William Ely

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title: "William Ely" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1765-births", "1817-deaths", "massachusetts-lawyers", "people-from-longmeadow,-massachusetts", "members-of-the-massachusetts-house-of-representatives", "yale-college-alumni", "federalist-party-united-states-representatives-from-massachusetts", "19th-century-united-states-representatives", "19th-century-members-of-the-massachusetts-general-court"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ely" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	William Ely
state	Massachusetts
district	5th
term	March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1815
preceded	Thomas Dwight
succeeded	Elijah H. Mills
office2	Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
term2	1801-1803
term3	1814
term4	1816
birth_date
birth_place	Longmeadow, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America
death_date
death_place	Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
spouse	Abigail Bliss(1768–1827)
profession	Attorney
alma_mater	Yale College
party	Federalist
::

| name= William Ely | image name= | state= Massachusetts | district= 5th | term= March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1815 | preceded=Thomas Dwight | succeeded=Elijah H. Mills | office2= Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | term2= 1801-1803 | term3= 1814 | term4= 1816 | preceded2= | succeeded2= | birth_date= | birth_place=Longmeadow, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America | death_date= | death_place=Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. | spouse=Abigail Bliss(1768–1827) | profession=Attorney | religion= |alma_mater=Yale College | party=Federalist |}}

William Ely (August 14, 1765 – October 9, 1817) was a U.S. representative from Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Ely was born in Longmeadow in the Province of Massachusetts Bay 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 in 1787. He studied law. Ely was admitted to the bar in 1791.

Career

Following this, Ely commenced practice in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Ely served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1801 to 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 Massachusetts House of Representatives 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

References

1. Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. (1907). "Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College With Annals of the College History Vol. IV". Yale University Press.

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