Helen Cameron Lanier married Reginald Bishop Lanier (1888-1979) on December 12, 1921, in New York, New York. The couple lived between New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Mrs. Lanier passed away in 1987 and is buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
William Ellery (1727-1820), the second son of William Ellery Sr. and Elizabeth Almy, was born on December 22, 1727, in Newport, Rhode Island. Ellery graduated from Harvard College in 1747 and returned to Newport to work first as a merchant, later as a customs collector, and then as the clerk of the court of common pleas of Newport County in 1768-1769. At the age of forty three, Ellery studied law and passed the bar and immediately began to practice in Newport in 1770. In May 1776, Ellery was selected as the Rhode Island delegate for the Continental Congress, filling the vacancy left by the death of Samuel Ward (1725-1776). Ellery remained in this position until 1785, during which time he was among one of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Ellery became a justice of the Rhode Island State Supreme Court in 1785 and was later appointed by the Continental Congress as the commissioner of the Continental Loan Office in 1786. William Ellery served as the first collector of the port of Newport under the new United States Constitution from 1790 until his death in 1820. William Ellery died on February 18, 1820, and is buried in the Common Burial Ground in Newport.
Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Helen Lanier collection of William Ellery papers, RLC.Ms.567, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
This collection consists of three items relating to William Ellery. The first two are true copies written by William Ellery concerning legal matters. The undated document is a copy of a plea between Ann Maylem and Stephen Low, the defendant. The second item is a copy of a resolution in which the state of Rhode Island determined that Treasurer, Joseph Clarke (1719-1792), should appropriate money equal to one year’s interest on certificates of payment due to officers and soldiers of Colonel Jeremiah Olney’s (1749-1812) battalion that fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Lastly, there is one letter from Ellery, in his capacity of collector of the port of Newport, to Richard Forrest of Washington, D.C., concerning a Washington-bound package found on board the armed Schooner Expedition. This letter is pasted to a piece of paper, which also includes a copy of an undated drawing of William Ellery.
This collection is arranged in chronological order.
Gift of Mrs. Helen Lanier, 1964 July 10
From the folders these letters were originally housed in, it is presumed that Mrs. Lanier purchased these letters from the Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York City.
Prior to processing, this collection was found within the Steel Cabinet collection: Drawer 7, Folder 9.
William Ellery letter, RLC.Ms.536, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.