Ambrose L. Jordan

Ambrose Latting Jordan (born May 5, 1789 in Hillsdale , New York , † July 16, 1865 in New York City ) was an American lawyer , newspaper editor and politician .

Early years

Nothing is known about the youth of Ambrose Latting Jordan. He studied law , was admitted to the bar in 1812, and then began practicing in Cooperstown, New York. The following years were overshadowed by the British-American War . He was guardianship and probate judge in Otsego County from 1815 to 1818 and district attorney in Otsego County from 1818 to 1820. In 1820 he moved to Hudson (New York) and took over the management of a newspaper, the Columbia Republican. From 1821 to 1827 he worked as a recorder in Hudson.

He sat in the New York State Assembly for Columbia County in 1825 and in the New York Senate from 1826 to 1829 (49th to 51st  New York State Legislature ). He resigned from his Senate seat on January 7, 1829, the second day of session in the 52nd New York State Legislature.

In February 1837, he ran as Whig for a seat in the US Senate , but suffered a defeat to incumbent Silas Wright .

Anti-Rent War Criminal Trial

Jordan was the main defender of some of the leaders of the Anti-Rent Wars in their criminal trials for riot, conspiracy and robbery in 1845 . John Van Buren , the Attorney General of New York, personally led the indictment. At the first trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict. When the proceedings were resumed in September 1845, the two opposing lawyers clashed. There was a fist fight in court. As a result, the presiding judge, John W. Edmonds , sentenced them to solitary confinement in the county jail for 24 hours. Van Buren then submitted his resignation, but the governor of New York Silas Wright refused to accept it. As a result, both lawyers led the case after they were released from prison. The defendant Smith A. Boughton ( Big Thunder ) was sentenced to life imprisonment. In the following gubernatorial election, Governor Wright suffered a defeat to his challenger John Young , who supported the Anti-Renters. Young pardoned Boughton after taking office.

Late years

In 1846 he took part in the New York Constituent Assembly . Jordan was then elected to office by popular vote under the New York Constitution in 1847 as the first Attorney General of New York. In the election he ran as a candidate for the Whigs and the Anti-Renters. He held the post from January 1, 1848 to December 31, 1849. He then resumed his practice as a lawyer.

Jordan was buried in the Hudson, New York cemetery.

literature

• The New York civil list , Weed, Parsons and Company, 1858, pp. 36f, 58, 126f, 142, 202, 285 and 927
• Newspapers Published in Columbia County, New York , Gazetteer of the State of New York, R. Pearsall Smith, 1860, pp. 241f
• The Death Of Ambrose L. Jordan , The New York Times, July 19, 1865
• Captain Franklin Ellis: History of Columbia County, New York , Everts & Ensign, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1878, Chapter 9, pp. 56-73
• Some Notable Trials , The New York Times, February 23, 1896

Web links

• The Mexican-American War and the Media, 1845-1848