Joseph Spencer (1790 – May 2, 1823) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Life

He was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, the son of Isaac Spencer who was

Connecticut State Treasurer The Connecticut State Treasurer serves the office of treasurer for the state of Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachus ...

from 1818 to 1835. Joseph Spencer graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1811, then studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. On September 24, 1814, he married Elizabeth Selden (b. 1797), a sister of Samuel L. Selden and Henry R. Selden. Their only child was Elizabeth Selden Spencer (b. 1819). Spencer was 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 ...

(8th D.) in

1823 Events January–March * January 22 – By secret treaty signed at the Congress of Verona, the Quintuple Alliance gives France a mandate to invade Spain for the purpose of restoring Ferdinand VII (who has been captured by armed revoluti ...

, and died a few days after the end of the regular session of the Legislature in

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 ...

. His widow married Amos B. Eaton in 1831, and became the grandmother of

Elizabeth Selden Rogers Elizabeth Selden White Rogers (July 23, 1868 – December 18, 1950) was a civic reformer who worked to improve the New York public schools, and to win suffrage for women in the state of New York and the nation. Suffrage writing One of Roge ...

Sources

''Hyde Genealogy''
by Reuben H. Walworth (1863; pg. 584)
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 125 and 145; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) *Obit i
''The Washington Quarterly Magazine of Arts, Science and Literature''
edited by Robert Little (1823; Vol. 1; pg. 88) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Joseph 1790 births 1823 deaths Politicians from Hartford, Connecticut Politicians from Rochester, New York New York (state) state senators Lawyers from Rochester, New York Yale College alumni 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature