Elkanah Watson - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Elkanah Watson was a visionary traveller and writer, agriculturist and canal promoter. He was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts and died at Port Kent, New York

Port Kent, New York

Port Kent, New York is a community in Essex County, New York, on Lake Champlain. Ferry service to Vermont is provided by the Lake Champlain Transportation Company; the community also has an Amtrak railroad stop....

. During the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

he carried dispatches to Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

in France. He became a Freemason

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

in France during the war, and afterward famously commissioned (with his business partner François Cassoul) a Masonic apron for George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

.

In 1807 he moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...

to raise Merino sheep at his farm. Towards promoting better agricultural practices, he organized the first county fair in the United States, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1810. In December 1791, he proposed that natural waterways could be used to create what later became the Erie Canal

Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...

across New York State, to the New York State legislature. In 1792, with General Philip Schuyler

Philip Schuyler

Philip John Schuyler was a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.-Early life:...

, he formed a company to build locks and canals, starting with the Little Falls canal.

Further reading