Elijah Wadsworth (November 14, 1747 – December 30, 1817) was a captain in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and a major general in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. He was a prominent military officer, Ohio pioneer, local organizer and leader, and wealthy land speculator.

Family

Elijah Wadsworth was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

on November 14, 1747, a member of the wealthy and prominent

Wadsworth Wadsworth may refer to: People * Wadsworth (surname) * Wadsworth (given name) Places * Wadsworth, Illinois, United States, a village * Wadsworth, Kansas, United States * Wadsworth, Nevada, United States, a census-designated place * Wadswo ...

family of Connecticut and a descendant of one of the founders of Hartford, William Wadsworth. Elijah was the son of Joseph Wadsworth, III and Elizabeth Cook. His father was the grandson of Captain Joseph Wadsworth of

Charter Oak The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing on Wyllys Hyll in Hartford, Connecticut in the United States, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856. According to tradition, Connecticut's Roya ...

fame. His son

Frederick Wadsworth Frederick Elijah Wadsworth (March 7, 1786 in Litchfield, Connecticut – February 3, 1869 in Edinburg, Ohio) was an Ohio militia officer, businessman, banker, and politician. Family Frederick was born in 1786 at the family home in Litchfield ...

later became the Mayor of Akron. Elijah married Rhoda Hopkins in 1780, and the two had five children together.

Revolutionary War

Elijah was a resident of

Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorporat ...

at the outbreak of the

. He immediately volunteered after news of the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

. During this time he became friends with Colonel Elisha Sheldon and became a co-founder of Sheldon's Horse, also known as the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons. The two remained friends for the rest of their lives, staying in contact with one another long after the close of the war. Elijah served in this regiment from its founding until the surrender of the British as the

Battle of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

in 1781. During his time in the regiment, Wadsworth earned the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and served directly underneath Major

Benjamin Tallmadge Benjamin Tallmadge (February 25, 1754 – March 7, 1835) was an American military officer, spymaster, and politician. He is best known for his service as an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as leade ...

. He would have seen action on several battlefields, including the battles of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, and Yorktown. He would have been ordered to provide escorts of French and other officers to General George Washington as well as serving as a troop commander for other dragoons. It is highly likely that he witnessed the

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

plot and the death of Major John Andre in 1780. Wadsworth would have been serving as a bodyguard for Washington during this time and it is possible that he had been a part of the additional dragoons sent to secure the area while Andre remained in custody awaiting his trial and subsequent execution. At the end of the war, Elijah returned to his home in Litchfield, Connecticut where he had moved to in 1770. There he built a house of his own that was later sold to Dr. Lyman Beecher and was the birthplace of both

Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the Abolitionism, abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery ...

and

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

Ohio land speculator

He was a part owner of lands of the "

Connecticut Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms of ...

" in Ohio, he being a member of the

Connecticut Land Company The Connecticut Company or Connecticut Land Company (e.-1795) was a post-colonial land speculation company formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the eastern parts of the newly chartered Connecticut Western Re ...

. He moved to Ohio in 1799 to survey his lands and lived at the village of

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The his ...

for some time. He moved to a portion of his properties at

Canfield, Ohio Canfield is a city in central Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 7,699 as of the 2020 census. A suburb about southwest of Youngstown, the city lies at the intersection of U.S. Routes 62 and 224 and is part of the Young ...

in October 1802 and made his permanent home there. He owned the largest share of the lands that became

Medina County, Ohio Medina County (pronounced ) is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 182,470. Its county seat is Medina. The county was created in 1812 and later organized in 1818. It is named for Medina, a city in Sa ...

. Though he never lived there, the city of

Wadsworth, Ohio Wadsworth is a city in Medina County, Ohio, United States. It is counted as part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, although it functions mainly as a suburb of Akron. Founded on March 1, 1814, the city was named after General Elijah Wadsworth, a ...

was named in his honor. He was heavily involved in organizing the local government of that area and in the creation of its post offices, schools and militia. He was the Postmaster at Canfield for several years. In 1813 Elijah was a founding member and elected the first

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of Western Star Lodge #21 in Canfield, Ohio of the

Free Masons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

of Ohio. The Lodge he founded is still active to this day in the greater Youngstown area. Prior to this he was a member of Erie Lodge of the Connecticut Grand Lodge in Warren, Ohio, which eventually became Old Erie Lodge #3 of Ohio when Ohio founded its own Grand Lodge. His was the first wood-frame house built in Ohio, just south of the green in Canfield. He was chosen

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

of the 4th Division of the State militia on January 7, 1804. He served in this capacity when the

broke out.

War of 1812

Under General Wadsworth's command the military infrastructure of

Northeast Ohio The region Northeast Ohio, in the US state of Ohio, in its most expansive usage contains six metropolitan areas ( Cleveland–Elyria, Akron, Canton–Massillon, Youngstown–Warren, Mansfield, and Weirton–Steubenville) along with eight m ...

was built. He recruited and organized the 3,000-man militia and was responsible for the defense of one third of the state of Ohio. He ordered several forts and

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s built for the protection of its citizens. He ordered roads to be built and networked between them. He procured the munitions and supplies necessary for the maintenance of the militia. He commanded at the "Battle of the Peninsula" on September 10, 1812, at the mouth of the Huron River. He had to resign his position in February 1814, before the war was seen through, due to his age and failing health. He died at his home in

on December 30, 1817 at the age of 70. In honor of General Elijah Hill Wadsworth's service during the War of 1812, a group of Daughters of the War of 1812 created a new chapter #472 of the United States Daughters of the War of 1812 with General Wadworth's name. This chapter holds regular meetings to this day in the Canfield/Poland area in honor of General Wadsworth and all veterans of the War of 1812.

References

* ''History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio'', Volume 1, by Joseph Green Butler, American Hist. Soc., Chicago, 1921 * ''Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812'' by Benson John Lossing * ''A History of the City of Cleveland: its Settlement, Rise, and Progress, 1796 ...'' by James Harrison Kennedy * ''Roster of Ohio soldiers in the War of 1812, By Adjutant General of Ohio'', By Adjutant General's Dept., Heritage Books Inc., 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wadsworth, Elijah United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Continental Army officers from Connecticut Businesspeople from Hartford, Connecticut People from Warren, Ohio 1747 births 1817 deaths Connecticut Land Company Military personnel from Hartford, Connecticut People from Canfield, Ohio United States Army officers