Thomas J. Van Alstyne
Thomas Jefferson Van Alstyne was a U.S. representative from New York.
Early life
Thomas Jefferson Van Alstyne was born on July 25, 1827, in Richmondville, New York. He was the son of Dr. Thomas B. Van Alstyne and Eliza Gile.Van Alstyne attended the common schools, Moravia Academy, and Hartwick Seminary. In 1848 he graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. In 1851, he received his Master of Arts degree from Hamilton.
Career
He studied law in Albany, New York, was Admission to [the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar] in 1849 and practiced in Albany. In 1848, he entered the law office of Harris and Van Vorst. In 1853, he was invited to and formed a partnership with Matthew McMahon.He served as a Union Army judge advocate with the rank of major during the Civil War. He served as judge of Albany County from 1871 to 1882.
Van Alstyne was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth Congress and served one term, March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885. In Congress, he was a member of the Committee on Claims and the Committee on Expenditures of the Department of Justice. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1884 to the Forty-ninth Congress and returned to the practice of law.
He served as mayor of Albany from 1898 to 1900. He won the Democratic primary for reelection but lost the election to James H. Blessing.
Personal life
Val Alstyne was married three times. He married his first wife, Sarah Clapp, on September 3, 1851. Before her death, they had together:- Thomas Butler Van Alstyne, who married Anna Richards.
- Charles Edwin Van Alstyne, who died young.
- William Thomas Van Alstyne.