Wetmore, James

(Dec. 25, 1695-May 15, 1760). One of the Yale Converts. He was born in Middletown, Connecticut. Wetmore graduated from Yale College in 1714, and was ordained a Congregational minister in Nov. 1718. In Sept. 1722, while pastor of the First Congregational Church in New Haven, Connecticut, he and several other Congregational ministers announced that they had converted to the Church of England. On Mar. 2, 1723, Wetmore was appointed assistant minister, catechist, and schoolmaster at Trinity Church, New York. Accordingly, he sailed for England and arrived in London on July 4, 1723, where he was ordained deacon and priest, both on July 25, 1723, by the Bishop of London. On Dec. 30, 1726, he was named the rector of the church at Rye, New York, where he served until his death. Wetmore died in Rye. See Yale Converts.