James Lanman (June 14, 1767August 7, 1841) was an American lawyer and politician from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

who served in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

from 1819 to 1825. He was a cousin of Presidents

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

and

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

Early life

James Lanman was the eldest of the seven children of shipping magnate Peter Lanman of Norwich, Connecticut and Sarah Spaulding ( Coit) Lanman. The first of many generations of Lanmans who attended what is now known as

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, James Lanman pursued classical studies, debated as a member of

Brothers in Unity Brothers in Unity (formally, the Society of Brothers in Unity) is an undergraduate society at Yale University. Founded in 1768 as a literary and debating society that encompassed nearly half the student body at its 19th-century peak, the group di ...

and graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1788. When his father died in 1804, James inherited and moved into his childhood home, the now historic "Peter Lanman House" on Main Street, for the rest of his life. A nearby tavern (now the Norwich Savings Society) at "Peter Lanman's Corner", at Main and Broadway in Norwich, is of interest because

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

stayed there in 1775.

Career

Lanman studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1791, beginning his practice in his hometown of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

"where he acquired great local distinction for his eloquence and general ability". We get an interesting glimpse of James Lanman as a young man of 20 through the diary of

, who was two years his senior and rode with him on a stage from Boston to Providence on September 8, 1789: "I had two companions; one a Mr. Wright from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, and the other a young man from

by the name of Lanman. We were tolerably sociable. Lanman sung a number of songs of his own accord, and sung very well. But, upon being requested by Mr. Wright to continue, he altogether denied that he could sing at all."

Public office

He was elected to the State house of representatives in 1817, as a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1818, then to the State senate in 1819. Lanman was elected to the United States Senate as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

(later Crawford Republican) and served from March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1825. As a Senator he chaired the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Seventeenth Congress), The Committee on Engrossed Bills (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses), and the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Eighteenth Congress). Lanman was a judge of the State superior and supreme courts from 1826–1829 and the mayor of Norwich from 1831 to 1834 (to which his son Charles succeeded in 1838). Lanman was known as the last Senator to wear a powdered wig, ruffled shirts and knee breeches. His grandson, Charles Lanman, private secretary to

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

, said that, "My grandfather, James Lanman, voted with the South on the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...

and was burned in effigy in his native town,

, but his broad patriotism won from him the warmest friendship of Henry Clay and Thomas H. Benton."

Notable orations

Lanman published a notable Fourth of July address to the citizens of Norwich on the 22nd anniversary of

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

independence in 1798. While Mayor of Norwich, Lanman gave a speech commemorating the centennial anniversary of

's birthday on March 1, 1832 entitled "A Discourse, Addressed to the Citizens of Norwich", which reviews Washington's military and civic contributions to the founding of the

Personal life

On May 18, 1794, Lanman was married to Marian Griswold Chandler (1774–1817), a daughter of the late Charles Church Chandler and Marian Griswold (a daughter of Governor Matthew Griswold). After her father's death, her mother remarried twice and among her half-siblings were Chief Justice Ebenezer Lane. Together, they had four sons and eight daughters, including: * Charles James Lanman (1795–1870), who married Marie Jeanne Guie in 1819. * Mary Anne Lanman (1797–1851), who married Obadiah Penniman in 1829, and Charles Waters. * Eliza Lanman (1800–1872), who married Amos Hallam Hubbard in 1821. * Sarah Coit Lanman (1802–1889), who married Josiah Harmar, son of Brig.-Gen.

Josiah Harmar Josiah Harmar (November 10, 1753August 20, 1813) was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for six years and seven months (August 1784 to Ma ...

, in 1830. * Harriet Lanman (1804–1853), who married Jacob Wyckoff Piatt of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

around 1832. * Jane Griswold Lanman (1806–1874), who married Dr. Daniel Tyler Coit. * Joanna Boylston Lanman (1808–1859), who married

Lafayette S. Foster Lafayette Sabine Foster (November 22, 1806 – September 19, 1880) was a nineteenth-century American politician and lawyer from Connecticut. He served in the United States Senate from 1855 to 1867 and was a judge on the Connecticut Supreme C ...

in 1837. Widowed in 1817, Lanman married his second wife, Mary Judith ( Gall) Benjamin (1778–1848), on October 26, 1826. He had no children by his second marriage. From her first marriage to Parke Benjamin, she was mother to four, including

Park Benjamin Park Benjamin (1849–1922) was an American patent lawyer and writer. He was born in New York City, graduated at the United States Naval Academy in 1867, resigned from the Navy in 1869, and graduated at the Albany Law School in the following y ...

, who was a well known American poet, editor and founder of several newspapers. Lanman died in Norwich, Connecticut on August 7, 1841, at age 75, and is interred in the City Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lanman, James 1767 births 1841 deaths Yale College alumni United States senators from Connecticut Connecticut Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court