James Tallmadge, Jr.

James Tallmadge, Jr. (January 28, 1778 Stanfordville, Dutchess County, New York - September 29, 1853 New York City) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

His father, Colonel James Tallmadge (1744 to 1821), led a company of volunteers at the capture of General John Burgoyne.

He graduated from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island in 1798, and was secretary to Governor George Clinton from 1798 to 1800. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1802, after which he practiced in Poughkeepsie and in New York City. He served in the War of 1812 and commanded a company of home guards in defense of New York.

He was by-elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of representative-elect Henry B. Lee on February 18, 1817, and served from June 6, 1817, to March 3, 1819. In the House he defended General Andrew Jackson's course in the Seminole War, and introduced, as an amendment to the bill authorizing the people of Missouri to form a state organization, a proposition to exclude slavery from that state when admitted to the Union. In support of this amendment, he delivered a powerful speech on February 15, 1819, in opposition to the extension of slavery. This was widely circulated, and was translated into German.

He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Conventions in 1821 and 1846 and was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1824. He served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1825 to 1826.

In 1836 he visited Russia, and aided in introducing into that country several American mechanical inventions, especially cotton-spinning machinery.

He was president of New York University from 1830 to 1846 which conferred a LL.D. on him in 1838, and of the American Institute of which he was one of the founders, from 1831 to 1850.

His only daughter was one of the most beautiful women in the country, and after her return from Russia, to which court she accompanied her father, married Philip S. Van Rensselaer, the third son of Stephen Van Rensselaer. Their only surviving son, James Tallmadge Van Rensselaer, was a well-known lawyer in New York City.

He is buried at the New York Marble Cemetery.

References

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/tallmadge-tannehill.html#R9M0JEPXE] Political Graveyard
* [http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/26jan20061725/www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/hd108-222/15th.pdf] Biographical Directory