John Lansing, Jr.

John Ten Eyck Lansing, Jr. (January 30, 1754 Albany, New York - vanished December 12, 1829 New York City), was an American lawyer and politician. He was the uncle of Gerrit Y. Lansing.

From 1776 until 1777 during the Revolutionary War Lansing served as a military secretary to General Philip Schuyler. Afterwards he was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1780 to 1784, in 1785-86, and 1788-89, being its speaker during the latter two terms. In 1786, he was appointed Mayor of Albany. He represented New York at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. At this convention he greatly opposed any law that would unify the United States under one single government. When the convention decided to propose a new plan which included uniting the independent states, he and Robert Yates walked out leaving a letter for their reasons. Lansing and Yates never signed the constitution. On 15 February 1798 he was appointed Chief Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. In 1801, he became the second Chancellor of New York, succeeding Robert R. Livingston.

On the evening of December 12, 1829, he left his Manhattan hotel to mail a letter at a New York City dock and was never seen again. Lansing was 75 years old and was presumed drowned or perhaps murdered. A cenotaph was erected at Albany Rural Cemetery. His widow died in 1834.

Sources

• John Lansing, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Several Bios
• Bio at the NARA