Caleb Tompkins (December 22, 1759 – January 1, 1846) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from New York, and the brother of

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Daniel D. Tompkins Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fifth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkins ...

Early life

Caleb Tompkins was born on the Fox Meadows estate near Scarsdale in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

on December 22, 1759, and was the eldest son of Jonathan G. Tompkins, a prominent judge and landowner. He was educated locally, and trained for a legal career.

American Revolution

Tompkins served as a Private in the 2nd Regiment of Westchester County Militia (Thomas's Regiment) during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. In October 1776 he fled his home to escape British troops, successfully evading capture by submerging himself in a nearby swamp. This incident was known to James Fenimore Cooper, who used a fictionalized version of it in his 1821 novel ''The Spy''. Tompkins remained in the militia after the war, and was a Captain when he resigned in 1797.

Career

Tompkins studied law, attained admission to the bar, and practiced in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. He also inherited Fox Meadows, where he resided throughout his life. An

Anti-Federalist Anti-Federalism was a late-18th century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Con ...

who became a member of the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...

and later a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

who identified with the

Bucktails The Bucktails (1818–1826) were the faction of the Democratic-Republican Party in New York State opposed to Governor DeWitt Clinton. It was influenced by the Tammany Society. The name derives from a Tammany insignia, a deer's tail worn in the ha ...

and Jacksonians, he was Scarsdale's first Town

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

, and held other local offices including

Town Supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...

. Tompkins was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1804 to 1806. He served as Judge of the

Court from 1807 to 1820. Tompkins was elected to the

Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

and Sixteenth Congresses, and served from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1821. In 1823 Tompkins returned to the position of Westchester County Judge, and he remained on the bench until his death. In 1828 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, losing a narrow contest to Henry B. Cowles.

Death and burial

Tompkins died in Scarsdale on January 1, 1846. He was interred in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in White Plains.Thomas E. Spencer
Where They're Buried
1998, page 254

References

External links

a
''Political Graveyard''
a
''Our Campaigns.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkins, Caleb 1759 births 1846 deaths New York (state) lawyers New York (state) militiamen in the American Revolution American militia officers New York (state) state court judges Politicians from Westchester County, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Scarsdale, New York New York (state) Anti-Federalists Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American lawyers