- William Ellery
Strike-throughWilliam Ellery (December 22, 1727 – February 15, 1820), was a signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence as a representative ofRhode Island .The son of William Ellery, he was born in Newport. He worked first as a merchant, next as a
customs collector, and lastly as Clerk of theRhode Island General Assembly . He started the practice of law in 1770. He was active in the Rhode IslandSons of Liberty , and replacedSamuel Ward , who had died, in theContinental Congress in 1776. He became judge of theSupreme Court of Rhode Island and by 1785 he had become anabolitionist . He was the first customs collector of the port of Newport under the Constitution, serving there until his death. Ellery was buried inCommon Burying Ground and Island Cemetery in Newport. Ellery was among the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.Some of his descendants were
William Ellery Channing ,Richard Henry Dana ,Edie Sedgwick and actressKyra Sedgwick . Ellery Avenue inMiddletown, Rhode Island is named in his honor.Ellery is the 9th great grandfather of a family currently living in BrooklynNew York and parts of New Jersey.References and external links
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=szYEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA153&dq=%22William+Ellery,+the+son%22&as_brr=1 Charles Augustus Goodrich "Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence," (T. Mather, New York: 1840) pg. 153]
*Find A Grave|id=2805
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