Isaac Leggett Varian (June 25, 1793 – August 10, 1864) was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state legislator and the 63rd Mayor of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Political career

Varian was a prominent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and led

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

from 1835 until 1842. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(New York Co.) in

1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto establ ...

1832 Events January–March * January 6 – Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founds the New-England Anti-Slavery Society. * January 13 – The Christmas Rebellion of slaves is brought to an end in Jamaica, after the island's white plan ...

1833 Events January–March * January 3 – Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833), Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. * February 6 – His Royal Highness Prince Otto ...

; 63rd

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

from 1839 to 1841; and a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(1st D.) from 1842 to 1845, sitting in the 65th, 66th, 67th and

68th New York State Legislature The 68th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 14, 1845, during the first year of Silas Wright's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provisions ...

s. As Tammany Hall leader, Varian presided over a critical period in Democratic history, which saw the defection, and return of the

Locofoco The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Loco-focos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s. History The faction, originally named the Equal Rights Party, was created in New York City as a ...

faction, which was in existence from 1835 until 1840, and was the decisive factor in the 1837 mayoral election won by Whigs against the divided Democrats. Varian first ran for mayor in 1838, losing to Whig Aaron Clark by only 519 votes in an election tainted with allegations of massive Whig fraud and intimidation. In 1839, Varian beat Clark by 1,067 votes despite blatant electoral misconduct. During Varian's first term, the legislature passed a bill that mandated

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

and made it a lot harder to commit

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

Personal

In 1811 Varian married Catharine Hopper Dusenbury (1789–1870). They had nine children, seven of whom survived infancy: *Andrew Hopper (1812–1826) *Tamar Letitia (b. 1813) *Isaac (1815–1816) *Matilda Campbell (b. 1817) *Mary Elizabeth (1819–1868) *Isaac (b. 1823) *Catharine Emeline (b. 1826) **Jacob Harsen (twin) (b. 1828) **Hannah (twin) (1828–1830) In 1845 Varian quit politics and retired to Peekskill, where he died in 1864. He is buried in the

New York City Marble Cemetery The New York City Marble Cemetery is a historic cemetery founded in 1831, and located at 52-74 East 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The cemetery has 258 undergroun ...

The Valentine-Varian House

The Valentine-Varian House (1758) is a historic farmhouse that still stands on what used to be the Varian dairy farm in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

along the route from

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. The Varian family occupied the house from 1791 until 1905. At present, the building houses the Museum of Bronx History. A public park and an elementary school in the area are named after Varian.

Sources

*Gustavus Myers, , Ch. XIV, New York City (1901)
Varian family genealogy1838 political cartoon about the mayoral electionValentine-Varian House profile from the Historic House Trust
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110709134149/http://gis.nyc.gov/parks/lc/NYCParkMapIt.do;jsessionid=E3E28D63BAFCD0E4977C3B6BCB693138 Varian House Park from the NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation {{DEFAULTSORT:Varian, Isaac 1793 births 1864 deaths Burials at New York City Marble Cemetery Mayors of New York City Members of the New York State Assembly New York (state) state senators 19th-century American politicians New York (state) Democrats