Frederick Follett (November 1, 1804 Lincoln,At the time of his birth the place was called Lincoln, and changed the name to

Gorham, New York Gorham is a town in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 4,130 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Nathaniel Gorham. The Town of Gorham is at the southern border of the county, southeast of Canandaigua. History ...

in 1807. The Town of Hopewell was separated from Gorham in 1822. In the sources either Gorham or Hopewell are given as birthplaces, but both names are anachronistic.

Ontario County, New York Ontario County is a county in the U.S. State of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 112,458. The county seat is Canandaigua. Ontario County is part of the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2006, ''Progressive ...

- January 18, 1891 New York City) was an American journalist, newspaper editor and politician from New York.

Life

He was the son of Frederick Follett (1761-1804) and Giffie Babcock (1771-1845). In 1819, his brother Oran Follett (member of 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 1824) founded the ''Spirit of the Times'', a weekly newspaper at

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population as of the 2020 census was 15,6 ...

. In 1825, Oran removed to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, and Frederick took over the paper. In 1826, Frederick married Sarah Sutherland (1806-1860), and they had three sons. In August 1836, he sold the newspaper, and went to Texas to join

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

's army, but the Texas Revolution had ended before he arrived. From 1840 to 1843, he edited the ''Batavia Times and Farmers and Mechanics Journal''. He was Postmaster of Batavia, NY, from 1843 to 1849. In 1847, he publishe
''History of the Press of Western New-York''
(Rochester NY, 1847, 76 pages). 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 ...

, he ran for Canal Commissioner on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated. He was a Canal Commissioner from 1850 to 1855, elected in

1849 Events January–March * January 1 – France begins issue of the Ceres series, the nation's first postage stamps. * January 5 – Hungarian Revolution of 1848: The Austrian army, led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, enters in th ...

and

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...

on the Democratic ticket. He died at his home at 231, West One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Street in New York City.

Notes

Sources

Obit in NYT on January 20, 1891 (with a few inaccuracies)
''Gazetteer of the State of New York: Embracing a Comprehensive View of the Geography, Geology, and General History of the State, and a Complete History and Description of Every County, City, Town, Village and Locality: With Full Table of Statistics''
by John Homer French & Frank Place (Cortland County Historical Society, R. Pearsall Smith, 1860; page 321)
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 42; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) {{DEFAULTSORT:Follett, Frederick 1804 births 1891 deaths People from Ontario County, New York People from Batavia, New York Erie Canal Commissioners 19th-century American newspaper editors New York (state) postmasters American male journalists 19th-century American male writers Journalists from New York (state)