Abijah Beckwith (New York politician)

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Abijah Beckwith (December 2, 1784 – August 8, 1874) was a New York politician. He was born in Chatham, Columbia County, the son of Dan and Ann Beckwith. In 1805 he married Lurena Chadwick, and they had nine children. The family moved to Herkimer County around 1806, a region that later became part of the Town of Columbia in 1812.

Beckwith served in the New York State Assembly representing Herkimer County in 1816–17 and 1823. He was Clerk of Herkimer County from 1826 to 1831. He then served in the New York State Senate (5th District) as a Democrat from 1835 to 1838, participating in the 58th through the 61st Legislatures. He returned to the Assembly for Herkimer County in 1847. In 1848 he joined the Free Soil party, and later the Republican Party. In the 1860 presidential election, he was a presidential elector for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin.

Beckwith died on August 8, 1874, and was buried in Cedarville Cemetery.