Andrew Ellicott
1754-1820



Andrew Ellicott
Source: Holland Land Office Museum display, Batavia, NY


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Source: "Genealogical and Family History of Western New York," ed. by William Richard Cutter, 1912, Vol. I, pp. 1466-1467

The text below is reprinted from
Genealogical and Family History of Western New York,
ed. by William Richard Cutter, 1912, Vol. I, pp. 1466-1467.

First generation: Welsh immigrants

The first of the name to settle in this country, were Andrew and Ann Bye Ellicott, natives of Cullopton, in Wales, The wife was a member of the Society of Friends, or "Quakers," as they are more commonly called. For marrying Andrew, a non-member, she was disowned by this people and the couple came to this country in 1731 They landed, with an infant son in New York.

Having some means they bought land and settled upon it, but up to 1760 little is known of their progress except that they lived in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and had four sons, the elder of whom was engaged in business.

Second generation

These four sons of Andrew Ellicott were by name Nathaniel, Joseph, Andrew, John. About 1770 they purchased a tract of land on the Patapsco river in Maryland province, and built there the mills long known by their name

Joseph, of this second generation, was a skilled mechanic and something of a scientist in a practical way. He constructed a clock of much ingenuity, of astronomical character and playing twenty-four tunes.

Third generation

The sons of this Joseph, the first, were Joseph (b. 1760), Andrew (b. 1754), Benjamin (b. 1765), David (b. 1756)
Andrew devoted himself to surveying, and was the man above referred to as surveyor-general of the United States.

Benjamin was assistant to Joseph in the service of the Holland Company, an association of merchants of Amsterdam, Holland, owning large tracts of land in New York and Pennsylvania. He rose later to be judge in Genesee county, and as aforesaid an M. C. David, youngest of this third generation. was a surveyor under Joseph, for a time, then went south and disappeared.

The text below is reprinted from Patrick Kavanagh's Letita Matilda Ellicott Bliss, Andrew's daughter

Letita was the daughter of Andrew Ellicott, Joseph's brother, who among many surveying accomplishments, finished laying out Washington, D. C. on January 1, 1793.

Andrew Ellicott had been appointed a mathematics instructor to the Academy in 1814. He died in 1820 and is buried in the West Point Cemetery. His wife, Sarah, Letita's mother, is buried in the Shelby, NY, Cemetery located just south of Medina, New York


In 1789, George Washington hires surveyor Andrew Ellicott to help fix the southwestern boundary of the state, to settle ownership of the city of Erie. Andrew is helped by his brothers Joseph and Benjamin.

See also:

  • Gregory C. Spies, Major Andrew Ellicott, Esq. - Colonial American Astronomical Surveyor, Patriot, Cartographer pdf COPY AND PASTE INTO SEARCH ENGINE
  • Stan Klos, Andrew Ellicott


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