
'Honorable Daniel Cady (1773-1859)'
'Daniel Cady' (1773-1859) was a prominent lawyer and judge in upstate New York. While perhaps better known today as the father of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Judge Cady had a full and accomplished life of his own.
Born in
Canaan,
Columbia County,
New York, Cady studied law in
Albany under
John Woodworth and eventually settled in
Johnstown, New York. Admitted to the bar in 1795, he began to practice law as an attorney during
George Washington's presidency. As a young lawyer, he worked with such notables as
Alexander Hamilton and
Aaron Burr, and toward the end of his career, he served in a case with
Abraham Lincoln, where they each represented clients in a land dispute associated with
Beloit College.
For a time, Cady prosecuted cases for the State as District Attorney of
Montgomery County, New York. He also served in the
New York State Assembly and in the
US House of Representatives. He is considered by some to be the father of
Fulton County, New York, virtually engineering the county's creation himself after the Montgomery County seat was moved from Johnstown to
Fonda, New York. The newly established county was named after
Robert Fulton, a cousin of Cady's wife.
After a long and successful career as a trial lawyer, Cady became a Justice of the New York
Supreme Court. His service on the Supreme Court, from 1847 to 1855, was a distinguished one. When the judicial system of New York was revised in 1847, Cady presided over the committee setting the rules for the new
New York Court of Appeals. He also served a year with distinction on that Court.
Daniel Cady died in
Johnstown, New York on October 31, 1859.
External links
★ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000014
★ http://www.beloit.edu/~libhome/Archives/papers/lincoln.html
★ http://www.nps.gov/wori/archives/judgecady.htm
★ http://www.danielcady.com/
★ http://www.danielcady.com/letters/