George Ela, the namesake of Ela Township, was among the first nonnative settlers in the area, building his first home in 1835 in Dear Grove (which today is the north side of Inverness, which also claims him as a native son.)
He was a storekeeper, a farmer, a postmaster, and state legislator, all before 1860.
Born iin Lebanon, N.H., on Jan. 17, 1805, he was 30 when he ventured west, giving up a business "spiritous liquors."
Ela reportedly left Deer Grove in 1841 and moved to Serryse, roughly at Quentin and Rand roads, one of several small communities that had sprung up by the 1840s, now entirely forgotten -- Muttersholtz, Flint Creek, Serryse and Gilmer.
Ela is himself credited with changing the name of Serryse to Ela, but by 1894, this community had disappeared and its post office closed.
His house became the postmaster's office, but when he was first appointed is not clear -- some accounts say 1844; others say 1852; and a document called "Appointments of U.S. Postmasters 1832-1971" says he was appointed March 29, 1858. Possibly that was a reappointment.
Ela ran as a Democrat and was elected to the 15th Illinois General Assembly, which sat 1846-1848. Interesting side note: His general assembly passed the law that elected future legislators by defined districts, making the 15th the last "at large" assembly.
In 1850, when the township was formed and a name selected, Ela was the choice.
Ela also ran a store out of his residence, which he moved into Barrington proper in 1854 when the Chicago & North Western took his land for the railroad. He first moved his house/store to the south side of Main Street, just east of the railroad, and later moved to the northwest corner of Northwest Highway and Klingenberg Lane.
Ela Married the recently arrived Caroline Elizabeth Hazeltine in 1870, when he was 65 years old and she 38. He died Dec. 12 1882 at age 77 and is buried in evergreen Cemetery; Caroline was 81 when she died in 1914.