Final answer:
Without specific context about Ellie and her family, it's challenging to determine Ellie's grandfather's exact business. However, historical contexts suggest that part-time textile manufacturing was common among farming families. This could imply that Ellie's grandfather was in textile manufacturing, but the answer is not definitive without additional information.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine what kind of business Ellie's grandfather was in, one must consider various historical contexts. Textile manufacturing was a prevalent industry during the Industrial Revolution, where factories in New England and later in the South played a significant role due to the availability of waterfalls, cheap labor, and proximity to cotton farms.
However, mining was also a crucial industry, particularly in the West, with the Klondike gold rush and coal mining being notable. Farming has been an enduring part of American history, and it was common for farming families to engage in part-time production of goods such as textiles, furniture, and pottery.
Given these historical businesses, if we have no context or additional information about Ellie's grandfather specifically, it is challenging to narrow down the options to one choice.
However, if we consider the hints in the referenced texts talking about the commonality of part-time textile manufacturing on farms, and since this is a history-related answer, we could infer a connection that might suggest option A, Textile manufacturing, being related to Ellie's grandfather's business. It's important to note that without specific information about Ellie herself and her family's history, this remains a hypothesis.