Representative Andrew Ellison

Andrew Ellison (c. 1812 – ca. 1860) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio for one term from 1853 to 1855. He was born in West Union, Ohio, around 1812, at a time when the state was still in the early stages of its development. Ellison attended the local public schools, receiving the basic education that prepared him for a career in the law and in public service.

After completing his schooling, Ellison studied law and was admitted to the bar in Adams County, Ohio, in August 1835. He commenced the practice of law that same year in Georgetown, Ohio, a community in Brown County that would remain central to his professional life. His early legal career established him as a practicing attorney in southern Ohio and provided the foundation for his subsequent entry into public office.

Ellison’s first significant public role came at the county level. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Brown County and served in that capacity from 1840 to 1843. In this position he was responsible for representing the state in criminal matters, an experience that enhanced his legal reputation and broadened his involvement in local affairs. Building on this record, he advanced to state-level office when he served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1846, participating in the legislative process in Columbus during a period of growth and political change in the state.

A member of the Democratic Party, Ellison was elected to national office in the early 1850s. He won election as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress, representing Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1855. His term in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by intensifying sectional tensions and debates over slavery and territorial expansion. As a Democratic representative from Ohio, Ellison contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the nation, representing the interests of his constituents in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ellison sought to continue his congressional career but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854 to the Thirty-fourth Congress. Following his single term in Washington, he returned to Ohio and resumed the practice of law, again focusing on his legal career in the years after his national service. He continued this work until his death, which occurred around 1860. Although details of his later life and the exact circumstances of his death are not well documented, Andrew Ellison is remembered as a mid-nineteenth-century Ohio lawyer and Democratic officeholder who served his county, his state, and his nation in both legislative and legal capacities.