Amos Botsford was a native of Newton in Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College in 1763, and later practised law in Connecticut. In 1779 he was forced to flee from New Haven and took refuge in New York. His property was confiscated by the Connecticut state authorities. In 1782 he was appointed an agent of the British government to conduct a survey and make preparations for the settlement of Loyalists at Annapolis and Conway (Digby), Nova Scotia. Disagreements arose between Botsford, Governor John Parr and Charles Morris, the Surveyor General, as well as between Botsford and some of the settlers who accused him of giving preferential treatment to the elite. In 1784 Botsford moved to Dorchester in the newly formed Province of New Brunswick. He received appointments of clerk of the peace, judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, and registrar of deeds for Westmorland County. He represented Westmorland County in the House of Assembly from 1785 until his death in 1812 and served as speaker of the House throughout this period. In 1790 he moved to Westcock, but died while on a visit to Saint John in 1812 and is buried in Fernhill Cemetery. Amos Botsford's only son William was born in 1773 in New Haven, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College, becoming a member of the New Brunswick Bar in 1795. He moved from Saint John to Westcock in 1808 to become a partner with his father and succeeded him as member of the House of Assembly in 1812. He was speaker of the House and solicitor general from 1817 until 1823 when he was named to the New Brunswick Supreme Court, retiring in 1854. He died in 1864 and is buried beside his father in Fernhill Cemetery, Saint John. |
