Samuel Lewis Southard
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office March 11, 1841 – May 31, 1842
Preceded by	William R. King
Succeeded by	Willie Person Mangum
United States Senator fromNew Jersey
In office March 4, 1833 – June 26, 1842
Preceded by	Mahlon Dickerson
Succeeded by	William L. Dayton
In office January 26, 1821 – March 3, 1823
Preceded by	James J. Wilson
Succeeded by	Joseph McIlvaine
10thGovernor of New Jersey
In office October 26, 1832 – February 27, 1833
Preceded by	Peter Dumont Vroom
Succeeded by	Elias P. Seeley
New Jersey Attorney General
In office 1829-1833
Preceded by	Theodore Frelinghuysen
Succeeded by	John Moore White
7thUnited States Secretary of the Navy
In office September 16, 1823 – March 4, 1829
President	James Monroe John Quincy Adams
Preceded by	Smith Thompson
Succeeded by	John Branch
Personal details
Born	Samuel Lewis Southard (1787-06-09)June 9, 1787 Basking Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	June 26, 1842(1842-06-26) (aged 55) Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Congressional Cemetery
Political party	Democratic-Republican(Before 1825) National Republican(1825–1834) Whig(1834–1842)
Spouse	Rebecca Harrow
Education	Princeton University(BA)
Signature

Samuel Lewis Southard (June 9, 1787 – June 26, 1842) was a prominent American statesman of the early 19th century, serving as aU.S. senator,secretary of the Navy, and the tenthgovernor of New Jersey. He also served aspresident pro tempore of the Senate, and was briefly first in thepresidential line of succession.

The son ofHenry Southard and Sarah (Lewis) Southard, Henry was born in theBasking Ridge section ofBernards Township, New Jersey, on June 9, 1787.^[1] Southard's ancestors includedAnthony Janszoon van Salee, one of the earliest settlers ofNew Amsterdam (of partialMoorish descent), and his siblings includedIsaac Southard.^[2][3] Southard attended theBrick Academy^[4] classical school and graduated fromPrinceton University in 1804.^[1]

After teaching in New Jersey, he worked for several years as a tutor in theVirginia home ofJohn Taliaferro, his father's congressional colleague.^[1] While living in Virginia, Southard studied law withFrancis T. Brooke and Judge Williams, both of Fredericksburg. Upon being admitted to the bar, he returned to New Jersey, and started his practice inFlemington in 1811. He was appointed law reporter by theNew Jersey Legislature in 1814. Elected to theNew Jersey General Assembly in 1815, Southard was appointed to theNew Jersey Supreme Court to succeedMahlon Dickerson shortly thereafter, and in 1820 served as a presidential elector. He was elected to a seat in theUnited States Senate overJames J. Wilson, and was appointed to the remainder of Wilson's term After Wilson resigned.^[5] Southard served in office from January 26, 1821, to March 3, 1823, when he resigned. During this time, he was a member of the committee that produced theMissouri Compromise.

PresidentJames Monroe selected Senator Southard to be Secretary of the Navy in September 1823, and he remained in office under PresidentJohn Quincy Adams.^[1] During these years, he also served briefly asad interimSecretary of the Treasury (1825) andSecretary of War (1828).^[1] Southard proved to be one of the most effective of the Navy's early Secretaries. He endeavored to enlarge the Navy and improve its administration, purchased land for the first Naval Hospitals, began construction of the first Navy dry docks, undertook surveys of U.S. coastal waters and promoted exploration in thePacific Ocean. Responding to actions by influential officers, includingDavid Porter, he reinforced the American tradition ofcivilian control over the military establishment. Also on Southard's watch, the Navy grew by some 50% in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man-of-war.

In 1829 Southard becameNew Jersey Attorney General, succeedingTheodore Frelinghuysen.^[1] In 1832, the state legislature elected him Governor overPeter D. Vroom by a vote of 40 to 24. In 1833, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate. During the next decade, he was a leader of theWhig Party and attained national prominence as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. As President pro tempore of the Senate, he was first in thepresidential line of succession after the death ofWilliam Henry Harrison and the accession of Vice PresidentJohn Tyler to the presidency.

Failing health forced Southard to resign from the Senate in 1842. He died inFredericksburg, Virginia, on June 26, 1842.^[6] Southard was buried in Washington'sCongressional Cemetery.

During the 1820s, Southard was a member of the prestigious society,Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidentsAndrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.^[7] In 1839, he was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.^[8]

The destroyerUSS Southard (DD-207), (later DMS-10), 1919–1946, was named in his honor.There is also a public park in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, named after him. There is also a street named after him in Key West, FL as well as Southard Street inTrenton, New Jersey.^[9]

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)

•  This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.
• Dictionary of American Biography.
• Birkner, Michael.Samuel L. Southard: Jeffersonian Whig.Rutherford, N.J.:Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984.
• Ershkowitz, Herbert.Samuel L. Southard: A Case Study of Whig Leadership in the Age of Jackson.New Jersey History 88 (Spring 1970): 5-24.
• "Samuel L. Southard Papers (1783-1893),(bulk 1802-1846), Finding Aid C0250", consisting of 170 boxes and 73.6 lineal feet of original documents of financial and personal affairs, including correspondence fromCharles Muir Campbell of Princeton, NJ. Most boxes are organized by year and subject. Access to these documents is viaPrinceton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Manuscripts Division.

• United States Congress."Samuel L. Southard (id: S000689)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• New Jersey Governor Samuel Lewis Southard,National Governors Association
• Samuel Lewis Southard atThe Political Graveyard
• Samuel L. Southard atFind a Grave
• TheSamuel L. Southard Papers concerning the Quaker Separation held atFriends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

• 1787 births
• 1842 deaths
• People from Bernards Township, New Jersey
• People from Flemington, New Jersey
• American people of Dutch descent
• American Presbyterians
• United States secretaries of the navy
• Monroe administration cabinet members
• John Quincy Adams administration cabinet members
• Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from New Jersey
• National Republican Party United States senators from New Jersey
• Whig Party United States senators from New Jersey
• New Jersey Democratic-Republicans
• New Jersey National Republicans
• New Jersey Whigs
• Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate
• Governors of New Jersey
• National Republican Party state governors of the United States
• New Jersey attorneys general
• Members of the New Jersey General Assembly
• Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey
• Politicians from Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Politicians from Somerset County, New Jersey
• Princeton University alumni
• Burials at the Congressional Cemetery
• 19th-century American lawyers
• 19th-century United States senators
• 19th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature
• Members of the American Philosophical Society

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