James Geddes (July 22, 1763 – August 19, 1838) was born in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...

and was a prominent

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, New York State legislator and U.S. Congressman who was instrumental in the planning of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

and other canals in the United States. He was also at the forefront of development of the

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

industry at

Onondaga Lake Onondaga Lake is a lake in Central New York, immediately northwest of and adjacent to Syracuse, New York. The southeastern end of the lake and the southwestern shore abut industrial areas and expressways; the northeastern shore and northwestern e ...

near Syracuse,

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 * '' ...

beginning in 1794.

Biography

The son of a Scottish farmer, Geddes eventually settled in 1794 at the head of

in what was to become

Onondaga County, New York Onondaga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 476,516. The county seat is Syracuse. Onondaga County is the core of the Syracuse, NY MSA. History The name ''Onondaga'' derives fro ...

, where he investigated the brine springs and set up a salt works at Geddesburgh, now

Solvay Solvay may refer to: Companies and organizations * Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Brussels, Belgium * Solvay Conference, founded by Ernest Solvay, deals with open questions in physics and chemistry * Solvay Indupa, an Argen ...

. He acquired lands from the State of New York which had been formerly owned by the

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capita ...

tribe and became an adopted member of the Onondagas in resolution of a salt-making dispute, being given the name Don-da-dah-gwah. Geddes first surveyed and laid out the village of Geddes with approximately twenty lots on either side of West Genesee Street in 1807. An early supporter of a proposed canal to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, Geddes was appointed by the state Surveyor General to explore possible routes for such a canal. Based in part on Geddes' recommendations, the Legislature established a canal commission in 1810 . Geddes was one of five engineers chosen in 1816 to supervise the construction of the Erie Canal. He also was appointed chief engineer of the

Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It also ...

. He served as a judge and was elected to the 18th

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in 1818 as a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

. His son, George Geddes, was a New York State legislator. His grandson, also called James Geddes, was a civil engineer and agriculturist. Geddes died at

Salina, New York Salina is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 33,710 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is derived from the Latin word for "salt". Salina is a northwestern suburb of the city of Syracuse. History The ...

on August 19, 1838, in the part of it which would later become known as the Town of Geddes, named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geddes, James 1763 births 1838 deaths American canal engineers People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania Politicians from Syracuse, New York American people of Scottish descent Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Syracuse, New York)