Matthias Burnett Tallmadge (March 1, 1774 – October 1, 1819) 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 ...

and 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 ...

and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

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and the

United States District Court for the Northern District of New York The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (in case citations, N.D.N.Y.) serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. Appeals from the Northern District of Ne ...

Early life

Tallmadge was born on March 1, 1774, in Stamford,

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 ...

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, He was the son of Colonel James Tallmadge and Ann Sutherland Tallmadge. Among his siblings was James Tallmadge Jr., who later served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

and

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

. Tallmadge graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1795 and received a master of arts degree from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1798.

Career

Tallmadge joined the militia in 1798 and served as adjutant of the regiment commanded by Theodorus Bailey. Tallmadge studied law with

Ambrose Spencer Ambrose Spencer (December 13, 1765March 13, 1848) was an American lawyer and politician. Early life Ambrose Spencer was born on December 13, 1765, in Salisbury in the Connecticut Colony. He was the son of Philip Spencer and Mary (née Moore) Sp ...

, was admitted to the bar, and entered private practice in

Herkimer Herkimer may refer to: People: * Johan Jost Herkimer (1732–1795), United Empire Loyalist, brother of Nicholas Herkimer * John Herkimer (1773–1848), American lawyer and politician from New York * Lawrence Herkimer (1925–2015), American innov ...

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 * ...

until 1805. He was

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. (The only boroughs, the f ...

in 1801, and served in the

(1803–1805).

Federal judicial service

Tallmadge received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

from President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

on June 12, 1805, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge John Sloss Hobart. He was nominated to the same position by President Jefferson on December 20, 1805. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on December 23, 1805, and received his commission on January 17, 1806. Tallmadge was reassigned by

operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...

to the

on April 9, 1814, to a new seat authorized by 3 Stat. 120. His service terminated on July 1, 1819, due to his resignation.

Embezzlement investigation

In 1818, the clerk of

William P. Van Ness William Peter Van Ness (February 13, 1778 – September 6, 1826) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, als ...

' court, Theron Rudd, who had also worked for Tallmadge, was accused of embezzling more than $100,000 (about $1.6 million in 2019) intended to pay court judgments. Upon being discovered, Rudd fled with the money. He later returned to the United States and was prosecuted. He was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor, and the US government obtained a judgment against him, but he never paid it and the money was never recovered. The investigation into Rudd's theft also considered the issue of Tallmadge's and Van Ness' culpability. Investigators later determined that while they might have been guilty of lax supervision, particularly Van Ness, since Tallmadge had been absent from court because of an extended illness, they were not involved in the theft and were not responsible for Rudd's actions.

Investigation into performance

Also in 1818, Congress appointed a special committee to look into the official conduct of Van Ness and Tallmadge, who apparently did not work well together. The friction between them was largely responsible for the split of New York's district court into southern and northern districts in 1814. While assigned to the northern district, Tallmadge's frequent ill health often required Van Ness to preside over both courts. The investigation considered whether Van Ness and Tallmadge were failing to capably perform their duties. The committee determined in February 1819 that Tallmadge had not always held court for the northern district on the dates required by law, but that this was not an impeachable offense. The committee took no further action, and Tallmadge's continued illness caused him to resign in July 1819.

Personal life

In 1803, Tallmadge married Elizabeth "Eliza" Clinton (1780–1825), who was a daughter of George Clinton, the longtime

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

, and later

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. They were the parents of eight children: George Clinton; James S.; Charles William; Cornelia; Theodore Bailey; Rebecca; Mary E.; and Elizabeth. Tallmadge died on October 1, 1819, in

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

, New York.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tallmadge, Matthias B Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New York Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York United States federal judges appointed by Thomas Jefferson 1774 births 1819 deaths People from Stanford, New York People from Herkimer, New York New York (state) state senators New York (state) Democratic-Republicans Politicians from Poughkeepsie, New York Yale College alumni Brown University alumni American militia officers Town supervisors in New York (state) 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature