Reuben Sanford (December 3, 1780

Woodbury, Connecticut Woodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,723 at the 2020 census. The town center, comprising the adjacent villages of Woodbury and North Woodbury, is designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Woo ...

– May 19, 1855

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

) was an American politician from

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 * '' ...

Biography

He was the son of Oliver Sanford (1744–1817) and Phebe (Newton) Sanford (1748–1793). About 1800, he removed to that part of

Jay, New York Jay is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 2,506 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John Jay, governor of New York when the town was formed. The town is on the northern border of Essex County and is sout ...

which was separated in 1821 as the Town of Dansville, and renamed Wilmington in 1822. On February 16, 1804, he married Polly Lewis (1784–1869), and they had seven children. He was a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of an independent battalion drawn from

Essex County, New York Essex County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,381. Its county seat is the hamlet of Elizabethtown. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Essex is one of only 2 counties that are ...

, Sanford's Battalion, which was set off from the New York State 9th Regiment of Infantry during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. He and his men fought in the

Battle of Plattsburgh The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. An army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost and a naval squadro ...

in September, 1814. 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 ...

(Essex Co.) in 1814-15,

1816 This year was known as the ''Year Without a Summer'', because of low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly the result of the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1815, causing severe global cooling, catastrophic in s ...

and 1816-17. He was a delegate to the

New York State Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

of 1821. He was Postmaster of Wilmington from before 1830 until 1842. He was 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 ...

(4th D.) from 1828 to 1831, sitting in the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and

54th New York State Legislature The 54th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to April 26, 1831, during the third year of Enos T. Throop's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provisi ...

s. He was buried at the

Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio Green Lawn Cemetery is a historic private rural cemetery located in Columbus, Ohio in the United States. Organized in 1848 and opened in 1849, the cemetery was the city's premier burying ground in the 1800s and beyond. An American Civil War memori ...

Sources

''Minutes of the Council of Appointment of the State of New York, Volume II''
pg. 1440.
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 57, 127f, 145, 189f, 192 and 301; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''Table of the Post Offices in the United States''
issued by the Postmaster General (1831; pg. 52)
''Register of All Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States''
issued by the US State Department (1843; pg. 151)
Sanford genealogy

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanford, Reuben 1780 births 1855 deaths People from Woodbury, Connecticut People from Jay, New York New York (state) state senators New York (state) Democratic-Republicans New York (state) postmasters Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio) Members of the New York State Assembly 19th-century American politicians People from Wilmington, New York