Barent Gardenier

Barent Gardenier (July 28, 1776 – January 10, 1822) was an American lawyer and politician from New York who served as a United States Representative from 1807 to 1811. He was born in Kinderhook, New York, on July 28, 1776, in the early months of the American Revolution. Little is recorded about his family background, but he received what contemporaries described as a liberal education, indicating a broad course of study suitable for entry into the learned professions of the period.

After his early schooling, Gardenier pursued legal studies at the Litchfield Law School in Connecticut, one of the first formal law schools in the United States and a leading training ground for Federalist lawyers and statesmen. Upon completion of his studies, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law. In November 1801 he married Sally (Sarah) Lawrence, marking the establishment of his household at the outset of his professional career.

Gardenier practiced law in Kingston, New York, where he became an influential figure in both legal and political circles. In addition to his legal practice, he was editor and publisher of the New York Courier, a Federalist newspaper, through which he advanced Federalist principles and engaged in partisan debate. His prominence as a lawyer and journalist brought him into wider public life and helped lay the groundwork for his subsequent election to Congress.

As a member of the Federalist Party representing New York, Gardenier was elected to the Tenth and Eleventh United States Congresses and served two terms in office from March 4, 1807, to March 3, 1811. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, as the young republic confronted intense domestic partisanship and mounting international tensions with Great Britain and France. Gardenier contributed to the legislative process as a vocal Federalist critic of the policies of the Jefferson and Madison administrations, participating actively in debates and representing the interests of his New York constituents.

Gardenier became particularly noted for his oratorical efforts in the House of Representatives, and a number of his speeches from the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses were preserved in contemporary compilations. His remarks appear in the Abridgement of the Debates of Congress from 1789–1856 (D. Appleton & Co., 1857), including a speech as “The Rep. from N.Y. on building gunboats” (vol. 3, pp. 627–629), and interventions on such subjects as the inquiry into the conduct of General James Wilkinson (1807; vol. 4, p. 87), the nation’s response to the “late edicts of England & France” (p. 137), remuneration for those who resisted the law for direct tax (p. 139), prosecutions for libel (p. 192), and the call on President James Madison in 1809 for papers (p. 215). He also supported the petition of Elizabeth Hamilton, widow of Alexander Hamilton, and is referenced in the same work on pages 48, 124, 191, and 350, reflecting the breadth of his participation in congressional debate.

During his congressional career, Gardenier engaged in several highly publicized political controversies. He had a heated dispute with Senator John Armstrong of New York over Armstrong’s alleged authorship of the anonymous Newburgh letters, circulars issued near the end of the Revolutionary War that attempted to stir discontent among Continental Army officers over unpaid wages, pensions, and land grants. By the early 1800s Armstrong was a Democratic-Republican and supporter of Thomas Jefferson, and Gardenier, as a Federalist, highlighted Armstrong’s supposed role in the Newburgh affair as a political and moral issue. Although Armstrong denied writing the letters, historians have generally concluded that he was their author, and Gardenier’s attacks formed part of the broader partisan struggle between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.

Gardenier’s forceful rhetoric also led to a notable personal confrontation in 1808 with Representative George W. Campbell of Tennessee. Gardenier strongly opposed the Jefferson administration’s trade embargo against Great Britain and France, arguing in the House that the embargo was harmful to American commerce and particularly injurious to mercantile interests in New York. Campbell, a Democratic-Republican supporter of the administration, responded with a rebuttal that Gardenier believed contained personal insults. Gardenier challenged Campbell to a duel, which was fought on what later became known as the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds in Maryland. Gardenier was wounded in the encounter but recovered and subsequently won reelection, underscoring both the intensity of early national political disputes and his own resilience.

After leaving Congress in 1811, Gardenier continued his public service in New York’s legal system. From 1813 to 1815 he served as District Attorney of the First District of New York, an important prosecutorial post that then encompassed New York, Queens, Kings, Suffolk, Richmond, and Westchester Counties. In this capacity he was responsible for representing the state in criminal matters in some of its most populous and commercially significant counties during the War of 1812 era, a period marked by internal security concerns and economic disruption.

Barent Gardenier died in New York City on January 10, 1822. He was buried in the churchyard of the First Reformed Church in Kingston, New York, reflecting his enduring connection to the community where he had practiced law and launched his political career. His life and work, recorded in contemporary congressional debates and later reference works such as the Biographic Sketch at the U.S. Congress website and The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pp. 69 and 448 [Addenda]; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858), place him among the notable Federalist advocates of the early national period.