Thomas Lawyer
{{Short description|American politician (1785–1868)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{infobox officeholder
|name = Thomas Lawyer
|image = Thomas Lawyer.jpg
|office1 = Member of the New York State Assembly
|term_start1 = January 1, 1846
|term_end1 = December 31, 1846
|predecessor1 = Seymour Boughton, Henry Tibbets
|successor1 = Elisha Hammond, Thomas Smith
|alongside1 = Thomas Smith
|constituency1 = Schoharie County
|office2 = District Attorney of Schoharie County, New York
|term_start2 = February 4, 1822
|term_end2 = October 10, 1831
|predecessor2 = David F. Sacia
|successor2 = Jacob Houck Jr.
|state3 = New York
|district3 = {{ushr|NY|13|13th}}
|term_start3 = March 4, 1817
|term_end3 = March 3, 1819
|predecessor3 = John B. Yates
|successor3 = Harmanus Peek
|office4 = Member of the New York State Assembly
|term_start4 = July 1, 1815
|term_end4 = June 30, 1816
|predecessor4 = William C. Bouck, William Dietz
|successor4 = Isaac Barber, Peter A. Hilton, Aaron Hubbard
|alongside4 = Peter A. Hilton, William C. Bouck
|constituency4 = Schoharie County
|birth_date = {{birth date|1785|10|14}}
|birth_place = Schoharie, New York, US
|death_date = {{death date and age|1868|5|21|1785|10|14}}
|death_place = Lawyersville, New York, US
|resting_place = Cobleskill Rural Cemetery, Cobleskill, New York, US
|spouse = Sarah "Sally" Hall Tiffany (m. 1805)
|children = 8
|party = Democratic-Republican
Democratic
|profession = Attorney
|allegiance = United States
New York
|branch = New York State Militia
|branch_label = Service
|serviceyears = 1820s–1830s
|rank = Major General
|commands =
- 133rd Regiment, 28th Brigade, 16th Division
- 28th Brigade, 16th Division
- 16th Division
}}
Thomas Lawyer (October 14, 1785 – May 21, 1868) was an American politician and lawyer from Lawyersville, New York. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1817 to 1819.
Life
Lawyer was born in Schoharie, New York on October 14, 1785, a son of Johannes Lawyer and Anna (Bouck) Lawyer.{{cite book |author=Joint Committee On Printing, U.S. Congress |date=1913 |title=A Biographical Congressional Directory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maIlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA799 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=799 |via=Google Books}}{{cite web |date=10 March 2021 |title=Lawyer Family of Schoharie and Cobleskill, New York |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/families/21264.html |website=Political Graveyard |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |publisher=Lawrence Kestenbaum |access-date=5 July 2025}} He was educated in Schoharie County, studied law with George Tiffany of Schoharie, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Schoharie County. In February 1805, he married Sarah "Sally" Hall Tiffany.{{cite book |last=Tiffany |first=Charles Lewis |date=1901 |title=The Tiffanys of America: History and Genealogy |url=https://archive.org/details/tiffanysofameric00tiff/page/n89/mode/2up |location=Buffalo, New York |publisher=Matthews-Northrup Co. |page=42 |via=Internet Archive}} They were married until her death in 1864 and were the parents of eight children.
A Democratic-Republican, he was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1816. Lawyer was a longtime member of the state militia and attained the rank of colonel as commander of the 133rd Regiment,{{cite web |title=New York Military Service Cards, 1816-1979, Entry for Colonel Thomas Lawyer |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/40926551?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a22747a5643565a58612b585757633166756672766d504c5a6e445166472f58732f625a49384850304a6454413d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |website=Ancestry.com |location=Lehi, Utah |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |access-date=5 July 2025 |url-access=subscription}} brigadier general as commander of the 28th Brigade,{{cite web |title=New York Military Service Cards, 1816-1979, Entry for Brigadier General Thomas Lawyer |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/40926661?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a2270666d6f397769352f653534686d4a6270684c4d527436366347365274505834746245384e557577677a413d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |website=Ancestry.com |location=Lehi, Utah |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |access-date=5 July 2025 |url-access=subscription}} and major general as commander of the 16th Division.{{cite book |last=Skinner |first=Roger Sherman |date=1830 |title=The New-York State Register for the Year of Our Lord 1830 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6o0UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA356 |location=New York |publisher=Clayton & Van Norden |page=356 |via=Google Books}}
In 1816, Lawyer was elected to the 15th United States Congress, and he served one term, March 4, 1817 to March 3, 1819. He was District Attorney of Schoharie County from 1822 to 1831. Lawyer served again in the state assembly in 1846, this time as a Democrat.
Lawyer died in Lawyersville, New York on May 21, 1868. He was buried at Cobleskill Rural Cemetery in Cobleskill.{{cite book |editor-last=Sawyer |editor-first=Ray C. |date=1933 |title=Deaths Published In The Christian Intelligencer of the Reformed Dutch Church, 1830–1872 |volume=VIII |url=https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/40923616?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a22544c7579306e6f586f456955692f694634632b484862626570664d6951466246594e33324a6f66342f6e413d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d |location=Worcester, Massachusetts |publisher=American Antiquarian Society |page=38 |via=Ancestry.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 July 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{CongBio|L000147}}
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=E3sFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA70 The New York Civil List] compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 70, 191, 232, 287 and 381; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
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{{US House succession box |
state=New York |
district=13 |
before=John B. Yates |
after=Harmanus Peek |
years=1817–1819
}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawyer, Thomas}}
Category:People from Schoharie, New York
Category:Members of the New York State Assembly
Category:County district attorneys in New York (state)
Category:American militia generals
Category:People from Schoharie County, New York
Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature
Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
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