Alfred Washington Ellet was born on October 11, 1820, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Charles and Mary Ellet. His family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, around 1824, and he attended school there. He moved to Bunker Hill, Illinois, around 1836 and earned a living as a farmer and a merchant. He married Sarah Jane Robarts on December 3, 1843, and they had at least two children: Edward, born around 1845; and William, born around 1848. By 1850, he owned $5,000 of real estate.

 

On August 20, 1861, he received a commission as a captain in Company I of the 9^th Missouri Infantry, which later became the 59^th Illinois Infantry. According to his service records, he was 6 feet, 1½ inches tall, with brown hair and gray eyes. He took part in the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. In early 1862, his brother Charles Ellet, Jr., created and took command of the United States Ram Fleet, and in April 1862, Ellet was promoted to lieutenant colonel and named second-in-command of the fleet.  He commanded the USS Monarch in the Battle of Memphis in June 1862. That November, he was promoted to brigadier general and charged with creating the Mississippi Marine Brigade. He resigned in 1864 and returned to Illinois.

 

He moved to El Dorado, Kansas, around 1869 and worked as a farmer there. By 1870, he owned $1,800 of real estate. His wife died around 1875, and he married her sister, Abigail Robarts, on May 20, 1878. He applied for a federal pension in August 1892 and eventually secured one. By the 1890s, he was reportedly one of the county’s “wealthiest and most influential citizens.” He died in El Dorado on January 9, 1895.

 

Image: Alfred Washington Ellet (courtesy Wikicommons)

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