Background
Born in Albany, Albany County, New York, Lansing was a grandson of state Treasurer Abraham G. Lansing, and son of Christopher Yates Lansing (1796–1872) and Caroline Mary Thomas Lansing (1805–1845).
Born in Albany, Albany County, New York, Lansing was a grandson of state Treasurer Abraham G. Lansing, and son of Christopher Yates Lansing (1796–1872) and Caroline Mary Thomas Lansing (1805–1845).
Lansing attended The Albany Academy, graduated from Williams College with an Bachelor of Arts in 1855, and was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society. He read law with his father, graduated from Albany Law School in 1857, and later practiced law in partnership with his brother William.
In 1868, he was appointed City Attorney of Albany, and in 1869 became the first New York Supreme Court reporter. He published the first seven volumes of the Supreme Court Reports. From June 1 to August 19, 1874, he was Acting New York State Treasurer, appointed by Governor John Adams Dix while Treasurer Thomas Raines was incapacitated due to a nervous breakdown, and was treated at the Utica State Asylum.
In 1876, he was chosen Corporation Counsel of Albany.
There he worked for the establishment of the State Railroad Commission and the Niagara Falls State Park. He was a director of the National Commercial Bank, trustee of the Albany Savings Bank, Park Commissioner of Albany, Governor of the Albany Hospital, trustee of The Albany Academy, the Albany Medical College, the Albany Rural Cemetery, the Dudley Observatory.
In 1879 he was an American delegate to the International Conference (London) for the Codification of the Law of Nations. Lansing died in Albany on October 4, 1899, and was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery at Menands, New New York
Elected as a Democrat, he was a member of the New York State Senate (17th Doctorate) in 1882 and 1883.