Mott, James, 1742-1823

James Mott was a Quaker Merchant from New York. He was born on Long Island in Hempstead, New York, to Richard Mott and Sarah Pearsall Mott on the 8th of 8th month, 1742. In 1765 he married Mary Underhill (b. 1745), daughter of Samuel Underhill and Ann Carpenter Underhill; the couple had five children. Shortly after their marriage the couple moved to New York City, where Mott took up mercantile business.

In 1776, due to Mary's declining health and the ongoing tensions over British policy towards its North American colonies, the family moved to Mamaroneck, New York. Mary died several months later, leaving James Mott to raise their five small children. Around the same time he was made an elder of Purchase Monthly Meeting. Though not a minister, he under took religious travel around the United States on several occasions. Mott was a proponent of Quaker education, supported temperance efforts, and opposed the use of goods produced by enslaved people. Beginning in 1797 he served as president of Nine Partners Boarding School. He died in New York City on the 9th of 5th month, 1823.