List of political figures of Upstate New York
Encyclopedia
- Susan B. AnthonySusan B. AnthonySusan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
- Chester A. ArthurChester A. ArthurChester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
- Joseph BrantJoseph BrantThayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. He was perhaps the most well-known American Indian of his generation...
- Molly BrantMary BrantMolly Brant , also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsi'tsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was a prominent Mohawk woman in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the consort of Sir William Johnson, the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, with whom she...
- John Brown (abolitionist)John Brown (abolitionist)John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
, Adirondack farmer - Grover ClevelandGrover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
- Verplanck ColvinVerplanck ColvinVerplanck Colvin was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park....
, advocate for the establishment of the Adirondack Forest Preserve - Roscoe ConklingRoscoe ConklingRoscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and the last person to refuse a U.S. Supreme Court appointment after he had...
- CornplanterCornplanterGaiänt'wakê was a Seneca war-chief. He was the son of a Seneca mother, Aliquipiso, and a Dutch father, Johannes Abeel. He also carried the name John Abeel after his fur trader father...
- Deganawida
- Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
- James DuaneJames DuaneJames Duane was an American lawyer, jurist, and Revolutionary leader from New York. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, New York state senator, Mayor of New York, and a U.S...
, a lawyer, jurist, and Revolutionary leader from New York. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, a U.S. District Judge, New York state senator, and as Mayor of New York. DuanesburgDuanesburg, New YorkDuanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, USA. The population was 5,808 at the 2000 census. Duanesburg is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant. The town is in the western part of the county.-History:...
is named for him. - Allen Dulles
- John Foster DullesJohn Foster DullesJohn Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
- Max EastmanMax EastmanMax Forrester Eastman was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. For many years, Eastman was a supporter of socialism, a leading patron of the Harlem Renaissance and an activist for a number of liberal and radical causes...
- Richard Theodore Ely, born in RipleyRipley, New YorkRipley is a town on Lake Erie in the westernmost part of Chautauqua County, New York, USA. The population was 2,636 at the 2000 census. The town was named after General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley. There are no incorporated villages in the town, but there is one CDP: Ripley.- History :Ripley was...
. Ely was an economistEconomistAn economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, author, and leader of the Progressive Movement who called for more government intervention in order to reform the injustices of capitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education, child labor and labor unions. He opposed the individualism he found troubling in capitalism, calling for an evolution to a higher stage of socialSocialThe term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...
conscienceConscienceConscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
. He helped inspire and lead the Social GospelSocial GospelThe Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
movement. - Calvin FairbankCalvin FairbankCalvin Fairbank was an American abolitionist minister who spent more than 17 years in prison for his anti-slavery activities.-Biography:...
, an abolitionist minister who spent more than 17 years in prison for his anti-slavery activities. - Millard FillmoreMillard FillmoreMillard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
- Barry Freed, aka Abbie HoffmanAbbie HoffmanAbbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, of the Save the River environmental campaign to preserve the St. Lawrence River - Matilda Electa Joslyn Gage of FayettevilleFayetteville, New YorkFayetteville is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the village had a population of 4,190. The village is named after Lafayette, a national hero of both France and the United States...
, suffragist, Native American activist, abolitionist, freethinker, prolific author, who was "born with a hatred of oppression" and who was the mother-in-law of L. Frank BaumL. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. - Henry Highland GarnetHenry Highland GarnetHenry Highland Garnet was an African American abolitionist and orator. An advocate of militant abolitionism, Garnet was a prominent member of the abolition movement that led against moral suasion toward more political action. Renowned for his skills as a public speaker, he urged blacks to take...
, abolitionist and orator - Lois GibbsLois GibbsLois Marie Gibbs is an American environmental activist.Gibbs's involvement in environmental causes began in 1978 when she discovered that her 7-year-old son's elementary school in Niagara Falls, New York was built on a toxic waste dump. Subsequent investigation revealed that her entire...
, environmental activist - Kirsten GillibrandKirsten GillibrandKirsten Elizabeth Rutnik Gillibrand is an attorney and the junior United States Senator from the state of New York and a member of the Democratic Party...
U.S. Senator, born in Albany - B. Thomas Golisano
- John Hall, member of Congress representing the Catskills and the Hudson ValleyHudson ValleyThe Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, former member of the band OrleansOrleans (band)Orleans is an American pop-rock band best known for its hits "Dance with Me" , "Still the One", from the album Waking and Dreaming and "Love Takes Time" . The group's name evolved from the music it was playing at the time of their formation, which was inspired by Louisiana artists such as Allen... - Judge Augustus Noble HandAugustus Noble HandAugustus Noble Hand was an American judge who served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. His most notable rulings restricted the reach of obscenity statutes in the areas of literature and...
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...
was from ElizabethtownElizabethtown, New YorkElizabethtown is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,315 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Essex County is a hamlet also called Elizabethtown. The name is derived from Elizabeth Gilliland, the wife of an early settler....
and is buried there. - Judge Learned HandLearned HandBillings Learned Hand was a United States judge and judicial philosopher. He served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...
, first cousin of Augustus Noble Hand, was from Albany and summered in ElizabethtownElizabethtown, New YorkElizabethtown is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,315 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Essex County is a hamlet also called Elizabethtown. The name is derived from Elizabeth Gilliland, the wife of an early settler....
as a boy. - HiawathaHiawathaHiawatha was a legendary Native American leader and founder of the Iroquois confederacy...
- Charles Evans HughesCharles Evans HughesCharles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
- Mary JemisonMary JemisonMary Jemison was an American frontierswoman and an adopted Seneca. When she was in her teens, she was captured in what is now Adams County, Pennsylvania, from her home along Marsh Creek, and later chose to remain a Seneca....
- Guy JohnsonGuy JohnsonGuy Johnson was an Irish-born military officer and diplomat for the Crown during the American War of Independence. He had migrated to the Province of New York as a young man and worked with his uncle, Sir William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the northern colonies. He was...
- Laurence A. JohnsonLaurence A. JohnsonLaurence A. Johnson was an owner of four supermarkets in Syracuse, New York. Johnson was an elderly man who was very gracious that loved to talk about patriotism. He helped his daughter Eleanor Johnson with mimeographing, mailing, and contacts. In 1951, He and his daughter had a talk with the...
, anti-communist - Sir William Johnson
- Jack KempJack KempJack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
- Rev. Samuel KirklandSamuel KirklandRev. Samuel Kirkland was a Presbyterian missionary among the Oneida and Tuscarora people in North America. Kirkland graduated from Princeton in 1765. On September 20, 1769, Samuel Kirkland married Jerusha Bingham in Windham, Connecticut...
- John Lansing, Jr.John Lansing, Jr.John Ten Eyck Lansing, Jr. , was an American lawyer and politician. He was the uncle of Gerrit Y. Lansing.-Career:...
- Robert LansingRobert LansingRobert Lansing served in the position of Legal Advisor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I where he vigorously advocated against Britain's policy of blockade and in favor of the principles of freedom of the seas and the rights of neutral nations...
- Roger Allen LaPorteRoger Allen LaPorteRoger Allen LaPorte is best known as a protester of the Vietnam War who set himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in New York City on November 9, 1965, to protest the United States involvement in the war...
, Vietnam War protester - Christopher J. LeeChristopher J. LeeChristopher John "Chris" Lee is an American businessman and former U.S. Representative for who served from January 2009 until he resigned on February 9, 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Family, education and business career:...
, disgraced former Congressman - Robert Livingston (1746-1813)Robert Livingston (1746-1813)Robert R Livingston was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor," after the office he held for 25 years....
- Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood, attorney, politician, author, and feminist, the first female lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Louis Marshall, conservationist
- Eric MassaEric Massa-March to the Primaries:Freshman incumbent Randy Kuhl had been elected to Congress with slightly over 50% of the popular vote in a three way race in 2004. In early 2005, former U.S. Naval officer Eric J.J. Massa, a long-time friend of 2004 presidential candidate General Wesley Clark filed to run...
, disgraced former Congressman - Harriet May MillsHarriet May Mills HouseThe Harriet May Mills House or Harriet May Mills Residence is a historic home on the west side of Syracuse, New York. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002...
, suffragist - Gouverneur MorrisGouverneur MorrisGouverneur Morris , was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a native of New York City who represented Pennsylvania in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation. Morris was also an author of large sections of the...
, St. Lawrence County landowner - Lucretia MottLucretia MottLucretia Coffin Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights.- Early life and education:...
- Carl PaladinoCarl PaladinoCarl Pasquale Paladino is an American businessman and political activist from Buffalo, New York. Paladino is the founder and chairman of Ellicott Development Company, a real estate development company he founded in 1973. He was the 2010 Republican nominee for the New York gubernatorial election,...
- General Ely S. ParkerEly S. ParkerEly Samuel Parker , was a Seneca attorney, engineer, and tribal diplomat. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel during the American Civil War, when he served as adjutant to General Ulysses S. Grant. He wrote the final draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox...
- Red JacketRed JacketRed Jacket was a Native American Seneca orator and chief of the Wolf clan...
- Thomas M. ReynoldsThomas M. ReynoldsThomas M. Reynolds , commonly known as Tom Reynolds, is a politician from the U.S. state of New York, formerly representing the state's 26th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives...
- John G. Roberts
- William P. RogersWilliam P. RogersWilliam Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Early Life :...
, born in NorfolkNorfolk, New YorkNorfolk, New York may refer to:*Norfolk , New York*Norfolk , New York...
and raised in CantonCanton (village), New YorkCanton is a village in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The village is centrally located in both the town of Canton and the county of St. Lawrence. The population was 5,882 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of St. Lawrence County...
, was U.S. Attorney General in the Eisenhower administration and Secretary of State in the Nixon Administration - Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
- Franklin Roosevelt
- Elihu RootElihu RootElihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
- Margaret SangerMargaret SangerMargaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
, birth control activist, native of CorningCorning (city), New YorkCorning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of... - G. David SchineG. David SchineGerard David Schine, better known as G. David Schine or David Schine, was the wealthy heir to a hotel chain fortune who received national attention when he became a central figure in the Army-McCarthy Hearings of 1954 in his role as the chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on...
of Gloversville, an anti-communist and central figure in the Army-McCarthy Hearings of 1954 in his role as the chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. - William H. SewardWilliam H. SewardWilliam Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
, 12th governor of New York. - Horatio SeymourHoratio SeymourHoratio Seymour was an American politician. He was the 18th Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States in the presidential election of 1868, but lost the election to Republican and former Union General of...
, Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in the presidential election of 1868, but lost the election to Republican Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. - James Schoolcraft Sherman
- Gerrit SmithGerrit SmithGerrit Smith was a leading United States social reformer, abolitionist, politician, and philanthropist...
- Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady Stanton was an American social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early woman's movement...
- Henry StantonHenry StantonHenry Brewster Stanton was a 19th century abolitionist and social reformer.-Biography:Stanton was born in Preston, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Stanton and Susan M. Brewster...
- TadodahoTadodahoTadodaho was a Native American and chief of the Onondaga nation. Tadodaho later came to refer to the most influential Native American chief in New York State; this reference has been used for centuries.-Legend of Tadodaho:...
- Randall TerryRandall TerryRandall Almira Terry is an American pro-life activist and candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 2012. Terry founded the pro-life organization Operation Rescue. The group became particularly prominent beginning in 1987 for blockading the entrances to abortion clinics;...
, formerly of BinghamtonBinghamton, New YorkBinghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
, founder of the Operation Rescue organization. - Sojourner TruthSojourner TruthSojourner Truth was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she...
- Harriet TubmanHarriet TubmanHarriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves...
, resident of AuburnAuburn, New YorkAuburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687... - Martin Van BurenMartin Van BurenMartin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
- William Wadsworth
- Thurlow WeedThurlow WeedThurlow Weed was a New York newspaper publisher, politician, and party boss. He was the principal political advisor to the prominent New York politician William H...
- William A. WheelerWilliam A. WheelerWilliam Almon Wheeler was a Representative from New York and the 19th Vice President of the United States .-Early life and career:...
of MaloneMalone, New YorkMalone, New York is the name of two locations in Franklin County, New York, in the United States:*Malone , New York*Malone , New York...
, Vice-President of the United States under Rutherford B. Hayes - Martha Coffin WrightMartha Coffin WrightMartha Coffin Wright was an American feminist, abolitionist, and signatory of the Declaration of Sentiments.-Early life:...
- Robert YatesRobert Yates (politician)Robert Yates was a politician and judge well known for his Anti-Federalist stances. He is also well known as the presumed author of political essays published in 1787 and 1788 under the pseudonyms "Brutus" and "Sydney"...
Downstate political figures with a profound influence on Upstate New York
- DeWitt ClintonDeWitt ClintonDeWitt 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...
, 6th governor of New York. Largely responsible for the construction of the Erie CanalErie CanalThe Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
. - Robert MosesRobert MosesRobert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
, chairman of the New York State Power Commission, responsible for building hydro-electric dams on the Niagara RiverNiagara RiverThe Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
and St. Lawrence River.