Ellwood Family

Learn more about the backgrounds and lives of the Ellwood family. Together they made numerous contributions to barbed wire, the DeKalb community, and beyond.

The Ellwood House Museum has preserved the story of the Ellwood Family from the three generations of the Ellwood family who called these grounds home, to their kids and grandkids.

Isaac and Harriet had seven children, five of which survived to adulthood. Of their five surviving children, only Will and Perry had their own kids. Will, with his wife Jennie, had two daughters, Jean and Elise. Isaac’s youngest son, Perry, had three children with his wife May.

To learn more about the lives of the Ellwoods, navigate through the content below. The three generations highlighted lived in the Ellwood Mansion or Ellcourt before the founding of the museum.

The families highlighted below are listed chronologically from father to eldest to youngest son. Their children are also pictured chronologically.

Vintage portrait of a man with a large mustache, wearing a suit and tie from the early 20th century.

Vintage sepia portrait of a woman with braided hair, wearing a formal dress and earrings.

The tenth of eleven children, Isaac was born in 1833 to Abraham and Sarah Ellwood in Salt Springville, New York. As a teenager, Isaac traveled west in 1851, hoping to make his fortune in the California Gold Rush. He spent four years in California, mostly working as a clerk. By spring of 1855, Isaac had had enough of the west and made his way to DeKalb County, Illinois where several of his siblings had already settled. Isaac found work at the Miller farm, where he met his future wife, Harriet.
Harriet Augusta Miller was born near Kingston, Illinois in 1837. She was educated in a local one-room school house and attended Rockford Seminary, where she would later send her own daughters.
Harriet married Isaac Ellwood in 1859. During the early years of their marriage, Isaac made his living owning a local hardware store. In the early 1870s, everything changed when Isaac attended a local fair with Joseph Glidden and Jacob Haish. At the fair, the idea began for barbed wire. Eventually Ellwood partnered with Glidden, acting as the manufacturer of Glidden’s barbed wire. Due to the fortune he made manufacturing barbed wire, Isaac was able to construct the mansion in 1879.
Both Isaac and Harriet died in 1910. At that time, the Ellwood estate was estimated at between $10,000,000 and $30,000,000. The mansion was given to Perry. The Texas land was given to Will and each Ellwood daughter inherited $1,000,000.

Vintage photo of a man with a mustache, wearing a suit, standing next to an early aircraft model with a propeller.

Vintage portrait of a young woman in formal attire, photographed in a sepia tone. The photo has "Mosher" and "Chicago" inscribed at the bottom.

A historic, ivy-covered brick mansion with a prominent front porch and ornate architectural details, surrounded by trees.

Vintage portrait of a man in formal attire, wearing a top hat, jacket, and waistcoat.

Black and white portrait of a woman with hair in an updo, wearing a high-necked blouse.

Vintage sepia-toned portrait of a man with a mustache, wearing a suit and tie, looking at the camera.

Vintage sepia photograph of a woman with an updo hairstyle, wearing a dress with puffed sleeves.

William Leonard Ellwood was born on November 6, 1859 in DeKalb. He was the oldest child of Isaac and Harriet Ellwood. His formative years were spent in the family’s middle class home located on North Third Street in DeKalb. His father owned a hardware store in downtown DeKalb and also worked occasionally as an auctioneer. Will’s early education was in the town’s public schools.
When Will was fifteen, his father began manufacturing barbed wire. Isaac’s business venture proved to be extremely lucrative and dramatically altered the lives of the Ellwood family. Will’s education was rounded out with private tutors and travel. In 1879, when Will was twenty, the family moved into the opulent mansion on North First Street.
As a young man, Will ventured into different business avenues, but never seems to have taken part in his father’s barbed wire interests. Animal breeding and sales were Will’s most keen interests and in 1882 he began to import horses from France, England, and other countries, focusing on Percheron draft horses. With the support of his father, Will created a massive horse breeding complex on the Ellwood estate called Ellwood Green.
Later, Isaac put Will in charge of his extensive west Texas land holdings and Will spent more time in Texas managing the Ellwood ranches.
On June 29, 1883, Will married Jennie M. Allen of DeKalb. By 1885 the couple were having a large brick home constructed for them down the street from Isaac and Harriet’s mansion. (Will’s home has since been torn down, but would have stood across from the museum at the corner of N. First and Augusta)
The couple had two daughters, Jessie Jean, born August 22, 1884 and Harriet Elise, born May 15, 1886. The girls were more commonly known as Jean and Elise. In 1910, Will’s parents both passed away and Will and Jennie decided to sell their own home and buy Perry’s house (Ellcourt) for $22,000. They extensively remodeled the house and by 1912 were moved into their new home.

Vintage portrait of a young girl with long, curly hair, wearing a patterned dress with lace sleeves, holding a doll.

Vintage photograph of a young girl with long hair, wearing a plaid and lace dress, looking off-camera.

Vintage photograph of W.L. Ellwood's residence in DeKalb, Illinois, featuring a large, historic house with a porch, surrounded by trees and a pathway leading to it.

Vintage portrait of a man with a mustache wearing a suit and tie, early 20th century style.

Vintage portrait of a woman in a high-necked lace dress with a floral embellishment, against a dark background.

Erwin Perry Ellwood, better known as Perry or E.P., was Isaac and Harriet’s youngest child and second surviving son. Born August 10, 1874, Perry spent most of his formative years growing up in the Ellwood mansion and enjoying the privileges of great wealth.
He made his career in banking, starting out at the First National Bank of DeKalb as an assistant cashier. By 1903, Perry became president of the bank.
Perry invested in many area businesses and was a large land holder in DeKalb County. Besides banking, Perry also spent time managing the holdings and estate of his father. Upon the death of his parents in 1910, Perry inherited the mansion along with landholdings in Texas.
LuLu May Gurler, generally known as May, was the daughter of Henry B. Gurler, a prominent dairyman of DeKalb. As a promising vocalist, May was given private musical training. She even sang light opera in Chicago prior to her marriage!
May and Perry Ellwood were married on September 6, 1898. As a wedding gift, they received the Tudor style home next to the mansion (today’s Ellcourt). The couple had three children–Isaac Leonard Ellwood II, Patience Allen Gurler Ellwood, and John Fiske Ellwood. Beyond spending time managing the education and care of her children, May’s interests including travel, horseback riding, gardening, needlework, volunteer work, and, of course, music.
After Perry’s death in 1943, May continued living in the Ellwood Mansion. Shortly before her own death in 1964, May and her three children gifted the Ellwood Mansion to the DeKalb Park District for use as a historical museum.