Samuel Beardsley

Samuel Beardsley (February 6, 1790 – May 6, 1860) was an American attorney, judge, and legislator from New York who played a prominent role in state and national affairs during the first half of the nineteenth century. Over the course of his career he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, New York State Attorney General, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, a member of the New York State Senate, and a justice of the New York Supreme Court. A Democrat and earlier a Jacksonian, he represented several New York congressional districts over four terms in the House of Representatives, participating in the legislative process during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his constituents.

Beardsley was born in Hoosick, Rensselaer County, New York, on February 6, 1790, the son of Obadiah Beardsley and Eunice (Moore) Beardsley. His family moved soon afterward to Monticello, an unincorporated village in the town of Richfield, Otsego County, where he was educated in the local schools. He came from a family that would be active in public life; his siblings included Levi Beardsley, who later served in both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. As a young man Samuel Beardsley taught school and initially began the study of medicine under Dr. Joseph White of Cherry Valley. Deciding instead on a legal career, he moved to Rome, New York, to read law in the office of Judge Joshua Hathaway, laying the foundation for his long professional life at the bar and in public office.

During the War of 1812, Beardsley entered military service with the 157th Regiment of the New York State Militia. He rose through the ranks to become the regimental adjutant with the rank of captain, and was later commissioned as a quartermaster in the United States Army. In that capacity he took part in the defense of Sackets Harbor in 1813, one of the key engagements on the New York frontier. He was admitted to the bar in 1815 and commenced the practice of law in Watertown, New York. Even after beginning his legal career he continued his association with the militia, serving as judge advocate of the 13th Brigade, which combined his legal training with his military experience.

In 1816 Beardsley returned to Rome and continued the practice of law. His abilities soon brought him into public office. From 1821 to 1825 he served as district attorney of Oneida County, prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the state. In 1822 he was elected to the New York State Senate for a one-year term, serving in the 1823 session. That same year he moved to Utica, which would remain his principal home for much of his life. From 1823 to 1830 he held federal office as United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, representing the federal government in civil and criminal matters in a large and growing region of the state.

Beardsley entered national legislative service as a Jacksonian when he was elected to the Twenty-second Congress as U.S. Representative for New York’s fourteenth district, serving from March 4, 1831, to March 3, 1833. He was then elected to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses as Representative for the seventeenth district, serving from March 4, 1833, until his resignation on March 29, 1836. During the Twenty-fourth Congress he was chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, a key committee in shaping federal legal and constitutional policy. His congressional career also reflected the intense sectional and ideological conflicts of the era: he was one of the “principal citizens” who participated in the anti-abolitionist mob that broke up the 1835 meeting in Utica, called by Beriah Green to organize a New York State Antislavery Society.

In 1836, following the elevation of Greene C. Bronson to the New York Supreme Court, Beardsley was elected by the New York State Legislature to the office of New York State Attorney General. He served as attorney general from 1836 to 1838, overseeing the state’s legal affairs during a period marked by economic and political turbulence following the Panic of 1837. After leaving that office he returned to private practice and remained an influential Democratic figure in New York politics. He later reentered Congress as a Democrat, being elected to the Twenty-eighth Congress as U.S. Representative for New York’s twentieth district. He served in that capacity from March 4, 1843, until February 29, 1844, when he resigned to accept a judicial appointment.

Beardsley’s judicial career began in 1844 when he was appointed an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court. He sat on that court from 1844 to 1847, participating in the administration of justice at one of the state’s highest judicial levels during the years immediately preceding the reorganization of New York’s court system under the Constitution of 1846. In 1847 he briefly held the position of chief justice, serving from June 29 to July 5, 1847. After his service on the bench concluded, he resumed the practice of law in Utica and also practiced in New York City, maintaining his standing as a respected member of the bar.

In his personal life, Beardsley married Sarah Hathaway (1793–1869) in 1816. She was the daughter of Judge Joshua Hathaway, under whom Beardsley had studied law in Rome. The couple were the parents of one child who lived to adulthood, Arthur Moore Beardsley, who followed his father into the legal profession and enjoyed a successful career as an attorney in both Utica and New York City. Samuel Beardsley spent his later years in Utica, where he remained a figure of local prominence.

Beardsley died in Utica, Oneida County, New York, on May 6, 1860. He was interred at Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica. His career, encompassing military service in the War of 1812, local and federal prosecutorial roles, legislative service in both state and national bodies, and high judicial office in New York, reflected the broad range of public responsibilities undertaken by leading lawyers and politicians of his generation.