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).
The son of Benjamin Ellery, William Ellery was bor...
more
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).
The son of Benjamin 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. Ellery also served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and by 1785 he had become an abolitionist. He was the first customs collector of the...
less
