William Ellery (1727-1820)
Signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence & Chief Justice of Rhode Island
He was born at Newport, Rhode Island, the son of the Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence. He was educated at Harvard College (1742) and was first a merchant, then Collector of Customs and then Clerk of the Rhode Island General Assembly. He started his legal career in 1770 and as an active member of the Rhode Island Sons of Liberty was sent to the Continental Congress in 1776. He was immediately appointed to the Marine committee and later sat on several other committees including that for foreign relations. In the meantime (1785), he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and became a vocal advocate for the abolition of slavery. Under the provisions of the Federal Constitution, he was appointed the First Collector of Customs for the Port of Newport, a position he held until his death in 1820. He was married twice: (1) In 1750, to Ann, daughter of Jonathan Remington, Judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts (2) In 1767, to his second cousin Abigail, daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Carey. He had 17-children of whom eleven (above) lived to adulthood.
