James Wadsworth (of Geneseo)
| James Wadsworth | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 20, 1768 Durham, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | June 7, 1844 (aged 76) Geneseo, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale University (1787) |
| Spouse(s) | Naomi Walcott (m. 1804; her death 1831) |
| Children | 5, including James |
| Parent(s) | John Noyes Wadsworth, Sr. Esther Parsons |
| Relatives |
William Wadsworth (brother) James Wadsworth (uncle) Jeremiah Wadsworth (cousin) James W. Wadsworth (grandson) |
James Wadsworth (April 20, 1768 Durham, Connecticut – June 7, 1844 Geneseo, New York) was an influential and prominent 18th and 19th century pioneer, educator, land speculator, agriculturalist, businessman, and community leader of the early Genesee Valley settlements in Western New York State. He was the patriarch of the prominent Genesee Valley Wadsworths.
James Wadsworth was born in 1768 in Durham, Middlesex County, Connecticut. He was the youngest of the three sons of John Noyes Wadsworth, Sr. by his second wife Esther Parsons. His uncle and namesake was James Wadsworth. James' other brothers were his eldest half brother John Noyes Wadsworth, Jr., by his father’s first marriage to Susan Camp, and his elder full brother Brigadier General, William Wadsworth (1765–1833). James and his brothers are scions of the prominent Wadsworth family of Connecticut, and being a descendent of one of the Founders of Hartford, Connecticut, William Wadsworth (1594–1675), who under the leadership of Pastor Thomas Hooker helped found that city in June 1636.
James Wadsworth was a graduate of Yale University in 1787 at the age of 19.
After graduating from Yale in 1787, Wadsworth traveled north to Montreal, Quebec in Canada to teach for a year. While away his father, John Wadsworth, died and left his sons a substantial inheritance, estimated to be nearly $15,000 each. James moved back to Connecticut to manage his inheritance.
Upon his return to Connecticut in the spring of 1789, James and his brother William were summoned to the home of their father’s prominent and wealthy second cousin, Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth of American Revolutionary War and Continental Congress fame, in Hartford. Jeremiah was considered one of the wealthiest men in Connecticut at the time and was interested in investing in, and financially backing, the efforts of Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, who in the previous year purchased more than 2,250,000 acres (9,100 km2) of land from the Iroquois Six Nations in Western New York State, known as the "Phelps and Gorham Purchase." Jeremiah adjudged James as having "ambition," "clear mind," and a "tenacious will," and so wanted James and William to be Land Agents on his behalf and to personally move to this virgin territory to survey and improve the land while promoting its settlement as well as manage his 200,000-acre (810 km2) investment. In return, James and William were offered 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) at his cost ($0.08 cents per acre) and reduced price for any further purchases, as well as a fee for the sale of Jeremiah’s land.
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