William Donnison Ford (October 31, 1779 in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

– October 1, 1833 in

Sackets Harbor, New York Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who ...

), was an American lawyer and 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 * '' ...

Life

Ford's family moved to western

in the 1780s. He attended Fairfield Seminary, studied law with Gaylord Griswold and Simeon Ford, was admitted to the bar in 1809, and commenced practice in Fairfield. 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 ...

from Herkimer County in 1816 and 1817. In 1817 he moved to

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

, where he practiced law and served as a state commissioner of bankruptcy. Ford was elected 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 ...

to the

Sixteenth United States Congress The 16th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1819, ...

, holding office from March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1821. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law, and also served in the judicial position of Master in Chancery. He was a Trustee of the Village of Watertown in 1827 and also served as

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

of Jefferson County. He moved to Sackets Harbor in 1830, and died there on October 1, 1833. He was buried at Lakeside Cemetery in Sackets Harbor.

References

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 70, 190, 192, 274; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, William Donnison 1779 births 1833 deaths Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island People from Fairfield, New York Politicians from Watertown, New York New York (state) lawyers Members of the New York State Assembly Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) New York (state) state court judges County district attorneys in New York (state) Burials in New York (state) 19th-century American lawyers