Today's profile again centers on an oddly named politician who's gravesite was visited by me earlier this month while at the Brookside Cemetery in Watertown. This obscure figure is one Gotham Ives, a Watertown resident who served one term in the New York State Assembly during the early 1830s. Sadly very little could be found regards to Ives's life, so his profile here will be on the short side! A portrait of Mr. Ives could not be found to post here, and considering that he died over 170 years ago, it is in all likelihood that one won't be found.
Gotham (also spelled Jotham) Ives was born in Torrington, Connecticut on June 8, 1777 to Jotham Ives and Anna Foster. Gotham migrated from Connecticut to Watertown around 1800 and soon afterwards married Ms. Amy Scott (1777-1864), and they eventually became the parents of three children, Amanda (born 1802), Garrett (1806-1889) and Amy Ann (1816-1834).
Over the succeeding years Gotham Ives accumulated much land in the Jefferson County area and is mentioned by the second volume of the Genealogical and Family History of Jefferson County as raising "the first wheat in town".
In 1831 he was elected by the citizens of Jefferson County to the New York State Assembly, serving during the 1832 session. In all likelihood this is the only political office Ives held, as he died nine years later on April 5, 1841. He was memorialized in the earlier mentioned work as "a man of strong will and great industry" and he "made a success where others might fail, and left his impress upon the young community." Gotham's wife Amy survived him by a number of years, dying in 1864 at age 87. Both were buried at the Brookside Cemetery and the photos below were taken by me earlier this month (August 15th) during my visit there!
The Ives children are also buried in this plot along with their mother and father, and quite a bit of searching had to be done to find it, as I was told that this plot is located in an as yet un-mapped area of the Brookside Cemetery.
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