After duly considering the matter, choosing for this purpose the
retirement of a neighboring wood, he returned the answer,--"I am not
satisfied with either of these professions."
"What will you do, then?" was the inquiry. He replied, "I know God has
made me for something, and I am trying to find out what that is."
With his mind thus unsettled, he determined to visit his uncle, Colonel
Jeremiah Wadsworth, of Hartford. This uncle had pursued a sea-faring life,
entering upon it at first for the benefit of his health, and following it
afterward, from a love for the employment. From a sailor before the mast,
he came to be mate, and captain, and at the breaking out of the
Revolutionary war he had retired from the sea, and had settled at
Hartford, Conn. He was appointed commissary of the Connecticut line, and
subsequently had important trusts committed to his charge, by his own
State, and also by the Congress at Philadelphia, having reference to the
pay, clothing and subsistence of the Continental troops.
In the discharge of his official duties he had formed an acquaintance with
Oliver Phelps; and after Mr. Phelps had secured an interest in the Genesee
country, he represented its advantages to Colonel Wadsworth in such
glowing colors, as led him to purchase a considerable tract of land in
that region. Being a man of wealth and advanced in life, he had no thought
of emigrating thither, but designed to provide for his interests by
employing an agent.
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