{{Short description|American physician and politician (1766–1848)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Jediah Prendergast | image = Jediah Prendergast (1766-1848) (18250963165).jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = May 13, 1766 | birth_place = Pawling, New York | death_date = {{death date and age|1848|3|1|1766|5|13}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = Prendergast Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | office1 = New York State Senate | term_start1 = July 1, 1817 | term_end1 = June 30, 1818 | predecessor1 = Chauncey Loomis | successor1 = | office2 = New York State Assembly | term_start2 = June 30, 1820 | term_end2 = June 30, 1821 | predecessor2 = Elial T. Foote<br/>Oliver Forward | successor2 = Thomas B. Campbell<br/>David Eason | office3 = New York State Assembly | term_start3 = July 1, 1816 | term_end3 = June 30, 1817 | predecessor3 = Daniel McCleary<br/>Elias Osborn | successor3 = Robert Fleming<br/>Philo Orton | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | occupation = Politician | party = | spouse = | children = | parents = | relations = | signature = | footnotes = }} '''Jediah Prendergast''' (May 13, 1766 – March 1, 1848) was an American physician and politician. He served in both the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate.<ref name="Young">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xItpINmJmgC|title=History of Chautauqua County, New York From Its First Settlement to the Present Time; with Numerous Biographical and Family Sketches|author1=Young, Andrew White |date=1875 |publisher= Printing house of Matthews & Warren|isbn=9780608393667 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life and career=== Prendergast was born on May 13, 1766, in Pawling, New York, a son of William Prendergast, Sr. (1727-1811) and Mehetabel Wing (1738-1812). Among his siblings included John J. Prendergast, a New York State Senator, and James Prendergast, the founder and namesake of Jamestown, New York.<ref name="Young"/> After the American Revolution, the Prendergast family, consisting of the children, grandchildren, and servants, traveled to Wheeling, West Virginia and then to Louisville, Kentucky, before they arrived in Memphis, Tennessee. Unsatisfied, the family moved to Upper Canada in what is now Ontario. Jedediah Prendergast was a practicing physician in Canada. His nephew William studied medicine under his practice until 1811.<ref name="Wing">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rG8dAQAAMAAJ|title=Annals of the Wing Family of America Incorporated|author1= |author2= |date=1954 |website= |publisher=Wing Family of America, Incorporated |access-date=April 27, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

The Prendergast family moved to Chautauqua County, New York, and Jediah settled in Mayville in 1811. Here, he went into business as a merchant with his brother Martin, but remained as a practicing physician. He also purchased 350 acres of land south of Mayville. Prendergast was married to Penelope Chase, a native of Rhode Island. They had a daughter, Catherine Rodman Prendergast.<ref name="Young"/>

===Politics=== Prendergast entered politics and was elected to the New York State Assembly and served in the 40th New York State Legislature from July 1, 1816, to June 30, 1817.

In April 1817, Prendergast ran for New York State Senate. He, along There were two vacancies, in which Isaac Wilson was also a candidate. There was a four-year and one-year term, in which the candidate with the highest number of votes would be elected to the four-year term. When Wilson claimed to have won the 4-year-year term by a vote of 15,009—14,985, Prendergast challenged this as 91 votes were cast for "Jedediah" Prendergast and 10 votes were cast for "Jed" Prendergast. The committee on elections ruled in favor of Prendergast, but this was overturned by the committee of the whole, and as a result, Wilson was elected to a four-year term and Prendergast was elected to a one-year term, serving until June 30, 1818.<ref name="Hammond">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QUdDAQAAMAAJ|title=The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York|author1=Hammond, Jabez Delano |date=1875 |website= |publisher=C. Van Benthuysen |access-date=April 27, 2023 |quote=}}</ref><ref name="Young"/>

In 1819, he was elected President of the Chautauqua County Medical Society to serve for a year.<ref name="Young"/> Prendergast was once again elected to the New York State Assembly and served in the 44th New York State Legislature and served from July 1, 1820, to June 30, 1821.<ref name="Young"/>

===Later life=== Jediah Prendergast's wife Penelope died on February 1, 1845, while visiting family in Canada. She was buried in Canada. Jediah Prendergast died on March 1, 1848. He was buried in Prendergast Cemetery in Chautauqua County.<ref name="Young"/><ref name="Wing"/>

==Electoral history== {{Election box begin no change |title=1816 New York State Assembly election<br/>Cattaraugus, Chautauque, and Niagara Counties<ref name="Tufts1816">{{cite web |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/df65v8929|title=New York 1816 Assembly, Cattaraugus, Chautauque and Niagara Counties|author1= |author2= |date= |website=A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787 - 1825 |publisher=Tufts Archival Research Center |access-date=May 1, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |party = Democratic-Republican |candidate = Jediah Prendergast |votes = 1,384 |percentage = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |party = Democratic-Republican |candidate = Richard Smith |votes = 1,481 |percentage = }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |party = Federalist |candidate = John Bleach |votes = 844 |percentage = }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |party = Federalist |candidate = Samuel Sinclair |votes = 758 |percentage = }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin no change |title=1817 New York State Senate election<ref name="Hammond"/>}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |party = Democratic-Republican |candidate = Jediah Prendergast |votes = 15,009 |percentage = }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |party = Democratic-Republican |candidate = Isaac Wilson |votes = 14,985 |percentage = }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin no change |title=1820 New York State Assembly election<br/>Cattaraugus, Chautauque, and Niagara Counties<ref name="Tufts1820">{{cite web |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/g732d998v|title=New York 1820 Assembly, Cattaraugus, Chautauque and Niagara Counties|author1= |author2= |date= |website=A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787 - 1825 |publisher=Tufts Archival Research Center |access-date=May 1, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate no change |party = Clintonian |candidate = William Hotchkiss |votes = 2,444 |percentage = }} {{Election box winning candidate no change |party = Clintonian |candidate = Jediah Prendergast |votes = 2,442 |percentage = }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |party = |candidate = Samuel Russell |votes = 2,055 |percentage = }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |party = |candidate = Timothy H. Porter |votes = 2,047 |percentage = }} {{Election box end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Find a Grave|10534288|Jedediah Prendergast}}

Category:1766 births Category:1877 deaths Category:American abolitionists Category:American judges Category:Members of the New York State Assembly Category:New York (state) state senators Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature