Daniel Cady
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an American social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early woman's movement...
, Judge Cady had a full and accomplished life of his own.
Life
Cady was born in that part of CanaanCanaan, New York
Canaan is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,820 at the 2000 census.The Town of Canaan is in the northeast part of the county.- History :The first settlers arrived around 1759....
, Columbia County, New York
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...
which was later split off to form Chatham, New York. He learned the shoemaker's trade, but accidentally injured an eye and lost the sight of it at age 18. He then studied law, first in Canaan with Judge Whiting, then in Troy
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
with John Woodworth
John Woodworth (lawyer)
John Woodworth was an American lawyer and member of the Woodworth political family.-Life:...
. Cady was admitted to the bar in 1795, and commenced practice in Florida
Florida, Montgomery County, New York
Florida is a town south of the Mohawk River in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 2,696 in the 2010 United States Census. The town was named after the state of Florida...
, Montgomery County
Montgomery County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,708 people, 20,038 households, and 13,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 22,522 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile...
, but after a year moved to Johnstown, then the county seat. As a young lawyer, he worked with such notables as Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
and Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
, and toward the end of his career, he served on a case with Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, where they each represented clients in a land dispute associated with Beloit College
Beloit College
Beloit College is a liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and has an enrollment of roughly 1,300 undergraduate students. Beloit is the oldest continuously operated college in Wisconsin, and has the oldest building of any college...
.
Cady was a member of the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
in 1808-09, 1810, 1811 and 1812-13.
From February to April 1813, Cady was District Attorney of the Fifth District, which comprised Albany
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...
, Saratoga
Saratoga County, New York
Saratoga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 219,607. It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Ballston Spa...
, Montgomery, Schoharie
Schoharie County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 31,582 people, 11,991 households and 8,177 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 15,915 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
and Schenectady
Schenectady County, New York
Schenectady County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 154,727. It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Schenectady. The name is from a Mohawk Indian word meaning "on the other side of the...
counties.
Cady was elected as a Federalist to the 14th United States Congress
14th United States Congress
- Senate :* President: Vacant* President pro tempore: John Gaillard of South Carolina, first elected December 4, 1815- House of Representatives :* Speaker: Henry Clay of Kentucky-Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
, holding office from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817.
He is considered by some the father of Fulton County, virtually engineering the county's creation in 1838 after the Montgomery county seat was moved from Johnstown to Fonda, New York
Fonda, New York
Fonda is a village in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 810 at the 2000 census. Fonda is the county seat of Montgomery County...
. The newly established county was named after Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
, a cousin of Cady's wife Margaret Livingston.
Cady was a justice of the New York Supreme Court
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
(4th D.) from 1847 to 1854, when he resigned, and was ex officio a judge of the New York Court of Appeals
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
in 1849.
In 1856
United States presidential election, 1856
The United States presidential election of 1856 was an unusually heated contest that led to the election of James Buchanan, the ambassador to the United Kingdom. Republican candidate John C. Frémont condemned the Kansas–Nebraska Act and crusaded against the expansion of slavery, while Democrat...
, Cady was a presidential elector on the Republican John C. Fremont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
ticket. Cady presided over the New York electoral college
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
which cast 35 votes for Fremont who lost the election to Democrat James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
.
External links
- The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 70, 182ff, 187, 263, 332, 351, 368 and 448; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
- Biographical Sketches of the Distinguished Men of Columbia County by William Raymond (Weed, Parsons & Co.; Albany; 1851; pages 44f)
- DANIEL CADY.; Biographical Sketch in NYT on January 25, 1855
- DEATH OF HON. DANIEL CADY in NYT on November 3, 1859
- http://www.beloit.edu/~libhome/Archives/papers/lincoln.html
- http://www.nps.gov/wori/archives/judgecady.htm
- http://www.danielcady.com/
- http://www.danielcady.com/letters/