Roger Skinner
Roger Skinner (June 1, 1773 – August 19, 1825) was a lawyer, politician and United States federal judge from New York.
Early life
Skinner was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 1, 1773, the son of Timothy Skinner and Susannah Marsh Skinner.[1][2] His brother Richard Skinner served as Governor of Vermont.[1][2]
Career
Roger Skinner studied law and became an attorney, first in Connecticut and later in New York.[1] While practicing in Connecticut, Skinner served as clerk of the Litchfield County Probate Court from 1796 to 1806.[3] Among the students who learned the law from him after his move to New York were Silas Wright[4] and Judge Esek Cowen of Saratoga Springs.[5]
As a resident of Sandy Hill,[1] he was appointed a justice of the peace in 1808,[6] and was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1808 to 1810.[1] He served as District Attorney for the 4th District of New York from 1811 to 1812[7] and was United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York from 1815 to 1819.[1] He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1817 to 1821,[1] and in 1821 he was a member of the state Council of Appointment.[1]
On November 24, 1819, Skinner received a recess appointment from President James Monroe to the seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York vacated by Matthias Burnett Tallmadge.[8] Monroe formally nominated him on January 3, 1820, and Skinner was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 5, 1820.[9] He received his commission the same day, and served on the bench until his death.[10] Upon ascending to the bench, Skinner sold his law office to Benjamin F. Butler, who took over his clients and his pending business.[11]
As a judge, Skinner resided in Albany.[2] He was a lifelong bachelor, and fellow politician Martin Van Buren was a widower, so Skinner and Van Buren shared a house.[2] Van Buren and Skinner were Democratic-Republicans; when Van Buren created the Albany Regency clique to lead New York's Bucktails (the anti-DeWitt Clinton faction that eventually became New York's Democratic Party), Skinner was counted among its members.[12] In an often-recounted incident of political miscalculation, when Clinton's political career seemed at an ebb in 1824, Skinner engineered his removal from the Erie Canal Commission.[13] Clinton had long been identified among the public as the canal's biggest proponent; voter outrage at his removal led to his return to the governorship in the 1824 election.[13] The maneuver against Clinton had been executed without Van Buren's knowledge; initially, Skinner and the Bucktails believed they had brought about Clinton's political death.[13] Later, Van Buren is said to have remarked to Skinner that in politics it's possible to kill someone "too dead".[13]
Death and burial
Skinner died in Albany on August 19, 1825;[1] Van Buren nursed him during his final illness, and was with him when he died.[2] Skinner was buried in Martin Van Buren's family plot at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 62, Lot 34.[14] He died without a will, and Butler was appointed to administer his estate.[15]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 History of Litchfield County, Connecticut, p. 148.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Marsh Genealogy, p. 71.
- ↑ Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut, p. 211.
- ↑ The Life of Silas Wright, p. 18.
- ↑ Our County and Its People, p. 507.
- ↑ History of Washington Co., New York, p. 118.
- ↑ History of Washington Co., New York, p. 113.
- ↑ "Appointments by the President: Roger Skinner", p. 2.
- ↑ "Appointments by the President, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate", p. 2.
- ↑ "The President has appointed the Hon. Alfred Conkling...", p. 3.
- ↑ The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren, p. 197.
- ↑ Martin Van Buren and the American Political System, p. 91.
- 1 2 3 4 The Empire State: A History of New York, p. 300.
- ↑ "Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011".
- ↑ "New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999".
Sources
Books
- Anderson, George Baker (1899). Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Saratoga County, New York. Boston, MA: Boston History Company.
- Cole, Donald B. (1984). Martin Van Buren and the American Political System. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.
- Jenkins, John Stilwell (1847). The Life of Silas Wright: Late Governor of the State of New York. Auburn, NY: Alden & Markham.
- Johnson, Crisfield (1878). History of Washington Co., New York. Everts & Ensign: Philadelphia, PA.
- Kilbourne, Payne Kenyon (1859). Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood and Company.
- Klein, Milton M. (2001). The Empire State: A History of New York. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- Marsh, Dwight Whitney (1895). Marsh Genealogy: Giving Several Thousand Descendants of John Marsh of Hartford, Ct. 1636-1895. Amherst, MA: Carpenter & Morehouse.
- Van Buren, Martin; Mackenzie, William Lyon (1846). The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren: The Correspondence of His Friends, Family and Pupils. Boston, MA: Cooke & Co.
- History of Litchfield County, Connecticut. Philadelphia, PA: J. W. Lewis & Co. 1881.
Internet
- "Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011, entry for Roger Skinner". Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, LLC. Retrieved July 8, 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
- "New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999, entry for Roger Skinner". Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, LLC. January 14, 1826. Retrieved July 8, 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
Newspapers
- "Appointments by the President: Roger Skinner". Washington Gazette. Washington, DC. November 29, 1819. (Subscription required (help)).
- "Appointments by the President, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate: Roger Skinner". National Advocate. New York, NY. January 19, 1820. (Subscription required (help)).
- "The President has appointed the Hon. Alfred Conkling...". Connecticut Mirror. Hartford, CT. September 8, 1825. (Subscription required (help)).
External sources
- Roger Skinner at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Roger Skinner at Political Graveyard
- Roger Skinner at Open Jurist
Legal offices | ||
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Preceded by Matthias B. Tallmadge |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York 1819–1825 |
Succeeded by Alfred Conkling |
Preceded by Initial holder |
United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York 1815–1819 |
Succeeded by Jacob Sutherland |