 The
Sherman Courier
Wednesday, August 15, 1917 pg. 8 Fiftieth Anniversary Edition  The late Captain L.F. Ely came to Texas in 1846, when 17 years of age, from Overton County, Tennessee. His first work in Grayson County was splitting rails, just south of Sherman. From that he went to work in a brick yard which was the beginning of his career as a contractor and builder and a very large number of the brick structures now in Sherman were built by Capt. Ely, including the present Court House, which he erected in 1875 Capt. Ely entered the service of the Confederacy as a second lieutenant in October 1861 in Company C, Ninth Texas Infantry under Colonel Sam Bell Maxey and the following spring there being a vacancy he was elected Captain of his company by a vote of his men. Returning to Sherman after the war, Capt. Ely resumed his trade and became financially independent. He established the jewelry business now conducted by his two sons, Silas and Will, in 1879. He passed away at his home in this city, July 24, 1913, respected and loved by all who knew him. The Sherman Courier Wednesday, August 15, 1917 pg. 28 Fiftieth Anniversary Edition Public confidence is the corner stone and chief asset of every business, and especially is this true of the Jewelry business, and no business in Sherman enjoys public confidence to a greater degree than L.F. Ely & Sons. This business was established in 1879 by the late Captain L.F. Ely and George Cook of this city and was for many years conducted under the name of Ely and Cook. Later Captain Ely became the sole propreitor and when his sons, Silas and Will, grew to manhood, they came into the business and the name was changed to L.F. Ely & Sons. It is a general saying that a man never known any people so well as those with whom he is raised and it is an axiom that a man never knows any business so well as the one in which he was raised. Silas and Will Ely, upon the demise of their father, succeeded to the business, continuing under the name of L.F. Ely & Sons, and they have today located at 118 North Travis street one of the best jewelry stores in North Texas, in which can be found everything carried in first-class modern jewelry stores. The Ely brothers are not only business men, applying modern business methods based on public service as first consideration, but their superior knowledge of the business enables them to render a service not possible by those less learned in the business. They are not only judges of the grades and value of all precious metals used in the jewelry business, but they both understand the mechanism of watches and the art of jewely manufacture to the degree which only those who begin in childhood ever attain and Silas and Ely enjoy the reputation of being one of the best judges of diamonds and diamond value of any man today in the business. The Ely Brothers extend to those who attend the Fortieth Annual Old Settlers Reunion a sincere welcome and invite their friends, and especially the friends of their father, to make their store a resting place and headquarters while in the city. Sherman History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |