Amos Ellmaker (1787 - 1851) was a U.S. political figure from Pennsylvania. He served as the Anti-Masonic vice-presidential candidate in the 1832 presidential elections. Amos Ellmaker was born 2 February 1787 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the son of Nathaniel Ignatious and Elizabeth (Fellenbaum) Ellmaker.
He studied law at Princeton College, New Jersey. He continued his studies under the tutelage of James Hopkins, Esq., Lancaster, Pa and at Litchfield Law School under Tapping Reeve. He completed his studies at Harrisburg, Pa. in the office of Thomas Elder, whose daughter he later married.
In 1808, Ellmaker was admitted to the bar, and began practicing law at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
On Jan. 13, 1809, aged only 21 years, he was appointed deputy attorney general for Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
He served as a representative in the State Legislature in the years 1813 and 1814, having been elected from the legislative district composed of Dauphin and Lebanon Counties.
In 1814, he volunteered for the army, and served as aide de campe to General Forster during the Chesapeake campaign. While in this position, he was elected to Congress for the congressional district consisting of the counties of Lancaster, Dauphin, and Lebanon, but never fulfilled that office, for on 3 July 1815, Ellmaker was appointed and commissioned president judge of the Twelfth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon, and Schuylkill.
He was married 13 June 1816 at Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Mary Rachael Elder (born 31 December 1799 at Harrisburg, PA; died 15 March 1866), the daughter of Thomas Elder. They had two sons, Nathaniel (born 28 April 1817 at Harrisburg, PA) and Levi (born 1828, Harrisburg, PA)
Ellmaker resigned as President Judge of the 12th district 21 December 1816 to accept an appointment made that same day by Governor Simon Snyder as state attorney general. Governor William Findlay re-appointed him to that office on 1 April 1818. He held the office until December 1819.
He declined an offer from James Monroe of an appointment as Secretary of War. During his career, he also twice turned down offers of appointment as Secretary of the Commonwealth, and twice as justice of the state supreme court.
In 1821, he removed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to practice law there.
On 31 March 1823, by act of legislature, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was incorporated, with Ellmaker as one of nine incorporators. On 7 April 1826, the Legislature granted a charter for the Columbia, Lancaster and Philadelphia Railroad. The incorporators included Ellmaker, James Buchanan (later president of the United States), and 13 others.
On 6 May 1828, he received a third appointment as attorney general of the State of Pennsylvania by Governor John Andrew Shulze, and served until 17 August 1829.
In 1832, he was candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the United States on the anti-Masonic ticket, with William Wirt as candidate for the Presidency. The ticket won in Vermont, and received seven electoral votes.
In 1834, Ellmaker ran for the U. S. Senate, finishing second to James Buchanan. After this election, Ellmaker retired from partisan politics and practiced law the rest of his life in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
In 1838, the Lancaster Female Seminary was incorporated, with Ellmaker as one of 10 trustees.
Ellmaker died on 28 November 1851 in Lancaster County. He was buried in the churchyard of St. James' Episcopal Church in Lancaster.
