William H. Van Schoonhoven

William Henry Van Schoonhoven (January 5, 1810 Waterford, Saratoga County, New York – January 16, 1855 Troy, Rensselaer County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

He was the son of Jacobus (or James) Van Schoonhoven (1781–1865) and Alida (Lansing) Van Schoonhoven (1789–1824). The family removed to Troy about 1820 when Jacobus Van Schoonhoven took up the position of Cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Troy.

William H. Van Schoonhoven graduated from Union College in 1829. Then he studied law and was admitted to the bar. On September 1, 1834, he married Margaret Brinkerhoff (1818–1897), and their daughter was Phoebe Van Schoonhoven (1838–1923).

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Rensselaer Co.) in 1840, 1841 and 1845.

He was a member of the New York State Senate (3rd D.) in 1846 and 1847; and a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1846.

He was again a member of the State Senate (12th D.) in 1852 and 1853.

State Senator Jacobus Van Schoonhoven (1744–1814) was his grandfather; State Senator Guert Van Schoonhoven (1765–1847) was his uncle. Julia Thorne (1944–2006), the first wife of U.S. Senator John Kerry, was a great-great-granddaughter of Phoebe Van Schoonhoven (1838–1923).

Sources

New York State Senate
Preceded by
Erastus Corning
New York State Senate
Third District (Class 3)

1846 – 1847
Succeeded by
district abolished
Preceded by
Thomas B. Carroll
New York State Senate
Twelfth District

1852 – 1853
Succeeded by
Elisha N. Pratt
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.