BATAVIA â When most hear the name Ellicott, they instantly think of Joseph, and rightly so.
However, he was not the only Ellicott to make his name in the early history of the United States. In fact, he was overshadowed in many ways by his older brother, Andrew Ellicott.
It was, in fact, Andrew who taught Joseph much of what he knew concerning surveying and was his assistant on many of Andrewâs major projects.
Andrew was born on Jan. 24, 1754, the first of nine children of Joseph and Judith Ellicott. As a student, he was a talented mechanic and mathematician.
He married Sarah Brown in 1775, with whom he had 10 children of his own. During the Revolutionary War, he was a commissioned officer in the Elk Ridge Battalion of the Maryland state militia, eventually rising to the rank of major.