Morgan Lewis (October 16, 1754 – April 7, 1844) was an American lawyer, politician, and military commander. The second son of

Francis Lewis Francis Lewis (March 21, 1713 – December 31, 1802) was an American merchant and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation as a representative of N ...

, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, Lewis fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. He served in the New York State Assembly (1789, 1792) and the New York State Senate (1811–1814) and was New York State Attorney General (1791–1801) and the third

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 ...

(1804–1807).

Early life and education

Morgan Lewis was born on October 16, 1754, of Welsh descent, the second son of

(1713–1802) and Elizabeth (

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 ...

Annisley) Lewis (1715–1778). Lewis grew up in

Elizabethtown, New Jersey Elizabeth Township, also called Elizabethtown, was a township that existed in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, from 1664 until 1855. The area was initially part of the Elizabethtown Tract, purchased from the Lenape on October 28, 166 ...

, where he decided to dedicate himself to the ministry. However, based on his father's advice, he attended the College of New Jersey, which is now Princeton University, graduating in 1773, and began to study law. He read law alongside

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

. His studies were interrupted by military service during the

, but he was admitted to the bar in 1783.

Career

American Revolutionary War

From September 1, 1776, to the end of the war he was a colonel and the

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

General for the Northern Department. In 1774, he joined the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

as a volunteer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

. Lewis was then made a captain of a regiment of the New York militia. Once the 2nd New York militia regiment was organized, he was promoted to the rank of major. He was then appointed chief-of-staff to General

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He took credit for the Ameri ...

, with the rank of colonel, and accompanied him into Canada, and soon after congress appointed him quartermaster-general of the Northern Army. In 1775, he planned and executed the night attack on Stone Arabia, and was in command at the battle of Crown Point, where he was accompanied by New York Governor George Clinton. He was prominent throughout the campaign that ended with the surrender of

John Burgoyne General (United Kingdom), General John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British Army officer, playwright and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1792. He first saw acti ...

at Saratoga.

New York governor

After the Revolution, Lewis completed his legal studies while he lived 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 ...

, boarding at the riverside home of James Bloodgood. In 1779, the tax list showed him living there with personal property valued at $2,000, one of the city's highest assessments. Later, he qualified for a "bounty right" as a member of the city regiment of the Albany County Militia. During that time, he acquired some Albany property. He was elected to 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 ...

, 1789 and 1792, 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 ...

from 1811 to 1814. He was

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

(December 24, 1791 – October 28, 1801) and later Justice and Chief Justice (October 28, 1801) of the

Supreme Court of New York The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

. He served as

from 1804 to 1807, defeating Vice President

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

in the race to succeed George Clinton as governor. In the New York gubernatorial election, 1804, he was largely responsible for splitting the Jeffersonian Republican Party in New York into "Lewisites" (allies of Lewis) and the "Clintonians" (allies of New York Mayor

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

) with his combination of Lewisites (labeled " Quids" by the Clintonians) and Federalists. During his tenure, the

United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded ...

was established, the state's militia system was restructured, and educational improvements were sanctioned. On April 30, 1807, he was defeated in his run for re-election by Daniel D. Tompkins, also a future vice president. Tompkins received 35,074 votes, and Morgan Lewis received 30,989 votes. He then returned home to Staatsburg, Dutchess County, New York, where he turned his attention to agriculture. Having given up the practice of law, Lewis established a cloth factory, and for several years devoted himself to manufacturing. The failure of a mercantile house to which his goods were assigned caused him to discontinue the business.

War of 1812

Prior to the

, Lewis declined the office of

US Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...

under President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

. Instead, he resumed his duties as Quartermaster General and served in western New York. He was commissioned as a brigadier general on April 3, 1812, and was promoted to major general on March 2, 1813, as part of his service on the Niagara Frontier. He commanded the American forces at the

Battle of Fort George The Battle of Fort George was fought during the War of 1812, in which the Americans defeated a British force and captured Fort George in Upper Canada. The troops of the United States Army and vessels of the United States Navy cooperated in ...

. Although the British position was captured, Lewis ordered Colonel

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

to break off the pursuit of the defeated British troops. But for Lewis's overcaution, Scott might have been able to capture Major General John Vincent's entire division and greatly weaken the British defense of the Niagara Peninsula. Later, Lewis was appointed as commander of Upstate New York. He procured the release of the American prisoners in Canada, advanced from his private fortune the money for its accomplishment, and rewarded his own tenants who had served in or sent sons to the war by allowing them free rent for the time they served in the army. After the war, Lewis was discharged from the Army on June 15, 1815. Lewis was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

in the presidential election of 1828.

Personal life

In 1779, he married Gertrude Livingston (1757–1833), the daughter of Margaret Beekman and Judge Robert Livingston. They lived in Rhinebeck and then in Hyde Park in

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later o ...

. In 1790, his Rhinebeck household was served by eight slaves. Together, Morgan and Gertrude had: * Margret Lewis (1780–1860), who married

Maturin Livingston Maturin Livingston (April 10, 1769 – November 7, 1847), a member of the prominent Livingston family, was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Maturin Livingston was born on April 10, 1769, in New York City. He was the son ...

(1769–1847), a lawyer and politician from New York. In 1792, Lewis, purchased an estate covering of about 334 acres (135 ha) in Staatsburg, New York, and commissioned the construction of a colonial-style house. In the summer of 1824, on his visit to the United States, the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

dined there on his way upriver to visit Lewis' brother-in-law, Chancellor Livingston. In 1832, the house was destroyed by a fire, said to be an act of

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

committed by disgruntled tenant farmers. After the fire, Lewis and his wife immediately replaced the structure with a Greek Revival mansion with 25 rooms. The house was inherited in 1844 after Morgan Lewis died, by his daughter Margaret and her husband, Maturin Livingston.

Later life

Lewis was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and served as Grand Master in the Grand Lodge of New York from 1830 to 1843. From 1832 to 1835, he was the president of the Historical Society of New York. Lewis was an original member of the New York

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

and served as its president general from 1839 to 1844. He also helped to found

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in New York City. Lewis died 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 ...

on April 7, 1844.

Legacy

The following communities have been named in Lewis' honor: *

Lewis County, New York Lewis County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of New York, situated between the Adirondack Mountains and the Tug Hill Plateau, within the state's North Country region. As of the 2020 census, the county had a p ...

, * The

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and Village of Lewiston, in

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 * ...

, * The Town of Lewis in

Essex County, New York Essex County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,381. Its county seat is the hamlet of Elizabethtown (CDP), New York, Eliza ...

References

External links

Governor Morgan Lewis
*

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Morgan 1754 births 1844 deaths Livingston family Princeton University alumni Governors of New York (state) Continental Army officers from New York (state) Members of the New York State Assembly New York (state) state senators New York State attorneys general New York University people New York Supreme Court justices American people of Welsh descent Quartermasters General of the United States Army New York (state) Democratic-Republicans 1828 United States presidential electors University and college founders People from colonial New York Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States 18th-century members of the New York State Legislature