John Van Ness Yates was a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 lawyer, Democratic-Republican politician, and Secretary of State from 1818 to 1826. He was born in Albany

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

 to Robert Yates

Robert Yates (politician)

Robert Yates was a politician and judge well known for his Anti-Federalist stances. He is also well known as the presumed author of political essays published in 1787 and 1788 under the pseudonyms "Brutus" and "Sydney"...

, a prominent Anti-Federalist attorney and jurist. He became a lawyer after clerking in the office of John Vernon Henry

John Vernon Henry

John Vernon Henry was an American lawyer and politician.-Life:He was admitted to the bar in 1782. He was a Federalist member from Albany County of the New York State Assembly from 1800 to 1802. He was New York State Comptroller from 1800 to 1801...

. He held a number of offices in Albany, and was one of the first trustees of the Albany United Presbyterian Church. He was a captain of a light infantry company in 1806, master in chancery in 1808, recorder of the city 1809-1816, and New York Secretary of State 1818-1826. He co-authored History of the State of New-York: Including Its Aboriginal and Colonial Annals (1826). He was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery.