Ellery, William, 1727-1820
Variant namesBiographical notes:
Addressee is Commissioner at the Rev. Mr. Marshall's.
From the description of Letter, 1783, September 1, Philadelphia, to Benjamin Stelle, Philadelphia. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122529391
Representative to U.S. Continental Congress and signer of Declaration of Independence, of Newport, R.I.
From the description of William Ellery autograph letter signed, 1780. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 273925427
William Ellery was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on December 22, 1727. After graduating from Harvard College in 1747, Ellery returned to Newport and established himself as a merchant. As his financial success increased, Ellery became involved in politics, soon establishing himself as a local leader of the Sons of Liberty. By 1769, he had taken up the legal profession, and in March 1776 the Rhode Island Assembly chose Ellery to succeed the deceased Samuel Ward as a member of the Continental Congress. Ellery signed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 and later served on the Congressional Board of Admiralty. Following the American Revolution, Ellery returned to Newport as a merchant and lawyer, and was appointed a customs collector by George Washington in 1790. Ellery died on February 5, 1820. He had two wives and fathered sixteen children.
From the guide to the William Ellery account and letter book, Ellery, William account and letter book, 1751-1773, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
William Ellery was the First Customs Collector for the port in Newport, Rhode Island.
From the description of Letter to LeRoy Bayard and M. Evers, 1806 Ootober 4. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155866602
Rhode Island jurist, member of Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
From the description of ALS : Newport, R.I., to Benjamin Bourne, 1792 Oct. 22. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122645475
Declaration of Independence signer from Rhode Island.
From the description of Letter to James Madison and portrait, 1804 January 19 and n.d. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 55227944
This volume was prepared by William Ellery, perhaps William Ellery (1759- ), son of Elias and Elizabeth Ellery, who was a sea captain living in Charlestown, Mass.
From the description of Navigational notes, 1774. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259320
Jurist and delegate to the U.S. Continental Congress from Rhode Island.
From the description of William Ellery letter, 1784. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70983930
Elected to Continental Congress, 1776-1785; Judge, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, circa 1778-?; First Collector, port of Newport, ?-1820.
From the description of William Ellery autograph and letter fragment, 1811 January 14. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 642169786
Wlliam Ellery (1727-1820), the second son of William Ellery Sr. and Elizabeth Almy, was born on December 22, 1727, in Newport, Rhode Island. Ellery graduated from Harvard College in 1747 and returned to Newport to work first as a merchant, later as a customs collector, and then as the clerk of the court of common pleas of Newport County in 1768-1769. At the age of forty three, Ellery studied law and passed the bar and immediately began to practice in Newport in 1770. In May 1776, Ellery was selected as the Rhode Island delegate for the Continental Congress, filling the vacancy left by the death of Samuel Ward (1725-1776). Ellery remained in this position until 1785, during which time he was among one of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Ellery became a justice of the Rhode Island State Supreme Court in 1785 and was later appointed by the Continental Congress as the commissioner of the Continental Loan Office in 1786. William Ellery served as the first collector of the port of Newport under the new United States Constitution from 1790 until his death in 1820. William Ellery died on February 18, 1820, and is buried in the Common Burial Ground in Newport.
From the guide to the William Ellery letter, Ellery (William) letter, 1798, (Redwood Library and Athenaeum)
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Subjects:
- African American consumers
- Arithmetic
- Collecting of accounts
- Customs administration
- Debts, Public
- Depreciation
- General stores
- Navigation
- Pennsylvania
- Privateering
- Representatives, U.S. Continental Congress
- Shipping
- Vegetable gardening
- Wharves
Occupations:
- Delegates, U.S. Continental Congress
- Jurists
- Physicians
Places:
- Newport (R.I.) (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Rhode Island (as recorded)
- Rhode Island (as recorded)
- Rhode Island (as recorded)
- Connecticut--Hartford (as recorded)
- North America (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Rhode Island (as recorded)
- Rhode Island (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
