George Ellicott

Wikipedia

George Ellicott (1760–1832) was a son of Andrew Ellicott, one of the founders of Ellicott's Mill (now Ellicott City), Maryland.

After the colonial war he bought swampland now known as the Inner Harbor of Baltimore where he used a horse drawn dredge to create shipping docks for his flour supplies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

George Ellicott (1760-1832)

George Ellicott, according to his daughter, was one of the best mathematicians and finest amateur astronomers of the time. In the publication Settlement of Ellicott's Mills, Martha Ellicott Tyson wrote that her father was fond of "imparting instruction to every youthful enquirer after knowledge who came to his house. As early as the year 1782," she wrote, "he was in the habit of giving gratuitous lessons on astronomy to any of the inhabitants of the village who wished to hear him. To many of these his celestial globe was an object of great interest and curiosity. He was perfectly at home on a map of the heavens as far as the telescopes and writers of his time had given revelations." It may be that Benjamin Banneker's interest in astronomy was stimulated by these early sessions.

George Ellicott was also interested in bettering the lives of the American Indian. In 1799 he and other Quakers visited the principal village of the Wyandots in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Later George and his friend, Gerard Hopkins, made a second trip to instruct the Indians in farming. George was also concerned about the evil affects of alcohol on the American Indian. In 1801 George wrote a letter to Congress asking that the sale of "spirituous liquors" to the Indians be outlawed; such a law was eventually passed. Ellicott City History

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 29 2018, 5:40:48 UTC