Joseph Ellicott (November 1, 1760 in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, four ...

– August 19, 1826 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

faith.

Life

Ellicott was born in

on November 1, 1760. He was the son of Quaker miller Joseph Ellicott (1732–1780) and Judith Blaker (1729–1809). Joseph's siblings included older brother Andrew Ellicott (1754–1820), a fellow surveyor, and younger brother Benjamin Ellicott (1765–1827), a U.S. Congressman.

Career

In 1790, his brother Andrew Ellicott was hired by the federal government to survey the new federal district, where the new capital city of Washington was to be built. Joseph was Andrew's chief assistant during the latter part of the survey. Joseph Ellicott was subsequently sent to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

to survey the boundary line, established by treaty with the Creek tribe.

Holland Land Company

He was then engaged to survey some property in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

which had been purchased by a group of Dutch investors, who had formed the Holland Land Company. He also extended the New York - Pennsylvania border westward. When the company purchased a huge tract of western New York (that became known as The Holland Purchase), Ellicott was hired in 1797 and was sent to perform the monumental task of surveying it. Ellicott spent two years (1798–1800) living outdoors in summer and winter, laying out the townships of the new land in order to complete the Great Survey of the land in October 1800. In 1800, the principal agent of the company, Paul Busti, gave him a new position as their agent at their Land Office in Batavia, New York. From this office, for the next 21 years he supervised the sales of the tract, with his personal signature on many deeds. Ellicott was an observer for the investors at the Big Tree Treaty when the Senecas sold their rights to the land in Western New York. In 1801, he laid out Batavia, New York, and in 1804 the village of Buffalo, and established mill sites and communities. He advocated a canal to be built from the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

, and was among the

Erie Canal Commission The Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie and Report, known as the Erie Canal Commission, was a body created by the New York State Legislature in 1810 to plan the Erie Canal. In 1817 a ''Canal Fund'' led by ''Commissioners of the C ...

ers appointed in 1816 to supervise the canal construction, but resigned in 1818 due to ill health. The

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

was finished in 1825. He also arranged for the contribution of more than of company land to this project. Joseph Ellicott Obelisk Apr 11

As seller and land agent, Ellicott offered generous terms to the buyers, some of whom purchased farms for as little as 25 cents down. When some buyers could not make payments he often extended the terms and sometimes forgave interest if they had made improvements. He offered some selected parcels free upon condition that the buyer would establish a mill or an inn, to help stimulate growth in the area. In later years, Ellicott became the target of complaints by citizens who were unhappy with the land company. Ellicott was held responsible for the state of New York's decision not to buy up unsold land of the land company, and he retired in 1821. He then attempted to finance the purchase of the unsold land himself, but no one would join his venture, and he had to abandon the plan.

Politics

Ellicott was a presidential elector in

1804 Events January–March * January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic. * February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa. * February 14 – The First Serbian uprising begins th ...

, voting for

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

and George Clinton. From March 1806 to June 1807, he was First Judge of the Genesee County Court.

Personal life

Ellicott never married. His final years were marred by serious mental problems. Family members had him admitted to Bloomingdale Insane Asylum in

, where he died in 1826 by hanging himself. Soon after his burial in New York City, he was exhumed and re-buried in Batavia, New York at the Batavia Cemetery. At his death left an estate valued at about $600,000 ().

Legacy

Places named after Ellicott: * Ellicottville, New York -

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Cattaraugus County, New York. * Ellicott, New York - town in Chautauqua County, New York. * Ellicott Square Building - an office building in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, from which its owner Ellicott Development Co. also derives its name * Ellicott Street - a street in downtown

and another in downtown Batavia, New York. * Ellicott Complex - a dormitory at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

. * Ellicott Creek - a stream in

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

. * Ellicott Road - a road in Orchard Park, NY. * Ellicott Elementary School - an elementary school in Orchard Park, NY * Ellicott Run at Sinnemahoning State Park in Grove Township, Cameron County, Pennsylvania. He also laid out the Caledonia Pike in Cameron & Elk Counties, Pennsylvania. * Ellicott Mall - A housing project in Buffalo, NY * Ellicott Historic District - a local historic district in Buffalo, New York

References

;Notes ;Sources
Brief information on Ellicott

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 40 and 360; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) *

External links

* "The Holland Land Company in Western New York", by Robert W. Silsby, Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Adventures in Western New York History, volume VIII, 1961, (provides account of Joseph Ellicott, downloadable from http://bechsed.nylearns.org/, click on Adventures in WNY History)
Joseph Ellicott and the Holland Land Company
bibliography of books and manuscripts in the library collection at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellicott, Joseph American politicians who died by suicide American surveyors American urban planners 1760 births 1826 deaths Suicides by hanging in New York City New York state court judges Erie Canal Commissioners People from Genesee County, New York People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania American Quakers 1804 United States presidential electors