# Peleg Wadsworth

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American politician

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Peleg Wadsworth Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts In office March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1807 Serving with Henry Dearborn and George Thatcher (4th District-GT) Preceded by Theodore Sedgwick Succeeded by Daniel Ilsley Constituency 4th district (1793–95) 13th district (1795–1803) 15th district (1803–07) Personal details Born (1748-05-06)May 6, 1748 Duxbury, Massachusetts, British America Died November 12, 1829(1829-11-12) (aged 81) Hiram, Maine, U.S. Party Federalist Relations Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (grandson) Children at least ten,[1] including Zilpha Wadsworth, Henry Wadsworth, Alexander Scammel Wadsworth Alma mater Harvard College Occupation Merchant Military service Allegiance Massachusetts United States Branch/service Massachusetts Militia Continental Army Rank Brigadier general Battles/wars American Revolutionary War Battle of Long Island Penobscot Expedition

**Peleg Wadsworth** (May 6, 1748 – November 12, 1829) was an American [Patriot](/source/Patriot_(American_Revolution)) officer during the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) and a [Congressman](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts) representing the [District of Maine](/source/District_of_Maine). He was also grandfather of American poet [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](/source/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow).[2]

## Early life

Wadsworth was born in [Duxbury](/source/Duxbury%2C_Massachusetts) in the [Province of Massachusetts Bay](/source/Province_of_Massachusetts_Bay) (now [Duxbury, Massachusetts](/source/Duxbury%2C_Massachusetts)) to Peleg and Susanna (Sampson) Wadsworth. He graduated from [Harvard College](/source/Harvard_College) with an A.B. (1769) and an A.M. (1772), and taught school for several years in [Plymouth, Massachusetts](/source/Plymouth%2C_Massachusetts), with his former classmate [Alexander Scammel](/source/Alexander_Scammel). There he met Elizabeth Bartlett (1753 – 1825), whom he married in 1772.

## American Revolutionary War

The Wadsworths lived in [Kingston](/source/Kingston%2C_Massachusetts), until 1775, when Wadsworth recruited a company of [minutemen](/source/Minutemen_(militia)), of which he was chosen [captain](/source/Captain_(land_and_air)). His company mustered in response to the alarms generated by the [Battle of Lexington and Concord](/source/Battle_of_Lexington_and_Concord) on April 19, 1775. He was fifth in descendant to Christopher Wadsworth, who came from England to the Americas in 1632.[3] The [Plymouth County](/source/Plymouth_County%2C_Massachusetts) battalion, commanded by Col. [Theophilus Cotton](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theophilus_Cotton&action=edit&redlink=1) marched to [Marshfield](/source/Marshfield%2C_Massachusetts) to attack a garrison of British troops there. The attack was delayed for two days, allowing the British time to escape Marshfield by sea. During that time, Capt. Wadsworth, frustrated with the delay, advanced his company to within firing range of the British encampment, nearly instigating combat.[4]

Wadsworth served as aide to Gen. [Artemas Ward](/source/Artemas_Ward) in March 1776, and as an engineer under Gen. [John Thomas](/source/John_Thomas_(general)) in 1776, assisting in laying out the defenses of [Roxbury, Massachusetts](/source/Roxbury%2C_Massachusetts). He was present at the [Battle of Long Island](/source/Battle_of_Long_Island) on August 1, 1776. He was made brigadier general of [militia](/source/Militia_(United_States)) in 1777 and Adjutant General of Massachusetts in 1778.

Wadsworth's finest military engagement was in one of the worst American military defeats of the war. In the summer of 1779 he served as second in command to General [Solomon Lovell](/source/Solomon_Lovell) over the land forces sent to make a [combined arms](/source/Combined_arms) attack on [Fort George](/source/Fort_George_(Castine%2C_Maine)) at [Castine](/source/Castine%2C_Maine), in the so-called [Penobscot Expedition](/source/Penobscot_Expedition). Commodore [Dudley Saltonstall](/source/Dudley_Saltonstall) was in command of the naval forces. Lt. Colonel [Paul Revere](/source/Paul_Revere) also served in this expedition as commander of artillery. While General Lovell remained aboard the Commodore's vessel, Wadsworth and Revere landed with the infantry and artillery and laid siege to the fort for about two weeks. Due to the reluctance of the Commodore to launch a naval attack in support of the ground forces, the British garrison held out until ships of the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) arrived from [New York City](/source/New_York_City) and drove the American Navy up the Penobscot River where all 43 American warships were sunk or were scuttled and burned, comprising most of the American fleet, making it the worst American naval disaster prior to the Japanese [attack on Pearl Harbor](/source/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor) in 1941. Wadsworth, still with the forces on shore, organized and led a successful overland retreat through the Maine frontier. Colonel Revere and Commodore Saltonstall were [court-martialed](/source/Court-martial) for their roles in the debacle (Revere was acquitted, Saltonstall was "dismissed the service").

In March 1780, Wadsworth was given command of all the troops raised for the defense of the [Province of Maine](/source/Province_of_Maine). On February 17, 1781, a party of 25 [Loyalists](/source/Loyalist_(American_Revolution)) overran his headquarters in [Thomaston](/source/Thomaston%2C_Maine); this was in revenge for Wadsworth ordering the [court-martial](/source/Court-martial) and execution of a guide who had assisted Loyalists traveling from Falmouth (now [Portland](/source/Portland%2C_Maine)) to Fort George. Wadsworth was captured and imprisoned in Fort George at Bagaduce (Castine) (the same fort he had led the attack against in the summer of 1779), but he and fellow prisoner Maj. Benjamin Burton eventually escaped on June 15, 1781 by cutting a hole in the ceiling of their jail and crawling out along the joists. Wadsworth then returned to his family in Plymouth, where he remained until the war's end.[5]

## After war years

In April 1784 Wadsworth returned to Maine, purchased 1.5 acres (6,000 m2) of land on Back Street (now Congress Street in [Portland](/source/Portland%2C_Maine)), engaged in surveying, and opened a store in early 1785. There he also built a house, now the historic [Wadsworth-Longfellow House](/source/Wadsworth-Longfellow_House). He headed the committee that organized the first convention to discuss independence for Maine from Massachusetts, held in January 1786. He and his wife had eleven children: Alexander Scammell (9 May 1774 – 28 August 1775); Charles Lee (26 January 1776 – 29 September 1848); Zilpah (6 January 1778 – 12 March 1851); Elizabeth (21 September 1779 – 1 August 1802); John (1 September 1781 – 22 January 1860); Lucia (12 June 1783 – 17 October 1864); Henry (21 June 1785 – 4 September 1804); George (6 January 1788 – 8 April 1816); Alexander Scammell (7 May 1790 – 5 April 1851); Samuel Bartlett (1 September 1791 – 2 October 1874); and Peleg (10 October 1793 – 17 January 1875). Zilpah became the mother of poet [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](/source/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow).[6] Although Wadsworth continued to live in Portland, in 1790 he purchased 7,800 acres (30 km2) from the Commonwealth in what became the town of [Hiram](/source/Hiram%2C_Maine), settled his son Charles there in 1795, and also in 1795 began building [Wadsworth Hall](/source/Wadsworth_Hall) for his retirement.

In 1792 Wadsworth was chosen a presidential elector and a member of the Massachusetts Senate, and from 1793 to 1807 was the first representative in Congress from the region of Massachusetts that later became Maine. In January 1807 he moved to Hiram where he incorporated the township (February 27, 1807) and served as selectman, treasurer and magistrate. For the remainder of his life he devoted himself to farming and local concerns. He died in Hiram on November 12, 1829, and is buried in the family cemetery at Wadsworth Hall.

## Legacy

Wadsworth's Portland house was declared a [National Historic Landmark](/source/National_Historic_Landmark) for its association with him and with his grandson, poet [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](/source/Henry_Wadsworth_Longfellow). The house at Portland was gifted to the Maine Historical Society by his granddaughter Anne Longfellow Pierce upon her death in 1901. She was the last family member to live in the home.[7] Wadsworth Hall, Peleg Wadsworth's home in Hiram, is also listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Longfellow - Peleg and Elizabeth Wadsworth"](http://www.hwlongfellow.org/family_peleg.shtml).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Cutter, William Richard, ed. (1913). ["General Peleg Wadsworth"](https://books.google.com/books?id=ofcsAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA735). *New England families, genealogical and memorial*. Vol. 2. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co. p. 735.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Seventy-fifth Birthday. Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, February 27, 1882*](https://books.google.com/books?id=iP1DAAAAYAAJ&dq=Peleg+Wadsworth+ancestry+england&pg=PA52). Hoyt, Fogg and Donham. 1882.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Winsor, Justin. *History of Duxbury*. Boston: Crosby & Nichols (1849), 130.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Dwight, Timothy (1821). [*Travels; in New-England and New-York, vol. II*](https://books.google.com/books?id=YkrVAAAAMAAJ&q=dwight%27s+travels+burton+wadsworth&pg=PA184). New Haven: Timothy Dwight, S. Converse, printer. pp. 174–184.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Zilpah Wadsworth and Stephen Longfellow"](https://www.hwlongfellow.org/family_stephen.shtml). *Henry Wadsworth Longfellow*. [Maine Historical Society](/source/Maine_Historical_Society). Retrieved April 25, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Wadsworth-Longfellow House & Garden in Portland - Maine Historical Society"](https://www.mainehistory.org/house_overview.shtml).

## Further reading

- Cornwell, Bernard (2010). [*The Fort*](https://books.google.com/books?id=GKfXoyCfh7EC). New York: HarperCollins. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780007331727](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780007331727). Retrieved September 1, 2018. A historical novel depicting the Penobscot Expedition, with a non-fiction "Historical Note" (pp. 451–468) on sources and key details.

- Maine Historical Society. ["The Wadsworths: Peleg and Elizabeth."](https://www.hwlongfellow.org/family_peleg.shtml) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [online resource], Maine Historical Society, Accessed June 6, 2019.

- United States Congress. ["Peleg Wadsworth (id: W000014)"](http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000014). *[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress](/source/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress)*.

- The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans

- Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century

- Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors in the War of the Revolution

- Rolde, Neil (1990). *Maine: A Narrative History*. Gardiner, Me: Harpswell Press. p. 129. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-88448-069-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-88448-069-0).

U.S. House of Representatives Preceded by Theodore Sedgwick (Redistricted) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th congressional district (Maine district) March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795 alongside: George Thatcher, Henry Dearborn on a General ticket Succeeded by Dwight Foster (Redistricted) Preceded by New position Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 13th congressional district (Maine district) 1795–1803 Succeeded by Ebenezer Seaver Preceded by New position Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 15th congressional district (Maine district) 1803–1807 Succeeded by Daniel Ilsley

v t e United States representatives from Massachusetts 1st district F. Ames Dexter Goodhue Holten Sedgwick Skinner Sedgwick J. Bacon Eustis Quincy Ward Jr. Mason Gorham Webster Gorham N. Appleton Gorham A. Lawrence Fletcher A. Lawrence Winthrop N. Appleton Winthrop S. Eliot W. Appleton Scudder T. D. Eliot Hall T. D. Eliot Buffington Crapo R. Davis Randall Wright G. Lawrence Treadway Heselton Conte Olver Neal 2nd district Goodhue Foster W. Lyman Sedgwick Ward Sr. W. Lyman Shepard J. Crowninshield Story Pickman W. Reed Pickering Silsbee Barstow B. Crowninshield Choate Phillips Saltonstall D. King Rantoul Fay Crocker Buffington O. Ames Harris Long E. Morse Gillett Churchill Bowles Kaynor Granfield Clason Furcolo Boland Neal McGovern 3rd district Gerry Bourne Coffin S. Lyman Mattoon Cutler Nelson Livermore White Pickering Nelson Varnum Nelson Osgood Cushing A. Abbott Duncan Edmands Damrell C. Adams Thomas A. Rice Twichell Whiting I Pierce Field B. Dean Field Ranney L. Morse J. Andrew Walker J. R. Thayer R. Hoar C. Washburn J. A. Thayer Wilder Paige F. Foss Casey Philbin Drinan Donohue Early Blute McGovern N. Tsongas Trahan 4th district Sedgwick Dearborn G. Thatcher Wadsworth Foster L. Lincoln Sr. Hastings Varnum W. Richardson Dana Stearns Fuller E. Everett Sa. Hoar Parmenter Thompson Palfrey Thompson Sabine Walley Comins A. Rice Hooper Frost J. Abbott L. Morse Collins O'Neil Apsley Weymouth Tirrell Mitchell Wilder Winslow Stobbs P. Holmes Donohue Drinan Frank Kennedy III Auchincloss 5th district Partridge Bourne Freeman L. Williams T. Dwight Ely Mills Lathrop Sibley J. Davis L. Lincoln Jr. Hudson C. Allen W. Appleton Burlingame W. Appleton Hooper Alley Butler Gooch Banks Bowman L. Morse Hayden Banks Sh. Hoar Stevens Knox B. Ames J. Rogers E. Rogers B. Morse Cronin P. Tsongas Shannon Atkins Meehan N. Tsongas Markey Clark 6th district G. Thatcher Leonard J. Reed Sr. J. Smith Taggart S. Allen Locke Kendall Grennell Alvord Baker Ashmun G. Davis Upham T. Davis Alley Gooch Banks Butler Thompson Loring Stone Lovering Lodge Cogswell Moody Gardner Lufkin A.P. Andrew G. Bates W. Bates Harrington Mavroules Torkildsen Tierney Moulton 7th district Leonard Ward Sr. Leonard Bullock Bishop Mitchell Barker Baylies Turner Baylies Hulbert Shaw H. Dwight S. Allen Grennell Briggs J. Rockwell Goodrich Banks Gooch Boutwell Brooks Esty E. Hoar Tarbox Butler W. Russell Stone Cogswell W. Everett Barrett Roberts Phelan Maloney W. Connery L. Connery Lane Macdonald Markey Capuano Pressley 8th district Grout G. Thatcher F. Ames Otis Eustis L. Williams Green Gardner Green J. Reed Jr. Baylies Sampson Hobart Lathrop Bates Calhoun J. Adams Mann Wentworth Knapp Train Baldwin G. Hoar J. M. S. Williams Warren Claflin Candler W Russell C. H. Allen Greenhalge Stevens McCall Deitrick Dallinger H. Thayer Dallinger Healey Goodwin Macdonald O'Neill Kennedy II Capuano Lynch 9th district Varnum Bishop J. Dean Wheaton J. Reed Jr. Folger J. Reed Jr. H. Dwight Briggs Jackson Hastings H. Williams Hale Fowler Little De Witt E. Thayer Bailey A. Walker W. Washburn Crocker G. Hoar W. Rice T. Lyman Ely Burnett Candler G. Williams O'Neil Fitzgerald Conry Keliher Murray Roberts Fuller Underhill Luce R. Russell Luce T. H. Eliot Gifford Nicholson Keith McCormack Hicks Moakley Lynch Keating 10th district Goodhue Sewall Read Hastings Upham J. Allen Brigham Wheaton Morton F Baylies Bailey H. A. S. Dearborn W. Baylies Borden H. Williams Borden Burnell Grinnell Scudder Dickinson Chaffee Delano Dawes Crocker Stevens Seelye Norcross W. Rice J. E. Russell J. Walker McEttrick Atwood Barrows Naphen McNary O'Connell Curley Murray Tague Fitzgerald Tague Douglass Tinkham Herter Curtis Martin Heckler Studds Delahunt Keating 11th district Bradbury Bartlett Cutler Stedman A. Bigelow Brigham B. Adams J. Russell Hobart J. Richardson J. Adams J. Reed Jr. Burnell Goodrich Trafton Dawes Chapin Robinson Whiting II Wallace Coolidge Draper Sprague Powers Sullivan Peters Tinkham Douglass Higgins Flaherty Curley Kennedy O'Neill Burke Donnelly 12th district H. Dearborn I. Parker Lee S. Thatcher Skinner Larned Bidwell Bacon Dewey Hulbert Strong Kendall L. Bigelow Baylies Hodges J. Adams Robinson F. Rockwell Crosby E. Morse Lovering Powers Weeks Curley Gallivan McCormack Keith Studds 13th district Wadsworth Seaver Ruggles Dowse Eustis J. Reed Jr. Randall Simpkins Greene Weeks Mitchell Carter Luce Wigglesworth Burke 14th district G. Thatcher Cutts C. King J. Holmes Lovering E. Foss Harris Gilmore Olney Frothingham Wigglesworth Martin 15th district Wadsworth Ilsley Whitman Widgery Bradbury Whitman Greene Leach Martin Gifford 16th district S. Thatcher Cook Tallman S. Davis Brown Orr Hill Thacher Walsh Gifford 17th district Bruce Chandler Gannett F. Carr Wood J. Carr Wilson Kinsley 18th district Wilson T. Rice J. Parker 19th district J. Parker Conner Gage Cushman 20th district Hubbard Parris E. Lincoln At-large Cobb

v t e Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Prose Outre-Mer (1830s) Hyperion (1839) Kavanagh (1849) Poetry "The Battle of Lovells Pond" (1820) "A Psalm of Life" (1838) "Excelsior" (1841) "The Village Blacksmith" (1841) "The Skeleton in Armor" (1841) "The Wreck of the Hesperus" (1842) Poems on Slavery (collection, 1842) Evangeline (1847) The Song of Hiawatha (The Death of Minnehaha) (1855) "Santa Filomena" (1857) The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858) "The Children's Hour" (1860) "Paul Revere's Ride" (1860) "The Saga of King Olaf" (1863) Tales of a Wayside Inn (collection, 1863) "Christmas Bells" (1863) "The Sermon of St. Francis" (1875) Family Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow (son) Alice Mary Longfellow (daughter) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (grandson) Stephen Longfellow (father) Samuel Longfellow (brother) Peleg Wadsworth (grandfather) Alexander S. Wadsworth (uncle) Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (nephew) Mary King Longfellow (niece) Nathan Appleton (father-in-law) Richard Bonython (ancestor) Richard Henry Dana III (son-in-law) Historic houses Birthplace (Portland, Maine) Wadsworth-Longfellow House (Portland, Maine) Longfellow House (Cambridge, Massachusetts) Memorials Longfellow Square Portland, Maine memorial Washington, D.C. memorial Namesakes Longfellow Bridge Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site Longfellow Mountains Related Dante Society of America "the mills of God grind slowly" "Whom the gods would destroy"

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peleg Wadsworth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peleg_Wadsworth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peleg_Wadsworth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.