Silas WRIGHT, Jr., Congress, NY (1795-1847)

WRIGHT, Silas, Jr., a Representative and a Senator from New York; born in Amherst, Mass., May 24, 1795; moved with his father to Wyebridge, Vt., in 1796; graduated from Middlebury (Vt.) College in 1815; moved to Sandy Hill, Washington County, N.Y., in 1816; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1819 and commenced practice in Canton, St. Lawrence County, N.Y.; surrogate of St. Lawrence County 1821-1824; member, State senate 1824-1827; appointed brigadier general of State militia in 1827; elected to the Twentieth Congress and served from March 4, 1827, to February 16, 1829, when he resigned; successfully contested the election of George Fisher to the Twenty-first Congress, but declined to qualify; comptroller of the State of New York 1829-1833; elected to the United States Senate in 1833 as a Jacksonian (later Democrat) to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William L. Marcy; reelected in 1837 and served from January 4, 1833, to November 26, 1844, when he resigned, having been elected Governor; chairman, Committee on Finance (Twenty-fourth through Twenty-sixth Congresses); declined the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in 1844; Governor of New York 1844-1846; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; died in Canton, N.Y., August 27, 1847; interment in Silas Wright Cemetery (formerly Old Canton) in Canton, New York.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Chancelloor, William E. A Life of Silas Wright, 1795-1847. New York: W.C. O’Donnell, Jr., 1913; Garraty, John. Silas Wright. 1949. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1970.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present