William Beatty Rochester (1789-1838)

United States Congressman and diplomat. After graduating from Charlotte Hall Military Academy, Rochester served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. George McClure during the War of 1812. After the war, he studied law with his uncle Judge Adam Beatty and with Henry Clay, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Bath, New York. He was elected to represent the 20th New York Congressional District in 1820, and re-elected to represent the 28th District in 1822, but resigned his seat in 1823 after being appointed a judge of New York's 8th Circuit Court. He ran for Governor of New York in 1826, losing to DeWitt Clinton. After serving as a diplomat in Central and South America in 1827 and 1828, he worked as a banker and a railroad executive, including in Pensacola, Florida. He died, along with about 140 others, when a boiler aboard the steam packet Pulaski exploded off the coast of North Carolina, while traveling from Savannah to Charleston, causing the loss of the ship within a few minutes.

Bio by: Jeffry Burden