Benjamin Ellicott was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Born at Ellicotts Mills, Maryland, Ellicott accompanied his brothers in 1789 to upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 on the survey to determine the western boundary of the State of New York. He was employed as a surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 and draftsman

Technical drawing

Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....

 for the Holland Land Co. in New York and Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. He was one of the first judges of the Court of Common Pleas

New York Court of Common Pleas

The New York Court of Common Pleas was a state court in New York. Established in New Netherland in 1686, the Court remained in existence in the Province of New York and, after the American Revolution, in the U.S...

 of Genesee County, New York

Genesee County, New York

Genesee County is a county located in Western New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,079. Its name is from the Seneca Indian word Gen-nis'-hee-yo meaning "The Beautiful Valley." Its county seat is Batavia.- History :...

, in 1803, with residence in Batavia, New York.

Ellicott was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifteenth Congress

15th United States Congress

-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Daniel D. Tompkins * President pro tempore:** John Gaillard , elected March 4, 1817** James Barbour , elected February 15, 1819- House of Representatives :*Speaker: Henry Clay -Members:...

 (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819). He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1820 to the Seventeenth Congress

17th United States Congress

The Seventeenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1821 to March 3, 1823, during the fifth and sixth...

. He retired from active life, and in 1826 moved to Williamsville, New York

Williamsville, New York

Williamsville is a village in Erie County, New York in the United States. The population was 5,573 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler...

, where he died December 10, 1827. He was interred in the graveyard at Williamsville. He was reinterred in Batavia Cemetery

Batavia Cemetery

Batavia Cemetery is located on Harvester Avenue in Batavia, New York, United States. It opened in 1823 and contains over 8,000 graves, mostly from the 19th century...

, Batavia, New York, in 1849.