Daniel Cady
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Cady (1773-1859) was a prominent lawyer and judge in upstate New York. Best known today as the father of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, he had a full and accomplished life of his own.
Born in Columbia County, Cady studied law in Albany and eventually settled in Johnstown, New York. He became an attorney during Washington's presidency. As a young attorney, he worked with such notables as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. At the end of his career, he served with Abraham Lincoln in a case where each represented a defendant in a land dispute associated with Beloit College.
Cady served as District Attorney of Montgomery County, New York, and also in the New York State Assembly and the US House of Representatives. He is considered by some to be the father of Fulton County, New York, engineering the county's creation after the Montgomery County seat was moved from Johnstown to Fonda, New York. The new 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 Court was distinguished. When the judicial system was revised, Cady presided over the committee setting the rules for the new New York Court of Appeals. He also served a term on that Court.
The Syracuse University Library has collections of letters received by Peter Smith, and Gerrit Smith, a nephew of Cady's wife, Margaret Livingston, which contain hundreds of letters from Cady.
