John Wurts

Who was John Wurts?

John Wurts was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a president of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company.

John Wurts was born in Flanders, New Jersey. After his father’s death in 1793 the family resided in Montville, New Jersey, and subsequently moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Princeton College in 1813, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1816 and commenced practice in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1817 and served in the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1820.

Wurts was elected to the Nineteenth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination. He was United States district attorney from 1827 to 1831 and a member of the city council of Philadelphia.

Along with his brothers William, Maurice, and Charles, he helped found the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and served as president from 1831 to 1858.

He went abroad for his health in 1859 and died in Rome, Italy, in 1861. Interment in the family cemetery at Pleasant Mills, New Jersey, near Batsto, New Jersey.