History
Born in Schenectady, New York, Yates catapulted himself up the ranks of his day, becoming successively the mayor of Schenectady (1798) where he served twelve one-year appointed terms, state senator (1805), state Supreme Court justice (1808), and the seventh governor of New York (1823–1824). Yates has the distinction of being the only Governor of New York from Schenectady County. He also served as a Trustee of Union College and President of the Schenectady Savings Bank.
Yates was a presidential elector in 1828.
The home he inhabited in Schenectady while the state's chief executive still exists on Front Street in the city's Stockade District.
As Governor, Yates sat for a portrait by John Vanderlyn, famed for his rendition of such eminent historical figures as George Washington, Aaron Burr, James Monroe, George Clinton, Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor. The painting is owned by the City of New York.
Read more about this topic: Joseph C. Yates
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Every library should try to be complete on something, if it were only the history of pinheads.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)