Samuel L. Southard
Encyclopedia
Samuel Lewis Southard was a prominent U.S.
statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the 10th Governor of New Jersey
.
and brother of Isaac Southard
, he was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
, attended the Brick Academy
classical school and graduated from Princeton University
in 1804. He is descended from one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam
, Anthony Janszoon van Salee
.
and studied law there. Upon being admitted to the bar, he returned to New Jersey, where he was appointed law reporter by the New Jersey Legislature
in 1814. Elected to the New Jersey General Assembly
in 1815, Southard was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court
to succeed Mahlon Dickerson
shortly thereafter, and in 1820 served as a presidential elector. He was elected to a seat in the United States Senate
over James J. Wilson
http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/aas_portal/view-election.xq?id=MS115.002.NJ.1820.00012 and was appointed to the remainder of Wilson's term when he resigned, and served in office from January 26, 1821, to March 4, 1823 when Southard himself resigned. During this time, he was a member of the committee that produced the Missouri Compromise
.
selected Senator Southard to be Secretary of the Navy in September 1823, and he remained in office under President John Quincy Adams
. During these years, he also served briefly as ad interim Secretary of the Treasury (1825) and Secretary of War
(1828). Southard proved to be one of the most effective of the Navy's early Secretaries. He endeavored to enlarge the Navy and improve its administration, purchased land for the first Naval Hospitals, began construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertook surveys of U.S. coastal waters and promoted exploration in the Pacific Ocean
. Responding to actions by influential officers, including David Porter
, he reinforced the American tradition of civilian control over the military
establishment. Also on Southard's watch, the Navy grew by some 50% in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man-of-war.
following Theodore Frelinghuysen
in that post. Elected Governor
over Peter D. Vroom by a vote of 40 to 24 by the joint session of the Legislature in 1832, he re-entered the U.S. Senate in the following year. During the next decade, he was a leader of the Whig Party
and a figure of national political importance. As President pro tempore of the Senate
, he became Acting Vice President
from April 4, 1841 to May 31, 1842 after the death of William Henry Harrison
and his Vice President John Tyler
becoming President. Failing health forced his resignation from the Senate in 1842. Samuel Southard died in Fredericksburg, Virginia
on June 26 of that year. He was interred in the Congressional Cemetery
.
, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson
and John Quincy Adams
and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.
, (later DMS-10), 1919–1946, was named in his honor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the 10th Governor of New Jersey
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
.
History
The son of Henry SouthardHenry Southard
Henry Southard was a United States Representative from the state of New Jersey.Southard was born in Hempstead, Long Island, New York. He moved with his parents to Basking Ridge, New Jersey in 1755, where he attended the common schools and worked on a farm. Later, Southard served as a private and...
and brother of Isaac Southard
Isaac Southard
Isaac Southard was an Anti-Jacksonian member of the United States House of Representatives from 1831 to 1833, representing New Jersey at-large.-Early life:...
, he was born in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Demographics :As Basking Ridge is not an independent municipality, the following demographic data is based on the United States Census Bureau figures for the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the 07920 ZIP Code...
, attended the Brick Academy
Brick Academy
is the nickname for a Federal-style brick building built in 1809 to meet the growing needs of the Basking Ridge Classical School. That school existed prior to 1799, at least 10 years before the construction of this building in 1809. The brick building was constructed for the elementary school run...
classical school and graduated from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1804. He is descended from one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
, Anthony Janszoon van Salee
Anthony Janszoon van Salee
Anthony Janszoon van Salee was the son of Salé President Jan Janszoon. He was an original settler of and prominent landholder, merchant, and creditor in New Netherlands. van Salee was New York's first Muslim, and arguably one of the first in the New World...
.
Early career
After teaching school in New Jersey, he worked for several years as a tutor in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and studied law there. Upon being admitted to the bar, he returned to New Jersey, where he was appointed law reporter by the New Jersey Legislature
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...
in 1814. Elected to the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
in 1815, Southard was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court
New Jersey Supreme Court
The New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
to succeed Mahlon Dickerson
Mahlon Dickerson
Mahlon Dickerson was an American judge and politician. He was elected Governor of New Jersey as well as United States Senator from that state. He was twice appointed Secretary of the Navy - under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren...
shortly thereafter, and in 1820 served as a presidential elector. He was elected to a seat in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
over James J. Wilson
James J. Wilson
James Jefferson Wilson served New Jersey as a U.S. Senator from 1815 to 1821.-Biography:Wilson was born in Essex County, New Jersey, where he attended the common schools...
http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/aas_portal/view-election.xq?id=MS115.002.NJ.1820.00012 and was appointed to the remainder of Wilson's term when he resigned, and served in office from January 26, 1821, to March 4, 1823 when Southard himself resigned. During this time, he was a member of the committee that produced the Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30'...
.
Navy career
President James MonroeJames Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
selected Senator Southard to be Secretary of the Navy in September 1823, and he remained in office under President John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
. During these years, he also served briefly as ad interim Secretary of the Treasury (1825) and Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
(1828). Southard proved to be one of the most effective of the Navy's early Secretaries. He endeavored to enlarge the Navy and improve its administration, purchased land for the first Naval Hospitals, began construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertook surveys of U.S. coastal waters and promoted exploration in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Responding to actions by influential officers, including David Porter
David Porter (naval officer)
David Porter was an officer in the United States Navy in a rank of commodore and later the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy.-Life:...
, he reinforced the American tradition of civilian control over the military
Civilian control of the military
Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military officers. One author, paraphrasing Samuel P...
establishment. Also on Southard's watch, the Navy grew by some 50% in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man-of-war.
Political life
In 1829, after leaving his Navy post, Samuel Southard became New Jersey Attorney GeneralNew Jersey Attorney General
The Attorney General of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state. The office is appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and term limited...
following Theodore Frelinghuysen
Theodore Frelinghuysen
Theodore Frelinghuysen was an American politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senator, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President with Henry Clay on the Whig ticket in the election of 1844...
in that post. Elected Governor
Governor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
over Peter D. Vroom by a vote of 40 to 24 by the joint session of the Legislature in 1832, he re-entered the U.S. Senate in the following year. During the next decade, he was a leader of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
and a figure of national political importance. As President pro tempore of the Senate
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
The President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
, he became Acting Vice President
Acting Vice President
Acting Vice President of the United States is an unofficial designation that has occasionally been used when the office of Vice President was vacant....
from April 4, 1841 to May 31, 1842 after the death of William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
and his Vice 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...
becoming President. Failing health forced his resignation from the Senate in 1842. Samuel Southard died in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
on June 26 of that year. He was interred in the Congressional Cemetery
Congressional Cemetery
The Congressional Cemetery is a historic cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the final resting place of thousands of individuals who helped form the nation and the city of Washington in the early 19th century. Many members of...
.
Societies
During the 1820s, Southard was a member of the prestigious society, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and SciencesColumbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences
The Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences was a literary and science institution in Washington, D.C., founded by Dr. Edward Cutbush , a naval surgeon...
, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
and John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.
Legacy
The destroyer USS Southard (DD-207)USS Southard (DD-207)
USS Southard was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second Navy ship named for Secretary of the Navy Samuel L...
, (later DMS-10), 1919–1946, was named in his honor.
Sources
- Dictionary of American Biography.
- Birkner, Michael. Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig. Rutherford, N.J.Rutherford, New JerseyRutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 18,061. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
: Fairleigh Dickinson UniversityFairleigh Dickinson UniversityFairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
Press, 1984. - Ershkowitz, Herbert. Samuel L. Southard: A Case Study of Whig Leadership in the Age of Jackson. New Jersey History 88 (Spring 1970): 5-24.
- Samuel L. Southard Papers (1783-1893),(bulk 1802-1846), Finding Aid C0250, consisting of 170 boxes and 73.6 lineal feet of original documents of financial and personal affairs, including correspondence from Charles Muir CampbellCharles Muir CampbellCharles Muir Campbell was a Scottish businessman in early Princeton, New Jersey, an early pioneer farmer in Illinois, and he spent the remainder of his life in Springfield, Illinois where he was a Justice of the Peace...
of Princeton, NJ. Most boxes are organized by year and subject. Access to these documents is Princeton University LibraryPrinceton University LibraryPrinceton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 37,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is headquartered in the Harvey S...
, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Manuscripts Division.
External links
- New Jersey Governor Samuel Lewis Southard, National Governors AssociationNational Governors AssociationThe National Governors Association , founded in 1908 as the National Governors' Conference, is funded primarily by state dues, federal grants and contracts and private contributions. NGA represents the governors of the fifty U.S. states and five U.S. territories The National Governors Association...
- Samuel Lewis Southard at The Political GraveyardThe Political GraveyardThe Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 224,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information.-History:...
- Samuel Lewis Southard at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...