Cadwallader David Colden (April 4, 1769 – February 7, 1834) was an American politician who served as the 54th

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

and a U.S. Representative from New York.

Early life

Colden was born at Spring Hill in Flushing, the family home, on April 4, 1769, in the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

. He was the son of David Colden and Ann Alice (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Willett) Colden. He was the brother of Alice Christy Colden, Maria Colden, who married Josiah Ogden Hoffman, Elizabeth Colden, who married Edward Laight, and Catherine Colden, who married Thomas Cooper. He was the grandson of Alice (née Chrystie) Colden and Cadwallader Colden (1688–1776), who served as the Governor of the province of New York several times in the 1760s. He was taught by a private tutor and then provided a classical education in Jamaica, New York and in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. After returning to the United States in 1785, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1791.

Career

Colden first practiced law in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, then moved to Poughkeepsie, New York in 1793. He returned to New York in 1796 and from 1798 to 1801, he was Assistant Attorney General for the First District, comprising

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, Kings, Richmond and Westchester counties. From 1810 to 1811, he was District Attorney of the First District, comprising the above-mentioned counties and New York County. In his time as an attorney, Colden argued for the defendant in the seminal property case Pierson v. Post. Colden was an active Freemason. He was the Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New York in 1801-1805 and 1810–1819. He became a Colonel of Volunteers in the War of 1812. Despite having owned slaves, in 1815 he became president of the New York Manumission Society, established in 1785 to promote the abolition of slavery in the state. He oversaw the rebuilding of the Society's African Free School in New York City. Later historians cited the energetic aid of Colden, Peter A. Jay, William Jay, Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, and others in influencing the New York legislature to set the date of July 4, 1827, for the abolition of slavery in the state. Colden was also a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

in 1818, and the 54th Mayor of New York City from 1818 to 1821, appointed by Governor DeWitt Clinton. He successfully contested the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

of Peter Sharpe to the 17th United States Congress and served from December 12, 1821, to March 3, 1823. He was a member of the New York State Senate (1st District) from 1825 to 1827, when he resigned. After his resignation from the State Senate, he moved to

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, where he devoted much of his time to the completion of the Morris Canal.

Literary accomplishments

A proponent of a national canal system, in 1825 Colden was commissioned by the Common Council of New York City, during the last days of the construction of the Erie Canal, to write his ''Memoir, Prepared at the Request of a Committee of the Common Council of the City of New York, and Presented to the Mayor of the City, at the Celebration of the Completion of the New York Canals''. The work and its Appendix contain period lithographs of the canal construction and highlights of the "Grand Canal Celebration" in New York City.

Personal life

On April 8, 1793, Colden was married to Maria Provoost (1770–1837), the daughter of Rt. Rev. Dr. Samuel Provoost, 1st Bishop of New York and Maria Bousefield Provoost. Together, they were the parents of: * David Cadwallader Colden (1797–1850), who married Francis Wilkes (1796–1877), daughter of banker Charles Wilkes and cousin of Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes.

Death

Colden died in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, in 1834. His body was removed in 1843 from interment in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and moved to a receiving vault in Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan in New York City. The vault was removed in 1845 and relocated to a prominent spot in the cemetery's Easterly Division, where it overlooks a rural intersection at Broadway and West 153rd Street. By 1869, preparations to widen Broadway, where the road cut through the cemetery caused Colden to be removed to another plot in the cemetery's Westerly Division that was essentially forgotten until a local historian rediscovered it in July 2011.

References

External links

Political Graveyard
*
''The White House, Where Aaron Burr arranged his memoirs'', from ''Historic Houses of New Jersey'' by W. Jay Mills, 1902
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colden, Cadwallader D. 1769 births 1834 deaths 19th-century American lawyers New York (state) state senators Members of the New York State Assembly People from Flushing, Queens Politicians from Queens, New York New York County district attorneys Queens County (New York) district attorneys Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery Abolitionists from New York City People from colonial New York American Freemasons People from New York (state) in the War of 1812 Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves American colonels 19th-century mayors of places in New York (state) 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives