Oliver Ellsworth was born on April 29, 1745, in Windsor, Connecticut, the son of Captain David Ellsworth and Jemima Leavitt Ellsworth. He was one of several children in a prosperous farming family descended from early New England settlers. The household combined agricultural work, Congregational religion, and participation in town affairs. His father’s militia title and local standing exposed Oliver to the expectation that property-owning men should accept civic responsibility. Ellsworth received stronger schooling than most rural boys and entered Yale College in 1762. After two years he transferred to the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, where he graduated in 1766. Princeton’s president, the Reverend John Witherspoon, emphasized moral philosophy, rhetoric, Presbyterian theology, and resistance to political corruption. Although Ellsworth did not become a clergyman, this training helped shape the disciplined reasoning and religious seriousness evident throughout his life. After graduation he taught school and studied theology, apparently considering the ministry. He eventually chose law instead and read under established Connecticut attorneys. Legal apprenticeship required mastery of English common law, colonial statutes, pleading, and land practice. Ellsworth was admitted to the bar in 1771 and began work in Windsor before building a more successful practice in Hartford. In 1772 he married Abigail Wolcott, daughter of Abigail Abbot and William Wolcott. Their marriage joined two substantial Connecticut families and eventually produced nine children. Ellsworth’s household remained deeply religious, and he balanced professional ambition with farming and family responsibilities. Before he became a Revolutionary legislator, constitutional framer, senator, and chief justice, Ellsworth had followed no single predetermined path. He moved from a Connecticut farm to two colleges, considered the ministry, taught school, and then entered law. Family discipline, Congregational and Presbyterian intellectual culture, classical education, practical apprenticeship, and early marriage gave him the combination of local rootedness and broad learning that later made him effective in both state and national government.