Isaac Leggett Varian (June 25, 1793 – August 10, 1864) was a New York state legislator and the 63rd Mayor of

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 ...

Political career

Varian was a prominent Democrat and led

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

from 1835 until 1842. He was 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 ...

(New York Co.) in 1831, 1832

1833 Events January–March * January 3 – The United Kingdom reasserts British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. * February 6 (January 25 on the Greek calendar) – Prince Otto Friedrich Ludwig of Bavaria arr ...

; 63rd

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 ...

from 1839 to 1841; and a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

(1st D.) from 1842 to 1845, sitting in the 65th, 66th, 67th and 68th New York State Legislatures. As Tammany Hall leader, Varian presided over a critical period in Democratic history, which saw the defection, and return of the Locofoco faction, which was in existence from 1835 until 1840, and was the decisive factor in the 1837 mayoral election won by Whigs against the divided Democrats. Varian first ran for mayor in 1838, losing to Whig Aaron Clark by only 519 votes in an election tainted with allegations of massive Whig fraud and intimidation. In 1839, Varian beat Clark by 1,067 votes despite blatant electoral misconduct. During Varian's first term, the legislature passed a bill that mandated

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise Suffrage, eligible to Voting, vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted ...

and made it a lot harder to commit

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

Personal

In 1811 Varian married Catharine Hopper Dusenbury (1789–1870). They had nine children, seven of whom survived infancy: *Andrew Hopper (1812–1826) *Tamar Letitia (b. 1813) *Isaac (1815–1816) *Matilda Campbell (b. 1817) *Mary Elizabeth (1819–1868) *Isaac (b. 1823) *Catharine Emeline (b. 1826) *Jacob Harsen (twin) (b. 1828) *Hannah (twin) (1828–1830) In 1845 Varian quit politics and retired to Peekskill, where he died in 1864. He is buried in the New York City Marble Cemetery.

The Valentine-Varian House

The Valentine-Varian House (1758) is a historic farmhouse that still stands on what used to be the Varian dairy farm in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

along the route from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The Varian family occupied the house from 1791 until 1905. At present, the building houses the Museum of Bronx History. A public park and an elementary school in the area are named after Varian.

Sources

*Gustavus Myers, , Ch. XIV, New York City (1901)
Varian family genealogy1838 political cartoon about the mayoral electionValentine-Varian House profile from the Historic House Trust
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110709134149/http://gis.nyc.gov/parks/lc/NYCParkMapIt.do;jsessionid=E3E28D63BAFCD0E4977C3B6BCB693138 Varian House Park from the NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation {{DEFAULTSORT:Varian, Isaac 1793 births 1864 deaths Burials at New York City Marble Cemetery Mayors of New York City Members of the New York State Assembly New York (state) state senators New York (state) Democrats 19th-century mayors of places in New York (state) 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature