Enos T. Throop

Enos Thompson Throop
10th Governor of New York
In office
March 12, 1829  December 31, 1832
Lieutenant Edward Philip Livingston
Preceded by Martin Van Buren
Succeeded by William L. Marcy
Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office
January 1, 1829  March 12, 1829
Governor Martin Van Buren
Preceded by Charles Dayan
as Acting Lieutenant Governor
Succeeded by Charles Stebbins
as Acting Lieutenant Governor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 20th district
In office
March 4, 1815  June 4, 1816
Preceded by Daniel Avery
Oliver C. Comstock
Succeeded by Daniel Avery
Oliver C. Comstock
Personal details
Born (1784-08-21)August 21, 1784
Johnstown, New York
Died November 1, 1874(1874-11-01) (aged 90)
Auburn, New York
Political party Jacksonian Democratic
Spouse(s) Evelina J. Vredenburgh
Signature

Enos Thompson Throop (/ˈtrp/ TROOP; August 21, 1784 – November 1, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who was the tenth Governor of New York from 1829 to 1832.

Early life and career

He studied law at Albany, where he became friendly with his fellow student Martin Van Buren. He was admitted to the bar in 1806, and began to practice law in Auburn, New York. He joined the Democratic-Republican Party, and was appointed postmaster of the village, and in 1811 county clerk of Cayuga County. In 1814, he married Evelina Vredenburgh, who died in 1834. None of their children survived infancy. The same year he was elected to the 14th United States Congress as a supporter of the war measures of the administration. He took part in the debates upon the measures to which the close of the war and the prostration of public and private credit gave rise. He also supported and voted for the act changing the compensation of congressmen from six dollars a day to $1,800 per annum, a course which temporarily clouded his political fortunes. Popular dissatisfaction with his actions was such that he was defeated at the congressional elections of April 1816, and resigned his seat on June 4, 1816. In April 1823, he was appointed Judge of the Seventh Circuit and remained on the bench until 1828 when he resigned.

Governor

Gubernatorial portrait of Enos T. Throop.

In 1828, he joined his friend Martin Van Buren's ticket for the gubernatorial election as the Democratic-Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, a step that rendered it necessary for him to resign his judicial office. It was expected that Andrew Jackson would be elected President at the same election, in which event Van Buren would be made Secretary of State and would, if his appointment were confirmed, have to resign the office of Governor and the leadership of the party, and with Throop as his lieutenant would keep both offices in the hands of a friend. These expectations were fulfilled, and Throop succeeded to the office of Governor on 12 March 1829. He was re-elected governor in 1830, defeating again Francis Granger who had been the contender for the lieutenant-governorship at the previous election. At this time the construction of the Chenango Canal became one of the chief questions of state policy. He opposed the plan, raising such a vehement opposition to him in the localities through which the proposed canal would pass, that in 1832 he declined to seek a third term.

Later life

The Enos T. Throop memorial at the Cathedral of All Saints (Albany, New York).

In 1833 he was appointed by President Jackson naval officer at the Port of New York, which office he held until President Van Buren appointed him on 6 February 1838 Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. On this post he remained until 12 January 1842. After spending two years in Paris, he returned to the United States, and resided upon an estate on the banks of Owasco Lake near Auburn. In 1847 he moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he purchased a farm of 800 acres (3.2 km2), and became noted among agriculturists. Advancing years compelled him to give up farming, and in 1857 he returned to his former home, removing in 1868 to New York City, but a few years later again returning to his residence near Auburn.

He died on his estate of Willowbrook, near Auburn, on 1 November 1874, aged 90. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Episcopal Church (now Sts. Peter and St. John Church) in Auburn.

There is a memorial to him at the Cathedral of All Saints (Albany, New York) (see image on this page) that states in Latin, integer vitae scelerisque purus, which means "upright of life and free from wickedness."[1]

The Town of Throop, New York in Cayuga County is named after him.

Throop Avenue in Brooklyn (Kings County) and Throop Avenue in the Bronx are named after him.

References

  1. "integer vitae scelerisque purus". Merriam Webster Dictionary. n.d. Retrieved October 16, 2014.

Sources

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Daniel Avery,
Oliver C. Comstock
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 20th congressional district

1815–1816
with Oliver C. Comstock
Succeeded by
Daniel Avery,
Oliver C. Comstock
Legal offices
Preceded by
new office
Judge of the Seventh Circuit of New York
1823–1828
Succeeded by
Daniel Moseley
Political offices
Preceded by
Charles Dayan
Acting
Lieutenant Governor of New York
1829
Succeeded by
Charles Stebbins
Acting
Preceded by
Martin Van Buren
Governor of New York
1829–1832
Succeeded by
William L. Marcy
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
John Nelson
United States Ambassador (as Chargé d'Affaires) to the Two Sicilies
1838–1841
Succeeded by
William Boulware
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