Josiah Masters was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Woodbury

Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....

, Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut but is geographically the state's largest county. As of 2010 the population was 189,927...

, he was graduated from Yale College

Yale College

Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

 in 1783. He studied law, was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 and commenced practice in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County, New York

Rensselaer County, New York

Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 159,429. Its name is in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area. Its county seat is Troy...

. He was a member of the New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

 in 1792, 1800, and 1801, and served as supervisor of Schaghticoke in 1796. He was a justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 in Rensselaer County from 1801 to 1805, was a trustee of Lansingburgh Academy

Lansingburgh Academy

The Lansingburgh Academy was a seminary in Lansingburgh in the U.S. state of New York just north of the city of Troy from the late 18th century to 1900, when the building was leased, and later sold, to the local public school district, used initially as a high school...

, and was school commissioner of Schaghticoke.

Masters was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Ninth and Tenth Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1805 to March 3, 1809. He was founder of the Schaghticoke Powder Co. and judge of the Court of Common Pleas

New York Court of Common Pleas

The New York Court of Common Pleas was a state court in New York. Established in New Netherland in 1686, the Court remained in existence in the Province of New York and, after the American Revolution, in the U.S...

 of Rensselaer County from 1808 to 1822. He died in Fairfield, Connecticut

Fairfield, Connecticut

Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...

in 1822; interment was in the Masters Cemetery, near Schaghticoke, New York.