FREDERICK LANSING (1838 - 1894)
HON. FREDERICK LANSING, formerly State Senator and member of congress, who died at his home in Watertown
February 1, 1894, was born in Manheim, Herkimer county, February 16, 1838. He was the son of Hon. Frederick Lansing,
of
Herkimer county, who was a brother of Hon. Robert Lansing, so long and favorably known in Watertown.
Frederick, Jr., was
educated at the Little Falls Academy, from which he graduated when 18 years of age, and came to Watertown to enter the
law office of Hon. F. W. Hubbard, being admitted to practice in 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted as 1st
lieutenant in Captain B. B. Taggart's company (K), 10th N. Y. Heavy Artillery. From this branch of the service he was
honorably discharged in March, 1863, and in July of that year he was commissined as first lieutenant in the 20th N. Y.
Cavalry, with which he was serving at Bristoe Station, Va., in October, 1864, when he received his wound, and was carried
off the field in a blanket, the surgeon of the regiment not expecting him to recover. But he gradually convalesced, and
became an important factor in the political, professional and social life of Jefferson county.
We can do no better in preparing a sketch of Mr. Lansing's life, than to copy the remarks made before the Jefferson County
Bar by Watson M. Rogers, his law partner. Among other things he said:
"The death of Frederick Lansing comes close home to me. For more than 15 years my relations with him were of the most
intimate and confidential character. Each shared the labor of the other, and its results. Each rejoiced in the other's successes,
and deplored his failures. We never exchanged an unpleaseant word. My affection for him could hardly be less, nor my grief
for his loss more, if united by a kindred tie. No words at my command can adequatley express my estimate of his character
and worth.
"As a lawyer, he was perhaps more of the ideal than the practical sort. He loved justice, and the science through which it is
sought. He was well grounded in legal principles, and had a great familiarity with cases in the courts of our own State. It was
rarely that one of importance could be mentioned with which he was not familiar, and he always seemed able to add a new
light to any legal proposition submitted for his consideration. While he made no claim to preeminence in the argument of
causes before court or jury, he nevertheless stated his reasons clearly and forcibly, interspersing them wilh sallies of wit or
sarcasm that always secured the close attention of the hearer. He had little taste for the dry details and drudgery of a law
office, and a detestation of the methods by which results are sometimes reached He never fomented strife, but discouraged
litigation. He would have nothing to do with a cause, in the honesty of which he did not thoroughly believe, nor would he
argue in favor of a legal proposition, however plausibly it might be done, which was not in accord with his own notion of the
law.
"I remember well a trial at the circuit, when the evidence disclosed conduct on the part of the client that he could not approve,
that he deliberately withdrew, leaving the case in the hands of his associate, and at the mercy of the court and jury. When,
however satified that his cause was just, he espoused it with his whole soul, and from thenceforth made it his own. In this he
was no respector of persons. the washerwoman's case was cared for with the same fidelity as the banker's.
"He leaves behind him no client whose fortune was wrecked by rashness or want of prudent management; who has not
received all the fruits of the employment; or smarts under the recollection of an extortionate charge for his services. On the
other hand, there are many who have received from him the labor of both lawyer and friend, without money or price. Their
benedictions will follow him to his long home.
"He was elected State senator two terms, and served one term in Congress. His services in the Senate began without previous
legislative experience, but from the first he took a prominent position, and during his second term was chairman of the
Finance Committee, and became a leader in the party. He bore an important part in much of the legislation of those two
terms. Among the measures he inaugurated was one of special interest to this locality--the preservation of the Adirondack
forests, which finally resulted in the creation of the forestry commission, forestry wardens, &c., as they now exist.
"Mr. Lansing was in no sense a common man. His individuality was so marked that he was unlike any other. He imitated no
one, was not a follower, was always respectful; yet I doubt if any man of his acquaintance was of sufficient lofty station to
command of him any other consideration than could be accorded the humblest. He considered himself the equal of any man,
and, though of a prominent family, conscious of his surroundings and what he was, he considered every other man the equal
of himself. He was thoroughly democratic. He hated sham, hypocrisy and falsehood in every form; was absolutely honest,
utterly unselfish and charitable to a fault, and he appreciated these qualities in others. His services to his country were
heroic, his reward scanty, though in that respect his case is not exceptional.
Mr. Lansing's near relatives are his widow, a daughter of the late George C. Sherman; his children, Louis G. and Miss
Marguerite Lansing; his brother, Dr. E. S. Lansing, of Burlington, N. J.; two sisters, Mrs. Robert H. Boyd, of Newburg, N. Y.,
and Mrs. Milton A. Fuller, of East Bloomfield, N. Y.; his nephews, A. T. E. Lansing, Stewart D. Lansing, Charles S. Lansing,
George C. Sherman and Frank A. Sherman and C. M. Sherman, of this city; and his cousins, Mr. John Lansing and Miss C.
M. Lansing, of this city.
Biographies and Family Sketches for the Town of Watertown,
John A. Haddock, 1895
A Representative from New York; born in Manheim, Herkimer
County, N.Y., February 16, 1838; attended the Little Falls Academy, New York; studied law;
was admitted to the bar in 1859 and practiced in Watertown, N.Y.; served during the Civil
War in the Eighth New York Cavalry; acting adjutant of that regiment from June 23 to
October 11, 1863; member of the State senate 1881-1885; elected as a Republican to the
Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1891); died in Watertown, N.Y., January 31,
1894; interment in Brookside Cemetery.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
GERRIT YATES LANSING (1783 - 1862)
Gettit Yates Lansing was graduated at Union college in 1800, studied law and was admitted to practice in
1804. He was clerk of the state assembly in 1807, a representative from Albany in the 22d, 23d and 24th
congresses, 1831-87, and was elected regent of the University of the State of New York, March 31, 1829,
and chancellor of the board of regents, Oct. 31, 1842. He died in Albany, N.Y., Jan. 3, 1862.
The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Vol.6, p.327
A prominent lawyer and citizen of Albany, d. in that city Jan. 3, 1862; was judge
of the State court of probates from 1816 until the office was abolished in 1823; was chosen a regent of the University
in 1829; and for the last twelve years was chancellor of the regents; and from 1831 to 1837, was in congress.
Franklin B. Hough, American Biographical Notes, p.245
Gerrit Y., born August 4, 1783, died January 3, 1862; he held many positions of honor and trust in the city and county of Albany. He was in early
life private secretary to Governor Morgan Lewis, clerk of the assembly, and judge of probate.
He represented the district in the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth congresses
of the United States. He was elected a regent of the State University to succeed ex-President Martin
Van Buren. He married, May 31, 1808, Helen Ten Eyck.
Hudson-Mohawk Family Memoirs, Vol. I, Family Histories, Page 73
SANDERS LANSING (1766 - 1850)
Sanders Lansing, the great-grandfather of William F., was the first of the family to settle
in what is now Herkimer county. He was born June 17, 1766, and his father's family
became a distinguished one. His brother John was chief justice of the Supreme Court,
chancellor, etc. Sanders Lansing married a daughter of Abraham Ten Eyck. He was a
distinguished lawyer and was appointed register in chancery upon the promotion of his
brother. He came to Little Falls in 1820, and had charge of several land agencies and in
1821 was appointed judge, which office he held until after 1828, the date of his last
appointment. He was a man of lofty character and exceptional ability. His death occurred
in the town of Manheim September 19, 1850.
History of Herkimer County, New York
Sanders G. (the G. for Gerritse was only used when he was a boy to distinguish him from an uncle,
Sanders Lansing), was born in Albany, June 17, 1766; educated to legal profession in Albany and Claverack
schools; was register and master in chancery in Albany; removed from Albany to Little Falls in 1820;
in 1821 was a delegate to draw up new state constitutions; 1821-28 was county judge of Herkimer county,
New York; afterward supreme court judge; died in Manheim, New York, September 19, 1850; married,
December 10, 1789, Catharine, daughter of Abraham and Annatje (Lansing) Ten Eyck.
Hudson-Mohawk Family Memoirs, Vol. I, Family Histories, Page 73
LANSING, SANDERS, b. in Albany June, 17, 1766; bro. of John L., chief justice; he was educated to the law,
and appointed register in chancery; in 1820, he settled at Little Falls, N. Y., in a land agency; was
in the state convention of 1821; was a county judge until 1828, and held several other legal offices;
he finally settled in Manheim, N. Y., and d. there Sept. 19, 1850, in his 85th year.
Franklin B. Hough, American Biographical Notes, p.246
Royal
Copyright © 1997, Mary S. Van Deusen
On January 30, 1754, 
and became involved in some of the worst Civil War battles, fighting with heavy losses at
the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam and
the Battle of Frederickburg
and
Chancellorsville.
The first three of these battles is fictionally described in
