Ambrose Spencer (December 13, 1765 –March 13, 1848) was an American lawyer and politician. [1]
Ambrose Spencer was born on December 13, 1765, in Salisbury in the Connecticut Colony. He was the son of Philip Spencer and Mary (née Moore) Spencer. [2] His brother was Philip Spencer. [3]
James B. Spencer (1781–1848), also a U.S Representative, was a distant cousin of his. [4]
He attended Yale College from 1779 to 1782, and graduated from Harvard University in 1783. He studied law with John Canfield (ca.1740-1786) at Sharon, Connecticut, with John Bay at Claverack, New York, and with Ezekiel Gilbert at Hudson, New York. [1]
He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Hudson, New York, where he was city clerk from 1786 until 1793. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1793 to 1795, and of the New York State Senate from 1795 to 1804. [1]
From 1796 to 1801, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Third District, comprising Columbia and Rensselaer counties. He was New York Attorney General from 1802 to 1804. From 1804 to 1819, he was an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court, and chief justice from 1819 until the end of 1822. [2] He was legislated out of office by the State Constitution of 1821. Governor Joseph C. Yates nominated him to be re-appointed, but this was rejected by Bucktails majority in the State Senate, Spencer having been the longtime leader of the Clintonians. [1]
Spencer was a presidential elector in 1808 and a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821. On March 8, 1824, he was elected Mayor of Albany, over John Lansing Jr., taking office on March 10, 1824. He was reelected on January 1, 1825, and served until January 1, 1826. [2]
In 1825, he was the Clintonian candidate for U.S. Senator from New York, and received a majority in the State Assembly. The Bucktails majority in the State Senate did not nominate any candidate, thus preventing Spencer's election on joint ballot. The seat remained vacant until the election of Nathan Sanford in 1826. Afterwards Spencer resumed the practice of law in Albany. [5]
He was elected to the 21st United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1831; during this Congress, he was a member of the Committee on Agriculture. He was one of the impeachment managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1830 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Judge James H. Peck of the U.S. District Court for the District of Missouri. [5]
In 1839, he moved to Lyons, New York, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He presided over the 1844 Whig National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. [5]
On February 18, 1784, he married Laura Canfield (1768–1807), [2] the daughter of John Canfield (1740–1786) and Dorcas (née Buell) Canfield (1742–1812). Together, they were the parents of: [2] [3]
After the death of Ambrose's first wife in 1807, in 1808 he married Mary Clinton (1773–1808), the daughter of James Clinton and sister of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, who had previously been married to Robert Burrage Norton. [2] After Mary's early death, he married her sister Katherine Clinton (1778–1837), who had previously been married to Samuel Lake Norton. [10]
In 1848, he died in Lyons and was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York. [5]
The University of Pennsylvania awarded him the degree of LL.D. in 1819, and Harvard the same in 1821. The town of Spencer in New York is named after him.
His grandson, Philip Spencer (1823–1842), was executed for mutiny in 1842. [11] He was the grandfather of Lorrilard Spencer (1827–1888), great-grandfather of Lorrilard Spencer (1860–1912), who was married to Caroline Berryman Spencer, [12] and 2x great-grandfather of Lorillard Spencer (1883–1939), who was president of Atlantic Aircraft and was married to Katherine Emmons Force (1891–1956), both of whom were prominent in Newport, Rhode Island, society. [13] [14]
John Canfield Spencer was an American lawyer, politician, judge and United States Cabinet secretary in the administration of President John Tyler.
Major-General James Clinton was a Continental Army officer and politician who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Henry Bell Van Rensselaer was an American military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a politician who served in the United States Congress as a Representative from the state of New York.
Gerrit Yates Lansing was an American lawyer and politician who served three terms as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1831 to 1837.
Pierre Lorillard III was the grandson of Pierre Abraham Lorillard, the founder of P. Lorillard and Company. Heir to a great tobacco fortune, Lorillard owned no less than 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) of undeveloped land in New York's Orange and Rockland counties, across the Hudson River and about an hour's train ride from the city. His son Pierre Lorillard IV developed Tuxedo Park on the family property in the 1880s.
Pierre Abraham Lorillard II or Peter Abraham Lorillard II, also known as Peter Lorillard, Jr., was an American tobacco manufacturer, industrialist, banker, businessman, and real estate tycoon.
John Townsend (1783–1854) was a prominent industrialist and politician in the Albany, New York, area. He was unanimously elected Mayor of Albany three times and served as the 37th mayor of the city.
George William Clinton was a New York lawyer, politician, judge, author, and amateur naturalist. He served as mayor of Buffalo, New York from 1842 to 1843.
The 1819/1820 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 2, 1819, and January 8, 1820, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.
The 1821 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 6, 1821, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.
The 1825/1826 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 1, 1825, and January 14, 1826, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.
The 1827 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 6, 1827, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.
The 1829 United States Senate special election in New York was held on January 15, 1829, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.
Lorillard Suydam Spencer Sr. was president of Atlantic Aircraft and was prominent in Newport, Rhode Island society. He served as the military secretary to Charles Seymour Whitman, the New York Governor.
Katherine Emmons Force Spencer was an American real estate investor and socialite. She was a member of the zoning board for Newport, Rhode Island.
The 49th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 18, 1826, during the second year of DeWitt Clinton's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany.
Caroline Suydam Berryman Spencer was a New York City and Newport, Rhode Island, socialite and the editor of Illustrated American.
Louis Lasher Lorillard was a prominent American clubman.
Tunis Van Pelt Talmage was an American businessman and politician from New York.
William Hurlbut Force was an American merchant.
Lorillard Spencer, prominent in New York society, died yesterday from Bright's disease at his home, 7 East Eighty-sixth Street. He had been ill since Feb. 28. ...
Mrs. Katherine Force Spencer of Chasteullux, Newport, died at her home this morning of a heart attack. She was 63 years old....
Although the engagement of Miss Katherine E. Force, daughter of Mrs. William H. Force, to Major Lorillard Spencer has never been formally announced, it has been rumored for some time, and their wedding will take place tomorrow at the home of Mrs. William K. Dick, 7 East Eighty-fourth Street. Mrs. Dick, who was formerly Mrs. John Jacob Astor, is Miss Force's sister.