Senator Garret Dorset Wall

Garret Dorset Wall (March 10, 1783 – November 22, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer, and United States Senator from New Jersey. A member of the Jacksonian Party who later aligned with the Democratic Party, he served one term in the U.S. Senate from 1835 to 1841 and was a prominent figure in New Jersey’s legal, military, and political life in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although elected governor of New Jersey in 1829, he declined to assume the office.

Wall was born in Middletown Township, New Jersey, on March 10, 1783. He completed preparatory studies in his youth before turning to the study of law. After reading law in the customary manner of the time, he was licensed as an attorney in 1804 and as a counselor in 1807. He then commenced the practice of law in Burlington, New Jersey, which became his long-term professional and residential base.

In addition to his legal practice, Wall pursued a parallel career in public service and the state militia. During the War of 1812 he served in the United States forces and commanded a volunteer regiment from Trenton, reflecting his early engagement in military affairs. He was appointed clerk of the New Jersey Supreme Court, serving from 1812 to 1817, and from 1815 to 1837 he held the post of Quartermaster General of New Jersey, overseeing important logistical and supply responsibilities for the state’s militia.

Wall’s political career advanced steadily in the 1820s. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1827, participating in state legislative affairs. In 1829 he was appointed United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, serving as the chief federal prosecutor in the state. That same year he was elected governor of New Jersey, but he declined to serve and did not assume the office, an unusual step that nevertheless did not halt his rise in national politics.

Garret Dorset Wall was elected as a Jacksonian to the United States Senate from New Jersey and later identified with the Democratic Party as that organization coalesced out of the Jacksonian movement. He served in the Senate from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1841, representing New Jersey for one full term and contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history. While in the Senate he held several important committee assignments: he was chairman of the Committee on the Militia during the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses, and he served as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary in the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses and on the Committee on Military Affairs in the Twenty-fifth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1840, concluding his Senate service in 1841 after one term in office.

After leaving Congress, Wall returned to New Jersey and continued his legal and judicial career. In 1848 he was appointed a judge of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, then the state’s highest appellate tribunal. He served on that court from 1848 until his death, helping to shape New Jersey jurisprudence in the final years of his life. His long tenure in various legal and military posts, combined with his national legislative service, made him a central figure in the state’s public affairs over several decades.

Wall’s family was also prominent in New Jersey politics. He was the father of James Walter Wall, who later served as a U.S. Senator from New Jersey. His daughter Maria Matilda Wall married Peter Dumont Vroom, a governor of New Jersey, and was the mother of Peter D. Vroom, extending the family’s influence into another generation of public service. Wall Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, was named in his honor, reflecting the enduring recognition of his contributions to the state.

Garret Dorset Wall died in Burlington, New Jersey, on November 22, 1850, while still serving on the Court of Errors and Appeals. He was interred in Saint Mary’s Episcopal Churchyard in Burlington, where his grave marks the resting place of a lawyer, soldier, and statesman who played a significant role in New Jersey and national public life in the early republic and Jacksonian eras.