William Ellery

Signature of William Edgey written in elegant cursive script.
Black and white portrait of an elderly woman with glasses, wearing a dark jacket and light-colored blouse.

BORN - December 2, 1727, in Newport, RI.  Parents (English ancestry) - William Ellery Sr. (b1701-d1764) and Elizabeth Almy Ellery (b1703-d1783).  Six Children – Abigail Ellery 1 (b1723-d1726, age 3), Benjamin Ellery (b1724-d1797), William Ellery (b1727-d1820), Abigail Ellery (b1729-d1729, as infant), Ann Ellery (b1732-___), Christopher Ellery (b1736-d1789).    

DIED - February 15, 1820(1820-02-15) (aged 92), in Newport, RI.  At the time of his death he was sitting in his chair reading De Officiis.  It is an essay by Marcus Tullius Cicero which describes his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe moral obligations.  Religion – Congregationalist (Puritan).  Buried – He was initially buried in the Coggeshall Cemetery at the corner of Victoria and Coggeshall Avenues in Newport.  He was later reburied in a tomb in the Common Burying Ground on Farewell Street.

APPEARANCE –  The picture above is the portrait of William Ellery (age ___) painted by Samuel Waugh in 1876, based on the image in the earlier painting by John Trumbull titled “Declaration of Independence”.  Five feet tall, chubby, balding, and nearsighted.  Known as a gentle and kindly man.  At the signing, it has been reported that Benjamin Harrison, a large man, said to the thin-framed Ellery, “I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Ellery, when we are all hung for what we are now doing.  From the size and weight of my body, I shall die quickly, but from your lightness of body, you will dance for some time before you are dead.” (In other versions of this story, Elbridge Gerry, another smallish delegate with a slight build, plays the part of William Ellery)

FAMILY – Married – Ann Remington (b1723-d1764) in 1750.  Nine Children – Elizabeth Ellery Dana (b1751-d1807), Lucy Remington Ellery Channing (b1752-d1834), Edmund Trowbridge Ellery 1 (b1754-___), Ann Ellery (b1755-d1834), William Ellery 1 (b1757-___), Almy Ellery Stedman (b1759-d1839), William Ellery 2 (b1761-d1836), Edmund Trowbridge Ellery 2 (b1763-d1847), Francis Dana Ellery (___).  His wife Ann died in 1764.  Married - Abigail Cary (b1742-d1793) in 1767.  Ten Children (five surviving to adulthood) - Abigail Ellery 1 (b1768-d1768, as infant),  Nathaniel Ellery (b1769-d1839), John Wilkins Ellery (b1770-d1770, as infant), Abigail Ellery 2 (b1772-d1772, as infant), Ruth Champlin Ellery 1 (b1773-d1777, age 4), Susanna Kent Ellery (b1775-d1828), Philadelphia Ellery (b1776-d1856), Ruth Champlin Ellery 2 (b1779-d1779, as infant), Mehetable Redwood Ellery Anthony (b1784-d1832) George Wanton Ellery (b1789-d1867).    

OCCUPATION – MERCHANT, LAWYER, LEGISLATOR, DEPUTY GOVERNOR, JUDGE.  Graduated from Harvard College (now Harvard University) in 1747.  Worked as a merchant for 20 years.  Deputy Governor of Rhode Island from 1748 to 1750.  Became a lawyer in 1769.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Rhode Island, replacing Samuel Ward who died from smallpox on and off from 1776 to 1785.  Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1785 to 1786.  Collector of Customs for Newport, RI, from 1790 until his death in 1820.   

AT SIGNING – Age 50 at signing.  He wrote the following about this famous event - ”I was determined to see how they all looked as they signed what might be their death warrant I placed myself beside the Secretary Charles Thomson and eyed each closely as he affixed each name to the document.  Undaunted resolution was displayed in every countenance.” 

AFTER SIGNING –  Continued to service in Congress in Philadelphia, on and off, until 1785.  Spent heavily on the war from his personal fortune.  Newport occupied by the British in 1776.  His home and much of the town was burned to the ground.  Member of the Continental Congress, on and off, until 1785.  Important people usually traveled by carriage.  Ellery preferred to travel by horse, and became known as the "Congressman on Horseback". 

HISTORIC SITES

Gravesite – Common Burying Ground, Newport, RI (1640).  Located on Farewell Street, Newport, RI 02840, Phone 401-846-0432, Website www.newporthistorical.org.

Newport Home – Commemorative Plaque (The house no longer exists).  Located at 92 Division Street, Newport, RI 02840, across the street from the William Ellery Park, the site of the Tree of Liberty.  

Church – Clarke Street Meeting House (also known as the Second Congregational Church of Newport), Newport, RI 02840 (1735).  Located at 15 Clarke Street, Newport, RI 02840.  William Ellery was a member of the church. 

State House – Old Colony House, Newport, RI (1741).  Located at Washington Square, Newport, RI 02840, Phone 401-846-2980, Website www.newporthistorical.org.  Served as the seat of the Rhode Island Legislator and courthouse.

A grave with a flat stone headstone, surrounded by a black metal fence, with an American flag placed beside it, situated in a green grassy area.

Gravesite of William Ellery, Common Burying Ground, Newport, RI (1640).

Located on Farewell Street, Newport, RI 02840, Phone 401-846-0432, Website www.newporthistorical.org.