Friend Humphrey | |
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Mayor of Albany, New York | |
In office 1849–1850 | |
Preceded by | John Taylor |
Succeeded by | Franklin Townsend |
In office 1843–1845 | |
Preceded by | Barent Philip Staats |
Succeeded by | John Keyes Paige |
Member of the New York State Senate for the Third District | |
In office 1840–1841 | |
Preceded by | Edward P. Livingston |
Succeeded by | Erastus Corning |
Personal details | |
Born | Simsbury, Connecticut | March 8, 1787
Died | March 15, 1854 Albany, New York | (aged 67)
Political party | Whig |
Spouses | Hannah Hinman
(died 1822)Julia Ann Hoyt
(m. 1824; died 1851) |
Friend Humphrey (March 8, 1787 – March 15, 1854) was an American merchant, Whig state Senator from New York, and Mayor of Albany from 1849 to 1850.
He was born in Simsbury, Connecticut on March 8, 1787. He was a son of Noah Humphrey Jr. (1726–c. 1790) and Margaret (née Phelps) Humphrey (c. 1746–c. 1808).[1] His brother was General Chauncey Humphrey.[2]
He was courageous, strong, very energetic, never afraid to do right. Albany never had a Mayor better understood or more popular.[2]
Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886, 1886
In 1811, he moved to Albany, New York, where he engaged in the leather trade,[2] under the name Friend Humphrey's Son of Albany.[3]
He was a Whig member of the New York State Senate (3rd D.) in 1840 and 1841.[4]
He was Mayor of Albany from 1843 to 1845, and from 1849 to 1850.[4] As mayor, he was known for the advancement of learning and "sound morals", closing the markets on Sunday.[2]
Humphrey married Hannah Hinman (1792–1822), a daughter of Dr. Aaron B. Hinman and Gertrude (née VanderHeyden) Hinman. Her sister Gertrude married Andrew Douw Lansing.[5] Before her death, they were the parents of:[5]
In 1824, he married was Julia Ann Hoyt (1804–1851), a daughter of Mary (née Barnum) Hoyt and David Picket Hoyt, a descendant of Simon Hoyt, who landed in Massachusetts in 1628 and settled in Windsor, Connecticut, and Walker Hoyt, who was one of the first settlers of Norwalk.[6] Through her brother James, she was an aunt to Colgate Hoyt and Wayland Hoyt. Together, they were the parents of:
He died on March 15, 1854, in Albany, leaving a good estate, and was buried at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.[9]
Around 1841, Humphrey built a two-story frame farmhouse with a gable roof and two symmetrically placed chimneys, today known as the Friend Humphrey House, in Colonie in Albany County, New York.
The transitional vernacular Greek Revival / Federal style dwelling,[10] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[11]