Ellsworth C. Warner (1884-1942), an Iowa linseed miller, founded the Midland Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1900. Warner was joined in the venture by his in-law Edgar C. Bisbee (1871-1975), a member of a wealthy Chicago linseed-oil-family. In 1890, Warner married Edgar Bisbee’s sister, Francis Melvina "Mellie" Bisbee (1864-1953). Throughout the first decade of the twentieth century the Midland Company continued to expand until 1911 when it was reincorporated as the Midland Linseed Products Company. At the time of incorporation Warner’s company was capitalized at $10 million. Midland Linseed products began to falter in 1921 when the Bisbee family members split with Warner over his acrimonious divorce from Mellie Bisbee. The Bisbees departure destabilized Midlands upper management severely enough to precipitate the company’s sale to the newly formed Archers-Daniels-Midland Company.

As of the divorce settlement, Warner gave over $1 million to Mellie Bisbee. In 1929, still unsatisfied with the previous settlement, Mellie Bisbee sued her ex-husband over a $2,200 inheritance that she claimed was seed money for nearly $5 million worth in oil mill investments. She sought a settlement of over $100,000. Unfortunately, the outcome of the suit is not recorded in the collection.

Ellsworth Warner and his first wife, Mellie Bisbee had four sons, Ellsworth Bisbee "Bis" Warner (1891-1981), Maurice A. Warner (1894-1953), Harold L. Warner (1896-1966), and Wendell E. Warner(1901-1981). In 1930, Warner married Roslyn Allen (1869-1954). Warner continued to work in the linseed oil business until his death in 1942.