Daniel Cady (April 29, 1773 – October 31, 1859) was an American lawyer, politician and judge in upstate New York.[1] While perhaps better known today as the father of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Judge Cady had a full and accomplished life of his own.[2] He served one term as a U.S. representative from New York.
Life
Cady was born in that part of Canaan, Columbia County, New York which was later split off to form Chatham, New York. He was a son of Eleazer Cady (1745–1819)[3] and Tryphena (née Beebe) Cady (1749–1839).[4] His siblings included Typhema Cady (1768–?), Zilpha Cady Halsey (1770–1858), Eleazer Cady (1775–1856), Ruth Cady (1777–?), and Sally Cady Eaton (1780–1816).[4]
He learned the shoemaker's trade, but accidentally injured an eye and lost the sight of it at age 18. He then studied law, first in Canaan with Judge Whiting, then in Troy with John Woodworth at the Albany Law School. Cady was admitted to the bar in 1795, and commenced practice in Florida, Montgomery County.[6]
After a year in Florida, he moved to Johnstown, then the county seat. As a young lawyer, he worked with such notables as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, and toward the end of his career, he served on a case with Abraham Lincoln, where they each represented clients in a land dispute associated with Beloit College.[6]
Cady was elected as a Federalist to the 14th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817. He was not a candidate for renomination and after serving in the U.S. Congress, returned to the practice of law.[1][9]
He is considered by some the father of Fulton County, virtually engineering the county's creation in 1838 after the Montgomery county seat was moved from Johnstown to Fonda, New York. The newly established county was named after Robert Fulton, a cousin of Cady's wife.[9]
Personal life
Cady's daughter Elizabeth, and two of his grandsons, c. 1848
Tryphenia Cady (1804–1891), who married Edward Bayard (1806–1889), a Union College classmate of Eleazar and son of James Bayard, a U.S. Senator.[12]
Eleazer Livingston Cady (1806–1826), who died at age 20 just before his graduation from Union College.[11]
Harriet Elizabeth Cady (1810–1894), who married Daniel Cady Eaton (1804–1855), a son of Amos Eaton and brother of General Amos Beebe Eaton, and her first cousin.[4]
His wife was an unusually tall woman for her time, had a commanding presence, whom their daughter Elizabeth described as "queenly."[14] Margaret was said to have been emotionally devastated by the loss of so many children and fell into a depression, which prevented her from being fully involved in the lives of her surviving children.[14]
Through his daughter Elizabeth,[17] Daniel Cady was the grandfather of Daniel Cady Stanton (1842–1891), Henry Brewster Stanton, Jr. (1844–1903), Gerrit Smith Stanton (1845–1927), Theodore Weld Stanton (1851–1925; a prominent journalist), Margaret Livingston Stanton Lawrence (1852–1930), Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch (1856–1940; also a suffragist), and Robert Livingston Stanton (1859–1920).[18]