Cornelius P. Van Ness

Cornelius P. Van Ness

Cornelius Peter Van Ness (born January 26, 1782 in Kinderhook , Columbia County , New York , †  December 15, 1852 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American lawyer and politician and governor of the state of Vermont from 1823 to 1826 .

Early years

After primary school, Van Ness studied law. In 1804 he was admitted to the bar. He settled in St. Albans and later in Burlington , Vermont. In 1809 he was named Attorney General for Vermont by President James Madison to succeed David Fay . In 1813 he became a federal customs inspector in Burlington. After the British-American War , which ended with the peace of Ghent concluded in December 1814 , Van Ness became a member of a commission in 1816 that was supposed to solve the outstanding border issues with Canada .

Political advancement and governor of Vermont

Van Ness was a member of the Democratic Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson . In 1818 he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. From 1821 to 1823 he was Chief Justice of his state as Chief Justice . In 1823 he was elected governor of Vermont with 85.6 percent of the vote against Dudley Chase .

After he was confirmed by a large majority in 1824 and 1825, he was able to exercise this office between October 10, 1823 and October 13, 1826. During this time he campaigned for the abolition of prison sentences for debtors. At that time, however, this goal could not be achieved politically. The governor was in favor of an improvement in the level of education, especially among the poorer citizens. In this way he hoped to be able to break the ground for crime. Governor Van Ness also introduced Vermont's system of electoral identification in presidential elections.

Another résumé

Even after the end of his reign, Van Ness remained politically active. After the dissolution of his party, he joined the new President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party . Jackson appointed him in 1829 to succeed Alexander Hill Everett as US ambassador to Spain . Van Ness held this office until 1836. After his return he supported the new president Martin Van Buren , with whom he had once studied law together. In 1840 he campaigned for his re-election and supported his election campaign. Van Buren lost the presidential election to William Henry Harrison .

Van Ness had since moved to New York City , where he worked as a lawyer. President John Tyler named him Head of Customs at New York Harbor in 1844 . He held this office until 1845. Cornelius Van Ness died in Philadelphia in December 1852. He was married twice and had a total of five children. His son James later became mayor of the city of San Francisco . His brother William was the 1804 second of Aaron Burr in his duel with Alexander Hamilton . Another brother, John , later served as an MP in Congress and Mayor of Washington, among others .

Web links

• Cornelius Van Ness in the National Governors Association (English)

• Cornelius P. Van Ness in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Cornelius P. Van Ness at The Political Graveyard