Gue, B.F. Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men of
Iowa. Des Moines:
Conaway &
Shaw Publishers, 1899.
Ormsby, Col. Edwin S.,of Emmetsburg, is the pioneer banker of
Palo Alto county. He also has the distinction of being the first national bank president in the county. His parents were born in
Massachusetts. The father, Lysander
Ormsby, is still living in
Deerfield,
Mich., and is 82 years of age. The ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides were prominent New
England families and each branch was represented in the Lake
Erie or
Toledo war. A great-grandfather, Nathaniel
Ormsby, was killed in the revolutionary war. They emigrated to
Michigan about 1840, and there, on a farm in
Monroe county, Edwin S. was born April 17, 1842. His early education was acquired in a little log schoolhouse that stood in the timber near his home. When he had reached his eighteenth year he responded to the call for troops to defend the integrity of the nation, and on September 21, 1861, was made a “high private in the rear ranks” of the Eighth
Michigan Volunteer infantry. Having served out the term of enlistment he was, in 1863, discharged, but he immediately proceeded to raise a company and in 1863 again took the field, this time with the First
Michigan Engineer corps, receiving his discharge October 1, 1865. He then engaged in insurance for a time, then conducted a general merchandise business, but finally disposed of the last named to enter upon a study of the law. Since that time he has been engaged constantly in banking, law and real estate, a portion of the time in
Michigan, but since 1872 in Emmetsburg. He is a strong advocate of republicanism. His father assisted in the organization of that party and the son regards it as representing those principles which, if put in practice, will result in the greatest good to the whole people. He was the mayor of Emmetsburg at the time of incorporation and had much to do with the readjustment of assessments made necessary thereby. Because of the interest he at all times manifests in school affairs, he has been called upon to serve on the board of education, acting at times as its president. He is at present one of the trustees of
Cornell college. Colonel
Ormsby has been one of the recognized leaders of the republican party in
Iowa for many years, and has been mentioned for the governorship and other offices. He is actively identified with the Republican
League, and was a delegate from
Iowa to the national convention in Detroit in July, 1897. He has recently added to his business a new bank, known as the Farmers Savings bank, of which he is president. For thirty years he has been active in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a high order
Mason and member of the society of the
Sons of the American Revolution. He was married July 4, 1862, to Miss Mary A. Bateman, an accomplished and most estimable lady. They have had three children, only one of whom is living. She is the wife of George [p.333] J. Consigny, of Emmetsburg. The grandchildren are Venita
Ormsby, and Reginald
Ormsby Consigny.