His Hudson Legacy
Ellsworth returned to Hudson in 1907 to find the town in disarray. A series of fires at the turn of the century had destroyed many buildings downtown and his beloved Western Reserve Academy had closed its doors in 1903 due to financial problems. Ellsworth vowed to restore the town to its former glory by reconstructing downtown, overhauling utilities, re-opening Western Reserve Academy (as an all-boys institution) and beginning construction of new academic and dormitories on campus (including 'Ellsworth Hall'). Ellsworth's strong belief in prohibition led to rather unusual arrangements with the city, such as a 50-year ban on alcohol sales, for which he agreed to upgrade the sewer system throughout the city.
Ellsworth is buried in Hudson, Ohio at the Markillie-St Mary's Cemetery. His grave-marker has the following inscription "His life was like a star....and dwelt apart."
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ellsworth, James |
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| Short description | |
| Date of birth | October 13, 1849 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | June 2, 1925 |
| Place of death | |
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“He hung out of the window a long while looking up and down the street. The world’s second metropolis. In the brick houses and the dingy lamplight and the voices of a group of boys kidding and quarreling on the steps of a house opposite, in the regular firm tread of a policeman, he felt a marching like soldiers, like a sidewheeler going up the Hudson under the Palisades, like an election parade, through long streets towards something tall white full of colonnades and stately. Metropolis.”
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