John Canfield Spencer

John Canfield Spencer was born on January 8, 1788, in Hudson, New York. He was the oldest child of Ambrose Spencer, Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, and his first wife, Laura Canfield (1768–1807). His sister, Abby Spencer (1790–1839), was married to Albany Mayor John Townsend. His younger brother, William Augustus Spencer (1792–1854), was married to Eleanora Eliza Lorillard (1801–1843), the daughter of Peter Abraham Lorillard. His brother, Ambrose Spencer, Jr., was killed at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. After the death of his mother in 1807, his father married Mary Clinton (1773–1808) in 1808. Mary was the daughter of James Clinton and sister of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. After Mary's death later that same year, his father remarried again to Katherine Clinton (1778–1837), Mary's sister. He graduated from Union College in 1806, became secretary to New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins in 1807, studied law in Albany, New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1809. ==Career==

After commencing practice in Canandaigua, New York, in 1809, Spencer became a master of chancery in 1811. During the War of 1812, Spencer served in the United States Army where he was appointed brigade judge advocate general for the northern frontier. In 1826, Spencer served as a special prosecutor to investigate the disappearance of William Morgan who was arrested, kidnapped and murdered for exposing secrets kept by Freemasons, thus sparking the Anti-Masonic movement. He moved to Albany, New York in 1837. Federal government In 1841, President John Tyler appointed Spencer to be Secretary of War in his administration. He also recommended that the government adhere to arrangements made by Army commanders in the field for compensation of the Creek Indians, who had been forced to move west of the Mississippi. In 1842, his nineteen-year-old son, Philip Spencer, a midshipman, was executed without court-martial along with two other sailors aboard the brig USS Somers for allegedly attempting mutiny. The expenditures of the treasury had exceeded its receipts and he advocated additional import duties on articles such as coffee and tea. To help fund the federal deficit he engaged in controversial issues of Treasury Notes. He also continued to develop a plan, originally initiated by Forward, for a Board of Exchequer to keep and disburse public funds raised by duties. The Exchequer bill, which reflected continuing interest in some form of independent treasury system, failed due to a political conflict in the United States Congress. On two occasions in 1844, President Tyler nominated Spencer to fill open Associate Justice seats on the Supreme Court. The first failed attempt was in January, when Tyler put forward Spencer as a replacement for the recently deceased Smith Thompson. Tyler made the nomination on January 9; on January 31, the Senate rejected Spencer by a 26–21 vote, mainly due to Whig opposition to the president. Tyler then nominated Spencer to fill Henry Baldwin's seat in June but withdrew his name for that of Reuben Hyde Walworth. As one of few northerners in an administration dominated by southern interests, Spencer had found it increasingly difficult to serve in his cabinet post and resigned as Treasury Secretary in May 1844. Thereafter, he returned to Albany. ==Personal life==

In 1809, Spencer married Elizabeth Scott Smith (1789–1868). Together, they were the parents of several children, many of whom died in infancy or under unfortunate circumstances: • Mary Natalie Spencer (1810–1886), who married Henry Morris (1806–1854), son of Capt. Richard Valentine Morris and grandson of Lewis Morris, in 1831. • Laura Catherine Spencer (1812–1891), who married George W. Clinton (1807–1885), the 12th Mayor of Buffalo who was the son of DeWitt Clinton. • Eliza Abby Spencer (1815–1816), who died young. • Ambrose Canfield Spencer (1817–1876), who was murdered in Linn, Missouri, in 1876. • DeWitt Clinton Spencer (1830–1836), who also died young. In Canandaigua, he lived for 36 years in a house at 210 Main Street, that was built by General Peter Buell Porter (1773–1844), the United States Secretary of War under John Quincy Adams, in about 1800. He died in Albany, New York, on May 17, 1855. He was interred in Albany Rural Cemetery beside his wife, Elizabeth. the daughter of Archibald Russell and Helen Rutherfurd (née Watts) Russell. His grandchildren, through his daughter Laura, included Elizabeth Spencer Clinton (1835–1918), Spencer Clinton (1839–1914), Catharine Clinton (1841–1881), and George Clinton (1846–1934). ==References==