John Jay | |
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United States Minister to Austro-Hungary | |
In office June 1, 1869 – March 31, 1875 |
|
President | Ulysses S. Grant |
Preceded by | Henry M. Watts |
Succeeded by | Godlove S. Orth |
Personal details | |
Born |
New York City, New York |
23 June 1817
Died | 5 May 1894 New York City, New York |
(aged 76)
Political party |
Free Soil Republican |
Signature |
John Jay (23 June 1817 – 5 May 1894) was an American lawyer and diplomat to Austro-Hungary, serving 1869-1875. He was the son of William Jay and a grandson of Chief Justice John Jay of the United States Supreme Court. Jay was active in the anti-slavery movement, elected president of the New York Young Men's Antislavery Society while still in college. He published several speeches and pamphlets on slavery and history, and was elected in 1889 as president of the American Historical Association.
Jay defended numerous fugitive slaves in court and helped several gain freedom. In 1852 Jay led a team of attorneys in New York City in Lemmon v. New York, gaining the freedom of eight Virginia slaves brought to New York by their owners in transit to Texas. The ruling survived appeals through the state courts. In 1854 Jay was among the founders of the Republican Party in the United States. In 1883 he was appointed as the Republican member of the New York Civil Service Commission, founded to reduce patronage and corruption in government, and later was selected as its president.
John Jay was born in 1817 in New York City to William Jay, an attorney later appointed as judge in Westchester County, and his wife Augusta McVickar. The young Jay graduated from Dr. William A. Muhlenberg's institute in 1832. He completed his degree at Columbia College in 1836, and was admitted to the bar three years later after reading the law. He early became intensely interested in the anti-slavery movement, much like his father and namesake grandfather.
In 1834, while Jay was still attending college, he became president of the New York Young Men's Antislavery Society. Jay was also active in the Free Soil Party movement, presided at several of its conventions, and was once its candidate for Attorney General of New York.