Stephen Lush (1753 – April, 1825) was an American politician and lawyer from New York, and an officer during the American Revolutionary War.
Lush was born in New York City.[1] He attended King's College, earning a bachelor of arts in 1770 and a masters degree in 1773.[2] He was admitted to the bar in 1774, at the age of twenty-one, and moved to Albany to practice law and live with his brother, Richard.[2][3]
After the start of the American Revolutionary War, he was elected to the Albany Committee of Correspondence in 1776.[2] He served as a captain in the New York Volunteers in 1776, and then joined the Fifth New Jersey Regiment under Colonel Oliver Spencer, serving as acting judge advocate general in 1777.[1] He attained the rank of major, and served as the aide-de-camp of General George Clinton.[3] Clinton commanded Fort Montgomery, on the Hudson River; when the fort was taken by the British on October 6, 1777, Lush was captured.[1] He was held prisoner for nearly a year, when he was used as bait in a proposed exchange of three prisoners; Clinton agreed without hesitation, unaware that one of the other American prisoners was actually a valuable British spy.[4] After his release in 1778, Lush was appointed Clerk of the New York Court of Chancery.[2]
After the war, he moved to Albany and started a successful legal practice.[3] He was elected to the New York Assembly in 1792 and 1793, and then to the New York Senate in 1800, representing the eastern senate district until 1803.[1] He was elected again to the Assembly four more times, 1803 to 1806.[1] Lush owned slaves as late as 1819; at one time, he had five in his house.[2]
He married Lydia Stringer (d. 1841) in 1781; she was the daughter of prominent physician Samuel Stringer.[1][5] They had seven children: Samuel (1782, died in infancy), Samuel Stringer (1783–1841), William (1785–1846), Mary, Rachel, Gertrude (c. 1797–1874), Richard (1798–1828).[6] His son Samuel S. Lush also became a lawyer and a member of the New York Assembly.[7] Gertrude married Robert James, the son of William James of Albany, one of the wealthiest people in the United States in the early 19th century.[3]
Stephen Lush is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery.[2]