George Ellicott

George Ellicott (1760–1832) was a son of Andrew Ellicott, who with his two brothers (all were Quakers from Bucks County, Pa.) founded Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City), Maryland.[1] He was a mathematician, an amateur astronomer, a younger cousin of surveyor Major Andrew Ellicott and a friend of Benjamin Banneker.[1][2] He was the father of Martha Ellicott Tyson (September 13, 1795 – March 5, 1873), who became an Elder of the Quaker Meeting in Baltimore, an anti-slavery and women's rights advocate, the author of a biography of Benjamin Banneker, a founder of Swarthmore College and an inductee to the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.[3]

Ellicott, George
Born
George Ellicott

28 March 1760
Ellicott City, Maryland
Died9 April 1832
Ellicott City, Maryland
NationalityAmerican
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Brooke (1762-1853)
ChildrenMartha Ellicott Tyson, Elizabeth Ellicott Lea
Parent(s)Andrew Ellicott (miller)

After the colonial war, George Ellicott purchased swampland now known as the Inner Harbor of Baltimore where he used a horse drawn dredge to create shipping docks for his flour supplies.[4]

The stone home he built in 1789 and lived in for forty years stands by the Patapsco River in Oella, Maryland. It was moved from its original location to higher ground across the street in 1983.[5]

In 1799 George traveled to the plains of Sandusky, where the Crawford expedition had met with defeat seventeen years prior. Merchants would conduct a yearly meeting, reporting back to Congress.[6]

In 1801, George Ellicott and his brother Elias visited Washington, D.C. with a Native American contingent where he spoke with the Secretary of War and President John Adams where a pledge was made to try to stop the distribution of liquor to Native Americans.[7]

In 1806, Chief Little Turtle of the Miami people, Chief of the Rusheville people, Beaver Crow of the Delawares, Chiefs of the Shawanese, and the chief Raven of the Potowatomies visited his home while returning from a visit to Washington, D.C.[8]

References
  1. Arnold, Melissa (January 2, 2001). "Ellicotts, Banneker found common ground in science". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  2. (1) Bedini, Silvio A. (1969). "Benjamin Banneker and the Survey of the District of Columbia, 1791" (PDF). Records of the Columbia Historical Society. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Historical Society. 69/70: 8, 12. JSTOR 40067703. OCLC 3860814. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2013 – via boundarystones.org.
    (2) Bedini, Silvio A. (1999). "Chapter 4: Work And Study". The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science (2nd ed.). Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society. pp. 81–87. ISBN 0-938420-59-3. LCCN 98022848. OCLC 894558859. Retrieved September 11, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
    (3) McHenry, James C. (Baltimore, August 20, 1791) (September 1792). "A letter from Mr. James McHenry, to messrs. Goddard and Angel, containing particulars respecting Benjamin Banneker, a free negro". The American Museum, or Universal Magazine. Philadelphia: Mathew Carey. 12 (2): 185–187. LCCN unk80015153. OCLC 367988208. Retrieved June 14, 2020 – via HathiTrust Digital Library. It is about three years since mr. George Ellicott lent him Mayer's tables, Ferguson's astronomy, Leadbeater's lunar tables and some astronomical instruments, but without accompanying them with either hint or instruction, that might further his studies, or lead him to apply them to any useful result. These books and instruments, the first of the kind that he had ever seen, opened a new world to Benjamin, and from thence forward he employed his leisure in astronomical researches.
  3. (1) Schurman, Virginia (March 1, 2012). "Martha Ellicott Tyson". Friends Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2021. Archived September 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine.
    (2) Stiehm, Jamie (March 31, 1999). "Quaker activist's life, work offers lessons on prejudice; Descendants describe woman who recorded story of black scientist". Retrieved March 10, 2020.
    (3) "Maryland Women's Hall of Fame: Martha Ellicott Tyson". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved January 16, 2021. Archived October 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. James Clark Jr. Jim Clark Soldier Farmer Legislator. p. 23.
  5. Gunts, Edward (October 23, 1985). "Tenants may help preserve historic Ellicott mansion". The Baltimore Sun.
  6. John Gottlieb Morris; John Hazlehurst Boneval Latrobe; Martha Ellicott Tyson; William McSherry; Andrew White. A Brief Account of the Settlement of Ellicott's Mills. p. 62.
  7. John Gottlieb Morris; John Hazlehurst Boneval Latrobe; Martha Ellicott Tyson; William McSherry; Andrew White. A Brief Account of the Settlement of Ellicott's Mills. p. 60.
  8. (1) Janet P. Kusterer; Victoria Goeller. Remembering Ellicott City: Stories from the Patapsco River Valley. p. 26.
    (2) John Gottlieb Morris; John Hazlehurst Boneval Latrobe; Martha Ellicott Tyson; William McSherry; Andrew White. A Brief Account of the Settlement of Ellicott's Mills. p. 44.


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