Jeremiah La Touche Cuyler Explained

Jeremiah La Touche Cuyler
Office:Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Georgia
Term Start:June 12, 1821
Term End:May 7, 1839
Appointer:James Monroe
Predecessor:William Davies
Successor:John Cochran Nicoll
Birth Name:Jeremiah La Touche Cuyler
Birth Date:4 June 1768
Birth Place:New York City,
Province of New York,
British America
Death Place:Savannah, Georgia

Jeremiah La Touche Cuyler (June 4, 1768 – May 7, 1839) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Georgia.

Early life

Cuyler was born on June 4, 1768, in New York City, Province of New York, British America. He was the sixth child of Jeanne (Latouche) Cuyler and Telamon Cuyler (1732–1772), a prominent merchant and trader. When he was just five months old, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia, where his father died of dropsy in September 1772. When his mother, a friend of the Marquis de Lafayette, returned to New York (where she died in 1799), he remained in Savannah.[1]

His paternal grandparents were prominent merchant Henry Cuyler (son of Hendrick Cuyler) and Maria (Jacobs) Cuyler (daughter of Hendrick Jacobson).[1] His maternal grandparents were Jeanne (Soumain) Latouche (a daughter of goldsmith Simeon Soumaine) and Jérémie Latouche, who was born in Bristol, England and moved to New York with his parents.[1]

Career

Cuyler read law in 1789, studying under John Stirk.[1] He entered private practice in Savannah from 1789 to 1821. He was a member of the Georgia State Senate.

He was elected Receiver of Tax Returns in 1795 from Effingham County, Georgia. On October 5, 1807, he was elected to the Georgia State Senate from Chatham County, Georgia, and served as an alderman of Savannah from 1808 to 1809.

Federal judicial service

Cuyler received a recess appointment from President James Monroe on June 12, 1821, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Georgia vacated by Judge William Davies. He was nominated to the same position by President Monroe on December 19, 1821. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 10, 1822, and received his commission the same day. His service ended upon his death in 1839.

Personal life

On April 21, 1793, Cuyler was married to Margaret Elizabeth Clarendon (1777–1835), the only child and heiress of Smith Clarendon and Margherita Meck Clarendon. Her father was a wealthy Englishman who built the first brick house in Savannah and her mother was the widow of John Meck of Germany.[1] Together, they were the parents of eleven children, including:

His wife died of dropsy in August of 1835. Cuyler died in Savannah, Georgia, on May 7, 1839, and was buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation . 1915 . Lewis Historical Publishing Company . 1189–1190 . 23 June 2022 . en.
  2. Book: Nicoll . Maud Churchill . The Earliest Cuylers in Holland and America and Some of Their Descendants: Researches Establishing a Line from Tydeman Cuyler of Hasselt, 1456 . 1912 . T.A. Wright, Printer and Publisher . 52 . 23 October 2019 . en.