Thomas Jackson Oakley

Background

Thomas Jackson Oakley was born on November 10, 1783, in Beekman, Dutchess County, New York, the son of a Revolutionary officer and farmer, Lieut. Jesse Oakley, and Jerushah (Peters) Oakley.

Education

Thomas Oakley graduated from Yale in 1801, and later studied law in Poughkeepsie. In 1853, Oakley received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Union College.

Career

Thomas Oakley was admitted to the bar in 1804. Through his father-in-law's (Robert Williams) influence he was appointed surrogate of Dutchess County (1810) but lost this position a year later by a party reversal. As a Federalist member of the Thirteenth Congress (1813 - 15) he was a critic of the administration and of the War of 1812. From 1816 to 1820 he was a member and Federalist leader of the state Assembly. He supported the Erie Canal project, the bill for founding the state library, and was counsel for the defendant in the impeachment trial of Judge W. W. Van Ness, in which the latter was acquitted.

In 1819 Oakley succeeded Martin Van Buren to the office of attorney-general of the state but was removed in 1821 for political reasons. Associated with Thomas A. Emmet and opposed by Daniel Webster and William Wirt, he represented New York state in Gibbons vs. Ogden. Because of his able arguments in this case and in others before the Supreme Court, he rose to the front ranks as an advocate. He represented the claimants, Astor and Fowler, in a case which involved a large tract of land in Putnam County, confiscated during the Revolution because of Tory ownership, and he was conspicuous in litigation in New York state between landlords and their tenants which eventually degenerated into the anti-rent disturbances. In 1826 he was elected as a Clinton Democrat to the Twentieth Congress but resigned in 1828 to become a judge of the superior court of New York City. He remained on the bench until his death, becoming chief justice in 1847. As a judge he was noted for his impartiality, his quick grasp of the controlling factors of a case, and his clear and direct charges to the jury.

Thomas was a member of the Kent Club, an organization composed of leading lawyers and judges who met on Saturday nights for legal and scientific discussions after which "reports of champagne bottles were preferred to law reports. "

Achievements

• Thomas Oakney was notable for his service as New York State Attorney General (1819 - 1821). He was also a judge of the superior court of New York City (1828 - 1847), and, later, he was appointed as a chief judge (1847-1857).

Membership

Thomas Oakley was a member of the Thirteenth United States Congress (1813 - 1815, 1827 - 1828); the New York State Assembly (1816, 1818 - 1820); the Kent Club; the Calvary Church and the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Personality

In private life Thomas Jackson was simple in habits, approachable and unostentatious. On the bench he was punctual, rigorous, and formal. He had a majestic bearing and spoke easily with "but little rhetoric or gesticulation. "

Connections

In 1808, Thomas Oakley was married to Lydia S. Williams, the daughter of Robert Williams, a Federalist lawyer of Poughkeepsie. After the death of his first wife in 1827 he was married, on March 29, 1831, to Matilda Caroline Cruger. They had three daughters and two sons.

Father:

Lieut. Jesse Oakley

He was a Revolutionary officer and farmer.

Mother:

Jerushah (Peters) Oakley

father-in-law:

Robert Williams

Wife:

Lydia S. (Williams) Oakley

She was daughter of Robert Williams, a Federalist lawyer of Poughkeepsie.

Wife:

Matilda Caroline (Cruger) Oakley

Son:

Robert Williams Oakley