William Talbott Ellison, Jr. was born in Staunton, Virginia, on September 12, 1950. He attended the Waynesboro public schools through the eighth grade and graduated in 1969 from Fishburne Military School. He attended Belmont Abbey College where he majored in Political Science. Brother Ellison started part-time work for the City of Waynesboro Public Works Department during the summer of 1967, and after college, returned to work for the city advancing to the position of Superintendent of Public Works Operations until his retirement in 2007.
Brother Ellison became a member of John T. Smith Chapter, Order of DeMolay in 1966. He was raised a Master Mason in Lee Lodge No. 209 on April 17, 1979, where he is a Life Member in Perpetuity and served as its Worshipful Master in 1984. He has served as Lodge Secretary since 1995. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Master of Masonic District No. 19 in 1995, Grand Senior Steward in 1997, Administrative Assistant to the Grand Master in 2001, Grand Provost from 2003 through 2006, and was elected Grand Junior Deacon in 2006. He served on the Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education and the Committee on Finance. He is currently serving as the Grand Representative from the Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, near Virginia.
Right Worshipful Brother Ellison is a fifth generation Freemason and also holds Life Membership in the four Virginia Research Lodges, Lodge Fraser No. 267, A.F. & A.M. in Strichen, Scotland, as well as Lodges in Israel and Russia. He holds membership in the Valley of Lynchburg, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and received the Knight Commander Court of Honor in 2007; Life membership in Waynesboro Union Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; Life membership in Stevenson Commandery No. 8, Knights Templar; Life membership in Acca Shrine Center, A.A.O.N.M.S., is a Past Captain of the Hillbilly Unit and Raban of Clan No. 17, Grand and Glorious Order of the Hillbilly Degree; Valley Council No. 56, Allied Masonic Degrees; the Scottish Rite Research Society; the Southern California Research Lodge; the Confederate Military Lodge of Research; and the Philalethes Society. He is a Life Member of DeMolay International and is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Virginia DeMolay Foundation, Inc. Brother Ellison is a recipient of the City of Waynesboro Public Service Award, the Legion of Honor from DeMolay International, and the John Blair, Jr. Service Medal from the Grand Lodge of Virginia in 2005.
Brother Ellison has been married to the former Wanda Kay Falls for thirty-four years. They are the parents of a daughter, Ashley Marie, who is a member of Waynesboro Chapter No. 105, Order of the Eastern Star, and is married to Brother Brian L. Flock, an officer of Lee Lodge No. 209. He is a member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro, Virginia.
