William Ellery
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
WILLIAM ELLERY, was forty-eight years old when he presented himself at the Second Congress on May 14, 1776. He was replacing Samuel Ward, a political ally who had died in March. Ellery was born in Newport, Rhode Island December 22, 1727, was a graduate of Harvard class of 1747. His father was deputy governor of Rhode Island. William, however, showed no interest in politics, law or much of anything else for that matter. He held a number of odd jobs earning just enough to raise a large family. His first wife, Ann Remington of Cambridge, died after fourteen years of marriage leaving six children; his second wife, Abigail Cary, gave him five more children. Twenty years would pass before he sought a career in law.
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