James Wadsworth

Who was James Wadsworth?

James Wadsworth was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving 1851–1852. He was born in Durham, Connecticut on August 25, 1819. He graduated from Yale College in 1841, and came to Buffalo the same year. He then moved to New Haven, Connecticut and for two years studied literature and then law. He married Rosetta F. Robinson on September 8, 1845; she died in 1866 and on July 9, 1873, he remarried to Virginia C. Conklin of Norfolk, Virginia.

He returned to Buffalo in 1845, and established the law firm of Wadsworth & Cameron. He became involved in real estate and purchased land from Judge Ebenezer Walden. In 1850, he was chosen Buffalo city attorney. On March 4, 1851, was elected as the Locofoco candidate for mayor. During his term, the New York and Erie Railroad was completed from New York to Dunkirk and the Buffalo Female Academy opened. His term as mayor ended on March 9, 1852.

In 1851, Wadsworth became president of the Buffalo, Brantford and Goodrich Railroad and continued this after his mayoral term ended. He was a Democratic member of the New York State Senate from 1856 to 1858, sitting in the 79th, 80th and 81st New York State Legislatures.