John Canfield Spencer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Canfield Spencer

John Canfield Spencer (born January 8, 1788 in Hudson , New York , † May 18, 1855 in Albany , New York) was an American politician . He was Secretary of War from 1841 to 1843 and Secretary of the Treasury from 1843 to 1844 under President John Tyler .

Life

Spencer was born in Hudson, New York, to Ambrose Spencer . In 1807 he became secretary to Governor Daniel D. Tompkins . He studied law in Albany and was admitted to the bar in 1809. In the same year he married Elizabeth Scott Smith.

Spencer then moved to Canandaigua , New York, where he joined a law firm and received a Masters in Chancery Division in 1811 . In 1814 he became postmaster in Canandaigua and deputy attorney general . A year later, he became a prosecutor for the five western boroughs of New York .

Spencer served in the United States House of Representatives from 1817 to 1819 . There he was a committee member that reported on the unfavorable situation of the National Bank. He was also nominated for the Senate , but was defeated in the election. Between 1820 and 1822 he was a member of the New York State Assembly and temporarily acted as speaker of this chamber. He then sat in the State Senate between 1825 and 1828 . There he was appointed special prosecutor to investigate the disappearance of William Morgan . Before his disappearance in 1829, he wrote a book about the Freemasons . Then Spencer went back to the state parliament and worked there from 1831 to 1833.

In 1837 Spencer finally moved to Albany. A year later he edited an English copy of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America . In 1839 he became Secretary of State of New York and was Secretary of War of the United States from October 12, 1841 to March 3, 1843 . He proposed a chain of posts that would extend from Council Bluffs, Iowa to the Columbia River . He also urged the government to maintain the territorial agreements that were abolished by the Creek Compensation .

In 1842 he lost his son Philip Spencer . He was executed for causing a mutiny on the brig USS Somers . John C. Spencer was later nominated to the Supreme Court but rejected by the US Senate in 1844. He died in Albany on May 18, 1855.

Web links

Commons : John Canfield Spencer  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Spencer, John Canfield
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Hudson , New York
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 1855
Place of death Albany , New York