Roger Skinner

Roger Skinner (June 1, 1773 – August 19, 1825) was a lawyer, politician and United States federal judge from New York.

Early life

Skinner was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 1, 1773, the son of Timothy Skinner and Susannah Marsh Skinner.^[1][2] His brother Richard Skinner served as Governor of Vermont.^[1][2] His nephew Mark Skinner was a prominent Chicago attorney who served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.^[3]

Career

Roger Skinner studied law and became an attorney, first in Connecticut and later in New York.^[1] While practicing in Connecticut, Skinner served as clerk of the Litchfield County Probate Court from 1796 to 1806.^[4] Among the students who learned the law from him after his move to New York were Silas Wright^[5] and Judge Esek Cowen of Saratoga Springs.^[6]

As a resident of Sandy Hill,^[1] he was appointed a justice of the peace in 1808,^[7] and was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1808 to 1810.^[1] He served as District Attorney for the 4th District of New York from 1811 to 1812^[8] and was United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York from 1815 to 1819.^[1] He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1817 to 1821,^[1] and in 1821 he was a member of the state Council of Appointment.^[1]

On November 24, 1819, Skinner received a recess appointment from President James Monroe to the seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York vacated by Matthias Burnett Tallmadge.^[9] Monroe formally nominated him on January 3, 1820, and Skinner was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 5, 1820.^[10] He received his commission the same day, and served on the bench until his death.^[11] Upon ascending the bench, Skinner sold his law office to Benjamin F. Butler, who took over his clients and his pending business.^[12]

As a judge, Skinner resided in Albany.^[2] He was a lifelong bachelor, and fellow politician Martin Van Buren was a widower, so Skinner and Van Buren shared a house.^[2] Van Buren and Skinner were Democratic-Republicans; when Van Buren created the Albany Regency clique to lead New York's Bucktails (the anti-DeWitt Clinton faction that eventually became New York's Democratic Party), Skinner was counted among its members.^[13] In an often-recounted incident of political miscalculation, when Clinton's political career seemed at an ebb in 1824, Skinner engineered his removal from the Erie Canal Commission.^[14] Clinton had long been identified among the public as the canal's biggest proponent; voter outrage at his removal led to his return to the governorship in the 1824 election.^[14] The maneuver against Clinton had been executed without Van Buren's knowledge; initially, Skinner and the Bucktails believed they had brought about Clinton's political death.^[14] Later, Van Buren is said to have remarked to Skinner that in politics it's possible to kill someone "too dead".^[14]

Death and burial

Skinner died in Albany on August 19, 1825;^[1] Van Buren nursed him during his final illness, and was with him when he died.^[2] Skinner was buried in Martin Van Buren's family plot at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 62, Lot 34.^[15] He died without a will, and Butler was appointed to administer his estate.^[16]

References

Sources

External sources

• Roger Skinner at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Roger Skinner at Political Graveyard
• Roger Skinner at Open Jurist
• Roger Skinner at Find a Grave