Charles E. Dudley Explained

Charles Dudley
Nationality:American
Image Name:Charles E. Dudley bioguide.jpg
Jr/Sr:United States Senator
State:New York
Term Start1:January 15, 1829
Term End1:March 3, 1833
Preceded1:Martin Van Buren
Succeeded1:Nathaniel P. Tallmadge
Office2:Mayor of Albany, New York
Term Start2:1828
Term End2:1829
Preceded2:James Stevenson
Succeeded2:John Townsend
Office3:Member of the New York State Senate
Term Start3:1820
Term End3:1825
Office4:Mayor of Albany, New York
Term Start4:1821
Term End4:1824
Preceded4:Philip S. Van Rensselaer
Succeeded4:Ambrose Spencer
Birth Date:23 May 1780
Birth Place:Johnson Hall, Eccleshall, Staffordshire, England
Death Place:Albany, New York
Resting Place:Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 61, Lot 1
Spouse:Blandina Bleecker
Party:Democratic-Republican
Democratic
Profession:Merchant

Charles Edward Dudley (May 23, 1780January 23, 1841) was an American businessman and politician. A member of Martin Van Buren's Albany Regency, Dudley served as mayor of Albany, New York, a member of the New York State Senate, and a U.S. Senator.

Early life

Dudley was born at Johnson Hall, Eccleshall, Staffordshire during the American Revolution to Loyalist parents. His father, Charles Dudley, was an Englishman who had served as Collector of the King's Customs at Newport, Rhode Island, where he married Catherine Cooke, of a Rhode Island colonial family. His paternal grandparents were Thomas Dudley and Mary (Levett) Dudley of Staffordshire, England.

In November 1775, his father had abandoned his office at Newport and sought refuge on board a British ship of war. The following year, he took up residence in England, where his wife joined him. The family remained in England until his father's death in 1790. In 1795, Dudley's mother returned to Rhode Island, bringing with her the fifteen-year-old youth, who was schooled in Newport.[1]

Career

Near the beginning of the nineteenth century, Dudley worked as a clerk in a counting room and made voyages from New York to the East Indies as a supercargo. He later moved to Albany, New York, where he engaged in the mercantile business and married into a prominent political Albany family.[1]

Political career

Dudley entered public life when he was in his late thirties. He joined the Albany Regency, the coterie which Martin Van Buren formed to lead the Bucktails, the group which fought DeWitt Clinton for control of New York's Democratic-Republican Party.[1]

Dudley was a presidential elector in the election of 1816 and voted for James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins. He served as an Albany alderman from 1819 to 1820. He was mayor from 1821 to 1824, and a member of the New York State Senate from 1820 to 1825. He was mayor again from 1828 to 1829.

U.S. Senator

Dudley was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1828. When Van Buren resigned his seat in the United States Senate to become Governor of New York in 1829, Dudley was elected to fill the vacancy.

Dudley took his seat on January 15, 1829, and remained in office until the end of his term on March 3, 1833. He was an early example of the businessman in the Senate, where he played an inconspicuous role, but loyally supported the Jackson administration.[1]

Later life

Dudley retired at the end of his term and spent the rest of his life in Albany, retaining his interest in politics as Jackson, Van Buren and others worked to form the Democratic Party after the Democratic-Republicans split in 1824, depending on which presidential candidate they supported.[1]

Personal life

Dudley married Blandina Bleecker (1783–1863), a member of a prominent Albany family. Blandina was a daughter of Rutger Bleecker (a grandson of mayor Rutger Jansen Bleecker) and Catharine (Elmendorf) Bleecker.[1]

Dudley died in Albany on January 23, 1841. He was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.[2]

Legacy

Dudley was an amateur astronomer. In 1856, his widow provided funds for an observatory in Albany, the Dudley Observatory, which was named for her husband.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sabine . Lorenzo . Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution: With an Historical Essay . 1864 . Little, Brown & Co. . 978-0-608-40311-3 . 394 . 29 November 2021 . en.
  2. Web site: DUDLEY, Charles Edward 1780 – 1841 . bioguide.congress.gov . . 29 November 2021.
  3. "Charles Edward Dudley." Dictionary of American Biography. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.