Representative Enos Thompson Throop

Enos Thompson Throop (THROOP; August 21, 1784 – November 1, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who was the tenth governor of New York from 1829 to 1832 and served one term in the United States House of Representatives. As a member of the Republican Party representing New York—then commonly known as the Democratic-Republican Party—he contributed to the legislative process during a single term in Congress, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history.

Throop was born in Johnstown, New York, on August 21, 1784, the eldest child of George Bliss Throop and Abiah Thompson. He grew up in a politically active family: his maternal uncles Israel Thompson and Jesse Thompson served in the New York State Assembly, and his younger brother George B. Throop later served in the New York State Senate. Through his half-sister Eliza, who married first U.S. Representative Gershom Powers and then U.S. Representative William B. Rochester, he was connected to other prominent figures in New York politics. His extended family also included his nephew and namesake, Enos Thompson Throop Martin, who married Cornelia Williams Martin, a noted philanthropist and social activist in Auburn, New York. This familial environment helped orient Throop early toward public life and legal study.

Throop studied law in Albany, New York, in the office of attorney George Metcalfe, where he formed a lasting friendship with fellow law student Martin Van Buren, a relationship that would later shape his political career. He was admitted to the bar in 1806 and began practicing law in Auburn, New York, which would remain his principal home for much of his life. Aligning himself with the Democratic-Republican Party, he was appointed postmaster of Auburn and, in 1811, county clerk of Cayuga County. On the personal side, in 1814 he married Evelina Vredenburgh, daughter of William Vredenburgh, an early landholder and investor in the region. None of their children survived infancy, and Evelina died in 1834.

In 1814 Throop was elected to the Fourteenth United States Congress as a supporter of the war measures of President James Madison’s administration during the War of 1812. Serving from March 4, 1815, he took part in debates on the financial and legislative measures necessitated by the close of the war and the widespread disruption of public and private credit. During his term he supported and voted for the controversial act changing the compensation of members of Congress from six dollars a day to $1,800 per annum. Popular dissatisfaction with this change temporarily clouded his political fortunes; he was defeated in the congressional elections of April 1816 and resigned his seat on June 4, 1816, thus concluding his single term in the House of Representatives.

After leaving Congress, Throop resumed his legal career and remained active in New York state affairs. In April 1823 he was appointed judge of the Seventh Circuit of New York, a position he held until 1828. His judicial service enhanced his reputation for integrity and legal acumen, but his growing involvement in statewide politics, and his close association with Martin Van Buren and the emerging Democratic organization in New York, soon drew him back into electoral office. In 1828 he joined Van Buren’s ticket as the Democratic-Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of New York, a step that required him to resign his judgeship.

The 1828 elections were pivotal. It was widely expected that Andrew Jackson would be elected president and that Van Buren, if successful as governor, would be called to Washington as secretary of state, thereby vacating the governorship and the leadership of the New York Democratic Party. These expectations were realized. Van Buren was elected governor and then appointed secretary of state by President Jackson, and upon Van Buren’s resignation Throop, as lieutenant governor, succeeded to the governorship on March 12, 1829. He was elected in his own right in 1830, again defeating Francis Granger, who had been his opponent for the lieutenant governorship in 1828. As governor, Throop confronted major questions of internal improvements, most notably the proposed Chenango Canal. He opposed the canal project, a stance that provoked intense local opposition in the regions that would have benefited from the waterway. The vehemence of this opposition contributed to his decision in 1832 not to seek a third term. During his governorship, observers such as Alexis de Tocqueville took note of his relatively modest circumstances; Tocqueville visited Throop on his farm near Auburn and remarked on the fact that the governor engaged in farming for part of the year to supplement his small official salary.

After leaving the governorship, Throop continued his public service at the federal level. In 1833 President Andrew Jackson appointed him naval officer at the Port of New York, a key customs and revenue position, which he held until February 6, 1838. On that date President Martin Van Buren appointed him Chargé d’Affaires of the United States to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Throop served in this diplomatic post until January 12, 1842, representing American commercial and political interests in southern Italy. Following his return from Naples, he spent two years in Paris before returning to the United States. He then settled again in central New York on an estate on the banks of Owasco Lake near Auburn, where he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits.

In 1847 Throop moved west to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he purchased an 800-acre farm and became well known among agriculturists for his work in large-scale farming and land management. Advancing age eventually forced him to reduce his active involvement in agriculture, and in 1857 he returned to his former home near Auburn. In 1868 he moved to New York City, but after a few years he again returned to his residence near Auburn, maintaining his ties to the region where he had first established his legal and political career. He died at his estate, Willowbrook, near Auburn, on November 1, 1874, at the age of 90. Throop was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (now Sts. Peter and St. John Church) in Auburn. His memory is honored by a memorial in the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, bearing the Latin inscription “integer vitae scelerisque purus” (“upright of life and free from wickedness”). The Town of Throop in Cayuga County, New York, as well as Throop Avenue in Brooklyn and Throop Avenue in the Bronx, are named in his honor, reflecting his long and varied service as lawyer, legislator, governor, and diplomat.