Asa Adgate

Asa Adgate (November 17, 1767 – February 15, 1832) was an iron manufacturer, farmer, and local government official who was selected to fill the vacancy in the United States House of Representatives caused by the death of Benjamin Pond.

He was born in Canaan, New York in 1767. In 1793, he moved to what became known as Adgates Falls (now Ausable Chasm) in New York. He engaged in the manufacture of iron and agricultural pursuits there. In 1793, the town of Peru, New York, was reorganized. Adgate was elected to the office of town clerk, and reelected to the same office in 1794. He continued to serve in a number of positions, including supervisor in 1795, assessor from 1796 to 1797, and commissioner of schools in 1798.

That same year, he was elected to the New York State Assembly. He also served as a lieutenant of infantry in the New York State Militia in 1798 and 1799. In 1799, he was appointed by New York Governor John Jay to the first commission of the peace for Essex County, New York, to be one of the judges of the court of common pleas. He remained in that position for several years.

In 1815, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Congress and served in that body for the remainder of the term, choosing not to run for reelection. Upon leaving the Congress, he resumed his earlier occupations, including another term in the New York State Assembly in 1823. He died at Ausable Chasm, in 1832, and is buried in Ausable Chasm Cemetery in Clinton County, New York.

References

• Asa Adgate at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.
• Find-A-Grave site