Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/348

326 was a member of the National Republican commit- tee from 1872 till 1884. He took an active part in the Chicago convention of 1884 that nominated Jiiines G. Blaine for the presidency. In 1891 he joined Harrison's cabinet as secretary of war.

ELLERY, William, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. in Newport, R. I., 22 Dec, 1727; d. there, 15 Feb., 1820. His father, of the same name, was graduated at Harvard in 1722, be- came a successful merchant in Newport, served successively as judge, senator, and lieutenant- governor of the colony, and died in 1764. The yoTinger Willi;im received his early education mostly from his father, and was graduated at Harvard in 1747. He married in 1750, engaged in business in Newport, and was for some time naval officer of Rhode Island. He began the practice of law in Newport in 1770, liaving served for two years previous as clerk of one of the courts. He was an active patriot, and in May, 1776, was chosen the colleague of Stephen Hopkins, as delegate to the Continental congress, and took his seat on the 14th of that month. He became an influential member of that body, serving on the committee to consider the ways and means of establishing ex- presses between the continental posts, on those on the treasury and on marine affairs, and on the special com- mittee for pur- chasing clothing for the army. During this ses- sion he signed the Declaration of Independence, and he was accus- tomed ,in later years to relate with great vi- vacity the inci- dents connected with that event. " I was deter- mined," he said, " to see how they all looked as they signed what might be their death-warrant. I placed myself beside the secre- tary, Charles Thomson, and eyed each closely as he affixed his name to the document. Undaunted resolution was displayed in every countenance." Mr. Ellery continued a member of the congress till 1786, with the exception of the years 1780 and 1782, and, overcoming his natural diffidence, be- came a ready debater. He was a member of im- portant committees, but did especially good ser- vice on the board of admiralty, where he had much influence, and probably originated the ])la-n of fitting out fire-shiiis at Newport. During the British occupation of Rhode Island, Mr. Ellery 's house was burned and much of his other property injured. In 1779 he was a member of a committee to arrange some diplomatic difficulties among the American commissioners to Europe, and was chairman of a committee to consider means of relieving the distress brought upon the Rhode Islanders by the British occupation. In 1782 he presented to congress a plan for organizing a de- partment of foreign affairs. In 1785 he actively supported Rufus King in his effort to abolish slavery throughout the country, seconding King's resolution to that effect. He was appointed com- missioner of the continental loan-office for Rhode Island in 1786, was for a short period chief justice of the Rhode Island superior court, and from 1790 till his death was collector of Newport, being retained in the office in spite of frequent and frank avowals of political differences with several ad- ministrations. Mr. Ellery was of moderate stat- ure, with a large head and impressive features. He was fond of study and literature and was highly esteemed for his social qualities, being inti- mate with all the distinguished men of his time. He retained the full use of his faculties to the close of his long life, and died holding in his hand a copy of Cicero's " De Officiis," which he had been reading. See a biography of Ellery by his grandson, Edward T. Channing, in Sparks's " American Biography," a^oI. vi., and Goodrich's " Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Inde- pendence." — His nephew, Christopher, senator, b. in Newport. R. I., 1 Nov., 1768; d. there, 2 Dec, 1840, was graduated at Yale in 1787, studied law, and began to practise in his native city. He was elected to the U. S. senate as a Democrat, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ray Green, and served from 7 Dec, 1801, till 8 March, 1805. President Jefferson appointed him commis- sioner of loans at Providence in 1806, and from 1820 till 1834, when the failure of his health caused him to resign, he was collector of customs at New- port. — Christopher's son, Frank, naval officer, b. in Newport, R. I., 23 July, 1794; d. in Castleton, Vt., 24 March, 1871, entered the navy as a mid- shipman on 1 Jan., 1812, and served in the frigate "President " on all her cruises, being wounded in the action with the "Belvidere " by the bursting of the gun at which he was stationed. He received a sword and the thanks of congress for his services on Lake Cham])lain, was in the " Constellation " in the Mediterranean in 1815, at the capture of an Algerine frigate and a Turkish flag-ship, and as- sisted in expelling McGregor's band of adventur- ers from Amelia island, Fla., in 1817, capturing one of their privateers with her prize. He became lieutenant, 28 March, 1820, commanded the " Cy- ane," of the Brazil squadron, in 1827, and was on duty at the Boston and New York rendezvous in 1829-"87. He commanded the steamer " Enter- prise " in 1840, was put on the reserved list, 13 Sept., 1855, commanded the Boston rendezvous again in 1861, and was commissioned commodore on the retired list, 4 April. 1867.

ELLET, Charles, engineer, b. in Penn's ]Manor, Bucks CO., Pa., 1 Jan., 'l810 ; d. in Cairo, 111., 21 June. 1862. He was destined by his father for the life of a farmer, but his inclinations led him to mathematical and engineering pursuits. First as a rodman, then as a volunteer, and subsequently as a paid assistant on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, he soon acquired means to visit Europe, and com- pleted his education in the Ecole polytechnique in Paris. He became an engineer on the Utica and Schenectady railroad, then on the Erie, and subse- quently chief engineer of the James and Kanawha canal. In 1842 he planned and built the fli'st wire suspension bridge in this country, across the Schuylkill river at Philadelphia. He designed and built the railroad suspension bridge across the Niagara river below the falls in 1847, and afterward built a suspension bridge at Wheeling, Va. He then engaged in many important en- gineering works, constructed a remarkable tem- porary track across the Blue Ridge, improved the navigation of the Kanawha I'iver, and aided in laying out the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and in 1846-'7 he was president of the Schuylkill naviga- tion company. He was among the first to advocate the use of steam rams, and suggested a plan to the