Daniel D. Tompkins - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_D.

_Tompkins

Daniel D. Tompkins
Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American
Daniel D. Tompkins
politician. He was the fourth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and
the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825.

Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkins practiced law in New York City
after graduating from Columbia College. He was a delegate to the 1801
New York constitutional convention and served on the New York Supreme
Court from 1804 to 1807. In 1807, he defeated incumbent Morgan Lewis to
become the Governor of New York. He held that office from 1807 to 1817,
serving for the duration of the War of 1812. During the war, he often spent
his own money to equip and pay the militia when the legislature wasn't in
session, or would not approve the necessary funds.

Tompkins was the Democratic-Republican Party's vice presidential

nominee in the 1816 presidential election. The ticket of James Monroe and
Tompkins easily prevailed over limited Federalist opposition. He served as 6th Vice President of the United
vice president from 1817 to 1825, and was the only 19th century vice States
president to serve two full terms. In 1820, he sought another term as In office
Governor of New York, but was defeated by DeWitt Clinton. After the War March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825
of 1812, Tompkins was in poor physical and financial health, the latter President James Monroe
condition stemming largely from his spending for the military effort during
Preceded by Elbridge Gerry
the War of 1812. He fell into alcoholism and was unable to re-establish
Succeeded by John C. Calhoun
fiscal solvency despite winning partial reimbursement from the federal
government in 1823. He died in June 1825, soon after leaving office.
4th Governor of New York
In office
July 1, 1807 – February 24, 1817
Lieutenant John Broome
Contents DeWitt Clinton
Name John Tayler
Early life, family, and career Preceded by Morgan Lewis
Governor
Succeeded by John Tayler (Acting)
Vice President
Personal details
Legacy
Born June 21, 1774
References
Scarsdale, Province
External links
of New York, British
America
Died June 11, 1825
Name
(aged 50)
Tompkins was baptized Daniel Tompkins, but added the middle initial Castleton, New
"D." while a student at Columbia College to distinguish himself from York, U.S.

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another Daniel Tompkins who was a student there. There is controversy as Resting place St. Mark's Church
to what the middle initial stood for; some have suggested "Decius."[1][2][3] in-the-Bowery
The generally accepted conclusion is that it did not stand for anything, and
Political party Democratic-
served only to distinguish him from the other Daniel Tompkins.[4][5][6][7]
Republican
Spouse(s) Hannah Minthorne
Early life, family, and career Children 8, including
Daniel D. Tompkins was born Minthorne
in Scarsdale, Westchester Education Columbia University
County, New York, at his home, (BA)
the estate of Fox Meadow.[8]
Signature
He was the son of Sarah Ann
(Hyatt) and Jonathan Griffin
Tompkins. His older brother, Caleb Tompkins was a United States
Representative from 1817 to 1821. Daniel Tompkins graduated from
Columbia College in New York City in 1795, and then studied law with
The Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial in
Scarsdale, New York James Kent and Peter Jay Munro.[9] He was admitted to the bar in 1797,
and practiced in New York City.[10] Despite the Federalist leanings of Kent
and Munro, Tomkins entered politics as a Democratic-Republican.[10] He
was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1801, and a member of the New York State
Assembly in 1804. He was elected to the 9th United States Congress, but resigned before the beginning of the term to
accept, at age 30, an appointment as associate justice of the New York Supreme Court, in which capacity he served
from 1804 to 1807.

On February 20, 1798, Daniel Tompkins, 23, married 16-year-old Hannah Minthorne, the daughter of Mangle
Minthorne, an Assistant Alderman of New York City.[11][12] The couple had eight children, including Arietta Minthorn
Tompkins (born July 31, 1800), who married a son of Smith Thompson in 1818, and (Mangle) Minthorne Tompkins
(December 26, 1807 – June 5, 1881), who was the Free Soil Party candidate for Governor of New York in 1852.

The Tompkinsville section of Staten Island was named after him; in 1815, Tompkins established a settlement along the
eastern shore of the island with the purchase of the Van Buskirk Farm in New Brighton and property on Grymes Hill.
His main residence was located on Fort Hill, near Fort Place which burned down in 1874.[13]

Their children Hannah and Minthorne were named after their mother, and Hannah and Minthorne streets in Staten
Island are named for them. Staten Island's Westervelt Avenue is named for daughter Hannah's husband.[14] Hannah
was ill in the year before her husband became vice president, and did not attend his inauguration.[15] She survived him
by nearly four years in Tompkinsville, Staten Island.

Governor
On April 30, 1807, he defeated the incumbent Governor Morgan Lewis – Tompkins received 35,074 votes, Lewis
30,989 – and remained in office as Governor of New York until 1817. He was reelected in 1810, defeating Jonas Platt –
Tompkins 43,094 votes, Jonas Platt 36,484. In 1813 he defeated Stephen Van Rensselaer – Tompkins 43,324 votes,
Van Rensselaer 39,718 – and in 1816, he beat Rufus King – Tompkins 45,412 votes, King 38,647. Tompkins was
supported by DeWitt Clinton in his first run for office, but Tompkins later broke with Clinton by supporting James
Madison over Clinton in the 1808 presidential election.[16]

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During the War of 1812, Tompkins proved to be one of the most effective war
governors. He played an important role in reorganizing the state militia and
promoted the formation of a standing state military force based on select
conscription. He declined an appointment as United States Secretary of State by
President James Madison in 1814, instead accepting appointment as commander of
the federal military district that included New York City.[17]

Tompkins was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in

1814.[18]

In 1815 Tompkins established a settlement along the eastern shore of Staten Island
Coat of Arms of Daniel D.
that came to be called Tompkinsville. He built a dock along the waterfront in the
Tompkins
neighborhood in 1817 and began offering daily steam ferry service between Staten
Island and Manhattan. In 1816 he purchased much of the land later known as
Tompkinsville from the Church of St. Andrew, but his financial troubles later led the church to foreclose. His son-in-
law and daughter, Dr. John S. and Hannah Westervelt then bought the property, which they later divided into many
lots to sell off.

In 1817, Governor Tompkins suggested that July 4, 1827, be set as the date on which all slaves in New York state—
including those who were born before the Gradual Manumission Act of July 4, 1799, (and who were therefore not
eligible for freedom)—should be freed.[19]

Vice President
Many New York Democratic-Republicans supported Tompkins for president in the 1816 presidential election, but
James Monroe received the party's nomination.[16] Tompkins was instead elected as Monroe's running mate, and
Tompkins won reelection in 1820, serving from March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1825. In 1820, while serving as vice
president, he ran for Governor of New York against incumbent DeWitt Clinton. The election was held in April 1820;
Tompkins lost. He received 45,900 votes while Clinton received 47,447. In 1821, he was a delegate to the New York
State Constitutional Convention, serving as its president.[20]

Tompkins entered in office in poor health, the result of a fall from a horse on November 3, 1814. Tompkins's finances
were also quite poor, as Tompkins had borrowed money to finance the war effort during the War of 1812, and
Tompkins slipped into alcoholism. Tompkins had failed to adequately document his expenses, and both the New York
legislature and the federal government refused to fully reimburse him. With poor physical and financial health,
Tompkins spent much of his vice presidency outside of Washington, D.C., and Tompkins made for a poor presiding
officer of the Senate while it debated the Missouri Compromise in 1820. In 1823, Tompkins finally won compensation
from the federal government, but he continued to drink heavily and was unable to resolve his business affairs.[16]

He died in Tompkinsville on June 11, 1825, 99 days after leaving office, and was interred in the Minthorne vault in the
west yard of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, New York City, as was his wife.[15] His post-vice presidency lifespan is
the shortest of any vice president, and he also lived the shortest life of any Vice President. He was the youngest person
to become Vice President until John C. Breckinridge, and the only 19th century vice president to serve two full terms
under the same president.

Tompkins was the second vice president to serve two full terms, after John Adams, who was George Washington's vice
president from 1789 to 1797. He would be the last to do so for nearly a century, until Thomas R. Marshall, who served

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under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1921. (Since Marshall, John Nance Garner, Richard M. Nixon, George H. W.
Bush, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, and Joe Biden, have done so as well. Apart from Garner, they all left the vice presidency at
the same time as the president they had served under.)

Legacy
The Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island is named for
Tompkins, and the streets in that neighborhood are named for his
kids.[21] There is also a Masonic lodge in the town named for him.
Tompkins is credited with being one of the founding members of
the Brighton Heights Reformed Church on Staten Island. The
church was founded in 1823, during his term as vice president. Its
first meeting place was in New York Marine Hospital (then known
as the Quarantine), a predecessor of the immigration facility on
Ellis Island.

Four forts in New York State in the War of 1812 were named for
Governor Tompkins, in Staten Island, Sackets Harbor, Buffalo,
and Plattsburgh.

Tompkins County in New York, Tompkins Square Park in The cover to the vault in which Tompkin's
Manhattan, Public School 69 Daniel D. Tompkins School in Staten remains were interred
Island, and the Town of Tompkins are named after him, as is
Tompkins Road, running between Post Road (NY-22) and
Fenimore Road in Scarsdale, New York. Tompkinsville, Kentucky, is named for Tompkins. It is the county seat of
Monroe County, Kentucky, which is named for the president under whom Tompkins served as vice president.
Tompkins Park in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York (now called Von King Park) was named after Daniel D.
Tompkins[22] Also the nearby Tompkins Avenue and Tompkins Public Houses are named after the same.

Tompkins was member of Hiram Lodge 72, Mount Pleasant, New York[23] and became Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of New York form 1820 to 1822[24]. The Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial Chapel at the Masonic Home in Utica,
New York was built in his honor in 1911.[25] The Grand Lodge of New York celebrated the Centennial of the chapel on
June 25, 2011.[26][27]

Tompkins was mentioned by Kris Kringle in the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street. The screenplay was incorrect,
however, in that Kringle mentions that Tompkins served as vice president under John Quincy Adams when Adams's
vice president was actually John C. Calhoun. Tompkins was the 6th vice president and Quincy Adams was the 6th
president, leading to confusion in the script.[28]

References
1. Publishers weekly, Volume 195, Part 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=BLpEAQAAIAAJ&q=%22tompkins+da
niel+decius%22&dq=%22tompkins+daniel+decius%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8LI7Vcz8FsagNvqmgfgM&ved=0CDUQ6
AEwBQ). New Providence, New Jersey,: R.R. Bowker Co. 1969. p. 100.

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2. Fredriksen, John C. (2000). Green Coats and Glory: The United States Regiment of Riflemen, 1808–1821 (https://
books.google.com/books?ei=EbQ7VeadJcm-ggS6iID4BA&id=Nr83AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22daniel%22+%22tompkin
s%22+%22vice+president%22+%22decius%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22decius%22). Youngstown,
NY: Old Fort Niagara Association. p. 29.
3. New York State Historical Association (1920). "Governor Tompkins' Middle Name" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=Ig4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA502&dq=%22daniel+d.+tompkins%22+%22initial%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-LQ7VdiJIIW
ZNtGHgNgL&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22daniel%20d.%20tompkins%22%20%22initial%22&f=fals
e). State Service: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Government of the State of New York and its
Affairs, Volume 4. Albany, NY: State Service Magazine Co., Inc.: 502.
4. Winchester, Charles M. (February 1, 1920). "New York's Forty-Four Governors" (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=Ig4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA502&dq=Daniel+D.+Tompkins+middle+name&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG9bna9rHL
AhXDNz4KHcl8AFAQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=Daniel%20D.%20Tompkins%20middle%20name&f=false). State
Service: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Albany, NY: State Service Magazine Company: 147.
5. Winchester, Charles M. (June 1, 1920). "Governor Tompkins' Middle Name" (https://books.google.com/books?id=I
g4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA502&dq=Daniel+D.+Tompkins+middle+name&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG9bna9rHLAh
XDNz4KHcl8AFAQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=Daniel%20D.%20Tompkins%20middle%20name&f=false). State
Service: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Albany, NY: State Service Magazine Company: 502.
6. Skinner, Charles R. (1919). Governors of New York from 1777 to 1920 (https://books.google.com/books?id=zmgm
AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2&dq=Daniel+D.+Tompkins+middle+name&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG9bna9rHLAhXDNz
4KHcl8AFAQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q=Daniel%20D.%20Tompkins%20middle%20name&f=false). Albany, NY: J.
B. Lyon Company. p. 2.
7. Smith, Henry T. (1898). Manual of Westchester County (https://books.google.com/books?id=_Uw_AQAAMAAJ&p
g=PA246&lpg=PA246&dq=%22Daniel+D.+Tompkins%22+middle+initial+name&source=bl&ots=NqwJtnq2LN&sig=
2C7k9Qr0RMO_uHCtk0dyQXHCuKU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiew9OY-rHLAhWDlh4KHawUBfI4ChDoAQgo
MAU#v=onepage&q=%22Daniel%20D.%20Tompkins%22%20middle%20initial%20name&f=false). 1. White
Plains, NY: Henry T. Smith. p. 246.
8. "FOX MEADOW SALES. First Break Made Into Famous Westchester Estate", New York Times, April 3, 1921, p.
76
9. Cox, Thomas H. (2009). Gibbons v. Ogden, Law, and Society in the Early Republic (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=OcU6AQAAIAAJ&dq=%22daniel+d.+tompkins%22+%22studied+law%22+Kent&focus=searchwithinvolum
e&q=%22studied+law+under+federalists%22). Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. p. 92.
ISBN 978-0-8214-1846-8.
10. Gibbons v. Ogden, Law, and Society in the Early Republic, p. 92.
11. Irwin, Ray W. Daniel D. Tompkins: Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?ei=uFVOT6DLKoXX0QHmzcnzAg&id=yRSTAAAAIAAJ&dq=hannah+minthorne+tompkins&q=ha
nnah#search_anchor), p. 27 (1968)
12. (March 3, 1798). Marriages (https://books.google.com/books?id=mJ0wAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA160&dq=hannah+minth
orne+tompkins&hl=en&sa=X&ei=V1hOT9f0Nebh0wG7h8TCAg&ved=0CGUQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=hanna
h%20minthorne%20tompkins&f=false), The Weekly Magazine, p. 160 (1798)
13. "Staten Island Memories: A lifetime of public service" (http://blog.silive.com/memories_column/2013/03/staten_isla
nd_memories_a_lifetime_of_public_service.html). SILive.com. March 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
14. Platt, Tevah (June 3, 2010).Neighborhood still memorializes Daniel Tompkins (http://www.silive.com/northshore/ind
ex.ssf/2010/06/neighborhood_still_memorialize.html), Staten Island Advance
15. Dunlap, Leslie W. Our Vice-Presidents and Second Ladies (https://books.google.com/books?ei=bVJOT665Aanj0Q
GJqsXHAg&id=BkZ1AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22second+ladies%22&q=hannah#search_anchor), p. 32–34 (1988)
16. "Daniel D. Tompkins, 6th Vice President (1817–1825)" (https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/gen
eric/VP_Daniel_Tompkins.htm). US Senate. US Senate. Retrieved October 22, 2015.

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17. Spencer C. Tucker, The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812 (https://books.google.com/books?id=VljA5QEI9_wC&p

g=PA713&dq=%22james+madison%22+tompkins+secretary+of+state&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lOflUaedFIGSqQHrzoGA
Ag&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22james%20madison%22%20tompkins%20secretary%20of%20stat
e&f=false), 2012, page 713
18. "MemberListT" (http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistt).
19. White, Shane. Somewhat More Independent: The End of Slavery in New York City, 1770–1810. University of
Georgia Press, 1991. pp. 53–54
20. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tompkins, Daniel D.". Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.
21. Sherry, Virginia N. (November 30, 2014). "13 things to know about Tompkinsville, where European settlers arrived
375 years ago" (http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2014/11/12_things_to_know_about_histor.html). Staten
Island Advance. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
22. "Herbert Von King Park" (http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/herbert-von-king-park/history).
23. Freemasons: Tales From the Craft (https://books.google.it/books?isbn=1312344482). 2014. p. 49. Archived (http
s://archive.today/20181113210304/https://books.google.it/books?id=La4nCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA49&dq=%22Daniel+
Tompkins%22%2B%22Hiram+Lodge+72,+Mt.+Pleasant,+NY+%22&hl=it&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz2tCVotLeAhVBK
uwKHWjXAngQ6AEIKDAA%23v=onepage&q=%22Daniel%20Tompkins%22%2B%22Hiram%20Lodge%2072,%2
0Mt.%20Pleasant,%20NY%20%22&f=false) from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13,
2018.
24. "Celebrating more than 100 years of the Freemasonry: famous Freemasons in the history" (http://www.matawanlo
dge.org/famous.htm). Mathawan Lodge No 192 F.A. & A.M., New Jersey. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0080510153526/http://www.matawanlodge.org/famous.htm) from the original on May 10, 2008.
25. "Tompkins Chapel was built in 1911 in memory of Most Worshipful Daniel D. Tompkins, Grand Master of Masons
in 1820" (http://www.masonichomeny.org/ourcommunity/otherfacilities/chapel/). MasonicHomeNY. Retrieved
2011-10-26.
26. "The Centennial of the Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial Chapel" (http://www.masonichomeny.org/news-events/?id=1
08). Retrieved 2011-10-26.
27. "Centennial of the Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial Chapel" (http://esmason.com/magpdf/esm_spring_2011.pdf)
(PDF). Retrieved 2011-10-26.
28. "The Making of Miracle on 34th Street, 50th Anniversary Edition" (Sindpiper Publishing), 1997

External links
Media related to Daniel D. Tompkins at Wikimedia Commons

United States Congress. "Daniel D. Tompkins (id: T000306)" (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?ind

ex=T000306). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Public papers of Daniel D. Tompkins, governor of New York, 1807–1817 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Xyo
WAAAAYAAJ&pg=), Volume 3 (online)

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Party political offices

Democratic-Republican nominee
Preceded by Succeeded by
for Governor of New York
Morgan Lewis DeWitt Clinton
1807, 1810, 1813, 1816

Democratic-Republican nominee Succeeded by

Preceded by for Vice President of the United John C. Calhoun
Elbridge Gerry States Albert Gallatin (Withdrew)
1816, 1820 Nathan Sanford¹

Political offices

Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of New York
John Tayler
Morgan Lewis 1807–1817
Acting

Preceded by Vice President of the United States Succeeded by

Elbridge Gerry 1817–1825 John C. Calhoun

Academic offices

Chancellor of the University of the

Preceded by Succeeded by
State of New York
Morgan Lewis John Tayler
1808–1817

Notes and references

1. The Democratic-Republican Party split in the 1824 election, fielding four separate candidates.

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