Ambrose Spencer was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer and politician.

Life

He attended Yale College

Yale College

Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

 from 1779 to 1782, and graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

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

Sharon, Connecticut

Sharon is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the northwest corner of the state. It is bounded on the north by Salisbury, on the east by the Housatonic River, on the south by Kent, and on the west by Dutchess County, New York...

, with John Bay at Claverack, New York

Claverack, New York

Claverack is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 6,401 at the 2000 census. The town name is a corruption for the Dutch word for "Clover Fields" or "Clover Reach"....

, and with Ezekiel Gilbert

Ezekiel Gilbert

Ezekiel Gilbert was an American lawyer and politician from Hudson, New York. He served in the state Assembly and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1793 until 1797....

 at Hudson, New York

Hudson, New York

Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...

. He married John Canfield's daughter Laura (1768–1807) in 1784. He was admitted to the bar

Bar (law)

Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

 and commenced practice in Hudson, N.Y., where he was city clerk from 1786 to 1793.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

 from 1793 to 1795, and of the New York State Senate

New York State Senate

The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...

 from 1795 to 1804.

From 1796 to 1801, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Third District, comprising Columbia

Columbia County, New York

Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...

 and Rensselaer

Rensselaer County, New York

Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 159,429. Its name is in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area. Its county seat is Troy...

 counties. He was New York Attorney General from 1802 to 1804. From 1804 to 1819, he was an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court

New York Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...

, 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

Joseph C. Yates

Joseph Christopher Yates was an American lawyer, politician. statesman, and founding trustee of Union College.-History:...

 nominated him to be re-appointed, but this was rejected by Bucktails

Bucktails

The Bucktails may refer to one of two organizations that were particularly characterized and identified by the wearing of a bucktail in their headgear....

 majority in the State Senate, Spencer having been the longtime leader of the Clintonians.

Spencer was a presidential elector in 1808

United States presidential election, 1808

In the United States presidential election of 1808, the Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison defeated Federalist candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney...

; a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821; and Mayor of Albany from 1824 to 1826.

In 1825

United States Senate election in New York, 1825/1826

The 1825/1826 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 1, 1825, and January 14, 1826, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.-Background:...

, he was the Clintonian candidate for U.S. Senator from New York, 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

Nathan Sanford was an American politician.- Life :He was the son of Thomas Sanford and Phebe Sanford, née Baker...

 in 1826. Afterwards Spencer resumed the practice of law in Albany.

He was elected to the 21st United States Congress

21st United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: John C. Calhoun * President pro tempore: Samuel Smith - House of Representatives :* Speaker: Andrew Stevenson -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

, 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 H. Peck

James Hawkins Peck was a son of Revolutionary Soldier Adam Peck and his wife Elizabeth Sharkey Peck. He was a United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Missouri...

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

In 1839, he moved to Lyons, N.Y., and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was President of the 1844 Whig National Convention

1844 Whig National Convention

In 1844, the Whig Party met in Baltimore to nominate its candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President. Ambrose Spencer was Chairman.President John Tyler had been expelled from the party and the delegates searched for a new nominee. They did not have to look far; the delegates nominated...

 at Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

.

In 1848, he died in Lyons, and was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery

Albany Rural Cemetery

The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, just outside of the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the United States, at over . Many historical American figures are buried there.-History:On April 2,...

 in Menands, New York

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 University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 awarded him the degree of LL.D. in 1819, and Harvard the same in 1821.

Family

His son John Canfield Spencer

John Canfield Spencer

John Canfield Spencer was an American lawyer, politician, judge and United States Cabinet secretary in the administration of President John Tyler.-Early life:...

 was U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President John Tyler

John Tyler

John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...

. His grandson Philip Spencer

Philip Spencer

Philip Spencer , a midshipman aboard the USS Somers, was hanged for mutiny without a lawful court-martial. He was the son of John C. Spencer, Secretary of War in U.S. President John Tyler's administration, and the grandson of Ambrose Spencer, a New York politician and lawyer.-Background:Spencer was...

 was executed for mutiny

Mutiny

Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...

 in 1842.

After the death of Ambrose's first wife Laura Canfield (1768–1807), he married Mary Clinton (1773–1808, sister of Governor DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal...

). After Mary's death, he married her sister Katherine Clinton (1778–1837).

U.S Representative James B. Spencer

James B. Spencer

James Bradley Spencer was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born in Salisbury, Connecticut, Spencer received a limited education.He moved to Franklin County, New York, and settled in Fort Covington....

 was a distant cousin of him.

Sources

• Clinton genealogy
• Clinton genealogy, at rootsweb
• List of NY State Attorneys General, 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

External links