Jared Van Wagenen, Jr.

Bio

(1871-1960) Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., was born on the Goodyear-Van Wagenen farm in Lawyersville, New York, on May 14, 1871, and lived there until his death on March 25, 1960. The Goodyear family moved to central New York in 1790, ultimately settling in Lawyersville in 1800. One of Jared Goodyear’s daughters married Rynear Van Wagenen, which happened to be the line through wich the farm passed down.
Jared, Jr., was raised on the farm, then went on to study at Cornell in the Department of Agriculture, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1891. After graduating, he returned to working on the family farm, but he soon began to get offers to teach in various agricultural faculties in the East, as the field of scientific agriculture was still fairly new. He declined all offers of permanent positions, however, feeling that his primary duty was to the family farm. He did, however, take a variety of part-time positions, such as teaching butter-making for several terms at Cornell between 1895 and 1899; the continued academic presence allowed him to pick up a master’s degree in agriculture during that time period; he also began doing work for the Farmers’ Institute. He also married Magdalena Lamont on December 31, 1896, and they had four children during the next two decades.
Jared Van Wagenen was very committed to agriculture and farm life, and this showed in his years of public service. He was involved with the Farmers’ Institute for decades, as well as serving on a variety of state-level committees following his election to a term whith the State Assembly in 1920. He also served as an assessor for several state and federal projects, namely the Land Trust, the RACC Loan Committee, and the New York City Board of Water Supply (concerning, in the last case, claims stemming from the earlier construction of the Gilboa Dam). He was a trustee of the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, had a long association with the agricultural museum at the New York State Fair, and was associated with the Century Farm Family awards. He gave radio talks off and on for years, especially, but not exclusively, on WGY. In 1953, his “The Golden Age of Homespun” was published by Cornell University Press. His autobiography, “Days of My Years,” was published in 1962 by the New York State Historical Association.