Nathan Sanford

Nathan Sanford
United States Senator from New York
In office March 4, 1815 – March 4, 1821
Preceded by	Obadiah German
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
In office January 14, 1826 – March 4, 1831
Preceded by	Rufus King
Succeeded by	William L. Marcy
Personal details
Born	November 5, 1777(1777-11-05) Bridgehampton, New York
Died	October 17, 1838(1838-10-17) (aged 60) Flushing, New York
Political party	Democratic-Republican

Nathan Sanford (November 5, 1777 – October 17, 1838) was an American politician.

Life

He was the son of Thomas Sanford and Phebe Sanford, née Baker. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1799, and commenced practice in New York City.

In 1803, he was appointed as United States Attorney for the District of New York, and remained in office until 1815 when the district was split into the Northern and the Southern District of New York.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1808-1809 and 1811. In 1811, he was elected Speaker on January 29, but could not attend the session after February 10 because of ill health. The Assembly moved to elect a new Speaker and proceeded to the election of William Ross. He was a member of the New York State Senate (Southern D.) from 1812 to 1815.

In 1815, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1815, to March 4, 1821. He was Chairman of the Committee on Commerce and Manufactures (15th and 16th United States Congresses), and a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs (15th Congress) and the Committee on Finance (16th Congress). In 1821, he ran for re-election as a Clintonian, but was defeated by Bucktail Martin Van Buren.

He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821, and was Chancellor of New York from 1823 to 1826. In 1824, he received 30 electoral votes for U.S. Vice President.

In 1826, he resigned the chancellorship after his nomination in caucus, and was elected again to the U.S. Senate. He took his seat on January 31, 1826, and served until March 4, 1831. He was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations (19th United States Congress). Afterwards he resumed the practice of law in Flushing, New York.

His residence in Flushing, "Sanford Hall", became a private insane asylum in 1845, run by Dr. James Macdonald MD (1803–1849) and Gen. Allan Macdonald (1794–1862).

Sources

• [1] Political Graveyard
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Legal offices
Preceded by Edward Livingston	U.S. Attorney for the District of New York 1803 - 1815	Succeeded by Roger Skinner (Northern D.), Jonathan Fisk (Southern D.)
Political offices
Preceded by William North	Speaker of the New York State Assembly 1811	Succeeded by William Ross
United States Senate
Preceded by Obadiah German	United States Senator (Class 1) from New York 1815 - 1821 Served alongside: Rufus King	Succeeded by Martin Van Buren
Preceded by John W. Eppes Virginia	Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1819 - 1821	Succeeded by John Holmes Maine
Legal offices
Preceded by James Kent	Chancellor of New York 1823 - 1826	Succeeded by Samuel Jones
United States Senate
Preceded by Rufus King	United States Senator (Class 3) from New York 1826 - 1831 Served alongside: Martin Van Buren, Charles E. Dudley	Succeeded by William L. Marcy