hill, 111 .; and in 1869, enamored of the West and frontier life, he was induced to go out to Eldorado, now the county seat of Butler County, Kan., which was then being settled by Union soldiers who took up claims of homestead. There he started the first hardware store and organized one of the first banks in Butler County, and became a great political leader, serving as chairman on the Republican County Central Committee and dictating the policies of the county for many years. He was prominent in estab- lishing Eldorado as the county seat. He was ap- pointed government agent for the Piute Indians in 1884. Leaving his banking interests in the hands of his partner, N. F. Frazier, and his father, General Alfred W. Ellet, after whom the public park in El- dorado was named, his father then became president of the bank. About this time General Ellet was of- fered a commission as major-general in the U. S. regular army. This he respectfully declined, express- ing his desire that as long as there was no need for his services in actual warfare, in defense of his coun- try, he preferred to enjoy private life.

Edward C. Ellet then went to Winnemucca, Nev., where he was Indian agent for a year; from Winnemucca, during this period, in the due course of his official duties, he made a trip to San Fran- cisco and back on horseback, after which he returned to Eldorado and resumed banking. Although hold- ing great political power in the State of Kansas, Edward C. Ellet never ran for a political office. On March 14, 1902, he was appointed by Governor W. E. Stanley as member of the board of directors of the State Penitentiary for the term of three years, and ejected president of the board at their April meeting. On July 28, 1902, Governor Stanley appointed him delegate to the annual congress of the National Prison Association, at Philadelphia, which met Sep- tember 13 to 17, 1902, after which he was sent to Yucatan, Mexico, to buy sisal for the state. While there he was entertained by the governor of the State of Yucatan in royal fashion. In 1903 he re- signed his position on the State Prison Board and sold out his banking interests to his son-in-law, R. E. Fra-

zier, who was the son of his partner, and accepted an appointment as special agent of the United States General Land Office with headquarters at Seattle, Wash., serving as such from 1903 until 1908, when he resigned, came down to Mayfield, Calif., and in company with his son, Charles Ellet, bought out the old Mayfield Bank and Trust Company. He became its president and his son Charles became its cashier. They came to Mayfield in December, 1908, and January 1, 1909, took charge of the bank. In 1918 he retired from active participation in the bank, leaving its management to his son, Charles Ellet, who reorganized it and brought his brother, Alfred WV. Ellet, who was then deputy bank commissioner for the State of Kansas, out to assist him.

On October 20, 1870, Edward Carpenter Ellet was married at Bunker Hill, I11, to Miss Frances Webster Van Dorn, whose family history is no less notable than that of her illustrious husband. She was born at Bunker Hill, Ill., on January 31, 1854, and is a daughter of Thomas Jefferson Van Dorn, an Argonaut who is a near relative of the famous Southern cavalryman, General Earl Van Dorn of the Confederate Army. She is also a direct descendant of the historic Pilgrim father, Governor Bradford of Massachusetts, and is furthermore a blood relative of Washington Irving, the celebrated author. Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Ellet have made their home at Mayfield since 1908, and with the ex- ception of a stroke of paralysis in 1920 sustained by Mr. Ellet, both are enjoying a reasonable state of health, are well and favorably known and most highly respected. They have become the parents of three children: Henrietta Wilbur Ellet Frazier, who married the late R. E. Frazier, noted banker and oil man. R. E. Frazier discovered oil in the Eldorado field in Kansas, and brought in the first private well in that field on the Linn lease, it being the second well in that district. He succumbed to the influenza epidemic in December, 1918. Mrs. Frazier is now a resident of Menlo Park, where she has lived since 1919, and is the mother of one child, a daughter, Henrietta Ellet Frazier, who is a student at the Cas- tilleja School for Girls at Palo Alto. Alfred W. Ellet, vice president, and Charles Ellet, cashier of The Stanford Bank, both noted elsewhere in this work, are, respectively, the oldest and youngest of the three. Edward Carpenter Ellet has lived a full, useful and remarkable life, and now, as the sun is about to set on his earthly activities he hands down the glories of a noble ancestry undimmed and un- tarnished to a worthy progeny, while the nation is left stronger and better for his strenuous, patriotic and illustrious career.

WILLIAM DARSIE .- Prominent among the re- tired residents of Palo Alto whose life stories, as the chronicles of those who have accomplished something worth while, are always interesting, may be men- tioned William Darsie, who was born in Scot- land in 1843. He was also educated in that older, more settled land of academic traditions, and there found stimulating office employment until he was twenty-six years old. The New World, however, then began to bid more intensely for his interest, and he came out to the United States and settled in Penn- sylvania. He had had such an experience that he was able early to take up the manufacturing of coke; and in that important industrial field he continued until

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he retired from active business affairs, in 1905. He then bade good-bye to the cold winters and the hot summers of the Keystone State and turned his face westward, and having entered upon the delights of semi-tropical California and surveyed the land for that corner of the Golden State most roseate and promising, he located at Palo Alto and soon acquired a beautiful, spacious and comfortable home, with at- tractive grounds. There he spends most of his time, and having a wonderful flower garden, he adds to his knowledge of the floral world by outdoor work and recreation.

When Mr. Darsie married, he took for his bride Miss Jean Pettigrew, a native of the United States, and an accomplished lady of attractive natural gifts; and they reside at 567 Melville Street. They have three children, William, Elizabeth and Jean.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 118

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1934

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934