Adrian John Ebell

Who was Adrian John Ebell?

Adrian John Ebell, was born in Jaffnapatam on the Island of Ceylon, the son of Henry T. and Mary Ebell, of English and Dutch ancestry. When about ten years of age, he was sent to the United States with an older sister to be educated. After preparatory school he entered Yale University in 1858. He then taught music in New Haven, Connecticut, and in Chicago, and then moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota, and took some noted photographs. He served for a short time in the Indian war in Minnesota with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He wrote an article in June 1863 in Harper's Magazine titled "The Indian Massacres and War of 1862", which included the famous photograph "People escaping from the Indian massacre of 1862 in Minnesota, at dinner on a prairie". He then returned to Yale and graduated at the Scientific School in 1866 with a PhD.

He afterwards studied medicine at the Albany Medical College, graduating M.D. in 1869. In the meantime he had begun to lecture before schools and lyceums on natural science.