James Geddes was born in Carlisle in the Province of Pennsylvania and was a prominent engineer, surveyor, New York State legislator and U.S. Congressman who was instrumental in the planning of the Erie Canal and other canals in the United States. He was also at the forefront of development of the salt industry at Onondaga Lake near Syracuse, New York beginning in 1794.
The son of a Scottish farmer, Geddes eventually settled in 1794 at the head of Onondaga Lake in what was to become Onondaga County, New York, where he investigated the brine springs and set up a salt works at Geddesburgh, now Solvay. He acquired lands from the State of New York which had been formerly owned by the Onondaga tribe and became an adopted member of the Onondagas in resolution of a salt-making dispute, being given the name Don-da-dah-gwah.
Geddes first surveyed and laid out the village of Geddes with approximately twenty lots on either side of West Genesee Street in 1807. He later studied law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1804 won a seat in the New York State Assembly. While serving in the assembly, he met the New York surveyor general, Simeon DeWitt, who persuaded him that a canal connecting the Hudson River and the Great Lakes was feasible. Geddes then traveled around the state to gather information and to arouse enthusiasm; despite his lack of technical training, he surveyed a possible route in 1808 and reported his findings to the assembly on Jan. 20, 1809. The route he proposed at that time was close to the one eventually followed. Between 1816 and 1822, Geddes was one of the four principal engineers involved in the construction of the Erie Canal, and he served as chief engineer on the Champlain Canal. These canals helped to establish New York City as one of the most important ports in the United States.

He served as a judge and was elected to the 18th Congress in 1818 as a Federalist.
In the 1820s Geddes worked on several canal projects, including directing the surveys for the various state canals in Ohio in 1822. He was also hired to survey canals in Pennsylvania and Maine and to review the plans for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Geddes served one term in the U.S. Congress (1813–15).