Ely lives with his Loyalist father and Quaker mother in/near York in the opening diaries.  In 1806 he marries.  During his time in Upper Canada, he is a tavern-keeper, farmer, lumberman, lay preacher and Lieutenant in the militia. He participates in the War of 1812 and the siege of York while helping his father farm. In 1824 he is elected to the House of Assembly. He writes of election practices, Whig party politics, and the abolitionist and temperance movements.  The family move to New York in 1826.