The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1904-08-12
Andrew Ellicott.

In the praises 1t has become the
habit in Washington to bestow upon
the plan which enabled the National
ICapitol to develop into one of the
most beautiful cities in the world, it is
seldom that the name of Andrew
Ellicott, of Pennsylvania, receives the
credit to which it is entities. The
part which he took in that undertak-
ing has been generally overshadowed
entirely by the posthumous fame that
has been awarded to the creative gen
ious of the clever but erratic French
engineer, Major Charles Pierre Len
FAINT. The proposition that l. Enfant
shall be commemorated in Washing
ton by a statute is fully justified by
the service which he performed in
laying out the city. But in the CRATE
ful recognition which Is now accorded
him there should also be room for a
j1st consideration of the relations to
it of the Pennsylvania surveyor who
in part co-operated with him in the
task Indeed the record of the life
of Andrew Ellicott is unfamiliar to
the people of even the State which
gave him birth, and it may not be un-
instructive to touch upon it as an ex-
ample of the scientific merit of man
who held an honorable place in the
respect of philosophers and savants
for his practical application of his
knowledge to the early problems of
American topography. In framing
today brief outline Of his career |
have the privilege of access to the
material which Professor Sharpless,
Eof Haverford College, has collated and
edited and which may ultimately ap-
pear as biography, and l shall draw
upon his manuscript narrative here
and there in throwing some light up.
on the personality of this now forgot
ten Pennsylvania.
/ Andrew Ellicott was a member Of
the Quaker family which was identl-
fed with the formation of the town
in. MaryhM opce known az Ellicott's
MillsIand' ndt as Ellicott City. The
stock, which, was originally trans
planted from England to Bucks coun-
ty, in this State, was made up largely
Of men of business enterprise, mingled
with no little proficiency in mechani-
cal science and with strain Of inven-
tive talent. Joseph Ellicott, the
father of Andrew, and one of three
brothers who founded Ellicott's Mills,
was, for example, the inventor of
musical clock, made small boat
which was operated by steam, about
the same time John Fitch was carry
ing on his xperiments, and had in
Common with several of his kinsmen
the faculties for the projection of ag-
ricultural and commercial improve
ment. His son, who was born in Bucks
Fcounty, in 1854, spent part of his
youth in the Maryland district which
they developed into prosperity, and
the education of the lad, which seems
to have been acquired outside Of
collegiate or school courses, was aided
largely by Professor Robert Patter-
son, Of the University Of Pennsylvania,
afterwafd Director of the Mint and
president of the American Pniloso-
phical Society, as preceptor, to
whom he expressed his warmest obli-
cations. In the Revolutionary War,
together with the rest of his family,
be espoused the Continental cause,
and was probably "disowned" by
Friends of Maryland militia. Not
only did he become fighting Quaker
in principle, but his marriage with
Sarah Brown, of Bucks county, had
united ham with the cousin of Jacob
Brown, who, afterward, became a gen.
eral in the United States service in
the war of 1872, despite his ancestry.
In fact, Ellicott's JEALOUS sympathies
for the side of the Rcvolutonists
seems to have Influenced his whole ca
reer to considerable degree, to have
taken him out of active religious asso-
citation with the Society Of Friends,
and finally to have carried him into
post of military duty strangely in
contrast with his original training as
Quaker lad.
The esteem in which he was held
in Philadelphia, while lie was still
young mar, by men of learning, is at
stested by some Of the entries which he
made IN his journal concerning visit
to this city in 1885 as the guest of
David Rittenhouse. For that emil
nent nah, with whom he maintained
more than an ordinary intimacy, he
al. L