Samuel Jones (chancellor)

Summary

Samuel Jones Jr. (May 26, 1769 – August 9, 1853) was an American lawyer and politician.

Samuel Jones
Chancellor of New York
In office
1826–1828
Preceded byNathan Sanford
Succeeded byReuben H. Walworth
Recorder of New York City
In office
1823–1824
Preceded byRichard Riker
Succeeded byRichard Riker
Member of the New York State Assembly
In office
1812–1814
Personal details
Born(1769-05-26)May 26, 1769
New York City, Province of New York, British America
DiedAugust 9, 1853(1853-08-09) (aged 84)
Cold Spring Harbor, New York, U.S.
Parent(s)Samuel Jones
Cornelia Haring Jones
Alma materYale University
Columbia University

Early life edit

Jones was born on May 26, 1769, in New York City, in the Province of New York, in what was then British America.[1] He was the son of Cornelia (née Haring) Jones and Samuel Jones (1734–1819), who served as New York State Comptroller and Recorder of New York City.[2] At his baptism, his sponsors were Cornelius Roosevelt and Elizabeth Haring, his maternal grandmother.[3]

He graduated from Yale University in 1790 and Columbia University in 1793.[4] He then studied law in his father's office, where DeWitt Clinton was also a student, and was admitted to the bar.[1]

Career edit

Jones was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1812 to 1814. He was Recorder of New York City from 1823 to 1824. Beginning in 1826, he replaced Nathan Sanford as the Chancellor of the State serving until 1828 when he became Chief Justice of the Superior Court of New York City and was replaced as Chancellor by Reuben H. Walworth.[4]

Between 1828 and 1847, he was the chief justice of the New York City Superior Court. After the reorganization of the judicial system in the state, following the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, he was elected in 1847 a justice of the New York State Supreme Court in the First Judicial District, and he remained in that office until 1849. Representing the Supreme Court, First Judicial District, he was an ex officio member of the first New York Court of Appeals.[5] Examples of his work may be found in Corning v McCullough (1 NY 47), involving a suit against a stockholder of a corporation, Ruckman v Pitcher (1 NY 392), an action to recover money deposited on an illegal wager, and Brewster v Striker (2 NY 19), concerning the legal interest that could pass by sale under judgment and execution.[4]

Although then 80 years old, he returned to legal practice in 1849. The term "Father of the New York Bar," which first pertained to his father, also applied to him.[6]

Personal life edit

He was the father of Samuel Jones, who married a sister of Justice Joseph Barnard.[7]

Jones died at the residence of his brother William in Cold Spring Harbor, New York on August 9, 1853.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Samuel Jones, Jr. | Chancellor of New York, 1826-1828". www.nycourts.gov. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  2. ^ Jones, Thomas (1879). History of New York During the Revolutionary War: And of the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at that Period. New-York Historical Society. p. 480. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b Robison, Jeannie Floyd Jones; Bartlett, Henrietta Collins (1917). Genealogical Records: Manuscript Entries of Births, Deaths and Marriages Taken from Family Bibles, 1581-1917. Colonial Dames of the State of New York. p. 119. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Hon. Samuel Jones | New York Legal History / Antebellum, Civil War, & Reconstruction: 1847-1869". www.nycourts.gov. The Historical Society of the New York Courts. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  5. ^ "To Do Away With A Court" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 August 1890. p. 2. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 94792898. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  6. ^ Rees, Thomas Mardy (1908). Notable Welshmen (1700-1900): ... with Brief Notes, in Chronological Order, and Authorities. Also a Complete Alphabetical Index. Herald Office. pp. 240–241. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  7. ^ Proceedings of the Scottish Rite (Masonic order) Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction. Printed at the Office of the Freemason's Magazine. 1891. p. 205. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
Legal offices
Preceded by Recorder of New York City
1823–1824
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of New York
1826–1828
Succeeded by