View source for Samuel L. Southard

{{Short description|American statesman (1787–1842)}}
{{redirect|Senator Southard|the Maine state senate member|T. J. Southard}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name          = Samuel Lewis Southard
|image         = Samuel L. Southard SecNavy.jpg
|office        = [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]]
|term_start    = March 11, 1841
|term_end      = May 31, 1842
|predecessor   = [[William R. King]]
|successor     = [[Willie Person Mangum]]
|jr/sr1        = United States Senator
|state1        = [[New Jersey]]
|term_start1   = March 4, 1833
|term_end1     = June 26, 1842
|predecessor1  = [[Mahlon Dickerson]]
|successor1    = [[William L. Dayton]]
|term_start2   = January 26, 1821
|term_end2     = March 3, 1823
|predecessor2  = [[James J. Wilson]]
|successor2    = [[Joseph McIlvaine]]
|office3       = 10th [[Governor of New Jersey]]
|term_start3   = October 26, 1832
|term_end3     = February 27, 1833
|predecessor3  = [[Peter Dumont Vroom]]
|successor3    = [[Elias P. Seeley]]
|office4       = 7th [[United States Secretary of the Navy]]
|president4    = [[James Monroe]]<br>[[John Quincy Adams]]
|term_start4   = September 16, 1823
|term_end4     = March 4, 1829
|predecessor4  = [[Smith Thompson]]
|successor4    = [[John Branch]]
|birth_name    = Samuel Lewis Southard
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1787|6|9}}
|birth_place   = [[Basking Ridge, New Jersey]], U.S.
|death_date    = {{death date and age|1842|6|26|1787|6|9}}
|death_place   = [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]], U.S.
|resting_place = [[Congressional Cemetery]]
|party         = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] {{small|(Before 1825)}}<br>[[National Republican Party|National Republican]] {{small|(1825–1834)}}<br>[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] {{Small|(1834–1842)}}
|spouse        = Rebecca Harrow
|education     = [[Princeton University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
|signature     = Signature of Samuel Lewis Southard (1787–1842).png
}}
'''Samuel Lewis Southard''' (June 9, 1787{{spaced ndash}}June 26, 1842) was a prominent American statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a [[U.S. Senator]], [[Secretary of the Navy]], and the tenth [[governor of New Jersey]]. He also served as [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore of the Senate]], and was briefly first in the [[United States presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]].
==History==
The son of [[Henry Southard]] and Sarah (Lewis) Southard, Henry was born in the [[Basking Ridge, New Jersey|Basking Ridge]] section of [[Bernards Township, New Jersey]], on June 9, 1787.<ref name="Chad">{{cite book |editor-last=Leinaweaver |editor1-first=Chad |date=2008 |title=New Jersey Encyclopedia |volume=1 |edition=2008-2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tc4uZ2HBG2oC&pg=PA181 |location=Hamburg, MI |publisher=State History Publications |pages=181–182 |isbn=978-1-8785-9244-6 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Southard's ancestors included [[Anthony Janszoon van Salee]], one of the earliest settlers of [[New Amsterdam]] (of partial [[Moorish]] descent), and his siblings included [[Isaac Southard]].<ref>{{cite book |date=1990 |title=De Halve Maen |volume=63-68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-YnAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Thomas+Southard%27s+great+-+great+-+grandson+%2C+from+the+union+of+Thomas+and+Annica+%2C+produced+Samuel%22 |location=New York, NY |publisher=The Holland Society of New York |page=4 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=2013 |title=GQ Press Guide to Congress |volume=I |edition=Seventh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqN2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1613 |location=Los Angeles, CA |publisher=Sage Reference |page=1613 |isbn=978-1-4522-3532-5 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Southard attended the [[Brick Academy]]<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Lurie |editor1-first=Maxine N. |editor2-last=Mappen |editor2-first=Marc |date=2004 |title=Encyclopedia of New Jersey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_r9Ni6_u0JEC&pg=PA61 |location=New Brunswick, NJ |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=61 |isbn=978-0-8135-3325-4 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> classical school and graduated from [[Princeton University]] in 1804.<ref name="Chad"/>
===Early career===
[[File:59 Main Street, Flemington, NJ.jpg|thumb|[[Alexander Wurts Law Office|Law office]] built by Southard in [[Flemington, New Jersey]], in 1811]]
After teaching in New Jersey, he worked for several years as a tutor in the [[Virginia]] home of [[John Taliaferro]], his father's congressional colleague.<ref name="Chad"/> While living in Virginia, Southard studied law with [[Francis T. Brooke]] and Judge Williams, both of Fredericksburg. Upon being admitted to the bar, he returned to New Jersey, and started his practice in [[Flemington, New Jersey|Flemington]] in 1811. He was appointed law reporter by the [[New Jersey Legislature]] in 1814. Elected to the [[New Jersey General Assembly]] in 1815, Southard was appointed to the [[New Jersey Supreme Court]] to succeed [[Mahlon Dickerson]] shortly thereafter, and in 1820 served as a presidential elector. He was elected to a seat in the [[United States Senate]] over [[James J. Wilson]], and was appointed to the remainder of Wilson's term After Wilson resigned.<ref>{{cite book |last=Birkner |first=Michael J. |date=1984 |title=Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig |url=https://archive.org/details/samuellsouthardj0000birk |url-access=registration |location=Cranbury, NJ |publisher=Associated University Presses |page=[https://archive.org/details/samuellsouthardj0000birk/page/47 47]-48 |isbn=978-0-8386-3160-7}}</ref>  Southard served in office from January 26, 1821, to March 3, 1823, when he resigned. During this time, he was a member of the committee that produced the [[Missouri Compromise]].
===Navy career===
President [[James Monroe]] selected Senator Southard to be Secretary of the Navy in September 1823, and he remained in office under President [[John Quincy Adams]].<ref name="Chad"/> During these years, he also served briefly as ''ad interim'' [[Secretary of the Treasury]] (1825) and [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] (1828).<ref name="Chad"/> Southard proved to be one of the most effective of the Navy's early Secretaries. He endeavored to enlarge the Navy and improve its administration, purchased land for the first Naval Hospitals, began construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertook surveys of U.S. coastal waters and promoted exploration in the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Responding to actions by influential officers, including [[David Porter (naval officer)|David Porter]], he reinforced the American tradition of [[civilian control of the military|civilian control over the military]] establishment. Also on Southard's watch, the Navy grew by some 50% in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man-of-war.
===Political life===
In 1829 Southard became [[New Jersey Attorney General]], succeeding [[Theodore Frelinghuysen]].<ref name="Chad"/> In 1832, the state legislature elected him Governor over [[Peter D. Vroom]] by a vote of 40 to 24. In 1833, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate. During the next decade, he was a leader of the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] and attained national prominence as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. As President pro tempore of the Senate, he was first in the [[United States presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]] after the death of [[William Henry Harrison]] and the accession of Vice President [[John Tyler]] to the presidency.
Failing health forced Southard to resign from the Senate in 1842. He died in [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]], on June 26, 1842.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/alexandria-gazette-death-of-samuel-l-so/127477305/ |title=Death of Samuel L. Southard |newspaper=[[Alexandria Gazette]] |page=3 |date=1842-06-28 |access-date=2023-07-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Southard was buried in Washington's [[Congressional Cemetery]].
===Societies===
During the 1820s, Southard was a member of the prestigious society, [[Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences]], who counted among their members former presidents [[Andrew Jackson]] and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.<ref name="rathbun">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MY-5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA118 |title=The Columbian institute for the promotion of arts and sciences: A Washington Society of 1816-1838. |first=Richard |last=Rathbun |access-date=2010-06-20|year=1904 |publisher=Bulletin of the United States National Museum, October 18, 1917}}</ref> In 1839, he was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1839&year-max=1839&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-09|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
===Legacy===
The destroyer {{USS|Southard|DD-207}}, (later DMS-10), 1919&ndash;1946, was named in his honor.
There is also a public park in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, named after him.  There is also a street named after him in Key West, FL as well as Southard Street in [[Trenton, New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trenton Historical Society, New Jersey |url=https://www.trentonhistory.org/streets.html |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=www.trentonhistory.org}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*{{NHC}}
*''Dictionary of American Biography''.
*Birkner, Michael. ''Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig.'' [[Rutherford, New Jersey|Rutherford, N.J.]]: [[Fairleigh Dickinson University]] Press, 1984.
*Ershkowitz, Herbert. ''Samuel L. Southard: A Case Study of Whig Leadership in the Age of Jackson.'' ''New Jersey History'' 88 (Spring 1970): 5-24.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110610174246/http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/getEad?eadid=C0250 "Samuel L. Southard Papers (1783-1893),(bulk 1802-1846), Finding Aid C0250"], consisting of 170 boxes and 73.6 lineal feet of original documents of financial and personal affairs, including correspondence from [[Charles Muir Campbell]] of Princeton, NJ.  Most boxes are organized by year and subject.  Access to these documents is via [[Princeton University Library]], Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Manuscripts Division.
==External links==
{{CongBio|S000689}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930032807/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=1ed34fc0d5049010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD New Jersey Governor Samuel Lewis Southard], [[National Governors Association]]
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/southall-spain.html#R9M0JDGUU Samuel Lewis Southard] at [[The Political Graveyard]]
*{{Find a Grave|6654589}}
* The [https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/repositories/7/resources/9101 Samuel L. Southard Papers concerning the Quaker Separation] held at [https://www.swarthmore.edu/friends-historical-library Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College]
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{{Democratic-Republican Party}}
{{Whig Party (United States)}}
{{USSecNavy}}
{{Governors of New Jersey}}
{{USSenNJ}}
{{USSenPresProTemp}}
{{SenArmedServiceCommitteeChairs}}
{{Monroe cabinet}}
{{JQ Adams cabinet}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Southard, Samuel L.}}
[[Category:1787 births]]
[[Category:1842 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bernards Township, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from Flemington, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of the navy]]
[[Category:Monroe administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:John Quincy Adams administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from New Jersey]]
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[[Category:Whig Party United States senators from New Jersey]]
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[[Category:Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate]]
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[[Category:Politicians from Fredericksburg, Virginia]]
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[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at the Congressional Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century American politicians]]