Background
John Laurance was born near Falmouth, England in 1750.
judge military politician Soldier
John Laurance was born near Falmouth, England in 1750.
Laurance emigrated to England's North American colonies in 1767 and settled in New York City. He studied law in the office of Lieutenant-Governor Colden and was admitted to the bar in 1772.
In 1775-76 he was second lieutenant in one of the regiments, raised by the Provincial Congress for Continental service, which participated in the Canada expedition. On the promotion of Macdougall to the rank of brigadier-general in August 1776, Laurance was appointed as his aide-de-camp and thus saw service in the actions in the vicinity of New York. On April 11, 1777, he succeeded William Tudor as judge advocate-general on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, and this position he held till June 1782. It was said that his record was one of "great uprightness, diligence and ability, by which he has acquired the esteem of the army and merited the consideration of his country". At the trial of André it was admitted by all that he combined competent performance of his duty in preparing and conducting the case against the prisoner with the dictates of "humanity and sensibility. "
After the war his civil career in New York was active and varied. He made an excellent reputation for legal learning. He was associated with Robert R. Livingston in the movement to provide a water supply for the city, and in 1784 he was elected vestryman of Trinity Church and trustee of Columbia College.
Political preferment also came to him. He was delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, 1785-1787, and served in the state Senate, 1788-1790. Owing to his handsome and dignified presence and enthusiastically Federalist sympathies, his selection, with John Cozine and Robert Troup, as bearer of the Constitution in the grand procession of July 23, 1788, preceding the ratification of that instrument, was altogether appropriate.
He became New York City's "first Congressman, " receiving an overwhelming vote from the city and Westchester County in the election to the House of Representatives. In the constructive activity of the First and Second congresses, 1789-1793, he took a conspicuous part, to the effectiveness of which tribute was paid by the harsh comments in the diary of William Maclay. He is said to have been urged by Washington to accept the appointment, May 6, 1794, as judge of the United States district court because of his reputation in admiralty law. He held the position until November 8, 1796.
Upon this date he was elected to the United States Senate as successor to his friend and associate, Rufus King, retaining his seat in this body until his resignation in August 1800. The whole of his successful career in national politics is thus coincident with the period of Federalist dominance. His real estate included, besides extensive holdings in the interior of New York state, part of the D. M. Clarkson property in the city, purchased in 1784 in association with Rufus King, and a summer residence in Newark, New Jersey He was reputed to be especially careful in all matters affecting title to real estate. He appears to have been a director of the Bank of the United States in 1794 and may also have been a director of the New York branch. After a stroke of paralysis in 1809, followed by partial recovery, he died in New York, November 11, 1810.
Laurance served during American Revolutionary War and took part in the 1775 Invasion of Quebec. He was active in a variety of social and municipal improvement organizations. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787 and an ardent supporter of adopting the United States Constitution. Laurance also advocated for universal male suffrage in the election of convention delegates.
Laurance married, probably in 1774 or early in 1775, Elizabeth, daughter of the flaming patriot, Alexander Macdougall. Laurance's first wife died on August 16, 1790, and on June 30, 1791, he was married to Elizabeth Lawrence, widow of James Allen, of Philadelphia.
