George Ellicott

Founder of Ellicott's Mills, MD, US (1760–1832)

George Ellicott (1760–1832) was a son of Andrew Ellicott. With his two Quaker brothers, he founded Ellicott's Mills (now named 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. He was an abolitionist 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
Died9 April 1832
Ellicott City, Maryland
NationalityAmerican
SpouseElizabeth Brooke (1762–1853)
ChildrenMartha Ellicott Tyson, Elizabeth Ellicott Lea
ParentAndrew Ellicott (miller)

After the American Revolution, George Ellicott bought swampland now known as the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. He used a horse drawn dredge to build docks there for his flour supplies.[4]

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

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 went to his home while returning from a visit to Washington, D.C.[6]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 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. 69/70. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Historical Society: 8, 12. JSTOR 40067703. OCLC 3860814. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved 2013-01-13 – 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 2019-09-11 – 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. 12 (2). Philadelphia: Mathew Carey: 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.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. (1) Schurman, Virginia (March 1, 2012). "Martha Ellicott Tyson". Friends Journal. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021..
    (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. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021..
  4. James Clark Jr. Jim Clark Soldier Farmer Legislator. p. 23.
  5. Gunts, Edward (23 October 1985). "Tenants may help preserve historic Ellicott mansion". The Baltimore Sun.
  6. (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.