George Beckwith Ely
George Beckwith Ely was one of the foremost citizens of Cleveland for many years. His brother Alfred Ely, 15 years his junior, came at a much later day, but was equally well known as a business man of the city. They were the sons of Alfred and Patience Beckwith Ely of Great Barrington, Mass., and Ellsburg, N.Y. George B. Ely came to Cleveland in 1834, at the age of 17 years. He was book-keeper for Pease and Allen, pioneer forwarding merchants on River street, until 1843. About that time, Milan, Ohio, was having a business boom, and Mr. Ely left Cleveland and for a few years was associated in business with John B. Wilbur, then of Milan, but later of Huron, Ohio.
Some time in the early '50's he returned to this city and engaged actively in the coal trade and in railroading. In 1856, he was the treasurer of the Cleveland and Erie Railroad, and his brother Alfred was paymaster of the Pittsburgh Railroad.Mr. George B. Ely married Gertrude S. Harman, born in Oswego, N.Y. Their children were: George Frederick Ely, m. Mattie Keller Helen Ely, m. Ralph Worthington
From The Pioneer Families of Cleveland 1796-1840, vol. 1 by Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham, Evangelical Publishing House, 1914