Andrew Ellicott

Who was Andrew Ellicott?

Andrew Ellicott was one of three Quaker brothers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania who chose the picturesque wilderness up river from Elk Ridge Landing to establish a flour mill. John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott founded Ellicott's Mills which became one of the largest milling and manufacturing towns in the East.

The Ellicott brothers helped revolutionize farming in the area by persuading farmers to plant wheat instead of tobacco and also by introducing fertilizer to revitalize depleted soil. Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was an early influential convert from tobacco to wheat. Andrew worked principally as a financier leaving his interests to his sons. His son George Ellicott built his home by the river in Oella, Maryland. He bought swampland after the colonial war now known as the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. He used a horse drawn dredge to create shipping docks for his flour supplies.

Andrew Ellicott was the uncle of the famous surveyors Andrew Ellicott and Joseph Ellicott.