# Amos Ellmaker
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{{Short description|American politician (1787–1851)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Amos Ellmaker
| image = Amos Ellmaker.jpg
| office = [Attorney General of Pennsylvania](/source/List_of_Pennsylvania_Attorneys_General)
| governor = [John Andrew Shulze](/source/John_Andrew_Shulze)
| term_start = May 6, 1828
| term_end = August 17, 1829
| predecessor = [Calvin Blythe](/source/Calvin_Blythe)
| successor = [Philip S. Markley](/source/Philip_Swenk_Markley)
| governor1 = [Simon Snyder](/source/Simon_Snyder)
[William Findlay](/source/William_Findlay_(governor))
| term_start1 = December 21, 1816
| term_end1 = July 7, 1819
| predecessor1 = [Jared Ingersoll](/source/Jared_Ingersoll)
| successor1 = [Thomas Sergeant](/source/Thomas_Sergeant)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1787|2|2}}
| birth_place = [Leacock Township, Pennsylvania](/source/Leacock_Township%2C_Lancaster_County%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1851|11|28|1787|2|2}}
| death_place = [Lancaster, Pennsylvania](/source/Lancaster%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S.
| party = [Democratic-Republican](/source/Democratic-Republican_Party) {{small|(Before 1828)}}
[Anti-Masonic](/source/Anti-Masonic_Party) {{small|(1828–1840)}}
| education = [Litchfield Law School](/source/Litchfield_Law_School)
}}
'''Amos Ellmaker''' (February 2, 1787 – November 28, 1851) was a [U.S.](/source/United_States) politician, attorney, and judge from [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania). He served as the [Pennsylvania Attorney General](/source/List_of_Pennsylvania_Attorneys_General) and was the [Anti-Masonic](/source/Anti-Masonic_Party) vice presidential candidate in the [1832 presidential election](/source/1832_United_States_presidential_election).
Born in [Lancaster County, Pennsylvania](/source/Lancaster_County%2C_Pennsylvania), he established a legal career in [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania](/source/Harrisburg%2C_Pennsylvania) after attending [Litchfield Law School](/source/Litchfield_Law_School). During the [War of 1812](/source/War_of_1812), he served as an aide to General John Forster. After serving in the [Pennsylvania House of Representatives](/source/Pennsylvania_House_of_Representatives), Ellmaker accepted appointment as the Pennsylvania Attorney General. He returned to private practice in 1819 and helped found the [Pennsylvania Railroad](/source/Pennsylvania_Railroad) and the [Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad](/source/Philadelphia_and_Columbia_Railroad).
From 1828 to 1829, Ellmaker served another term as Pennsylvania Attorney General. In 1832, Ellmaker was nominated as the Anti-Masonic vice presidential candidate. The ticket of [William Wirt](/source/William_Wirt_(attorney_general)) and Ellmaker took 7.8% of the national popular vote and won the state of [Vermont](/source/Vermont). Ellmaker sought election to the [United States Senate](/source/United_States_Senate) in 1834 but was defeated by [James Buchanan](/source/James_Buchanan). After the election, Ellmaker retired from politics and practiced law in [Lancaster, Pennsylvania](/source/Lancaster%2C_Pennsylvania).
==Education==
Amos Ellmaker was born in [Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania](/source/Leacock_Township%2C_Lancaster_County%2C_Pennsylvania) on a property called, "Apple Bottom", the son of Peter Ellmaker and Susannah (Carpenter) Ellmaker. He graduated from [Princeton College](/source/Princeton_College) in 1805, attended the [Litchfield Law School](/source/Litchfield_Law_School), and continued his legal studies under James Hopkins, the same Lancaster attorney who trained [James Buchanan](/source/James_Buchanan). Ellmaker completed his studies in the [Harrisburg](/source/Harrisburg%2C_Pennsylvania) office of [Thomas Elder](/source/Thomas_Elder_(lawyer)), whose daughter he later married. In 1808, Ellmaker was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Harrisburg.
==Public service==
On Jan. 13, 1809, at age 21, Ellmaker was appointed deputy attorney general for [Dauphin County, Pennsylvania](/source/Dauphin_County%2C_Pennsylvania).
He served in the [Pennsylvania House of Representatives](/source/Pennsylvania_House_of_Representatives) in 1813 and 1814, elected from the legislative district composed of Dauphin and [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon_County%2C_Pennsylvania) Counties.
He volunteered for the militia during the [War of 1812](/source/War_of_1812) and served in 1814 as [aide-de-camp](/source/aide-de-camp) to Brigadier General John Forster during the [Chesapeake Campaign](/source/War_of_1812). While in this position, he was elected to the [Fourteenth Congress](/source/Fourteenth_Congress) from the congressional district consisting of Lancaster, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties, but never filled that office. On July 3, 1815 Ellmaker was appointed Judge of the Twelfth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, composed of Dauphin, Lebanon, and [Schuylkill](/source/Schuylkill_County%2C_Pennsylvania) Counties.
Ellmaker resigned from the bench in December 1816 to accept Governor [Simon Snyder](/source/Simon_Snyder)'s appointment as [Pennsylvania Attorney General](/source/Pennsylvania_Attorney_General). Governor [William Findlay](/source/William_Findlay_(governor)) re-appointed him in 1818, and Ellmaker served until December 1819.
In 1817, Ellmaker declined an offer from [James Monroe](/source/James_Monroe) to serve as [Secretary of War](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_War). During his career, he also twice turned down offers of appointment as [Secretary of the Commonwealth](/source/Secretary_of_the_Commonwealth_of_Pennsylvania), and twice as justice of the [Supreme Court of Pennsylvania](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Pennsylvania).
In 1821, Ellmaker moved from Harrisburg to Lancaster, where he continued to practice law.
===Pennsylvania Railroad===
In 1823, Ellmaker was an original incorporator of the [Pennsylvania Railroad](/source/Pennsylvania_Railroad). In 1826, he was an original incorporator of the [Columbia, Lancaster and Philadelphia Railroad](/source/Philadelphia_and_Columbia_Railroad), as was [James Buchanan](/source/James_Buchanan).
In May 1828, Ellmaker returned to the office of state Attorney General, and served until August 1829.
===1832 Presidential campaign===
{{Further|1832 United States presidential election}}
In [1832](/source/1832_United_States_presidential_election), Ellmaker was the candidate for Vice President on the [Anti-Masonic](/source/Anti-Masonic_Party) ticket, with [William Wirt](/source/William_Wirt_(attorney_general)) as the candidate for president. Wirt and Ellmaker won in [Vermont](/source/Vermont), and received seven electoral votes.
In 1834, Ellmaker ran for the [United States Senate](/source/United_States_Senate), losing to [James Buchanan](/source/James_Buchanan). After this election, Ellmaker retired from politics and continued the practice of law.
In 1838, the Lancaster Female Seminary was incorporated, with Ellmaker as one of the original 10 trustees.
==Personal life==
In 1816, Ellmaker married Mary Rachael Elder (born December 31, 1799 in [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania](/source/Harrisburg%2C_Pennsylvania); died March 15, 1866), the daughter of Thomas Elder. They had two sons, [Nathaniel](/source/Nathaniel_Ellmaker) (born April 28, 1817 in Harrisburg) and Levi Ellmaker (born 1828 in Harrisburg).
==Death and burial==
On November 28, 1851, Ellmaker died in [Lancaster, Pennsylvania](/source/Lancaster%2C_Pennsylvania). He was buried in the churchyard of St. James' Episcopal Church in Lancaster.
==References==
*Egle, William Henry ''Pennsylvania Genealogies: Chiefly Scots-Irish and German'' (1896).
*Ellis, Franklin ''History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men'' (1883)
*''Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans'' (1904).
Carpenter, Seymour D., 1826?. Genealogical notes of the Carpenter family, including the autobiography, and personal reminiscences of Dr. Seymour D. Carpenter, lieutenant colonel in the war for the union. With genealogical and biographical appendix. editeds by Walker, Edwin Sawyer Springfield, Ill., Illinois state journal co., printers, 1907. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/08005901/. (image 227)
==External links==
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/ellison-ellsberry.html Amos Ellmaker] at ''The Political Graveyard''
*{{Find a Grave|22879568}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=[Jared Ingersoll](/source/Jared_Ingersoll)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[Attorney General of Pennsylvania](/source/List_of_Pennsylvania_Attorneys_General)|years=1816–1819}}
{{s-aft|after=[Thomas Sergeant](/source/Thomas_Sergeant)}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[Calvin Blythe](/source/Calvin_Blythe)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[Attorney General of Pennsylvania](/source/List_of_Pennsylvania_Attorneys_General)|years=1828–1829}}
{{s-aft|after=[Philip S. Markley](/source/Philip_Swenk_Markley)}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-new|party}}
{{s-ttl|title=[Anti-Masonic](/source/Anti-Masonic_Party) nominee for [Vice President of the United States](/source/Vice_President_of_the_United_States)|years=[1832](/source/1832_United_States_presidential_election)}}
{{s-aft|after=[Francis Granger](/source/Francis_Granger)
{{small|Endorsed}}}}
{{s-end}}
{{1832 United States presidential election}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellmaker, Amos}}
Category:1787 births
Category:1851 deaths
Category:Anti-Masonic Party politicians from Pennsylvania
Category:Litchfield Law School alumni
Category:Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Category:Politicians from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Category:Politicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Category:Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Pennsylvania lawyers
Category:1832 United States vice-presidential candidates
Category:19th-century Pennsylvania state court judges
Category:19th-century American lawyers
Category:19th-century American Episcopalians
Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Amos Ellmaker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Ellmaker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Ellmaker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.