James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 41st district |
|
In office January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1951 |
|
Preceded by | Joseph Mruk |
Succeeded by | Harold C. Ostertag |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 39th district |
|
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1945 |
|
Preceded by | Archie D. Sanders |
Succeeded by | W. Sterling Cole |
United States Senator from New York |
|
In office March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1927 |
|
Preceded by | Elihu Root |
Succeeded by | Robert F. Wagner |
Member of the New York State Assembly from the Livingston County district |
|
In office January 1, 1905 – December 31, 1910 |
|
Preceded by | William Y. Robinson |
Succeeded by | John C. Winters Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born |
Geneseo, New York |
August 12, 1877
Died | June 21, 1952 Washington, D.C. |
(aged 74)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Alice Hay Wadsworth |
Alma mater | Yale University |
James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. (August 12, 1877 – June 21, 1952) was a Republican politician from New York. He was the son of New York State Comptroller James Wolcott Wadsworth, and the grandson of Union General James S. Wadsworth.
Wadsworth attended St. Mark's School, then graduated from Yale in New Haven, Connecticut in 1898, where he was a member of Skull and Bones. He served as a private in the Volunteer Army in the Puerto Rican Campaign during the Spanish-American War. Upon leaving the Army, he entered the and farming business, first in New York and then Texas.
He became active early in Republican politics. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Livingston Co.) in 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910; and was Speaker from 1906 to 1910.
In 1911, while Wadsworth was on a European tour, he met his aunt, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair (1837–1921), the widow of Irish businessman John George Adair. She maintained residences at Glenveagh Castle in Ireland and at the JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle that her husband had financed. Mrs. Adair invited Wadsworth to become general manager of the JA, located southeast of Amarillo. The ranch was begun by her second husband, John "Jack" Adair (hence the initials "JA"), and his partner, the legendary Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight. Wadsworth accepted his aunt's offer and ran the ranch until 1915, when he took his U.S. Senate seat. He once joked that he "had no change of clothes for twelve days and fully expected the Board of Health to be after me." Wadsworth was succeeded as JA manager by Timothy Dwight Hobart.