Ambrose Spencer (December 13, 1765March 13, 1848) was an American lawyer and politician.

Early life

Ambrose Spencer was born on December 13, 1765 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in the

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

. He was the son of Philip Spencer and Mary (

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 ...

Moore) Spencer. His brother was Philip Spencer. James B. Spencer (1781–1848), also a U.S Representative, was a distant cousin of his. He attended

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, ...

from 1779–82, and graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1783. He studied law with John Canfield (ca.1740-1786) at Sharon, Connecticut, with John Bay at

Claverack, New York Claverack is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 6,021 at the 2010 census. The town name is a corruption for the Dutch word “Klaverakker” for "Clover Fields" or "Clover Reach". In 1705, the first discovery ...

, and with Ezekiel Gilbert at

Hudson, New York Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the river ...

Career

He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

and commenced practice in

, where he was city clerk from 1786 until 1793. 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 1793–95, and 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 ...

from 1795 to 1804. From 1796 to 1801, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Third District, comprising

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

and Rensselaer counties. He was

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government ...

from 1802 to 1804. From 1804 to 1819, he was an associate 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 ...

, and chief justice from 1819 until the end of 1822. He was legislated out of office by the State Constitution of 1821. Governor Joseph C. Yates nominated him to be re-appointed, but this was rejected by Bucktails majority in the State Senate, Spencer having been the longtime leader of the Clintonians. Spencer was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

1808 Events January–March * January 1 ** The importation of slaves into the United States is banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect; African slaves continue to be imported into Cuba, and until the island ab ...

and a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821. On March 8, 1824, he was elected Mayor of Albany, over

John Lansing, Jr. John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. (January 30, 1754 – vanished December 12, 1829), a Founding Father of the United States, was an attorney, jurist, and politician. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Lansing was trained as a lawyer, and was long in ...

, taking office on March 10, 1824. He was reelected on January 1, 1825 and served until January 1, 1826.

United States Congress

In 1825, he was the Clintonian candidate for

U.S. Senator from New York Below is a list of U.S. senators who have represented the State of New York in the United States Senate since 1789. The date of the start of the tenure is either the first day of the legislative term (Senators who were elected regularly before ...

, and received a majority in the State Assembly. The Bucktails majority in the State Senate did not nominate any candidate, thus preventing Spencer's election on joint ballot. The seat remained vacant until the election of

Nathan Sanford Nathan Sanford (November 5, 1777 – October 17, 1838) was an American politician. Early life Sanford was born on November 5, 1777, in Bridgehampton, New York. He was the son of Thomas Sanford and Phebe (née Baker) Sanford, a family of farmer ...

in 1826. Afterwards Spencer resumed the practice of law in Albany. He was elected to the

21st United States Congress The 21st 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, 1829 ...

, serving from March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1831; during this Congress, he was a member of the Committee on Agriculture. He was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1830 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Judge

James H. Peck James Hawkins Peck (January 12, 1790 – April 29, 1836) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Missouri. Education and career Born on January 12, 1790, in Mossy Creek (now Jefferson City), ...

of the U.S. District Court for the District of Missouri.

Later life

In 1839, he moved to Lyons, New York, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He presided over the

1844 Whig National Convention The 1844 Whig National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held on May 1, 1844 at Universalist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. It nominated the Whig Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1844 election. The ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Personal life

On February 18, 1784, he married Laura Canfield (1768–1807), the daughter of John Canfield (1740–1786) and Dorcas (

Buell) Canfield (1742–1812). Together, they were the parents of: * John Canfield Spencer (1788–1855), who was U.S. Secretary of War and

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

under President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected v ...

. * Abigail "Abby" Spencer (1790–1839), who married Albany Mayor John Townsend. * William Augustus Spencer (1792–1854), who was married to Eleanora Eliza Lorillard (1801–1843), the daughter of Peter Abraham Lorillard * Ambrose Spencer, Jr. (1795–1814), who served as aide-de-camp to Major-General

Jacob Jennings Brown Jacob Jennings Brown (May 9, 1775 – February 24, 1828) was known for his victories as an American army officer in the War of 1812, where he reached the rank of general. His successes on the northern border during that war made him a nationa ...

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 ...

. * Theodore Spencer (1800–), an attorney who became a Presbyterian minister who married Catharine Vosburgh, daughter of Myndert T. Vosburgh. * Laura Isabella Spencer (1803–1825), who married Robert Gilchrist, of New York. After the death of Ambrose's first wife in 1807, in 1808 he married Mary Clinton (1773–1808), the daughter of

James Clinton Major General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) was an American Revolutionary War officer who, with John Sullivan, led in 1779 the Sullivan Expedition in what is now western New York to attack British-allied Seneca and ...

and sister of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, who had previously been married to Robert Burrage Norton. After Mary's early death, he married her sister Katherine Clinton (1778–1837), who had previously been married to Samuel Lake Norton. In 1848, he died in Lyons and was buried at the

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical ...

Menands, New York Menands is a village in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 3,990 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Louis Menand. The village lies inside the town of Colonie and borders the northern city line of Albany. H ...

Legacy

The

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

awarded him the degree of LL.D. in 1819, and Harvard the same in 1821. The town of Spencer in New York is named after him.

Descendants

His grandson, Philip Spencer (1823–1842), was executed for mutiny in 1842. He was the grandfather of Lorrilard Spencer (1827–1888), great-grandfather of Lorrilard Spencer (1860–1912), who was married to Caroline Berryman Spencer, and 2x great-grandfather of

Lorillard Spencer Lorillard Suydam Spencer Sr. (July 4, 1883 - June 9, 1939) was president of Atlantic Aircraft and was prominent in Newport, Rhode Island society. He served as the military secretary to Charles Seymour Whitman, the New York Governor. Biography ...

(1883–1939), who was president of

Atlantic Aircraft Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, also known as Fokker-America and Atlantic-Fokker, was a US subsidiary of the Dutch Fokker company, responsible for sales and information about Fokker imports, and eventually constructing various Fokker designs."The ...

and was married to Katherine Emmons Force (1891–1956), both of whom were prominent in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...

society.

References

External links

* *
Clinton genealogy

at rootsweb

at Office of the Att. Gal. of NY
''The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1849''
(page 338, Charles C. Little & James Brown, Boston, 1848)
Canfield genealogy
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ambrose 19th-century American politicians 1765 births 1848 deaths Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery County district attorneys in New York (state) Harvard University alumni Mayors of Albany, New York Members of the New York State Assembly National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) New York State Attorneys General New York (state) state senators New York Supreme Court Justices People from Lyons, New York People from Salisbury, Connecticut 1808 United States presidential electors Yale College alumni Spencer family of New York House impeachment managers