Ely Hart (1796 - 1871)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Ely's lifetime.

In 1812, Ely was 16 years old when on July 12th, the United States invaded Canada at Windsor, Ontario during the War of 1812 against the British. General Hull lead the invasion and was defeated - on August 16th, Hull surrendered the city of Detroit to English forces.

In 1820, she was 24 years old when volcano Mount Rainier, near Tacoma and Seattle, erupted. Between 1820 and 1894, there were at least 14 eruptions reported - most of them probably just ash and dust clouds.

In 1837, she was 41 years old when on January 26th, Michigan became the 26th state admitted to the United States. Previously part of the Northwest Territory, the area bordered four of the five Great Lakes. The Erie Canal opened up the area, bringing settlers and therefore statehood.

In 1867, Ely was 71 years old when on March 1st, Nebraska became the 37th state in the United States. Due to the Homestead Act, settlers had flooded into the area and the first wave of settlers was so large that Nebraska was immediately able to apply for statehood.

In 1871, in the year of Ely Hart's passing, on October 8th, 4 major fires started on the shores of Lake Michigan - in Chicago (Illinois), Peshtigo (Wisconsin), Holland (Michigan) and Manistee (Michigan). The Chicago fire is the most well known of them because it left almost 100,000 people homeless. But the Peshtigo Fire killed around 2,500 people. The casualty count made it the deadliest fire in US history.