Abijah Beckwith (December 2, 1784 in Chatham, Columbia County, New York – August 8, 1874 in Cedarville, Herkimer County, New York) was an American politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He served several stints in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

in the early to mid-

19th Century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

Life

He was the son of Dan Beckwith and Ann (Hough) Beckwith. In 1805, he married Lurena Chadwick (1785–1857), and they had 9 children. About 1806, the family removed to a place in Herkimer County which in 1812 became part of the Town of

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

State assembly

Beckwith was a member of the

(Herkimer Co.) in 1816–17 and

1823 Events January–March * January 22 – By secret treaty signed at the Congress of Verona, the Quintuple Alliance gives France a mandate to invade Spain for the purpose of restoring Ferdinand VII (who has been captured by armed revolutio ...

. He was Clerk of Herkimer County from 1826 to 1831. He was a Democratic member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(5th D.) from 1835 to 1838, sitting in the 58th through 61st New York State Legislatures. He was again a member of the State Assembly (Herkimer Co.) in

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Frémont ...

. In 1848, he became a

Free Soiler The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

and later a Republican. In the 1860 presidential election, he was a presidential elector for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamiln.

Death and burial

Beckwith died on August 8, 1874 and was buried at the Cemetery in Cedarville.

References

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 130ff, 138, 192, 199, 233, 258 and 389; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) *Portrait i
''Jacksonian Antislavery and the Politics of Free Soil, 1824 to 1854''
by Jonathan H. Earle (University of North Carolina Press, 2004; pg. 11)

at New Horizons Genealogy

at Geo Cities {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Abijah 1784 births 1874 deaths Democratic Party New York (state) state senators New York (state) Democratic-Republicans People from Herkimer County, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly 19th-century American politicians 1860 United States presidential electors