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
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“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
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“What is most interesting and valuable in it, however, is not the materials for the history of Pontiac, or Braddock, or the Northwest, which it furnishes; not the annals of the country, but the natural facts, or perennials, which are ever without date. When out of history the truth shall be extracted, it will have shed its dates like withered leaves.”
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