Biography

US Statesman, Jurist. Lansing was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1775. From 1776-1777 he was the military secretary to General Philip Schuyler. He became a member of the Continental Congress in 1785. He served in that capacity until 1787, when he declined to sign the U. S. Constitution. He opposed some of the language and terminology of the constitution and therefore declined to sign it. In 1781 he was elected a member of the New York State Assembly and served in that capacity until 1789. He was appointed to be a justice of the New York State Supreme Court in 1790 and served in that capacity until 1798, when he became chief justice, and served as chief justice until 1801. In 1801 he was appointed to be the Chancellor of New York State, a position he held until 1814, when he was forced to retire because of age. He disappeared mysteriously on December 12, 1829, after leaving his hotel room to mail a letter. No explanation was ever found for his disappearance. It was speculated that he was robbed and murdered or he drowned. A cenotaph was erected at Albany Rural Cemetery to commemorate his many years of public service.