Elkanah Watson

John Singleton Copley, Elkanah Watson, 1782, in the Princeton University Art Museum. The ship in the background represents the departure to America of the acknowledgement of the independence of the United States. Elkanah Watson (January 22, 1758 – December 5, 1842) was an American agriculturist, writer, banker, and businessman. He was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts and died at Port Kent, New York. He worked in Albany, New York for several years, founding the State Bank of Albany. After retiring in 1807 to a farm in Massachusetts, he raised Merino sheep and founded the agricultural fair, first organizing one at Pittsfield.

Based on journals which he had kept since his 20s, Watson started writing his autobiography in 1821. It was completed, edited and published as Men and the Times of the Revolution; or Memoirs of Elkanah Watson (1856) by one of his sons, historian Winslow Cossoul Watson.

Early life and education Elkanah Watson was born, raised and educated in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1774 he was apprenticed to the mercantile firm of John Brown in Providence, Rhode Island. His family business empire included interests in the Triangle Trade, and Brown was a slave trader. Watson was entrusted with increasingly responsible projects and in 1778 at the age of 20, he carried $50,000 sewn into his clothes, to deliver to Brown's southern agents in Charleston, South Carolina. His 1200-mile journey took him 77 days. After delivering the money, Watson set off with two companions to explore Georgia and Florida, and during this journey started keeping a journal, a practice which he maintained for decades.

After his return to the United States, in 1785 Watson settled in Edenton, North Carolina, joined by Cossoul who had immigrated. They were successful in business until undone by a financial recession.

Marriage and family He married and had two daughters and three sons, Emily Morisceau Watson, Mary Lucia Watson, George Elkanah Watson, Charles Marston Watson and Winslow Cossoul Watson, named after his good friend and business partner. Photographer Yvette Borup Andrews was Elkanah Watson's great-great granddaughter.

Legacy His papers are held by the New York State Library. His Elkanah Watson House in Port Kent, New York has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.