John Lawrence Schoolcraft (September 22, 1806 – June 7, 1860) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from New York.

Biography

John L. Schoolcraft was born in

Guilderland, New York Guilderland is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Gu ...

on September 22, 1806. His father died when he was three months old, and Schoolcraft's mother remarried and moved to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He remained in Guilderland, where he was raised by his grandparents.Melissa Hale-Spencer, Altamont Enterprise
Begley Chronicles the Whig Congressman from Guilderland
October 10, 2013 The Schoolcrafts owned a large farm in Guilderland (over 1,000 acres) and ran a tavern and hotel on the Great Western Turnpike (now Western Avenue). Schoolcraft was educated in the schools of Guilderland. At age 18 Schoolcraft's application to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

was rejected. As a result, he moved to Albany and began a business and banking career. He operated a wholesale grocery business and was active in the Albany and Cohoes and

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

Railroads, and several other enterprises. In the 1830s Schoolcraft became active in the Whig Party. He was a member of the New York Whig Central Committee and was a delegate to several local and state party conventions. As a result of these activities, Schoolcraft became a close confidant of

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opp ...

and

Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was an American printer, newspaper publisher, and Whig Party (United States), Whig and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor t ...

. Schoolcraft was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress, succeeding John I. Slingerland by defeating candidates of the Democratic and

Free Soil The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was focused on opposing the expansion of slav ...

parties. He was re-elected to the Thirty-second Congress, defeating Democrat

Erastus Corning Erastus Corning (December 14, 1794 – April 9, 1872) was an American businessman and politician from Albany, New York. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was most notable for his service as mayor of Albany, New York, mayor of Alba ...

. He represented

New York's 13th congressional district New York's 13th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City, represented by Adriano Espaillat. The 13th district comprises Upper Manhattan and parts of the West Bronx. It ...

from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1853, and was not a candidate for renomination in 1852. He was succeeded by

Russell Sage Russell Risley Sage (August 4, 1816 – July 22, 1906) was an American financier, railroad executive and Whig Party (United States), Whig politician from New York (state), New York, who became one of the List of richest Americans in history, rich ...

. In 1853 Schoolcraft married Caroline Cornelia Canfield (1834-1922), the niece of William H. Seward. Weed served as a witness. Active in banking as an incorporator of the Albany City Bank and an officer of the Commercial Bank of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

(now

Key Bank KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 27th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corpora ...

), he was named President of the Commercial Bank in 1854 and served until his death. He became a Republican when the party was founded in the mid-1850s, and was a delegate to the

1860 Republican National Convention The 1860 Republican National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that met May 16–18 in Chicago, Illinois. It was held to nominate the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

Death and burial

Schoolcraft became ill and died in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

in the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

(in what is now modern-day

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

) on June 7, 1860, while returning from the Republican convention in Chicago. He was interred in

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical ...

.Edward Fitzgerald
A Hand Book for the Albany Rural Cemetery
1871, page 22

Legacy

His home in Guilderland, the John Schoolcraft House, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. It is owned by the town of Guilderland.

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoolcraft, John Lawrence 1806 births 1860 deaths New York (state) Republicans People from Guilderland, New York American bankers 19th-century American railroad executives Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives