Joseph Ellicott (1732–1780) was one of three Quaker brothers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Province who purchased land on the Patapsco River and set up a new milling business there. John, Andrew, and Joseph founded Ellicott's Mills in 1772, which became one of the largest milling and manufacturing towns in the East.
The Ellicott brothers helped revolutionize farming in the area by persuading farmers to plant wheat instead of tobacco and also by introducing fertilizer to revitalize depleted soil. Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was an early influential convert from tobacco to wheat. Nathaniel sold his partnership in 1777, Joseph sold all but his Hood's mill ownership the next year.
Joseph Ellicott was the father of the surveyors Andrew Ellicott, Joseph Ellicott and Benjamin Ellicott.