Samuel Lewis Southard (June 9, 1787June 26, 1842) was a prominent American statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the tenth governor of New Jersey. He also served as President pro tempore of the Senate, and was briefly first in the presidential line of succession.

History

The son of Henry Southard and Sarah (Lewis) Southard, Henry was born in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, New Jersey, on June 9, 1787. Southard's ancestors included Anthony Janszoon van Salee, one of the earliest settlers of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

(of partial Moorish descent), and his siblings included Isaac Southard. Southard attended the Brick Academy classical school and graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1804.

Early career

After teaching in New Jersey, he worked for several years as a tutor in the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

home of John Taliaferro, his father's congressional colleague. While living in Virginia, Southard studied law with Francis T. Brooke and Judge Williams, both of Fredericksburg. Upon being admitted to the bar, he returned to New Jersey, and started his practice in Flemington in 1811. He was appointed law reporter by the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

in 1814. Elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1815, Southard was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court to succeed Mahlon Dickerson shortly thereafter, and in 1820 served as a presidential elector. He was elected to a seat in 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 ...

over James J. Wilson, and was appointed to the remainder of Wilson's term After Wilson resigned. Southard served in office from January 26, 1821, to March 3, 1823, when he resigned. During this time, he was a member of the committee that produced the Missouri Compromise.

Navy career

President James Monroe selected Senator Southard to be Secretary of the Navy in September 1823, and he remained in office under President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

. During these years, he also served briefly as ''ad interim''

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

(1825) and Secretary of War (1828). Southard proved to be one of the most effective of the Navy's early Secretaries. He endeavored to enlarge the Navy and improve its administration, purchased land for the first Naval Hospitals, began construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertook surveys of U.S. coastal waters and promoted exploration in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. Responding to actions by influential officers, including David Porter, he reinforced the American tradition of civilian control over the military establishment. Also on Southard's watch, the Navy grew by some 50% in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man-of-war.

Political life

In 1829 Southard became

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

, succeeding Theodore Frelinghuysen. In 1832, the state legislature elected him Governor over Peter D. Vroom by a vote of 40 to 24. In 1833, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate. During the next decade, he was a leader of the Whig Party and attained national prominence as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. As President pro tempore of the Senate, he was first in the presidential line of succession after the death of

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

and the accession of Vice President John Tyler to the presidency. Failing health forced Southard to resign from the Senate in 1842. He died in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

, on June 26, 1842. Southard was buried in Washington's Congressional Cemetery.

Societies

During the 1820s, Southard was a member of the prestigious society, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidents

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions. In 1839, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

Legacy

The destroyer , (later DMS-10), 1919–1946, was named in his honor. There is also a public park in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, named after him. There is also a street named after him in Key West, FL as well as Southard Street in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

References

Sources

* *''Dictionary of American Biography''. *Birkner, Michael. ''Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig.'' Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984. *Ershkowitz, Herbert. ''Samuel L. Southard: A Case Study of Whig Leadership in the Age of Jackson.'' ''New Jersey History'' 88 (Spring 1970): 5-24.
"Samuel L. Southard Papers (1783-1893),(bulk 1802-1846), Finding Aid C0250"
consisting of 170 boxes and 73.6 lineal feet of original documents of financial and personal affairs, including correspondence from Charles Muir Campbell of Princeton, NJ. Most boxes are organized by year and subject. Access to these documents is via Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Manuscripts Division.

External links

New Jersey Governor Samuel Lewis Southard

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

Samuel Lewis Southard
at The Political Graveyard * * Th
Samuel L. Southard Papers concerning the Quaker Separation
held a
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Southard, Samuel L. 1787 births 1842 deaths People from Bernards Township, New Jersey People from Flemington, New Jersey American people of Dutch descent American Presbyterians United States secretaries of the navy Monroe administration cabinet members John Quincy Adams administration cabinet members Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from New Jersey National Republican Party United States senators from New Jersey Whig Party United States senators from New Jersey New Jersey Democratic-Republicans New Jersey National Republicans New Jersey Whigs Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Governors of New Jersey National Republican Party state governors of the United States New Jersey attorneys general Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey Politicians from Fredericksburg, Virginia Politicians from Somerset County, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Burials at the Congressional Cemetery 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature Members of the American Philosophical Society