Roger Skinner

Skinner was born in Litchfield, Connecticut Colony, British America on June 1, 1773, a son of Timothy Skinner and Susanna Marsh Skinner.{{FJC Bio|2202|nid=1387886|name=Roger Skinner}} He was educated in Litchfield, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and entered private practice in Connecticut.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}

While practicing in Connecticut, Skinner served as clerk of the Litchfield County Probate Court from 1796 to 1806.{{sfn|Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut|page=211}}

He continued private practice in Albany, New York.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}} Among the students who learned the law from him after his move to New York were Silas Wright{{sfn|The Life of Silas Wright|page=18}} and Judge Esek Cowen of Saratoga Springs.{{sfn|Our County and Its People|page=507}} He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1808 to 1811.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}

As a resident of Sandy Hill,{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}} he was appointed a justice of the peace in 1808.{{sfn|History of Washington Co., New York|page=118}} He was district attorney for the Fourth Judicial District of New York from 1811 to 1812.{{sfn|History of Washington Co., New York|page=113}} Skinner was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York in 1815 and served until 1819.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}} He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1818 to 1821.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}} In 1821, Skinner served on the state Council of Appointment.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}

Skinner received a recess appointment from President James Monroe on November 24, 1819, to the seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York vacated by the resignation of Judge Matthias B. Tallmadge.{{sfn|"Appointments by the President: Roger Skinner"|page=2}} He was nominated to the same position by President Monroe on January 3, 1820.{{sfn|"Appointments by the President, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate"|page=2}} He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 5, 1820, and received his commission the same day.{{sfn|"The President has appointed the Hon. Alfred Conkling..."|page=3}} Upon ascending the bench, Skinner sold his law office to Benjamin Franklin Butler, who took over his clients and his pending business.{{sfn|The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren|page=197}} His service terminated on August 19, 1825, due to his death in Albany.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}

Skinner was the son of Timothy Skinner and Susannah Marsh Skinner.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}{{sfn|Marsh Genealogy|page=71}} His brother Richard Skinner served as Governor of Vermont.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}{{sfn|Marsh Genealogy|page=71}} His nephew Mark Skinner was a prominent Chicago, Illinois attorney who served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=289}}

As a judge, Skinner resided in Albany.{{sfn|Marsh Genealogy|page=71}} He was a lifelong bachelor, and fellow politician Martin Van Buren was a widower, so Skinner and Van Buren shared a house.{{sfn|Marsh Genealogy|page=71}} Van Buren and Skinner were Democratic-Republicans; when Van Buren created the Albany Regency clique to lead New York's Bucktails (the anti-DeWitt Clinton faction that eventually became New York's Democratic Party), Skinner was counted among its members.{{sfn|Martin Van Buren and the American Political System|page=91}}

In an often-recounted incident of political miscalculation, when Clinton's political career seemed at an ebb in 1824, Skinner engineered his removal from the Erie Canal Commission.{{sfn|The Empire State: A History of New York|page=300}} Clinton had long been identified among the public as the canal's biggest proponent; voter outrage at his removal led to his return to the governorship in the 1824 election.{{sfn|The Empire State: A History of New York|page=300}} The maneuver against Clinton had been executed without Van Buren's knowledge; initially, Skinner and the Bucktails believed they had brought about Clinton's political death.{{sfn|The Empire State: A History of New York|page=300}} Later, Van Buren is said to have remarked to Skinner that in politics it is possible to kill someone "too dead".{{sfn|The Empire State: A History of New York|page=300}}

Van Buren nursed Skinner during his final illness, and was with him when he died in Albany on August 19, 1825.{{sfn|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut|page=148}}{{sfn|Marsh Genealogy|page=71}} Skinner was buried at State Street Cemetery in Albany.{{sfn|"Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011"}} In 1857, he was reinterred in Martin Van Buren's family plot at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 62, Lot 34.{{sfn|"Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011"}} He died without a will, and Butler was appointed to administer his estate.{{sfn|"New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999"}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Anderson |first=George Baker |date=1899 |title=Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Saratoga County, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028833030 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028833030/page/517 517] |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Boston History Company |ref={{sfnRef|Our County and Its People}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Cole |first=Donald B. |date=1984 |title=Martin Van Buren and the American Political System |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqz_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 |location=Princeton University Press |publisher=Princeton, NJ |ref={{sfnRef|Martin Van Buren and the American Political System}}|isbn=9781400853618 }}
• {{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=John Stilwell |date=1847 |title=The Life of Silas Wright: Late Governor of the State of New York |url=https://archive.org/details/lifesilaswright01jenkgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifesilaswright01jenkgoog/page/n105 18] |location=Auburn, NY |publisher=Alden & Markham |ref={{sfnRef|The Life of Silas Wright}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Crisfield |date=1878 |title=History of Washington Co., New York |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwashing00john |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofwashing00john/page/118 118] |location=Everts & Ensign |publisher=Philadelphia, PA |ref={{sfnRef|History of Washington Co., New York}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Kilbourne |first=Payne Kenyon |date=1859 |title=Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut |url=https://archive.org/details/sketcheschronicl01kilb |page=[https://archive.org/details/sketcheschronicl01kilb/page/211 211] |location=Hartford, CT |publisher=Case, Lockwood and Company |ref={{sfnRef|Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Klein |first=Milton M. |date=2001 |title=The Empire State: A History of New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSn8HvlYsgUC&pg=PA300 |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Press |ref={{sfnRef|The Empire State: A History of New York}}|isbn=0801489911 }}
• {{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Dwight Whitney |date=1895 |title=Marsh Genealogy: Giving Several Thousand Descendants of John Marsh of Hartford, Ct. 1636-1895 |url=https://archive.org/stream/marshgenealogygi00mars#page/70/ |location=Amherst, MA |publisher=Carpenter & Morehouse |ref={{sfnRef|Marsh Genealogy}}}}
• {{cite book |last1=Van Buren |first1=Martin |last2=Mackenzie |first2=William Lyon |date=1846 |title=The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren: The Correspondence of His Friends, Family and Pupils |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeandtimesmar00mackgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeandtimesmar00mackgoog/page/n214 197] |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Cooke & Co. |ref={{sfnRef|The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren}}}}
• {{cite book |date=1881 |title=History of Litchfield County, Connecticut |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflitchfi00lewi |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyoflitchfi00lewi/page/148 148] |location=Philadelphia, PA |publisher=J. W. Lewis & Co. |ref={{sfnRef|History of Litchfield County, Connecticut}}}}

• {{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/ |title=Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011, entry for Roger Skinner |access-date=July 8, 2017 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Provo, UT |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011"}}}}
• {{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/ |title=New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999, entry for Roger Skinner |date=January 14, 1826 |access-date=July 8, 2017 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Provo, UT |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999"}}}}

• {{cite news |date=November 29, 1819 |title=Appointments by the President: Roger Skinner |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/ |work=Washington Gazette |location=Washington, DC |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"Appointments by the President: Roger Skinner"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=January 19, 1820 |title=Appointments by the President, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate: Roger Skinner |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/ |work=National Advocate |location=New York, NY |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"Appointments by the President, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=September 8, 1825 |title=The President has appointed the Hon. Alfred Conkling... |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/ |work=Connecticut Mirror |location=Hartford, CT |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"The President has appointed the Hon. Alfred Conkling..."}}}}

• {{FJC Bio|2202|nid=1387886|name=Roger Skinner}}
• [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/skinner.html Roger Skinner] at Political Graveyard
• [http://openjurist.org/judge/roger-skinner Roger Skinner] at Open Jurist

{{s-start}}

{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=Matthias B. Tallmadge}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York}}|years=1819–1825}}

{{s-aft|after=Alfred Conkling}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Roger}}

Category:1773 births

Category:1825 deaths

Category:Politicians from Litchfield, Connecticut

Category:People from Hudson Falls, New York

Category:Politicians from Albany, New York

Category:Connecticut lawyers

Category:New York (state) Democratic-Republicans

Category:New York (state) lawyers

Category:Members of the New York State Assembly

Category:New York (state) state senators

Category:United States attorneys for the Northern District of New York

Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York

Category:United States federal judges appointed by James Monroe

Category:Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery

Category:Lawyers from Albany, New York

Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature