Ellen Walworth was born on October 20, 1832, in Jacksonville, Illinois.  When she was about 12 years old her father, John Hardin, became a United States Congressman.  In 1846 Mr. Hardin entered the army to fight against Mexico and was killed while leading his regiment at the battle of Buena Vista.  The family continued to live in Jacksonville until 1851 when Mrs. Walworth’s mother married the Honorable Reuben Hyde Walworth and moved the family to Saratoga Springs, New York. 

Mrs. Walworth earned her law degree at New York University and was entitled to practice before the Court of New York and the District of Columbia.  In 1852 she married Mansfield Tracy Walworth, her stepfather’s youngest son.  Mrs. Walworth opened her home as a boarding and day school after her husband’s death in 1873.  The school’s success required her eventually to remodel and enlarge the facilities.  Mrs. Walworth continued to live on the property year round until finally the cold New York winters affected her health and she began to make her home in Washington, DC, in winter. 

One of Mrs. Walworth's earliest public efforts was her moving plea to the members of her local community to contribute to the fund to renovate George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, in Alexandria, Virginia.  Mrs. Walworth wrote constantly on patriotic and historic subjects.  She was an authority on the battlefields of Saratoga and also published an account of the Burgoyne campaign.  She served as director-general of the Woman’s National War Relief Association of 1898.  Mrs. Walworth was the first editor of the official publication of the NSDAR, the American Monthly Magazine, serving from the spring of 1892 until July 1894.  Ellen Walworth died on June 23, 1915, and was laid to rest in the family lot at Green Ridge, near Saratoga, New York.

For more information about the Founders, visit the Four Founders Online Exhibition.

Archives mega Menu Title

DAR Americana Collection and NSDAR Archives

Committees

Member Resources

Forms & Publications

Genealogy

Giving to the DAR

What Our Founders Built, We Must Preserve

Upcoming Events

Marian Anderson
Honoring Marian Anderson

Learn more about the relationship between Marian Anderson and the DAR.

Library Mega Menu Title

DAR Library

Member Resources Mega Menu Title

Member Resources

Museum Mega Menu Title

DAR Museum

Museum Mega Menu Title

DAR Museum

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution

Shopping Cart

Your shopping cart is empty.

Shopping

Upcoming Events

  • Esther Perel
    - 8:00 PM
  • Heilung
    - 8:00 PM
  • John Mellencamp
    - 8:00 PM
  • Women’s History Costume Party
  • Crystal Bowl Sound Bath
  • Tuesday Talk—The Art and Story of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz
Women of Resilence
Women of Resilience

DAR members selflessly dedicated themselves to the war relief effort of World War I

Learn how DAR members selflessly and tirelessly dedicated themselves to the war relief effort of World War I

Find special initiative opportunities for every interest and every budget!