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SPENCER, Asa, soldier; born in
Salisbury, Conn. in September, 1747; died in Fort Covington, New York in 1828.
The first ancestor of the Spencer
family, William, came from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1631, and
again in 1633 with his brothers Thomas and Jared Spencer. William and
Thomas were among the first settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. William
Spencer was a landed proprietor, a select-man of the town, and a deputy of
the general court of Connecticut in 1639. He prepared the first revisal of the
laws of that colony, and died in Hartford in 1640.
His descendant in the fifth generation,
Asa Spencer served throughout the war of the Revolution, and was under
Gen. Anthony Wayne at the storming of Stony Point. He early espoused the
principles of Democracy under Thomas Jefferson.
--His son James Bradley Spencer,
soldier, born in Salisbury, Connecticut, 26 April, 1781; died in Fort Covington,
New York, 26 March, 1848, was an early settler of Franklin county, New York,
raised a company for the war of 1812, and served as captain in the 29th United
States infantry at Plattsburgh. Subsequently he was county judge and surrogate,
and held other local offices in Fort Covington, served in the legislature in
1831-'2, and was elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 4 September,
1837, till 3 March, 1839
--Another son, Abner Peek Spencer,
settled with his father and brother at Fort Covington, was captain in the 29th
United States infantry in 1812, and, remaining in the army, was appointed
military governor of Arkansas.
--James Bradley's son, James Clark
Spencer, jurist, born in Fort Covington, Franklin county, New York, 29 May,
1826, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1848, and practiced in his native
town and in Ogdensburg until 1865, serving as United States district attorney
for four years. He then removed to New York and entered into partnership with
Charles A. Rapallo. From 1869 till 1872 he was a judge of the superior court of
New York, afterward practicing law until 1883, when he was appointed an aqueduct
commissioner.
--William's descendant in the fifth
generation, Ambrose Spencer, jurist, born in Salisbury, Connecticut, 13
December, 1765; died in Lyons, New York, 13 March, 1848, was educated at Yale
and Harvard, where he was graduated in 1783. He studied law under John Canfield,
of Sharon, Connecticut, and settled in Hudson, New York, where he was appointed
city clerk in 1786. He was elected to the assembly in 1793 and in 1795 to the
state senate, serving until 1798, when he was re-elected for four years. He was
the author of a bill, which became a law, to abolish capital punishment in all
cases except those of treason and murder, substituting imprisonment and hard
labor. He also secured the erection of a state prison near New York City.
In 1796 he was appointed assistant
attorney-general of Columbia and Rensselaer counties, and in 1802-'4 he was
attorney-general of the state. In 1804 he became a justice of the Supreme Court,
of which he was chief justice from 1819 till 1823. In 1808 he was chosen by the
legislature, with Peter J. Munro, to prepare and report such reforms in the
chancery system of the state as they should deem expedient. Judge Spencer
possessed energy, resolution, and high legal attainments, and was a master of
equity jurisprudence.
He served as a presidential elector in
1809. He was the warm friend of De Witt Clinton, but separated from him on the
question of the war of 1812, and in that year was active in the struggle to
prevent the charter of the six-million bank. He was a member of the State
constitutional convention of 1821. After he resumed the practice of law in
Albany he held various local offices, and was mayor of that city in 1824-'6. He
was then elected to congress, serving from 7 December, 1829, till 3 March, 1831,
and during his term united with William Wirt and other philanthropists in
endeavoring to arrest the injustice of the government toward the Cherokees.
In 1839 he removed to Lyons, New York,
where he engaged in agriculture. He was president of the Whig national
convention in Baltimore in 1844. The University of Pennsylvania gave him the
degree of LL.D. in 1819 and Harvard the same in 1821. His last public act was to
address a letter to his fellow-citizens in opposition to a proposed amendment to
the constitution providing for an elective judiciary with brief terms of office.
His decisions are contained in the "New York Supreme Court Reports, 1799-1803,"
edited by William Johnson (3 vols. New York, 1808-'12), and" New York Chancery
Reports" 0814-'23). See "Memorial" of Ambrose Spencer (Albany, 1849).
--His son, John Canfield Spencer,
lawyer, born in Hudson, New York, 8 January, 1788 ; died in Albany, New York, 18
May, 1855, was graduated at Union college in 1806, and in 1807 became private
secretary to Governor Daniel D. Tompkins. He was admitted to the bar at
Canandaigua in 1809, became master in chancery in 1811, judge-advocate-general
in the army on the northern frontier in 1813, postmaster of Canandaigua in 1814,
and assistant attorney-general for western New York in 1815.
In that year he was also made district
attorney. He was then elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 1
December, 1817, till 3 March, 1819, and during his term was one of a committee
to examine the affairs of the United States bank, and drew up its report.
Fifteen years afterward, when Gem Andrew Jackson was using this report against
the bank, Mr. Spencer was found among its friends.
In 1820-'1 he was a member of the state
house of representatives, serving in the first year as speaker, and in 1824-'8
he was a member of the state senate, being a leader of the Clinton faction. In
1827 he was appointed by Governor De Wilt Clinton one of the board to revise the
statutes of New York, and took an important part in that task. Joining the
anti-Masonic party, he was appointed special attorney-general to prosecute those
that were connected with the abduction of William Morgan, but resigned in May,
1830, having involved himself in a controversy with Governor Enos T. Throop.
In 1832 he was again elected to the
legislature, and in 1839-'40 he was secretary of state and superintendent of
common schools. He was appointed United States secretary of war on 12 October,
1841, and on 3 March, 1843, was transferred to the treasury department, but,
opposing the annexation of Texas, resigned on 2 May, 1844, and resumed the
practice of law. He served on many state commissions and aided in the
organization of the State asylum for idiots. In 1840 he was made a regent of
Union college, which gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1849.
He published an edition of Henry Reeve's
translation of De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," contributing a preface
and notes (2 vols. New York, 1838); and also, with John Duer and Benjamin F.
Butler, a "Revision of the Statutes of New York" (3 vols, Albany, 1846). See
"Review of John C. Spencer's Legal and Political Career," by Lucien B. Proctor
(New York, 1886).
--Another son of Ambrose, William
Ambrose Spencer, naval officer, born in New York in 1793; died in New York
city, 3 March, 1854, was appointed midshipman in the United States navy, 15
November, 1809, became lieutenant on 9 December, 1814, commander on 3 March,
1813, and captain, 22 January, 1841, and resigned on 9 December, 1843. He was
acting lieutenant in Commander Thomas Macdonough's victory on Lake Champlain, 11
September, 1814.
--Another son of Ambrose, Theodore
Spencer, clergyman, born in Hudson, New York, 24 April, 1800; died in Utica,
New York, 14 June, 1870. He entered the United States military academy, but left
it to study law, and, beginning to practice in Auburn, New York, became district
attorney for Cayuga County. Afterward he studied theology, was pastor of the 2d
Congregational Church in Rome, and preached also in Utica. Retiring from active
work, owing to impaired health, he was made secretary of the American home
missionary society for central and northern New York. He was the author of
"Conversion, its Theory and Process Practically Delineated " (New York, 1854),
and other theological works.
--Thomas's descendant in the sixth
generation, Ichabod Smith Spencer, clergyman, born in Rupert, Vermont, 23
February, 1798; died in Brooklyn, New York, 23 November, 1854, was graduated at
Union in 1822 and was principal of the grammar-school in Schenectady, New York,
until 1825, and of an academy in Canandaigua, New York, until 1828. After
studying theology he was licensed by the presbytery of Geneva in 1826, and on 11
September, 1828, was appointed colleague pastor, with the Reverend Solomon
Williams, of the Congregational church in Northampton, Massachusetts, remaining
until 1832. He then became pastor of the 2d Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, New
York, which charge he held until his death. From 1836 till 1840 he was professor
extraordinary of biblical history in Union theological seminary, New York, of
which institution he was a founder.
In 1830 he was offered the presidency of
the University of Alabama and in 1832 that of Hamilton. The latter college gave
him the degree of D. D. in 1841. His best-known publication is his "Pastor's
Sketches," which passed through many editions, and was republished in England
and France (2 series, New York, 1850-'3). After his death appeared" Sermons,"
with a memoir by the Reverend James M. Sherwood (2 vols. 1855); "Sacramental
Discourses" (1861); and " Evidences of Divine Revelation " (1865).
-- Jared's descendant in the fourth
generation, Joseph Spencer, soldier, born in East Haddam, Connecticut, in
1714; died there, 13 January, 1789, joined the northern army in 1758, and was
major in the 2d Connecticut regiment under Colonel Nathaniel Whiting. He served
as lieutenant-colonel in the two following campaigns, rose to the rank of
colonel, and was one of the eight brigadier-generals appointed by congress at
the instance of General Washington on 22 June, 1775.
Taking offence when General Israel
Putnam, a younger officer, was appointed over him, he was about to retire from
the army, but, deciding to remain, served near Boston until its evacuation, and
then marched with his division to the defense of New York. On 9 August, 1776, he
was appointed major-general, and opposed the evacuation of New York.
Gen. Spencer was ordered in 1778 to take
command at Rhode Island, which was surrounded by Admiral Sir Peter Parker. The
British army having taken possession of Newport, General Spencer assembled a
large force at Providence, but the enterprise proved a failure, and, after
remaining in the vicinity for several weeks, the militia was dismissed. General
Spencer was censured for the failure of this expedition, but a court of inquiry
attributed the result to forces beyond his control. He resigned on 14 June, 1778
in consequence of an order of congress to inquire into the reasons for his
failure, and afterward appeared but little in public life.
--His brother. Elihu Spencer,
clergyman, born in East Haddam, Connecticut, 12 February, 1721 ; died in
Trenton, New Jersey, 27 December, 1784, was graduated at Yale in 1746, and, with
a view to becoming a missionary to the Indians of the Six Nations, studied their
dialect and prepared himself for this office under the Reverend John Brainerd
and Jonathan Edwards, accompanying the latter to the Indian conference in Albany
in 1748. He was ordained on 14 September, 1748, and, after laboring in western
New York, was appointed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, New
Jersey, in 1750, holding this charge until 1756, when he was called to the
Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, L. I.
About 1758 he was appointed by Governor
James De Lancey chaplain of the New York troops that were forming for service in
the French war, after which he labored in the contiguous congregations of
Shrewsbury, Middletown Point, Shark River, and Amboy, New Jersey In 1764 he was
sent by the synod of New York and Philadelphia with the Reverend Alexander
McWhorter on a mission to organize the irregular congregations of North
Carolina, which district they again visited in 1775 at the request of the
Provincial congress of that colony.
As he had contributed to the cause of
independence, the Tories were embittered toward him, and on one occasion burned
books and papers of his that had fallen into their possession. From 1769 until
his death he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Trenton, New Jersey He was
frequently called "Readymoney Spencer," from his facility in extempore address.
From 1752 until his death he was a guardian of Princeton College. The University
of Pennsylvania gave him the degree of D.D. in 1782. In 1759 he wrote a letter
to the Reverend Ezra Stiles, afterward president of Yale, on "The State of the
Dissenting Interest in the Middle Colonies of America," which was published and
attracted attention.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, by John Looby Copyright © 2001
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SPENCER, Asa, soldier, born in Salisbury, Conn. in September, 1747 ; died in Fort Covington, New York in 1828. The first ancestor of the Spencer family William, came from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1631, and again in 1633 with his brothers Thomas and Jared. William and Thomas were among the first settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, the former being a landed proprietor, a select-man of the town, and a deputy of the general court of Connecticut in 1639. He prepared the first revisal of the laws of that colony, and died in Hartford in 1640. His descendant in the fifth generation, Asa served throughout the war of the Revolution, and was under Gen. Anthony Wayne at the storming of Stony Point. He early espoused the principles of Democracy under Thomas Jefferson.--His son James Bradley, soldier, born in Salisbury, Connecticut, 26 April, 1781; died in Fort Covington, New York, 26 March, 1848, was an early settler of Franklin county, New York, raised a company for the war of 1812, and served as captain in the 29th United States infantry at Plattsburg. Subsequently he was county judge and surrogate, and held other local offices in Fort Covington, served in the legislature in 1831-'2, and was elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 4 September, 1837, till 3 March, 1839 --Another son, Abner Peek, settled with his father and brother at Fort Covington, was captain in the 29th United States infantry in 1812, and, remaining in the army, was appointed military governor of Arkansas.--James Bradley's son, James Clark, jurist, born in Fort Covington, Franklin county, New York, 29 May, 1826, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1848, and practised in his native town and in Ogdensburg until 1865, serving as United States district attorney for four years. He then removed to New York and entered into partnership with Charles A. Rapallo. From 1869 till 1872 he was a judge of the superior court of New York, afterward practising law until 1883, when he was appointed an aqueduct commissioner.--William's descendant in the fifth generation, Ambrose, jurist, born in Salisbury, Connecticut, 13 December, 1765; died in Lyons, New York, 13 March, 1848, was educated at Yale and Harvard, where he was graduated in 1783. He studied law under John Canfield, of Sharon, Connecticut, and settled in Hudson, New York, where he was appointed city clerk in 1786. He was elected to the assembly in 1793 and in 1795 to the state senate, serving until 1798, when he was re-elected for four years. He was the author of a bill, which became a law, to abolish capital punishment in all cases except those of treason and murder, substituting imprisonment and hard labor. He also secured the erection of a state prison near New York city. In 1796 he was appointed assistant attorney-general of Columbia and Rensselaer counties, and in 1802-'4 he was attorney-general of the state. In 1804 he became a justice of the supreme court, of which he was chief justice from 1819 till 1823. In 1808 he was chosen by the legislature, with Peter J. Munro, to prepare and report such reforms in the chancery system of the state as they should deem expedient. Judge Spencer possessed energy, resolution, and high legal attainments, and was a master of equity jurisprudence. He served as a presidential elector in 1809. He was the warm friend of De Witt Clinton, but separated from him on the question of the war of 1812, and in that year was active in the struggle to prevent the charter of the six-million bank. He was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1821. After he resumed the practice of law in Albany he held various local offices, and was mayor of that city in 1824-'6. He was then elected to congress, serving from 7 December, 1829, till 3 March, 1831, and during his term united with William Wirt and other philanthropists in endeavoring to arrest the injustice of the government toward the Cherokees. In 1839 he removed to Lyons, New York, where he engaged in agriculture. He was president of the Whig national convention in Baltimore in 1844. The University of Pennsylvania gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1819 and Harvard the same in 1821. His last public act was to address a letter to his fellow-citizens in opposition to a proposed amendment to the constitution providing for an elective judiciary with brief terms of office. His decisions are contained in the "New York Supreme Court Reports, 1799-1803," edited by William Johnson (3 vols., New York, 1808-'12), and" New York Chancery Reports" 0814-'23). See "Memorial" of Ambrose Spencer (Albany, 1849).--His son, John Canfield, lawyer, born in Hudson, New York, 8 January, 1788 ; died in Albany, New York, 18 May, 1855, was graduated at Union college in 1806, and in 1807 became private secretary to Governor Daniel D. Tompkins. He was admitted to the bar at Canandaigua in 1809, became master in chancery in 1811, judge-advocate-general in the army on the northern frontier in 1813, postmaster of Canandaigua in 1814, and assistant attorney-general for western New York in 1815. In that year he was also made district attorney. He was then elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 1 December, 1817, till 3 March, 1819, and during his term was one of a committee to examine the affairs of the United States bank, and drew up its report. Fifteen years afterward, when Gem Andrew Jackson was using this report against the bank, Mr. Spencer was found among its friends. In 1820-'1 he was a member of the state house of representatives, serving in the first year as speaker, and in 1824-'8 he was a member of the state senate, being a leader of the Clinton faction. In 1827 he was appointed by Governor De Wilt Clinton one of the board to revise the statutes of New York, and took an important part in that task. Joining the anti-Masonic party, he was appointed special attorney-general to prosecute those that were connected with the abduction of William Morgan, but resigned in May, 1830, having involved himself in a controversy with Governor Enos T. Throop. In 1832 he was again elected to the legislature, and in 1839-'40 he was secretary of state and superintendent of common schools. He was appointed United States secretary of war on 12 October, 1841, and on 3 March, 1843, was transferred to the treasury department, but, opposing the annexation of Texas, resigned on 2 May, 1844, and resumed the practice of law. He served on many state commissions and aided in the organization of the State asylum for idiots. In 1840 he was made a regent of Union college, which gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1849. He published an edition of Henry Reeve's translation of De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," contributing a preface and notes (2 vols., New York, 1838), and also, with John Duer and Benjamin F. Butler, a "Revision of the Statutes of New York" (3 vols., Albany, 1846). See "Review of John C. Spencer's Legal and Political Career," by Lucien B. Proctor (New York, 1886).--Another son of Ambrose, William Ambrose, naval officer, born in New York in 1793; died in New York city, 3 March, 1854, was appointed midshipman in the United States navy, 15 November, 1809, became lieutenant on 9 December, 1814, commander on 3 March, 1813, and captain, 22 January, 1841, and resigned on 9 December, 1843. He was acting lieutenant in Commander Thomas Macdonough's victory on Lake Champlain, 11 September, 1814.--Another son of Ambrose, Theodore, clergyman, born in Hudson, New York, 24 April, 1800; died in Utica, New York, 14 June, 1870. He entered the United States military academy, but left it to study law, and, beginning to practise in Auburn, New York, became district attorney for Cayuga county. Afterward he studied theology, was pastor of the 2d Congregational church in Rome, and preached also in Utica. Retiring from active work, owing to impaired health, he was made secretary of the American home missionary society for central and northern New York. He was the author of " Conversion, its Theory and Process Practically Delineated " (New York, 1854), and other theological works.--Thomas's descendant in the sixth generation, Ichabod Smith, clergyman, born in Rupert, Vermont, 23 February, 1798; died in Brooklyn, New York, 23 November, 1854, was graduated at Union in 1822 and was principal of the grammar-school in Schenectady, New York, until 1825, and of an academy in Canandaigua, New York, until 1828. After studying theology he was licensed by the presbytery of Geneva in 1826, and on 11 September, 1828, was appointed colleague pastor, with the Reverend Solomon Williams, of the Congregational church in Northampton, Massachusetts, remaining until 1832. He then became pastor of the 2d Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, New York, which charge he held until his death. From 1836 till 1840 he was professor extraordinary of biblical history in Union theological seminary, New York, of which institution he was a founder. In 1830 he was offered the presidency of the University of Alabama and in 1832 that of Hamilton. The latter college gave him the degree of D. D. in 1841. His best-known publication is his "Pastor's Sketches," which passed through many editions, and was republished in England and France (2 series, New York, 1850-'3). After his death appeared " Sermons," with a memoir by the Reverend James M. Sherwood (2 vols., 1855); "Sacramental Discourses" (1861); and " Evidences of Divine Revelation " (1865). -- Jared's descendant in the fourth generation, Joseph, soldier, born in East Had-dam, Connecticut, in 1714; died there, 13 January, 1789, joined the northern army in 1758, and was major in the 2d Connecticut regiment under Colonel Nathaniel Whiting. He served as lieutenant-colonel in the two following campaigns, rose to the rank of colonel, and was one of the eight brigadier-generals appointed by congress at the instance of General Washington on 22 June, 1775. Taking offence when General Israel Putnam, a younger officer, was appointed over him, he was about to retire from the army, but, deciding to remain, served near Boston until its evacuation, and then marched with his division to the defence of New York. On 9 August, 1776, he was appointed major-general, and opposed the evacuation of New York. Gem Spencer was ordered in 1778 to take command at Rhode Island, which was surrounded by Admiral Sir Peter Parker. The British army having taken possession of Newport, General Spencer assembled a large force at Providence, but the enterprise proved a failure, and, after remaining in the vicinity for several weeks, the militia was dismissed. General Spencer was censured for the failure of this expedition, but a court of inquiry attributed the result to forces beyond his control. He resigned on 14 June, 1778 in consequence of an order of congress to inquire into the reasons for his failure, and afterward appeared but little in public life.--His brother. Elihu, clergyman, born in East Haddam, Connecticut, 12 February, 1721 ; died in Trenton, New Jersey, 27 December, 1784, was graduated at Yale in 1746, and, with a view to becoming a missionary to the Indians of the Six Nations, studied their dialect and prepared himself for this office under the Reverend John Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards, accompanying the latter to the Indian conference in Albany in 1748. He was ordained on 14 September, 1748, and, after laboring in western New York, was appointed pastor of the Presbyterian church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1750, holding this charge until 1756, when he was called to the Presbyterian church of Jamaica, L. I. About 1758 he was appointed by Governor James De Lancey chaplain of the New York troops that were forming for service in the French war, after which he labored in the contiguous congregations of Shrewsbury, Middletown Point, Shark River, and Amboy, New Jersey In 1764 he was sent by the synod of New York and Philadelphia with the Reverend Alexander McWhorter on a mission to organize the irregular congregations of North Carolina, which district they again visited in 1775 at the request of the Provincial congress of that colony. As e had contributed to the cause of independence, the Tories were embittered toward him, and on one occasion burned books and papers of his that had fallen into their possession. From 1769 until his death he was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Trenton, New Jersey He was frequently called "Readymoney Spencer," from his facility in extempore address. From 1752 until his death he was a guardian of Princeton college. The University of Pennsylvania gave him the degree of D.D. in 1782. In 1759 he wrote a letter to the Reverend Ezra Stiles, afterward president of Yale, on "The State of the Dissenting Interest in the Middle Colonies of America," which was published and attracted attention.
