Amos Westcott

Amos Westcott (April 28, 1815 July 6, 1873) was an American dentist who served as Mayor of Syracuse, New York, in 1860.

Biography Amos Westcott was born on April 28, 1815, in Newport, New York, the youngest of seven children. His father, Gorton Westcott, was a farmer. Amos attended local schools but, according to a profile in the 1910 History of Dental Surgery, "as a boy manifested a desire to obtain an education beyond the ability of his parents to provide." As a result, Westcott began teaching district school during the winter in Delphi in Onondaga County, and during the summer attending an academy in Truxton, New York. he taught chemistry, natural philosophy, and mathematics at the Pompey Academy in Pompey, New York, while studying medicine with Jehiel Stearns. Westcott spent 1836 to 1837 or 1838 at the academy, He soon became involved in local politics, serving first as an Alderman of Syracuse and being elected Mayor in 1860. Nine years later he was a member of a consortium that purchased the Cardiff Giant, an archeological hoax, and displayed it in Syracuse. Westcott's health failed in 1871, and he visited Europe for several years in an unsuccessful attempt to improve his health. He returned to Syracuse and died by suicide on July 6, 1873, with no explanation.

Personal life Westcott was married twice: first to Cora Babcock, with whom he had three children, Watts, Katherine, and Edward Noyes Westcott; and second to Harriet Nash, with whom he had two children, Margaret Westcott Muzzey and Frank Nash Westcott.