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Peter Gansevoort (politician)

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Peter Gansevoort
Member of the New York State Senate
from Third District (Class 2)
In office
January 1, 1833 – December 31, 1836
Preceded byLewis Eaton
Succeeded byNoadiah Johnson
Member of the New York State
Assembly
from Albany County
In office
January 1, 1830 – December 31, 1831
Serving with Samuel S. Lush, Erastus Williams (1830)
Wheeler Watson, Peter W. Winne (1831)
Preceded byJames D. Gardner, Moses Stanton, Chandler Starr
Succeeded byAbijah C. Disbrow, Philip Lennebacker, William Seymour
Personal details
Born(1778-12-22)December 22, 1778
Albany, New York
DiedJanuary 4, 1876(1876-01-04) (aged 97)
Albany, New York
Political partyJacksonian
Spouse(s)Mary Sanford Gansevoort (m. 1833-1841, her death)
Susan Lansing Gansevoort (m. 1843-1874, her death)
ChildrenHenry Sanford Gansevoort
Catherine Gansevoort
Parent(s)Peter Gansevoort
Catherine Van Schaick
RelativesLeonard Gansevoort (uncle)
Abraham Lansing (son-in-law)
Herman Melville (nephew)
Guert Gansevoort (nephew)
EducationWilliams College
Litchfield Law School
Alma materCollege of New Jersey
OccupationAttorney
Signature

Peter Gansevoort (December 22, 1788  – January 4, 1876) was an American politician from New York.[1]

Early life

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Peter Gansevoort was the son of Gen. Peter Gansevoort (1749–1812) and Catherine (née Van Schaick) Gansevoort. Leonard Gansevoort (1751–1810) was his uncle, and author Herman Melville (1819–1891) and Commodore Guert Gansevoort (1812–1868) were his nephews.

He attended Williams College from 1804 to 1805,[2] graduated B.A. from the College of New Jersey in 1808. He studied law with Harmanus Bleecker, attended Litchfield Law School from 1808 to 1809, graduated M.A. from the College of New Jersey in 1811, was admitted to the bar in 1811, and practiced in Albany.[1]

Career

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From 1817 to 1819, he was the private secretary of Gov. DeWitt Clinton. From 1819 to 1821, he served as the Judge Advocate General of the New York State Militia.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Albany Co.) in 1830 and 1831.[1]

Gansevoort was a member of the New York State Senate (3rd D.) from 1833 to 1836, sitting in the 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th New York State Legislatures.[1]

From 1843 to 1847, he was First Judge of the Albany County Court.[1]

He was a director of the New York State Bank from about 1832 until his death; and a trustee of The Albany Academy from 1826 until his death, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1856.[1]

Personal life

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In 1833, he married Mary Sanford (1814–1841), a daughter of Chancellor Nathan Sandford, and they had four children, two of whom died in infancy, leaving two who survived into adulthood:

After the death of his wife in 1841, he married Susan Lansing (1804–1874) in December 1843.[1]

He died on January 4, 1876, and was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "OBITUARY.; MR. JAMES F. PENNIMAN. PETER GANSEVOORT. OBITUARY NOTE" (PDF). The New York Times. January 8, 1876. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  2. ^ Friends of the Princeton University Library, The Princeton University Library Chronicle, Volumes 13-14, 1952, page 69

Sources

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New York State Senate
Preceded by New York State Senate
Third District (Class 2)

1833–1836
Succeeded by