Andrew DeWitt Bruyn

Andrew DeWitt Bruyn (November 18, 1790 – July 27, 1838) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1837 to 1838. His single term in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, and he participated in the legislative process representing the interests of his New York constituents.

Bruyn was born in Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York, on November 18, 1790. He was the son of Jenneke (née DeWitt) Bruyn and Jacobus S. Bruyn (1749–1823), who served in the New York State Assembly from Ulster County from 1797 to 1799 and in the New York State Senate from 1800 to 1805. He belonged to a large and politically prominent family. His uncles Severyn Tenhout Bruyn, Johannes Bruyn, and Cornelius Bruyn all served in the New York State Assembly, with Johannes also serving in the State Senate and Cornelius representing Ulster County from 1793 to 1794. Through his uncle Johannes, he was a first cousin of Charles D. Bruyn, a New York Assemblyman from Sullivan and Ulster counties. His paternal grandfather, Jacobus Bruyn, had been a member of the New York General Assembly, the legislative body of the Province of New York, from 1759 to 1768. On his mother’s side, his grandparents were Blandina Elmendorf Ten Eyck and Andries J. DeWitt, brother of Col. Charles DeWitt; through this line he was related to the prominent Clinton and DeWitt families, including Charles Clinton, DeWitt Clinton, George Clinton Jr., and Jacob Hasbrouck DeWitt.

Bruyn received his early education at Kingston Academy in Kingston, New York. He then attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), from which he was graduated in 1810. In 1811 he pursued formal legal training at the Litchfield Law School in Connecticut, one of the leading law schools of the early republic, where he studied under the noted jurist Tapping Reeve. After completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar in 1814 and commenced the practice of law in Ithaca, New York, which would remain the center of his professional and public life.

Bruyn quickly became active in local judicial and civic affairs. In 1817 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace and also became the first surrogate of Tompkins County, serving in that capacity from 1817 to 1821. He entered state politics as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1818. In Ithaca, he was appointed a trustee of the village in 1821 and served as president of the village in 1822, helping to guide the community during a period of growth and development. Although he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the New York State Senate in 1825, he continued to hold important local offices, serving as county supervisor in 1825 and as treasurer of the village of Ithaca from 1826 to 1828. From 1826 to 1836 he served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, further solidifying his reputation as a jurist. Beyond law and public office, he engaged in business enterprises, serving as a director of the Ithaca and Owego Railroad in 1828 and maintaining an active interest in banking. He also participated in national politics as a presidential elector in the 1828 presidential election.

As a member of the Democratic Party representing New York, Bruyn was elected to the Twenty-fifth Congress and served from March 4, 1837, until his death in 1838. His term coincided with the early years of the Martin Van Buren administration and the economic turmoil following the Panic of 1837, a period in which questions of banking, internal improvements, and federal economic policy were central to congressional debate. During his time in the House of Representatives, he contributed to the legislative process as part of the Democratic majority, taking part in the democratic governance of the nation and representing the interests of his New York constituents. His service in Congress was cut short when he died in office, placing him among the members of the United States Congress who died while still serving between 1790 and 1899.

Bruyn married Abigail Champlin (1802–1892), with whom he had eight children. Their children included Jane J. Bruyn (1820–1906), who married Alexander McCalla Mann (d. 1893); William Van Ness Bruyn (1823–1886), who married Sarah McCormick (1828–1855); Hannah M. Bruyn (1825–1896), who married Amasa Byron Dana (1819–1887); and Matilda Bruyn (1827–1832), who died young. Their son Dewitt C. Bruyn (1830–1909) served as a Confederate soldier and later became a noted architect in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, designing, among other works, the William Kehoe House. Another daughter, Ann Bruyn (1833–1910), married Dr. Edward Jay Morgan Sr. (1825–1894). Their son Joshua Champlin Bruyn (1835–1901) also served in the Confederacy with the Oglethorpe Light Infantry and was held as a prisoner of war at Fort Delaware. Through these descendants, the family’s influence extended well beyond New York and into the social, professional, and military history of the nineteenth-century United States.

Andrew DeWitt Bruyn died in Ithaca, New York, on July 27, 1838, while still serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was interred in Ithaca City Cemetery. His widow, Abigail Champlin Bruyn, survived him by more than half a century, living until 1892.