Connecticut militia officer and legislator.

Officer in Connecticut militia (1752-79); promoted steadily to the rank of brigadier (1776) and major general (1777). Durham town clerk (1756). Connecticut assemblyman (1759-85). Justice of the peace (1762). Member of Connecticut Council of Safety (1775-82). Member of Continental Congress (1783-86); did not attend regularly. Prominent Anti- Federalist.

Son of James and Abigail (Penfield) Wadsworth of Durham, Connecticut. Educated at Yale (B.A., 1748). Married Katharine Guernsey (1757); two children.

First letter in correspondence: March 29, 1784; John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, American National Biography (24 vols., New York, 1999).