Whakamahia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I hoki ia ki New York ki te haere ki te Whare Wānanga o Cherry Valley. I mua i tana paetahi, ka neke ia ki Glenville, i New York ki te whakahaere i tetahi wheketere. I hiahia a Ellwood ki te whakatipu i te paraoa paraoa me te whakahaere i tetahi pakihi paraoa angitu, e mahi ana i nga tangata 130. I marenatia ia ki a Eleanor Vedder i te 1849; e ono a raua tamariki. He mema ia o te New York State Assembly (Schenectady Co.) i te tau 1851 hei Whig. I whakaingoatia a Ellwood hei kaitono ki te
1856 Republican National Convention, te rōpū e tohu ia ki mo te toenga o tona ora. I hoki ia ki Sycamore i te tau 1857, i uru atu ki te tauhokohoko taputapu, ina koa ko nga miihini ahuwhenua. I haumi ia ki ngā kaihanga taputapu pāmu o te rohe, a, ka noho ia hei tangata whai rawa rawa i te rohe. I haere tonu a Ellwood i ana wawata torangapu hei Kaitohutohu a te US mo te 4th Congressional District o Illinois te koromatua tuatahi o Sycamore.