Biography of Henry Wilson Ely
For three consecutive generations the Elys have been closely identified with the business and professional life of Westfield, Massachusetts; and for nine generations with that of New England. The family in America was founded by Nathaniel Ely, born in the year 1605, supposedly in Tenterden, County Kent, England, of an excellent old English family. The Ely family in England dates back to the hereditary surname epoch (1250-1450 A.D.), when second, or family names first began to come into general use. The name has two distinct derivations, as is proved by that peer of etymologists and orthographers, the late Charles Wareing … Read more