Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/441

 ELLERY

ELLET

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ELLERY, William, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Newport, R.I., Dec. 23, 1727; son of WiUiam Ellery (1703-64), a grad- uate of Harvard, 1723, a merchant, judge, assist- ant and deputy govei'nor of the province of Rliode Island; and grandson of Capt. Benjamin Ellery, who removed from Gloucester, Mass., to Newport and was as- sistant in 1741 under Governor Ward. Wil- liam was graduated at Harvard in 1747, became a merchant in Newport, naval officer of the colony, one of the incorpora- tors of Rhode Island college in 1764, and clerk of the general assembly, 1769-70. He became a lawyer in 1770, was a member of the committee of safety, 1775-76, of the committee of investigation, of the committee of military defences, and of a commit- tee to bear a memorial to Washington at Cam- bridge. On the death of Gov. Samuel Ward, delegate to congress, he was chosen to fill the va- cancy, and took his seat May 14, 1776, the colleague of Stephen Hopkins. He affixed his name to the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, and remained in the congress until 1781. He was re- elected in 1782 and served his second term, 1783- 85. He was a member of the marine committee and subsequently of the board of admiralty. On leaving congress at the end of 1775 lie found his home burned by the British soldiers, his treas- ures destroyed, and his native town, Newport, almost ruined. In April, 1786, he was elected by congress, loan commissioner for the state of Rhode Island, and in Jime, 1790, was appointed by President Washington collector of U.S. customs at Newport, retaining the later office till his death. He was married in 1750 to Ann, daughter of the Hon. Jonathan Remington of Cambridge, Mass. She died Sept. 7, 1764, aged 39, and his second wife, Abigail, died July 27, 1793, aged 51 years. His daughter Lucy was the mother of Dr. William EUery Channing. He died in NeVv'port, R.I., Feb. 15, 1820.

ELLET, Alfred W., soldier, was born at Penn's Manor, Bucks county. Pa. ; son of Charles Ellet, a prosperous farmer. He worked on the farm, and attended the neighboring schools and Bristol academy where he studied civil engineer- ing. He worked with his brother Charles Ellet, Jr., on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, on the James river and Kanawha canal, on suspension bridges over the Schuylkill, the Niagara and the

Ohio rivers, and in laying out the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. In 1861 when his brother was sent west by the war department to purchase vessels and convert them into rams, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of engineers and ordered to co- operate with him in this project. When they had completed their fleet at Cincinnati they steamed down the river to Memphis, Tenn., he being in command of the Monarch and his brother using the Queen of the TFiPsf as flag-ship. On June 6, 1863, they attacked the Confederate fleet, sinking or disabling eight of the nine Confederate ironclads ojiposing their progress, the General Van Darn alone escaping. The only one on the Federal fleet injured was Col. Charles EUet, who received a wound in the knee that proved fatal on June 31, 1863. Before leaving the Queen of the West Colonel Charles directed his brother Alfred to assvune command of the fleet, which appoint- ment was confirmed by orders from the secretary of war. With the Monarch, accompanied by the Lancaster in command of his nephew, Charles R. Ellet, he steamed fifty miles up the Yazoo river, and discovered and reported the presence of the Arkansas. He was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, Nov. 1, 1863, for gallant and merito- rious service at the capture of Memphis. In 1863 he was assigned to the department of the Missis- sippi and placed in command of the marine brig- ade. On the night of March 25, 1863, with the steam rams Lancaster and Switzerland, he pi-oceeded to run the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg. He did not reach the city until morn- ing, but nothing daunted he undertook the feat in the daylight and succeeded in passing the bat- teries with the Switzerland, although not without damage. The Lancaster, however, received a shot through her boiler and was blown up and her crew captured. The marine brigade which he commanded inckided seven transports, and Gen- eral Grant kept him busy moving his troops. He burned Austin, Miss., in retaliation for informa- tion given to Gen. James R. Chalmers, C.S.A., by the citizens of that place, which nearly resulted in the capture of one of his transports. He resigned, Dec. 31, 1864, and engaged in the prac- tice of his profession. His son, Lieut. -Col. John A. Ellet, commanded the Lancaster in the battle of Mobile Bay, and co-operated with Farragut in the Red River expedition and in the siege of Vicksburg as commander of the Simtzerland. General Ellet died in Kansas in 1895.

ELLET, Charles, engineer, was born in Penn's Manor, Bucks county. Pa., Jan. 1, 1810; son of Charles Ellet, a farmer. He worked on the farm, attending school winters and in 1836 was sent to Bristol academy where he studied mathematics and civil engineering. He was then an assistant in the engineer corps surveying the Chesapeake