William Ellery

William Ellery

Ellery's signature

William Ellery (December 22, 1727 – February 15, 1820), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island. In 1764, Ellery joined Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward and several others as an original fellow or trustee for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the original name for Brown University).[1]

[edit] Biography

The son of William Ellery, William Ellery was born in Newport. He worked first as a merchant, next as a customs collector, and lastly as Clerk of the Rhode Island General Assembly. Ellery started the practice of law in 1770 and was active in the Rhode Island Sons of Liberty. After Samuel Ward's death in 1776, Ellery replaced Ward in the Continental Congress. Ellery was among the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He became judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and by 1785 he had become an abolitionist. He was the first customs collector of the port of Newport under the Constitution, serving there until his death. Ellery was buried in Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery in Newport. ^[1]

His descendants include William Ellery Channing, Richard Henry Dana, Sr., Edie Sedgwick, Grace, Emily, Charlotte, and Amy Loring, and Kyra Sedgwick. Ellery Avenue in Middletown, Rhode Island is named in his honor.

William Ellery's grave inscription

Site of Ellery's house in Newport on Thames Street near his burial site