William Ely (August 14, 1765 – October 9, 1817) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Early life and education

Ely was born in Longmeadow in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

on August 14, 1765. He was the youngest son of Deacon Nathaniel Ely (1716–1799) and Abigail (Colton) Ely (1724–1770); his mother died when he was 5. Ely completed preparatory studies. He was graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1787. He studied law. Ely was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1791.

Career

Following this, Ely commenced practice in Springfield, Massachusetts. Ely served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 1801–1803. Ely married Abigail Bliss about November 1, 1803. Ely was elected as a Federalist to the Ninth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1815). Ely was again a member of the

in 1814 and 1816.

Death

Ely died on October 9, 1817, in Springfield, Massachusetts; his wife survived him but died in 1827. They are buried in Springfield Cemetery.

References

External links

William Ely entry
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...

* and als
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, William 1765 births 1817 deaths People from Longmeadow, Massachusetts Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Yale College alumni Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts