Elkanah Watson

Elkanah Watson, born in 1758 and died in 1842, was an American agriculturist, writer, banker and businessman best known for pioneering the modern county fair. After moving to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1807 to raise Merino sheep, he organized what is considered the first county fair in the United States at Pittsfield in 1810, designing it to stimulate competition and the spread of best practices and to engage the whole community through activities for men, women and children. Beyond agriculture, Watson founded the State Bank of Albany in 1803, proposed the Erie Canal concept to the New York legislature in 1791, and partnered with General Philip Schuyler in 1792 to build canals and locks in the Mohawk Valley.