John Watts was born on August 27, 1749, in New York City. He was the son of John Watts (1715–1789), a Scottish immigrant from a wealthy family, and Ann DeLancey (1723–1784), a descendant of the Schuyler family and Van Cortlandt family. His elder brother, Robert Watts (1743–1814), was married to Mary Alexander, the daughter of Lord Stirling. His younger siblings included Anne Watts (1744–1783), who was married to Archibald Kennedy, 11th Earl of Cassilis (the parents of Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa), Susannah Watts (1749–1823), who was married to Phillip Kearney, Mary Nicoll Watts (1751–1815), who was married to Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet, Stephen Watts, who was married to Sarah Nugent, and Margaret Watts, who was married to Robert Leake.[2]
He completed preparatory studies, graduated with an A.M. degree from King's College in May 1769, and studied law.[1]
Career
In 1774, he was appointed the Recorder of New York City under Mayor David Mathews, and was the last to serve in this role under the English Crown.[4] The role included serving as a "mayoral assistant, judge, and in sundry administrative and judicial functions."[5]
His father, a Loyalist, fled the colonies to England during the Revolutionary War. In 1779, his properties, including his "Rose Hill" estate (which is now occupied by Fordham University), were seized by the New York State Legislature. Watts and his brother Robert petitioned for the attainder to be overturned. They were unable to have it overturned but were allowed to buy back their father's properties.
Post Revolutionary War
From 1788 to 1789 and again from 1791 to 1793, Watts was a member of the New York State Assembly serving as Speaker of the Assembly from 1791 to 1793. He was a member of the commission to build Newgate Prison in New York City, in use between 1797 and 1829.
He was a judge of Westchester County, New York from 1802 to 1807. He was also a member of Westchester Masonic Lodge No. 46 (now Huguenot Masonic Lodge No.46).
Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum
In 1831, Watts organized the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum after his friend (who was also his sister Margaret's brother-in-law), John George Leake (1752–1827), died with no children or living siblings.[6] Leake and Watts Services is now called Rising Ground. Leakes had left his personal property (valued at about $300,000) and real estate (worth an additional $86,000),[7] to Watts' son provided he change his name to "Robert Leake."[8] While Watts son made the change, he died a few months later, leaving no will. The real estate was escheated to the State because of technical problems of the "will", however, the personal property passed to Watts who used it to found the Orphan Asylum.[8]
Personal life
In 1775, Watts married Jane Delancey (1750–1809)[9] in a double wedding, along with her sister, Susannah Delancey (1754–1837), who married Thomas Henry Barclay.[10] The sisters were daughters of Peter DeLancey (who served in the New York Provincial Assembly for many years) and Elizabeth Colden (daughter of Cadwallader Colden), and granddaughters of Stephen Delancey making them first cousins to John.[11]
Together, John and Jane were the parents of eleven children. His grandson would later write that "Watts was a monument of affliction, in that he had seen his wife, six handsome, gifted, and gallant sons, and four daughters precede him to the grave. One childless daughter survived him and three grandchildren."[5] The children included:[11]
Robert J. Watts, a captain in the 41st Infantry to whom John G. Leake left his extensive properties. Robert inherited Leake's estate but died very soon after.[5]
John Watts died at his longtime home, 3 Broadway in New York City, on September 3, 1836. He was interred in a vault in Trinity Churchyard.[1] In 1839, his family's Rose Hill estate and manor house were purchased by the Catholic Church to establish St. John's College.[9]
Through his daughter Mary, he was the grandfather of John Watts de Peyster (1821–1907),[13] a New York City author and philanthropist who married Estelle Livingston (1819–1898) in 1841.[14][15]
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