John Lansing Jr.
John Lansing Jr. | |
---|---|
Mayor of Albany, New York | |
In office 1786–1790 | |
Preceded by | Johannes Jacobse Beekman |
Succeeded by | Abraham Yates Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born | John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. January 30, 1754 Albany, New York, U.S. |
Died | December 12, 1829 (disappeared) (aged 75) New York City, New York, U.S. |
Spouse |
Cornelia Ray
(m. 1781; his disappearance 1829) |
Parent(s) | Gerrit Jacob Lansing Jannetje Waters |
Relatives | Abraham Lansing (brother) Gerrit Lansing (nephew) Robert Lansing (nephew) |
John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. (January 30, 1754 – vanished December 12, 1829), a
Born and raised in
In 1790, Lansing was a member of the commission that settled the New York-Vermont boundary as part of Vermont's admission to the Union as the fourteenth state in 1791. He was a justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1790 to 1798, and chief justice from 1798 to 1801. He was also Chancellor of New York from 1801 to 1814, and in 1817 was a special commissioner to resolve New York City and New York County claims to land in Vermont. From 1817 until his death, he was regent of the University of the State of New York. Lansing disappeared in December 1829, after leaving his New York City hotel room to mail a letter. No trace was ever found, and what happened to Lansing remains unknown.
Early life
John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. was born on January 30, 1754, in
Through his brother Abraham, Lansing was the uncle of
Career
Lansing studied law with
In 1786, Lansing was appointed
Lansing, along with fellow New York delegate Yates, as well as
Lansing was appointed a justice of the
Disappearance
On the evening of December 12, 1829, Lansing left his Manhattan hotel to mail a letter at a dock in New York City, never to be seen again.[7] He was 75 years old and was presumed drowned or perhaps murdered. Lansing's fate was a major mystery in New York State at the time, rivaled only by the 1826 disappearance of William Morgan, the anti-Masonic writer.
Only one major clue to Lansing's disappearance appeared after his death. In 1882, the memoirs of Thurlow Weed, former Whig and Republican political leader in New York State, were published by Weed's grandson T. W. Barnes. Weed wrote that Lansing was murdered by several prominent political and social figures who found he was in the way of their projects.[1] According to Weed, his unnamed source showed him papers to prove it, but begged Weed not to publish them until all the individuals had died. Weed said they were all dead by 1870, but he did not wish to harm their respected family reputations, so upon advice of two friends he decided not to reveal what he had been told.
Personal life
On April 8, 1781, Lansing was married to Cornelia Ray (1757–1834), daughter of Robert Ray and Sarah (née Bogart) Ray of New York City.[7][11] Together, they were the parents of ten children, five of whom died young. Their children included:[7]
- Jane Lansing (1785–1871), who married Stephen Van Rensselaer II.
- Frances Lansing (1791–1855), who married Jacob Livingston Sutherland (1788–1845) in 1811.[12]
- Cornelia Lansing (1795–1877)
- Sarah Ray Lansing (1797–1848), who married Edward Livingston (1796–1840) in 1819.[8][13]
Lansing's widow died in January 1834 and is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.[8]
Legacy
The town of Lansing in New York was named after John Lansing. Lansing, Michigan, was named by settlers who came from Lansing, New York.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b "John Lansing, Jr. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 1790-1798 Chief Justice, 1798-1801". nycourts.gov. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ "LANSING, John, Jr. - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Munsell, Claude Garfield (1916). The Lansing Family. A Genealogy of the Descendants of Gerritt Frederickse Lansing Who Came to America From Hasselt, Province of Overijssell, Holland, 1640. Eight Generations. New York: Privare print. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Bielinski, Stefan. "Gerrit Yates Lansing". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ "OBITUARY.; MR. JAMES F. PENNIMAN. PETER GANSEVOORT. OBITUARY NOTE" (PDF). The New York Times. January 8, 1876. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ^ "John Lansing Jr. Manuscripts Collection". Finding aid to the Lansing collection at the New York State Library. New York State Library. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "America's Founding Documents". archives.gov. National Archives. October 30, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9780788419560. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- ^ "Lansing, John". www.encyclopedia.com. Columbia University Press. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Bielinski, Stefan. "John Lansing, Jr". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Sullivan, Robert G.; Reynolds, Cuyler (1911). Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Lansing, Vol. I, pp. 72-74. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. The Society. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Times, Special To The New York (August 5, 1935). "NOTES OF 1787 CITE STATES' RIGHT FEAR; Records Just Brought to Light at Princeton Show Trends at Constitutional Parley". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- ^ "John Lansing, Jr". www.newnetherlandinstitute.org. New Netherland Institute. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
Sources
- United States Congress. "John Lansing Jr. (id: L000087)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Several Bios
- Lansing Family Tree
- Bio at the NARA
- John Lansing Jr. biography
- Edmund Pearson Instigation of the Devil (New York, London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930), Chapter XXIII: A Rather Mysterious Chancellor, p. 277–287, 355.
- Pauline Maier, Ratification, The People Debate the Constitution 1787-1788, (New York, London, Toronto, Sydney:Simon & Schuster, 2010) p. 35, 47, 90-93, 325–326, 367, 375, 396, 398.