Ellen Hardin Walworth (1832 – 1915) founded both the national and Saratoga Springs chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was the only woman to serve as a trustee of the Saratoga Battle Monument Association.
More than 100 years later, her efforts to preserve the history of Saratoga Springs, its residents, and the connections to the American Revolution are still evident and her impact reaches far beyond the city including the preservation of Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Virginia.
Her life also had a darker side. In 1847, during the Mexican War, her father John Hardin was killed in the Battle of Buena Vista.
Walworth’s husband was a violent misogynist who physically assaulted her. In 1861, she separated from him and moved with her children to near Louisville, Kentucky. After several failed attempts to reconcile, she went to Washington, DC, in 1868 and secured a government clerkship.
Walworth tried reconciling one last time after she lost her job, but she left him permanently in January 1871 after he physically assaulted her while she was pregnant with their daughter. She returned to Saratoga Springs and obtained a “limited divorce.”
After the divorce, Mansfield Walworth continued to threaten his former wife. After failed attempts by family members to intervene on her behalf, on June 3, 1873 her oldest son Frank shot his father to death in a hotel room in the city of New York.
After a widely publicized trial that included Ellen Walworth testifying on behalf of her son, Frank was sentenced to life in prison on July 5, 1873 and began serving his sentence in Sing Sing.
Following the conviction, Walworth devoted herself to securing his release, including studying law to gain the knowledge needed to overturn his conviction.
Among those who aided her were John Morrissey, who wrote to Governor Samuel Tilden from Saratoga on December 29, 1876: “on behalf of the son of Mrs. Walworth, to ask your Executive Clemency for him, if there is any possible way you can do it, consistent with your duty.”
In August 1877, New York Governor Robinson pardoned Frank Walworth on the grounds that the prisoner was not legally responsible for the crime due to insanity.
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation will host Corinne Scirocco and Heather Mabee, officers of the Saratoga Springs Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, on Thursday, March 21 at 7 pm, EST, for the virtual program “Ellen Hardin Walworth: Private to Public Life.”
This program will take place on Zoom for a suggested donation of $10 or more. For additional information or to register for the virtual program visit www.saratogapreservation.org or call (518) 587-5030.
Everyone who pre-registers for this program will be emailed a Zoom link in advance and will receive a link to the recording.
Founded in 1977, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the preservation and enhancement of the architectural, cultural, and landscaped heritage of Saratoga Springs.
Illustrations, from above: Ellen Hardin Walworth (1832-1915) from American Women Fifteen Hundred Biographies with Over 1,400 Portraits; “The Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution,” a 1929 marble sculpture by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney located beside DAR Constitution Hall, headquarters for the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, DC.
