William Learned MARCY, Congress, NY (1786-1857)

MARCY, William Learned, a Senator from New York; born in Sturbridge (now Southbridge), Mass., December 12, 1786; attended the common schools and Leicester and Woodstock Academies; graduated from Brown University, Providence, R.I., in 1808; taught school in Newport, R.I.; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1811 and commenced practice in Troy, N.Y.; served in the War of 1812; recorder of Troy 1816-1818, 1821-1823; editor of the Troy Budget; State comptroller 1823-1829; associate justice of the State supreme court 1829-1831; elected as a Jacksonian to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1831, until his resignation on January 1, 1833, to become Governor; chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (Twenty-second Congress); Governor of New York 1833-1839; member, Mexican Claims Commission 1839-1842; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President James Polk 1845-1849; resumed the practice of law; Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Franklin Pierce 1853-1857; died in Ballston Spa, N.Y., July 4, 1857; interment in the Rural Cemetery, Albany, N.Y.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Mattina, Benjamin J. “The Early Life of William Learned Marcy, 1789-1832.” Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University, 1949; Spencer, Ivor. The Victor and the Spoils: The Life of William Marcy. Providence: Brown University Press, 1955.

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