Frederick Watts (May 9, 1801 – August 17, 1889), was an agricultural reformer, lawyer and businessman. He is termed the “Father of the
Pennsylvania State University”. He headed the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
as Commissioner of Agriculture from 1871-1877 under President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
.
He served as President of the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvania State University (originally known as the Farmer’s High School, then Pennsylvania Agricultural College) from its founding in 1855 through 1874 and helped to organize many elements of the
Land Grant University
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
Signed by Abraha ...
movement in America. He was President of the
Cumberland Valley Railroad
The Cumberland Valley Railroad was an early railroad in Pennsylvania, United States, originally chartered in 1831 to connect with Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works. Freight and passenger service in the Cumberland Valley in south central P ...
from 1840 to 1873. This early railroad ran from
Chambersburg to
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
in 1837 and introduced the first "sleeping cars" in America; the bunks were made of three rows of upholstered boards that folded up during the day and then hung from connecting leather straps at night. The first such car, the "Chambersburg," began service in 1839 and the "Carlisle" followed soon afterwards.
Early life
Watts was born in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was the son of lawyer David Watts, and the grandson of a Brigadier General in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, also named Frederick Watts. Frederick entered
Dickinson College in Carlisle in 1815, but did not graduate because of the school temporarily closed.
In 1827 Watts married Eliza Cranston, who bore three daughters before her death in 1832. In 1835 he married Henrietta Ege in 1835, who bore five sons and one daughter. He was a
Whig and a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Carlisle.
Career
He practiced law and held positions in local courts starting in the 1820s. In 1849 he was appointed as president judge of Pennsylvania’s Ninth Judicial District Court.
He had a law office and residence at 20 East High Street, later part of the
Fraternal Order of Eagles
Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater owners including John Cort (the first president), brothers John W. and Tim J. Considine, Harr ...
in Carlisle. He also lived with his family at "Creekside" on the
Conodoguinet. It was an important example of brick
Gothic Revival residential architecture, now on the Cumberland Valley Register of Historic Places, and also one of Carlisle's listed "Civil War Buildings". The covered wooden Watts Bridge spanned the Creek near there, until it was destroyed by storm and vandals in the 1980s; it was then replaced by a concrete structure.
He organized the Carlisle Gas and Water Company in 1854, and served as a member of the Dickinson College Board of Trustees (1828-1833, 1841-1844).
In 1838, he and a partner bought the
Pine Grove Iron Works on
South Mountain near
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the ...
.
In 1840, at Creekside, and with the help of
Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the ...
, he demonstrated the operation of McCormick’s reaper for the first time in Pennsylvania.
[ On the day appointed for the test, between 500 and 1,000 people showed up at Watts' farm to observe the "new-fangled" machine. When the farmhand sent to collect the cut grain was having difficulty managing his task, a stranger stepped out of the crowd to demonstrate the proper technique; it was Cyrus McCormick himself. His reaper proved to be one of the most important labor-saving agricultural devices of the nineteenth century.
In 1851 Watts was elected the first President of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society.
He lobbied for the passage of the ]Morrill Act
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or s ...
, which became law in 1862 and founded land-grant universities
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
Signed by Abraha ...
.
In 1871, "At the request of President Ulysses S. Grant . . he joined his cabinet as United States Agricultural Commissioner and began an official investigation of the condition of the nation's forests. This inquiry led to the creation of the forestry division of the United States Department of Agriculture, which was established a few years later."
References
External links
Obituary
- ''New York Times'', August 18, 1889
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Frederick
1801 births
1889 deaths
American manufacturing businesspeople
People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania
19th-century American businesspeople