Samuel Laurence Gouverneur (1799 – September 29, 1865) was a lawyer and civil servant who was both nephew and son-in-law to

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

, the fifth

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Early life

Gouverneur was born in 1799 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. His father was Nicholas Gouverneur (1753–1802), a merchant with the firm Gouverneur & Kemble, and mother was Hester ( née Kortright) Gouverneur (1770–1842), sister of the First Lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe. His younger sister, Maria Charlotte Gouverneur (1801–1867), was married to Thomas McCall Cadwalader (1795–1873). His maternal grandparents were Lawrence Kortright, a wealthy merchant, and Hannah (née Aspinwall) Kortright. His paternal grandparents were Samuel Gouverneur (1720–1798) and Experience (née Johnson) Gouverneur (1720–1788). He was a first cousin of

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 ...

Gouverneur Kemble Gouverneur Kemble (January 25, 1786 – September 18, 1875) was a two-term United States Congressman, diplomat and industrialist. He helped found the West Point Foundry, a major producer of artillery during the American Civil War. Early life and ...

(1786–1875) through his aunt Gertrude Gouverneur, wife of merchant

Peter Kemble Peter Kemble (December 12, 1704 – February 23, 1789) was an American politician from the colonial period who served as President of the New Jersey Provincial Council from 1745 to 1776, the last to hold that office. Biography Peter Kemble was bo ...

. He graduated from Columbia College in 1817.

Career

In 1824, Gouverneur was elected as a People's Party (faction 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 ...

) member of the New York State Assembly, serving in the

48th New York State Legislature The 48th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4 to April 21, 1825, during the first year of DeWitt Clinton's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany. ...

in 1825. He was aligned with Assembly Speaker Clarkson Crolius, also from

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. On November 19, 1828, he was appointed Postmaster of New York City, succeeding former

and Senator Theodorus Bailey who died in office on September 6, 1828. While in New York he invested in racehorses, and the

Bowery Theatre The Bowery Theatre was a playhouse on the Bowery in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Although it was founded by rich families to compete with the upscale Park Theatre, the Bowery saw its most successful period under the populis ...

along with James Alexander Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, and Prosper M. Wetmore. Gouverneur served as Postmaster until July 4, 1836, when he was succeeded by Jonathan J. Coddington.

Relationship with Monroe

Gouverneur served as

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to his uncle, the fifth U.S. President

who served two consecutive terms as President from March 4, 1817 until March 4, 1825. Gouverneur helped former president Monroe to press his claims to Congress to repay mounting debts. After Elizabeth Monroe's death in 1830, Monroe came to live at the Gouverneurs' home, and died there in 1831. Gouverneur was executor of Monroe's estate, which had to be sold off to pay the debts. Monroe was buried in the Gouverneur family vault at the New York City Marble Cemetery, until descendants had the remains moved to the

James Monroe Tomb The James Monroe Tomb is the burial place of U.S. President James Monroe in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, United States. The principal feature of the tomb is an architecturally unusual cast iron cage, designed by Albert Lybrock and in ...

in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. A ceremony was held at the Gouverneur vault 175 years later, on July 8, 2006. Monroe's personal papers were left to Gouverneur, who also was asked to support his wife's sister Eliza Monroe Hay (also his cousin, then a widow). Gouverneur started work on publishing the papers or a book on Monroe, but it was never finished. After Mrs. Hay died in 1840, the Gouverneurs moved to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

where he worked in the consular bureau of the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

from 1844 to 1849. After congress agreed to buy the papers of President Madison, Gouverneur proposed a similar arrangement, which was concluded in 1850. Some personal papers would be retained for a few generations.

Personal life

On March 9, 1820, Gouverneur was married to Maria Hester Monroe, his first cousin and the daughter of President Monroe. The wedding was officiated by the Rev.

William Dickinson Hawley William Dickinson Hawley (1784 – January 23, 1845) was an Episcopal clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate. Early years Dickinson Hawley was born in 1784 in Manchester, Vermont, the fifth child of Jabez Hawley and Phoebe Peet. He ...

Excerpt from and was the first wedding held in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

for a child of a president. The wedding was small, with only 42 guests and no cabinet members invited, and General

Thomas Jesup Thomas Sidney Jesup (December 16, 1788 – June 10, 1860) was a United States Army officer known as the "Father of the Modern Quartermaster Corps". His 52-year (1808–1860) military career was one of the longest in the history of the United St ...

served as groomsman for Gouverneur. The couple went on a brief one-week honeymoon, and upon their return, Commodore and Mrs. Stephen Decatur gave them a reception at the

Decatur House Decatur House is a historic house museum at 748 Jackson Place in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It is named after its first owner and occupant Stephen Decatur. The house (built, 1818) is located at the northwest corner of ...

on May 20, 1820. Another ball was planned, but was cancelled due to Decatur's death two days later in a duel. After moving to New York, the Gouverneur's bought and lived at 63 and 65 Prince Street at

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Together, Samuel and Maria were the parents of four children: * a daughter, who died in infancy (d. September 4, 1821) * James Monroe Gouverneur (1822–1885), a

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

who died at the Spring Grove Asylum in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

; * Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur (1824–1868), who married Dr. Henry Lee Heishell, James M. Bibby, and Colonel G. D. Sparrier. * Samuel Laurence Gouverneur, Jr. (1826–1880), who married Marian Campbell (1821–1914), and became the first U.S.

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

in Fuzhou, China (then spelled Foo Chow). In 1832, the Gouverneurs' sold their Prince Street residence to Miles R. Burke. On June 20, 1850, his wife Maria died at the Oak Hill estate, which was sold two years later in 1852. In September 1851, the widower Gouverneur married Mary Digges Lee (1810–1898), a granddaughter of Thomas Sim Lee (1745–1819). They retired to the Lee estate called "Needwood", near

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

and

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. st ...

. This stressed family relations during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, with Gouverneur associated with the Union government, while his in-laws had deep roots in the Confederate states.

Death

Gouverneur died at his Needwood estate on September 29, 1865. His estate was left to his second wife.

Family

Descendants

His granddaughter Rose de Chine Gouverneur, born in China in 1860, married Roswell Randall Hoes (1850–1921) and died on May 26, 1933. Their sons Gouverneur Hoes (1889–1943) and Laurence Gouverneur Hoes (1900–1978) established the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library in the Fredericksburg, Virginia building that housed the James Monroe Law Office, administered by the

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washi ...

References

Notes Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gouverneur, Samuel L. 1799 births 1865 deaths American people of Dutch descent Members of the New York State Assembly Monroe family Personal secretaries to the President of the United States Postmasters of New York City 19th-century American politicians Columbia College (New York) alumni