Ogden Hoffman (October 13, 1794 – May 1, 1856) was a 19th-century American lawyer and politician who for two terms was in the United States House of Representatives from 1837 to 1841.

Ogden Hoffman
25th Attorney General of New York
In office
January 1, 1854 – December 31, 1855
GovernorHoratio Seymour
Myron H. Clark
Preceded byGardner Stow
Succeeded byStephen B. Cushing
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
In office
1841–1845
PresidentWilliam Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Preceded byBenjamin F. Butler
Succeeded byBenjamin F. Butler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 3rd district
In office
1837–1841
Serving with Edward Curtis
Churchill C. Cambreleng (1837–39)
Ely Moore (1837–39)
James Monroe (1839–41)
Moses H. Grinnell (1839–41)
Preceded byGideon Lee
John McKeon
Succeeded byCharles G. Ferris
Fernando Wood
James I. Roosevelt
John McKeon
New York County District Attorney
In office
1829–1835
Preceded byHugh Maxwell
Succeeded byThomas Phoenix
Personal details
Born
Ogden Hoffman

(1793-05-03)May 3, 1793
New York City
DiedMay 1, 1856(1856-05-01) (aged 62)
New York City
Resting placeSt. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
Political partyDemocratic Party
Whig
Spouse(s)Emily Burrall
Virginia Southard
Children5, including Ogden Jr.
Parent(s)Josiah Ogden Hoffman
Mary Colden
EducationColumbia College

Life

edit

Ogden Hoffman was born on October 13, 1794,[1] the son of New York Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman (1766–1837) and Mary (Colden) Hoffman. He pursued classical studies and graduated from Columbia College in 1812.[2]

Career

edit

He served for three years in the Navy and was warranted a midshipman in 1814. He took part in the War of 1812 and the Second Barbary War as a crew member on the USS President, and was taken prisoner when the President was captured in 1814.

After leaving the navy he studied law under his father, was admitted to the bar in 1818, and commenced practice in Goshen, New York.

Political career

edit

Hoffman was District Attorney of Orange County from May 1823 to January 1826, and a member of the New York State Assembly (Orange Co.) in 1826. He then returned to New York City and there practiced law in partnership with Hugh Maxwell, who was New York County District Attorney.

Hoffman was again a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co.) in 1828; and was New York County District Attorney from 1829 to 1835.

He disagreed with the Jackson administration over the need for a federally chartered central bank, and abandoned Tammany Hall and the Democratic Party for the Whigs after Jackson's decision not to re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.

In 1836, Hoffman defended Richard P. Robinson at his trial for the murder of Helen Jewett and got his client acquitted.

Congress

edit

Hoffman was elected as a Whig to the 25th and 26th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841.

Later political offices

edit

He was United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1841 to 1845. He later was New York Attorney General from 1854 to 1855, elected on the Whig ticket at the New York state election, 1853.

Personal life

edit

On June 27, 1819, he married Emily Burrall, daughter of Charles Burrall. Together, they had two children:[3]

  • Charles Burrall Hoffman (1821–1892), who married Harriet Bronson Willett, granddaughter of Dr. Isaac Bronson.[3]
  • Ogden Hoffman, Jr. (1822–1891), who served as a federal judge in California for more than 40 years.

In November 1838, he married Virginia Southard (d. 1886), daughter of Samuel Lewis Southard, who was a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the tenth Governor of New Jersey.[4] Together, they had three children:[3]

  • Samuel Southard Hoffman (b. 1839), who married Sarah Acklen[3]
  • Mary Colden Hoffman (b. 1840)[3]
  • Virginia Southard Hoffman (b. 1842)[3]

He died on May 1, 1856, at his home on Ninth Street in New York City, of "congestion of the lungs." He was buried at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery.

References

edit

Notes

  1. ^ Genealogy of the Hoffman Family
  2. ^ "HOFFMAN, Josiah Ogden – Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Hoffman, Eugene Augustus (1899). Genealogy of the Hoffman family : descendants of Martin Hoffman, with biographical notes . New York : Dodd, Mead & Co. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  4. ^ Rathbun, Richard (1904). The Columbian institute for the promotion of arts and sciences: A Washington Society of 1816–1838. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, October 18, 1917. Retrieved June 20, 2010.

Sources

Legal offices
Preceded by New York County District Attorney
1829–1835
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 3rd congressional district

1837–1841
with Churchill C. Cambreleng 1837–39, Ely Moore 1837–39, Edward Curtis 1837–41, James Monroe 1839–41 and Moses H. Grinnell 1839–41
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
1841–1845
Succeeded by
Preceded by New York Attorney General
1854–1855
Succeeded by