John Tracy (politician)

John Tracy (October 26, 1783 Norwich, Connecticut – June 18, 1864 Oxford, New York) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1833 to 1838.

Life

At the beginning of the 19th century he moved to Columbus, New York. In 1805 he moved to Oxford, where he served as Deputy County Clerk under his relative Uri Tracy. He studied law with Stephen O. Runyan, was admitted to the bar in 1808, and practiced in Oxford. He married Susan Hyde in Franklin, Connecticut on August 30, 1813.

Tracy was active in politics, first as a Democratic-Republican, and later as a Democrat. In 1815, he was appointed Surrogate of Chenango County, a post he held four years. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1820, and returned in 1821, 1822 and 1826.

In 1821 he was re-appointed surrogate, and in 1823 he became First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and he served until resigning in 1833. In 1830 the state legislature elected Tracy as a Regent of the University of the State of New York, and he served until 1833.

From 1833 to 1838, he was Lieutenant Governor under Governor William L. Marcy. In 1846 he was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention, and was chosen its President. After this convention, Tracy withdrew from politics and government.

For many years Tracy was President of the Oxford Academy Board of Trustees.

He died in Oxford, New York on June 18, 1864, and was buried at the Riverview Cemetery in Oxford.^[1]

Tracy was survived by his daughters, Esther Marie Mygatt, widow of Henry R. Mygatt, and Susan Eliza Clarke, widow of James W. Clarke; and grandchildren, John Tracy Mygatt, Mai Mygatt, and William R. Mygatt, a lawyer in practice at Oxford, N.Y.

His great-great granddaughter Tracy Dickinson Mygatt was a Socialist playwright and pacifist.^[2]

Sources

External links

• John Tracy Bio
• Political Graveyard
• Members of Canal Commission, including Lt. Govs.

Governors and Lieutenant Governors of New York
Governors	G. Clinton Jay G. Clinton Lewis Tompkins Tayler D. Clinton Yates D. Clinton Pitcher Van Buren Throop Marcy Seward Bouck Wright Young Fish Hunt Seymour Clark King Morgan Seymour Fenton Hoffman J. Adams Dix Tilden Robinson Cornell Cleveland Hill Flower Morton Black T. Roosevelt Odell Higgins Hughes White J. Alden Dix Sulzer Glynn Whitman Smith Miller Smith F. Roosevelt Lehman Poletti Dewey Harriman Rockefeller Wilson Carey M. Cuomo Pataki Spitzer Paterson A. Cuomo
Lieutenant Governors	Van Cortlandt S. Van Rensselaer J. Van Rensselaer Broome Tayler Clinton Tayler Swift Tayler Root Tallmadge Pitcher P. Livingston Dayan Throop Stebbins Oliver E. Livingston Tracy Bradish Dickinson Gardiner Lester Fish Patterson Church Raymond Selden Campbell Floyd-Jones Alvord Woodford Beach Robinson Dorsheimer Hoskins Hill McCarthy Jones Sheehan Saxton Woodruff Higgins Bruce Raines Chanler White Cobb Conway Glynn Wagner Schoeneck Walker Wood Lusk Lunn Lowman Corning Lehman Bray Poletti Hanley Wallace Hanley Moore Wicks Mahoney DeLuca Wilson Anderson Krupsak Cuomo DelBello Anderson Lundine McCaughey Donohue Paterson Bruno Skelos Smith Espada Ravitch Duffy Hochul
Italics indicate acting officeholders