Background
The second son of William Ellery, Sr. and Elizabeth Almy (she a descendant of Thomas Cornell), William Ellery was born in Newport on December 2, 1727.
judge List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island
The second son of William Ellery, Sr. and Elizabeth Almy (she a descendant of Thomas Cornell), William Ellery was born in Newport on December 2, 1727.
In 1747 William Ellery graduated from Harvard College where he had excelled in Greek and Latin.
Neither Ellery nor Stiles accepted appointment to the reserved Congregationalist seats on the board of trustees. He received his early education from his father, a merchant and Harvard College graduate. Ellery returned to Newport where he worked first as a merchant, next as a customs collector, and then as Clerk of the Rhode Island General Assembly.
Ellery started practicing law in 1770 at the age of 43 and became 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.
In terms of square inches, the size of Ellery's signature on the Declaration of Independence was second to only John Hancock's famous signature. Ellery was also a signer of the Articles of Confederation. 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 port of Newport under the Constitution, serving there until his death. After his death on February 15, 1820 at age 92, Ellery was buried in Common Burial Ground in Newport. The Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the Revolution and the William Ellery Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution makes an annual commemoration at his grave on July 4.
William Ellery was married to Ann Remington and to Abigail Cary in 1767.