Alfred Ely

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Alfred Ely.
Alfred Ely.

Alfred Ely (February 15, 1815 – May 18, 1892) was a U.S. Representative from New York.

Born in Lyme, Connecticut, Ely attended the common schools and Bacon Academy at Colchester, Connecticut. He moved to Rochester, New York, in 1835. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. Ely commenced practice in Rochester.

Ely was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1863). He served as chairman of the Committee on Invalid Pensions (Thirty-seventh Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1862. While witnessing the First Battle of Bull Runwas taken a prisoner by the Confederates, and imprisoned in Richmond, Virginia, Libby Prison for nearly six months along with many others including William H. Upham the future 18th Governor of Wisconsin, was captured at the same time, as a private in the Belle City Rifles of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment

In December 1861, Ely was exchanged for Charles James Faulkner , by the latter's own negotiations. At 5:00 AM on Christmas Day Ely was set free from Libby Prison. After Ely's release, D. Appleton & Company of New York published a journal of his experience in Libby Prison in 1862. Thereafter, he resumed the practice of law. He died in Rochester, New York, May 18, 1892. He was interred in the Ely vault in Mount Hope Cemetery.

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