David Gardiner Esq. (1784 - 1844)

Born 29 May 1784 in East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 28 Feb 1844 at age 59 in Aboard USS Princeton near Fort Washington, Prince George's County, Maryland, USA

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Biography

David Gardiner Esq. is Notable.

Politician, Lawyer, New York State Senator, 1824-1828.

David was born in 1784 in Suffolk County, New York, to parents Abraham and Phoebe (Dayton) Gardiner.

He graduated from Yale College in 1804 and became a lawyer.

David married Julia McLachlan, an heiress to a New York brewery fortune, in 1816.

They removed to Gardiner's Island, Suffolk county, New York, which they leased from the widow of David's cousin, John Lyon Gardiner, and remained there until 1825.

Gardiner wrote a series of historical articles on East Hampton which were published in the Corrector newspaper in 1840. These were compiled and published in 1871 as Chronicles of the Town of Easthampton, County of Suffolk, New York.

David Gardiner was a guest of Pres. John Tyler, (who was courting his daughter, Julia), aboard the USS Princeton on a pleasure cruise on the Potomac, when a cannon exploded, killing him and several others.

Awful Explosion

U.S.S. Princeton, 1844.

Of the “Peace-Maker” (cannon) on board the U. S. steam frigate Princeton, on Wednesday, 28th Feb 1844.

Guests boarded the Princeton in the morning on February 28, 1844, at the dock in Alexandria, Virginia. Captain Stockton greeted his passengers in full dress uniform as the band played the “Star Spangled Banner,” setting the festive mood as they made sail. The warship then steamed down the Potomac River towards George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon.

Along the way, guests were entertained by test-firings of the Peacemaker. The first two went off without a hitch, but when the gun was fired for a final time, it exploded and sent hot metal shrapnel flying across the deck. Six people were killed, including Secretary of State Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Gilmer.

President Tyler and Julia had been below deck and avoided injury. A correspondent from the New York Sun reported that the president “rushed to the deck, and when he saw the dead bodies of Upshur and Gilmer, he wept bitterly.” At the same time, it was discovered that Julia’s father David Gardiner was among the dead. Julia was so distraught that she was said to have fainted, and a weeping Tyler gathered her into his arms and carried her to a rescue ship.

After the catastrophe, Tyler was even more determined to marry Julia. Though she had resisted the president’s previous marriage proposals, the tragedy had changed her mind. “After I lost my father,” she later wrote, “I felt differently toward the president. He seemed to fill the place and to be more agreeable in every way than any younger man ever was or could be”

Pres. John Tyler and Julia Gardiner.

Tyler and Julia were married in a private ceremony at the Church of Ascension in New York City on June 26, 1844. The couple eventually had seven children together, the last of whom was born in 1860, when Tyler was 70. Amazingly, two of their grandchildren were still living in 2020! Although Julia was just 41 years old when Tyler died in 1862, she never remarried.

Research Notes

From Find a Grave memorial :

Burial: South End Cemetery, East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, USA.

Bio: David is the father of First Lady Julia Tyler, father-in-law of President John Tyler. David was a member of the New York state senate of the 1st. District from 1824 to 1827. David his daughter Julia and President Tyler were all on board the U.S.S. Princeton on the Potomac River near Fort Washington, when a cannon burst and killed many people, David was one of the people killed. The President and Julia almost lost their lives that day too. David was originally entombed at the Congressinoal Cemetery, Washington D.C. He was later interred at the South End Cemetery, East Hampton, Long Island, New York.

Family Members

Parents

Capt Abraham Gardiner 1763-1796

Phebe Dayton Gardiner 1757-1810

Spouse

Juliana MacLachlan Gardiner 1799-1864

Siblings

Abraham Gardiner Jr 1782-1827

Mary Smith Gardiner Van Wyck 1788-1858

Judge Samuel Smith Gardiner 1789-1859

Nathaniel Gardiner 1792-1856

Children

Col. David Lion Gardiner 1816-1892

Alexander Gardiner 1818-1851

Julia Gardiner Tyler 1820-1889

Margaret Gardiner Beeckman 1822-1857

Sources

• "United States Census, 1820", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHL1-WTH : Wed Mar 06 07:12:49 UTC 2024), Entry for David Gardiner, 1820, East Hampton, Suffolk, New York.
• "United States Census, 1830", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPQ-DJJ : Fri Mar 08 12:10:15 UTC 2024), Entry for David Gardiner, 1830, East Hampton, Suffolk, New York.
• "United States Census, 1840", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHR5-F2K : Sun Mar 10 07:55:20 UTC 2024), Entry for David Gardiner, 1840, East Hampton, Suffolk, New York.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6685073/david-gardiner: accessed April 15, 2024), memorial page for David Gardiner (29 May 1784–28 Feb 1844), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6685073, citing South End Cemetery, East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, USA; Maintained by TM (contributor 46497701).
• "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W63-BNC : 10 February 2018), David Gardiner in entry for David Lion Gardiner, 09 May 1892; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,322,839.
• Wikipedia contributors, "David Gardiner (politician)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Gardiner_(politician)&oldid=1218668769 (accessed April 16, 2024).