1. Nathaniel Rochester was an American Revolutionary War soldier and land speculator, most noted for founding the settlement which would become Rochester, New York.
23 Facts About Nathaniel Rochester
1. 2.
Cricher moved the family to Granville County, North Carolina in 1763, where Nathaniel attended the school of the Reverend Henry Pattillo.
3.
In 1775, as the Revolution approached, Nathaniel Rochester was named to the Committee of Safety for Orange County.
4.
Nathaniel Rochester was appointed a major in the North Carolina militia, and served as justice of the peace and paymaster of the battalion of minutemen in the district of Hillsborough.
5.
In 1776, Nathaniel Rochester represented Orange County in the Fourth Provincial Congress and was elevated to the rank of colonel in the North Carolina Line.
6.
Nathaniel Rochester was made commissioner in charge of building and managing an arms factory and courthouse, and assisted in establishing an academy in the Hillsborough area.
7.
In 1778 Nathaniel Rochester resigned and entered a mercantile venture with Colonel Thomas Hart, a notable and wealthy merchant and land speculator, and James Brown.
8.
Nathaniel Rochester began to invest his earnings into real estate, a practice he continued throughout his life.
9.
Nathaniel Rochester remained in Maryland for thirty years, where he served one term in the Maryland General Assembly and two years as postmaster.
10.
Nathaniel Rochester was elected as a judge in 1797 but resigned, recognizing that he did not have the proper legal training.
11.
Nathaniel Rochester served as Washington County's Sheriff from 1804 to 1806, a presidential elector, and vestryman of Saint John's Church.
12.
In 1807, Nathaniel Rochester helped found the Hagerstown Bank, serving as its first president.
13.
Nathaniel Rochester offered to sell his share of the Upper Falls tract to Major Carroll, though Carroll convinced him to keep his interest.
14.
In 1811, Nathaniel Rochester began establishing a town on the Upper Falls tract.
15.
Nathaniel Rochester laid out streets on a gridiron pattern and established plots of land for municipal, church, and business use.
16.
Nathaniel Rochester reserved a large lot on Buffalo Street for public buildings.
17.
Also in 1817, Nathaniel Rochester was part of a group that organized St Luke's Episcopal Church in Genesee Falls, with Nathaniel Rochester serving as its first Senior Warden.
18.
In 1821 Nathaniel Rochester played a pivotal role in the creation of Monroe County, which Nathaniel Rochester named after President James Monroe.
19.
Nathaniel Rochester remained an active participant in the growth of the town and county he founded, playing many roles in developing its economy and status.
20.
Nathaniel Rochester was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.
21.
In 1788, Nathaniel Rochester married Sophia Beatty in Hagerstown, Maryland.
22.
Nathaniel Square Park, at the intersection of South Avenue and Alexander Street in the South Wedge neighborhood, is home to a statue of Nathaniel Rochester sitting on a bench, sculpted by Pepsy Kettavong.
23.
When Nathaniel Rochester moved from Hagerstown to Dansville in 1810, he brought about half a dozen enslaved people with him.