John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. (January 30, 1754 – vanished December 12, 1829), a Founding Father of the United States, was an

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Born and raised in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, Lansing was trained as a lawyer, and was long involved in politics and government. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

he was military secretary to General Philip Schuyler. Lansing served in 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 ...

from 1781-1784, in 1786, and in 1789; served as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the Assembly in 1786 and 1789; served as a member of the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...

in 1785; and served as mayor of Albany from 1786 to 1790. He was a delegate to the federal Constitutional Convention in 1787, but withdrew from the body in July because he opposed the proposed

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

as infringing on state and individual rights. He was a delegate to the New York ratification convention in June 1788, but was unable to prevent the Constitution from being approved. In 1790, Lansing was a member of the commission that settled the New York-

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

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 The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

from 1790 to 1798, and chief justice from 1798 to 1801. He was also

Chancellor of New York The New York Court of Chancery was the highest court in the State of New York from 1701 to 1847. History The New York Court of Chancery was established during the British colonial administration on August 28, 1701, with the colonial governor actin ...

from 1801 to 1814, and in 1817 was a special commissioner to resolve

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 ...

and

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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

. He was the son of Gerrit Jacob Lansing (b. 1711) and Jannetje "Jane" (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Waters) Lansing (1728–1810). His younger brother was Abraham Gerritse Lansing (1756–1834),

New York State Treasurer The New York State Treasurer was a state cabinet officer in the State of New York between 1776 and 1926. During the re-organization of the state government under Governor Al Smith, the office was abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the ...

who married Susanna Yates, the daughter of

Abraham Yates Abraham Yates Jr. (August 23, 1724 – June 30, 1796) was an American lawyer, civil servant, and pamphleteer from Albany, New York. Early life Yates was born on August 23, 1724, in Albany, New York. He was the ninth child born to Christoffel Y ...

. Another brother, Sanders G. Lansing (1766–1850), married Catherine Ten Eyck (1769–1850), daughter of Abraham Ten Eyck (1744–1824) and Annatje (née Lansing) Ten Eyck (1746–1823). Through his brother Abraham, Lansing was the uncle of Gerrit Yates Lansing (1783–1862), a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, and Susan Yates Lansing (1804–1874), who was the second wife of

Peter Gansevoort Peter Gansevoort (July 17, 1749 – July 2, 1812) was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for leading the resistance to Barry St. Leger's Siege of Fort Stanwix in 1777. Gansevoort was also ...

(1788–1876), son of Gen.

. Through his brother Sanders, he was the uncle of

Robert Lansing Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wils ...

(1799–1878), a

New York State Senator 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 compo ...

and the grandfather of U.S. Secretary of State

Career

Lansing studied law with Robert Yates in Albany, and was admitted to practice in 1775. From 1776 until 1777 during the Revolutionary War, Lansing served as a military secretary to General Philip Schuyler. Afterwards he was a member of the

from 1780 to 1784, in 1785-86, and 1788–89, being its

during the latter two terms. He served New York as a member of the

Confederation Congress The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Marc ...

in 1785. In 1786, Lansing was appointed

Mayor of Albany From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan. From 1779 until 1839, may ...

. He represented New York as one of three representatives at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where he intended to follow the wishes of the New York Legislature and only amend the existing

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...

. However, as the convention progressed he became dismayed that the convention was, in his view, exceeding of its mandate by writing an entirely new constitution. Lansing's desire was to see the Articles strengthened by giving it a source of revenue, the power to regulate commerce, and to enforce treaties. He joined other prominent

Anti-Federalists Anti-Federalism was a late-18th century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Con ...

that strongly opposed

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

, James Wilson, and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

's notions of a strong centralized national government to replace the Articles. Lansing, along with fellow New York delegate Yates, as well as

Luther Martin Luther Martin (February 20, 1748, New Brunswick, New Jersey – July 10, 1826, New York, New York) was a politician and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who left the Constitutional Convention early because he felt the Cons ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and George Mason of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, strongly opposed the newly proposed

because they thought it was fundamentally flawed and it infringed on the sovereignty of the independent States while not doing enough to guarantee individual liberty. Both Lansing and Yates walked out of the convention after six weeks and explained their departure in a joint letter to

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a ...

George Clinton. Neither man signed the constitution. At the New York Ratifying Convention that followed, Lansing, along with Melancton Smith, took the lead in the debates as the leaders of the Anti-Federalist majority. Their attempts to prevent ratification ultimately failed by a narrow vote of 30 to 27. Lansing was appointed a justice of the New York State Supreme Court in 1790, and on February 15, 1798, he was elevated to the post of chief justice. In 1801, he also became the second

, succeeding Robert R. Livingston. In 1814 Lansing became a Regent of the University of the State of New York.

Disappearance

On the evening of December 12, 1829, Lansing left his

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

hotel to mail a letter at a dock in New York City, never to be seen again. 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 Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was a printer, New York newspaper publisher, and Whig and Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor to prominent New York politician William H. Seward and was ins ...

, 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. 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

. Together, they were the parents of ten children, five of whom died young. Their children included: * Jane Lansing (1785–1871), who married

Rensselaer Westerlo Rensselaer Westerlo (May 6, 1776April 18, 1851) was a United States representative from New York and a member of the Livingston family. Early life Rensselaer Westerlo was born on May 6, 1776 at the Van Rensselaer Manor House in Albany in the P ...

(1776–1851) in 1805. He was the son of

Eilardus Westerlo Eilardus Westerlo(; October 30, 1738, Kantens, Netherlands – December 26, 1790, Albany, New York) was a Dutch Reformed minister who worked in Colonial New York. He spent his career, from October 1760 until December 1790, as pastor of the Dutch ...

and Catherine Livingston, herself the daughter of

Philip Livingston Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great Bri ...

and the widow of Stephen Van Rensselaer II. * Frances Lansing (1791–1855), who married Jacob Livingston Sutherland (1788–1845) in 1811. * Cornelia Lansing (1795–1877) * Sarah Ray Lansing (1797–1848), who married

Edward Livingston Edward Livingston (May 28, 1764May 23, 1836) was an American jurist and statesman. He was an influential figure in the drafting of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, a civil code based largely on the Napoleonic Code. Livingston represented both ...

(1796–1840) in 1819. Lansing's widow died in January 1834 and is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.

Legacy

The town of

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

in New York was named after John Lansing.

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

, was named by settlers who came from Lansing, New York.

References

Sources

*
Several Bios
*

Edmund Pearson Edmund Lester Pearson (1880–1937) was an American librarian and writer. He was a writer of the "true crime" literary genre. He is best known for his account of the notorious Lizzie Borden murder case. Early life Pearson was born in Newburypo ...

''Instigation of the Devil'' (New York, London: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1930), Chapter XXIII: ''A Rather Mysterious Chancellor'', p. 277–287, 355. *

Pauline Maier Pauline Alice Maier (née Rubbelke; April 27, 1938 – August 12, 2013) was a revisionist historian of the American Revolution, whose work also addressed the late colonial period and the history of the United States after the end of the Revolut ...

, ''Ratification, The People Debate the Constitution 1787-1788'', (New York, London, Toronto, Sydney:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, 2010) p. 35, 47, 90-93, 325–326, 367, 375, 396, 398. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lansing, John Jr. 1754 births 1820s missing person cases 18th-century American lawyers 18th-century American politicians American people of Dutch descent Chancellors of New York (state) Continental Congressmen from New York (state) Lansing family Lawyers from Albany, New York Members of the New York State Assembly Missing person cases in New York City New York Supreme Court Justices People of the Province of New York Politicians from Albany, New York Speakers of the New York State Assembly Year of death unknown