Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 11, 1860.
Col. Ellsworth, of the United States Chicago Zouaves. In our paper of the 28th July we gave a short biography of this admirable specimen of an American soldier-citizen, and have now merely to repeat that he is a native of New York, and in his twenty-second year. In presenting his portrait to our readers, we trust it may prove an incentive to our young men to follow his praiseworthy example, and, like him, scorn enervating delights and live laborious days, thus forming the foundation of a manly and, Republican character. Our picture is an admirable resemblance to one, who, although only just out of his teens, has already earned an honorable name among his fellow-men.
Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth was a law clerk and United States Army soldier who was the first conspicuous casualty and the first Union officer to die in the American Civil War. He was killed while removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the Marshall House inn in Alexandria, Virginia.
Born as Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth in Malta, New York, Ellsworth grew up in Mechanicville, New York, and later moved to New York City. In 1854, he moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he worked for a patent agency. In 1859, he became engaged to Carrie Spafford, the daughter of a local industrialist and city leader. When Carrie’s father demanded that he find more suitable employment, he moved to Chicago to study law and work as a law clerk.
In 1860, Ellsworth moved to Springfield, Illinois, to work with Abraham Lincoln. Studying law under Lincoln, he also helped with Lincoln’s 1860 campaign for president, and accompanied the new elected president to Washington, D.C. Ellsworth stood 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) tall; the six-foot-four Lincoln called him “the greatest little man I ever met”.
(Wikipedia), accessed 5-10-20