DeWitt C. Middleton – 1884, 1885

DeWitt Clinton Middleton was born in the Town of Rutland, April 11, 1850, son of Andrew and Nancy Butterfield Middleton and was educated in Watertown schools. For four years, he was a clerk in the J & A Bushnell Store and then was engaged in the shoe business in Watertown. 

He first began his public service on the Board of Education in 1882 and 1883 He was elected to a two-year term as Mayor in 1883 in a tightly-contested race that ended with Mr. Middleton winning by a 46-vote margin.  

In 1885, during his last six months as Mayor, he organized the Watertown Electric Light Company and served as its president. This was the birth of the hydroelectric business in Watertown, a virtually untouched asset at that time. After extensive development, Mr. Middleton renamed the company to Northern New York Utilities, Inc. 

He also served on the Watertown Board of Education for two years. He was Director and Vice President of Northern New York Trust Company and Chairman of the Board of Northern Acceptance Corporation.

Actively involved in politics from an early age, Mr. Middleton was sent to the Republican National Convention in 1896 and was appointed Postmaster in 1897 by Governor Theodore Roosevelt. 

Remaining a bachelor until middle age, Mr. Middleton married Lucy Adelaide Tuttle of Chicago in 1892.

He died at his home at 172 Clinton Street in Watertown on August 5, 1932 at the age of 82. He is buried at Brookside Cemetery.