Leonard Gansevoort

Leonard Gansevoort (July 1751 – August 26, 1810) was an American political leader from New York who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1788.

He was born in 1751 in Albany County, New York to Harmen Gansevoort (1712–1801) and Magdalena Douw Gansevoort (1718–1796). He was the brother of Peter Gansevoort.

In 1775 he was a member of the Albany committee of correspondence. In 1775 he was a member of the New York Provincial Congress for Albany County. In 1777 he was the president of the New York Provincial Congress committee of safety. In 1778 and 1779 he was a member of the New York State assembly.

Early in his political career he was aligned with the patrician group of the large estates owners and commercial interests, but later became involved with the early evolution of the Democratic Party in New York. He served in the state assembly again from 1787–1788 and in the state Senate from 1791–1793 and 1796–1802.

In 1794 he was appointed a colonel in the New York militia. From 1794 to 1797 he was a judge in Albany. From 1799 to 1810 he was a judge of the court of probates.

He died in 1810 at home in Albany and was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery.

Further reading

• Alice P. Kenney; The Gansevoorts of Albany: Dutch Patricians in the Upper Hudson Valley; 1969, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York, ISBN 0-8156-2137-X.
• Alice P. Kenney; Stubborn for Liberty: The Dutch in New York; 1975, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 0-8156-0113-1. (1989 Paperback: ISBN 0-8156-2482-4)

External links

• Leonard Gansevoort Congressional Biography
• Finding Aid to Leonard Gansevoort Papers, 1778-1799 at the New York State Library, accessed May 16, 2016.