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Kimberly, I am Kathleen Rabalais and have been told by preceding generations the story of my connection to William Ellery, the signer and am a direct descendent of the signer. I received a large packet of information approximately 10 yrs. ago which told the same story that all my cousins and other family told me which I will be happy to share with you. William Ellery the signer lived in Newport and was some kind of account for the shipping market when the call for the Declaration of Independence required him and the others to meet in Philadelphia. At the time he was married to a woman and had two sons,
William Jr. and I believe Matthew (and other children as well). His wife died and he later married another woman who bore him some more sons. This spouse demanded that her children inherit the Ellery home and fortune and disown his first sons. The First Ellery boys were told to leave the home and were on their own. They were teenagers and too old to go to an orphanage, however, they did go to an orphanage in Northern New York and were allowed to work there for room and board. William married a Mary Tole whose family was from Nova Scotia and worked at the orphanage as a nurse. Years later, the later boys and their mother died and the authorities were unable to find the owner. The story goes on to say that the government of Rhode Island found the first boys and told them that they could have the homeplace is they would pay all the back taxes. They refused citing the fact that it was too late in their life to take on this burden and the house was torn down (the first heirs were found in an old will placed in the house as they were preparing to demolish the home). We are in the process of moving after working on our house for 2-1/2 yrs. and that information is somewhere in the attic packed up. When we move, I will look for it and post what I have found on this site. If you know any more information, I would like to know it. William Ellery had about 12 children so it's quite possible that we are kin. The information did say that the house before demolition was sold to the Carr family. There was a picture of the house.
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