John Jay | |
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| United States Minister to Austria-Hungary | |
| In office June 1, 1869 (1869-06-01) – March 31, 1875 (1875-03-31) | |
| President | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Preceded by | Henry M. Watts |
| Succeeded by | Godlove S. Orth |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1817-06-23)June 23, 1817 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | May 5, 1894(1894-05-05) (aged 76) New York City, U.S. |
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| Relations |
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| Children | 6, includingWilliam |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater | Columbia College |
| Signature |  |
John Jay (June 23, 1817 – May 5, 1894) was an American lawyer and diplomat toAustria-Hungary, serving from 1869 to 1875. He was the son ofWilliam Jay and a grandson ofJohn Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Jay was active in the anti-slavery movement, elected president of the New York Young Men's Antislavery Society while still in college. He published several speeches and pamphlets on slavery and history, and was elected in 1889 as president of theAmerican Historical Association.
Jay defended numerous fugitive slaves in court and helped several gain freedom. In 1852, Jay led a team of attorneys in New York City inLemmon v. New York, gaining the freedom of eight Virginia slaves brought to New York by their owners in transit to Texas. The ruling survived appeals through the state courts. In 1854, Jay was among the founders of theRepublican Party in the United States. In 1883, he was appointed as the Republican member of the New York Civil Service Commission, founded to reduce patronage and corruption in government, and later was selected as its president.
John Jay was born in 1817 inNew York City toWilliam Jay, an attorney later appointed as judge in Westchester County, and his wife Augusta McVickar Jay.
The young Jay was prepared at Dr. William A. Muhlenberg's highly respected Institute at Flushing, Long Island (Class of 1832). Muhlenberg's pupils often entered higher education as third-year students then distinguished themselves further. Jay completed his degree atColumbia College in 1836, and was admitted to thebar three years later after reading the law.
He early became intensely interested in the anti-slavery movement, much like hisfather andnamesake grandfather.[1]
In 1834, while Jay was still attending college, he became president of the New York Young Men's Antislavery Society. Jay was also active in theFree Soil Party movement, presided at several of its conventions, and was once its candidate for Attorney General of New York.[1]
As an attorney in private practice in New York City, Jay represented a number of fugitive slaves infreedom suits, including George Kirk,[2] three Brazilians,[3] and Henry Long.[4] He gained the freedom of Kirk and the Brazilians (who were aided in escaping by theUnderground Railroad before a judge decided in their favor), but Long was returned to Virginia and slavery in 1851.[1]
Long was working in a restaurant after having been a fugitive in New York for several years. As his self-proclaimed owner John T. Smith fromRichmond, Virginia, sued for his return under the newFugitive Slave Act of 1850,Horace Greeley and theAmerican Anti-Slavery Society tried to gain Long's freedom after he was captured. This was one of several test cases of the new law. Fear of its implementation resulted in hundreds of fugitive slaves going to Canada from New York and Massachusetts, as they felt vulnerable to slave catchers. Prominent fugitives and abolitionistsEllen and William Craft migrated from Boston to England to ensure their safety. Long's case was first given to a federal commissioner, newly appointed under the law. He referred it to federal court. Despite the defense by Jay, Judge Judson found in favor of the owner. Many in New York were outraged, and 200 police were called upon to enforce Long's being taken to the ferry for passage to New Jersey, where he was taken by railroad to Virginia. There he was sold to a planter from Georgia and forced to work on a cotton plantation.[5]
In 1852, Jay successfully led a team of attorneys in afreedom suit,Lemmon v. New York, gaining the release in New York City's Superior Court of eight slaves brought to New York by their Virginia owners, who were stopping over in the city prior to sailing to relocate to Texas. New York had passed a law prohibiting slave transit. Like some other free states, New York said that slaves brought voluntarily to the state by their owners in transit would be considered free.[3] A considerable network of black and white activists kept watch for fugitive and transit slaves and took action to free them. In the case of the Lemmon slaves, activist Louis Napoleon, one of an important trio, was alerted and gained ahabeas corpus writ requiring them to be presented to court. Jay,Erastus D. Culver and the youngChester A. Arthur (future president of the United States) defended them. The ruling was upheld through two levels of appeals in state courts, the second ruling made in 1860. The case was never heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, because the Civil War broke out.[6]
In 1854, Jay organized the series of popular political meetings in theBroadway Tabernacle. The next year, he was prominently identified with the founding of theRepublican Party.[7]
PresidentUlysses S. Grant appointed Jay as the United States Minister to theAustria-Hungary empire, where he served from 1869 to 1875.[8] In 1877, Secretary of the TreasuryJohn Sherman appointed him chairman of the special commission to investigateChester A. Arthur's administration of theNew York Custom House. In 1883, Democratic GovernorGrover Cleveland (later U.S. President) appointed Jay as the Republican member of theNew York Civil Service Commission, of which he later became president.[9]
Jay published several speeches and pamphlets on slavery and other issues. He wrote a biographical article forAppletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography about his grandfather, John Jay, the Chief Justice; it included sections on his father and himself.[4] In 1889, he was elected as president of theAmerican Historical Association.[10]
In 1837, Jay was married to Eleanor Kingsland Field (1819–1909), daughter of Eleanor and Hickson Woolman Field, and cousin ofBenjamin Hazard Field.[11] Hickson was a prominent merchant in New York City.[12] Together, they were the parents of six children, including:[11]
Jay died on May 5, 1894, in Manhattan at the age of 76.[21] He was buried in John Jay Cemetery, established for his grandfather and owned by his family inRye, New York.[22]
Jay's published works included:[4]
Colonel William Jay of New York was found dead in bed at 7 o'clock this morning in his apartments in the Greenbrier Hotel here. Heart disease, from which he had been suffering for some time, was the cause of his death
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help) Austrian Empire(1838–1867) |  | |
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 Austro-Hungarian Empire(1867–1917) | ||
 Republic of Austria(1921–1938, 1946–present) | ||
