Biography

WOODFORD, Stewart Lyndon, a Representative from New York; born in New York City September 3, 1835; was graduated from Columbia College (now Columbia University), New York City, in 1854; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1857 and commenced practice in New York City; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860 and 1872; assistant attorney for the United States in New York City in 1861 and 1862; during the Civil War served in the Union Army; lieutenant colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh New York Volunteers September 8, 1862; colonel of the One Hundred and Third United States Colored Infantry March 3, 1865; brevetted brigadier general of Volunteers May 12, 1865; resigned August 23, 1865; was first Union military commander of Charleston, S.C., and of Savannah, Ga.; Lieutenant Governor of New York 1867-1869; unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1870; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1873, to July 1, 1874, when he resigned; United States attorney for the southern district of New York from 1877 to 1883; appointed United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain on June 19, 1897, and served until September 20, 1898, when he resigned; resumed the practice of law in New York City and died there February 14, 1913; interment in Woodland Cemetery, Stamford, Conn.