{{Infobox artist | name = Amos Scudder | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = February 14, 1779 | birth_place = Westfield, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1856|6|13|1779|2|14}} | death_place = Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S. | resting_place = Presbyterian Church cemetery, Westfield, New Jersey | known_for = | training = | movement = | notable_works = {{bulletedlist|The Savannah Theatre, Savannah (contractor)|Nathanael Greene Monument, Savannah (contractor)|First Baptist Church, Savannah (contractor)|City Hotel, Savannah (contractor)|Independent Presbyterian Church, Savannah (contractor)}} | patrons = | awards = }}
'''Amos Scudder''' (February 14, 1779 – June 13, 1856)<ref name=mills>''Architecture of the Old South'', Mills Lane (1993), p. 161 {{isbn|9781558590441}}</ref> was an American architect, builder and freemason.<ref name=sheehy>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl1aavDFhPUC&dq=Augustus+Bonaud+savannah+georgia&pg=PA289 ''Savannah, Immortal City: Volume One of the Civil War Savannah Series''] - Barry Sheehy, Cindy Wallace, Vaughnette Goode-Walker (2011), p. 287</ref> According to his biographer, Shelley Carroll, Scudder was "an aggressive, litigious entrepreneur who made financial success his business."<ref name=carroll/>
Scudder was the father of noted builders Ephraim and John Scudder, who were prominent in Savannah, Georgia, in the second half of the 19th century. Amos was also a prominent Savannah citizen who constructed some of the city's finest public and private buildings. He also served on the city council for nine years.<ref name=carroll/>
The Savannah–Ogeechee Canal, his "pet in the winter of his years", became known as "Scudder's Canal" in the 1830s.<ref name=carroll/>
==Early life== Amos Scudder was born in Westfield, New Jersey, on February 14, 1779, the sixth child of the eight of American Revolutionary War veteran Captain Ephraim Scudder (1742–1788) and Martha Spinning (1750–1814). His siblings were Rachel, Ephraim, Sally (or Sarah), Elizabeth (or Jenny), Arrowsmith (Smith), Anne, Phebe and John Spinning.<ref name="carroll"/>
==Career== thumb|The former City Hotel in Savannah, Georgia Scudder moved from Westfield to Savannah, Georgia, in the first quarter of the 19th century, appearing regularly in post-office records from 1811. For a long period, he maintained Westfield as his permanent address, while wintering in Savannah.<ref>''Report of Edward C. Anderson, Mayor of the City of Savannah: For the Year Ending October 31st, 1855-1856'' (1855), p. 20</ref>
In 1830, Scudder was elected an alderman on the Savannah city council, a role in which he remained until 1839.<ref name=carroll/> The same year, he lost several buildings in a fire, including his Steam Saw Mill.<ref name=carroll/>
He was a contractor for several of Savannah's notable buildings, including the William Jay-designed The Savannah Theatre, the Nathanael Greene Monument, the First Baptist Church, the City Hotel and the Independent Presbyterian Church.<ref name=carroll/>
==Personal life== In 1800, Scudder built a brick mansion in Westfield. It was demolished in 1970.<ref name=carroll/> On September 23, 1803, Scudder married Phebe Ross, the couple having had a marriage license since 1793, when Amos was 14 years old. The couple had eleven children: Theodore, Emily P., Mary, Ann Eliza, Amos Picton, John, Catherine C., Ephraim, Caroline Mathilda, Phoebe and Sarah.<ref name="carroll" />
In 1820, Scudder purchased lot number 2, Frederick Tything, Derby Ward in Savannah.<ref name=carroll/> One of his other properties, in Johnson Square, on the southeast corner of Congress and Bull Streets, was purchased by J. P. Screven and became the Screven House hotel in 1857.<ref name=carroll/> It replaced Wiltberger's Pulaski House "as Savannah's finest."<ref name=bell>Malcolm Bell, Jr., "Ease and Elegance, Madeira and Murder: The Social Life of Savannah's City Hotel," ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly,'' vol. 76, no. 3 (Fall 1992), p. 552.</ref>
Phebe Scudder died on July 31, 1838, aged 58. She is buried in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield.<ref name=carroll/>
==Death== Scudder died in Plainfield, New Jersey, on June 13, 1856, aged 77. His will left three of his sons — Amos Picton, John and Ephraim — as its executors. The will also identified five slaves as his property.<ref name=carroll>''Amos Scudder: A Yankee in Savannah'', Shelley Carroll, Armstrong State College (1994)</ref>
== Selected notable works ==
* Ann Hamilton House, Savannah – now the oldest building on the city's oldest square {{bulletedlist|The Savannah Theatre, Savannah (contractor)|Nathanael Greene Monument, Savannah (contractor)|First Baptist Church, Savannah (contractor)|City Hotel, Savannah (contractor)|Independent Presbyterian Church, Savannah (contractor)}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scudder, Amos}} Category:1779 births Category:1856 deaths Category:People from Westfield, New Jersey Category:American Freemasons Category:19th-century American architects Category:Architects from New Jersey Category:American builders Category:Slave owners from New Jersey