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VAN BUREN, Martin (1782-1862)
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Senate Years of Service: 1821-1828

VAN BUREN, MARTIN, (half brother of James Isaac Van Alen), a Senator from New York, a Vice President and 8th President of the United States; born in Kinderhook, Columbia County, N.Y., December 5, 1782; attended the village schools; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Kinderhook, N.Y., in 1803; moved to Hudson, N.Y., in 1809; surrogate of Columbia County 1808-1813; member, State senate 1813-1820; attorney general of New York 1816-1819; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1821; elected as a Democratic Republican (later Crawford Republican and then Jacksonian) to the United States Senate; reelected in 1827, and served from March 4, 1821, until December 20, 1828, when he resigned, having been elected Governor; chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (Eighteenth through Twentieth Congresses); Governor of New York from January to March 1829, when he resigned to enter the Cabinet; appointed Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson and served from March 1829, until his resignation, effective May 1831, when he was commissioned Minister to Great Britain; the Senate rejected his nomination in January 1832, and he returned to the United States; elected, as a Democrat, Vice President of the United States on the ticket with Andrew Jackson and served from March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1837; elected, as a Democrat, President of the United States and served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841; unsuccessful candidate for reelection as President on the Democratic ticket in 1840 and on the Free-Soil ticket in 1848; withdrew from political life and retired to his country home, 'Lindenwald,' in Kinderhook, N.Y., where he died July 24, 1862; interment in Kinderhook Cemetery.

Boston Public Library
Boston, MA
Papers: 12 items.
Cincinnati Historical Society
Cincinnati, OH
Papers: Correspondence in Abraham Robinson Johnston papers, 1834-1849.
Columbia County Historical Society
Kinderhook, NY
Papers: 59 items. Chiefly family papers. Also discussed in Fitch family papers, 1812-1936 (bulk 1812-1861); and Jonathan Rider Cady miscellaneous manuscripts, 1802-1918 (bulk 1802-1842).
Columbia University
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
New York, NY
Papers: 41 letters from Van Buren in Azariah Flagg papers, 1824-1866, on 1 microfilm reel; correspondence in Hamilton family papers, 1768-1930; and in Renwick family papers, 1794-1916.
Connecticut Historical Society
Hartford, CT
Papers: 8 items (1830-1859) in various collections; and correspondence in Stearns family papers, 1785-1918.
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
Papers: Correspondence in Ralph Haskins papers, 1800-1850.
Filson Club Historical Society
Louisville, KY
Papers: Miscellaneous letters and references in various collections.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Papers: Discussed in Jonathan Roberts' memoir, "A Father's recollection addressed to his children as a legacy transmissible to his descendants in future time, 1799-1830''; correspondence in Joel Roberts Poinsett papers, 1785-1851; and letters (1836-1862) from Van Buren in Gilpin family papers; and Ogden D. Wilkinson collection, 1684-1856.
Knox College
Seymour Library
Galesburg, IL
Papers: 2 letters (April 5, 1853; no date) in Bookfellow Foundation autograph collection, 1793-1945; and 1 letter (November 29, 1851) in Sang autograph collection, 1751-1954.
Library of Congress
Manuscript Division
Washington, DC
Papers: 1787-1868. 17 containers. Letters received and drafts of letters sent, primarily concerning state and national politics, banking, and economic issues; notes on legal cases, law topics, and speeches; statements of accounts, agreements, bonds, and court briefs; state papers such as government acts, reports, and treaties; and manuscript of his autobiography. Available on 35 microfilm reels. Also papers, 1799-1861. 5 containers. Finding aid.
Additional Papers: Correspondence in Commissioners of the City of Washington records, 1791-1869, on 1 microfilm reel; in Robert R. Hunter papers, 1822-1887; and Nicholas Philip Trist papers, 1795-1873.
Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston, MA
Papers: 1807-1882. 1 box. Also ca. 125 letters and papers in various collections.
Museum of the City of New York
New York, NY
Papers: 1 item (1862). Bill for board; and a portrait.
New Jersey Historical Society
Newark, NJ
Papers: Correspondence in Canfield-Dickerson families papers, 1738-1920; and Kinney family papers, 1783-1900.
New-York Historical Society
New York, NY
Papers: 1806-1860. Ca. 100 items. Miscellaneous papers.
Additional Papers: Correspondence in Donald F. Clark collection, 1642-1920; and Charles Edward Dudley papers, 1805-1851.
New York Public Library
New York, NY
Papers: In George Bancroft papers, 1823-1890; and James A. Hamilton papers, [ca. 1740-1867].
New York State Historical Association
Cooperstown, NY
Papers: Official correspondence with Governor Van Buren in Reuben Hyde Walworth papers, 1827-1866; and 2 letters in miscellaneous manuscripts collection.
New York State Library
Manuscripts and Special Collections
Albany, NY
Papers: 1805-1866. Ca. 200 items. Correspondence (1811-1861), legal briefs, receipts, summons, autograph notes, and draft of speech. Also 4 letters in Albert H. Allen Tracy correspondence, 1815-1851.
Pierpont Morgan Library
New York, NY
Papers: 12 items. From vice-presidential and presidential years.
Rosenbach Museum and Library
Philadelphia, PA
Papers: 1803-1840. 14 items. Includes 10 letters (1803-1816) to William P. Van Ness concerning politics and business.
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Archives Division
Madison, WI
Papers: Correspondence in Marvin Henry Bovee papers, 1850-1884, on 1 microfilm reel.
University of Michigan
William L. Clements Library
Ann Arbor, MI
Papers: Ca. 30 items (1834-1836) in various collections. Finding aid.
University of Virginia
Alderman Library
Charlottesville, VA
Papers: Correspondence in various collections. Finding aid.
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site
Kinderhook, NY
Papers: 35 microfilm reels of originals (1787-1862) in Library of Congress; items in Van Buren miscellaneous family papers, 1809-1859; and a bust.
Virginia Historical Society
Richmond, VA
Papers: 5 letters and numerous items in various collections including correspondence with William Henry Roane in the Harrison family papers, 1756-1893.
Yale University Libraries
Manuscripts and Archives
New Haven, CT
Papers: 35 microfilm reels of originals (1703-1862) at Library of Congress; 1 microfilm reel of correspondence and manuscripts, 1813-1860; 1 microfilm reel of papers of originals (1808-1835) at New York Historical Society; and correspondence in Joseph Wheaton papers, 1797-1839; William Smith Mason collection, 1800-1929; Anson Conger Goodyear collection, 1813-1890; and Alfred White Van Sinderen collection, 1782-1969.
Xavier University
McDonald Memorial Library
Cincinnati, OH
Papers: 11 items (1829-1842) in Moses Dawson collection of political letters of the Jackson period, 1811-1845.
Pennsylvania State University
The Papers of Martin Van Buren
University Park, PA

Research Libraries Information Network In addition to the institutions listed above, items are also cataloged in collections at: Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, AL; American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA; Brown University, Providence, RI; Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Buffalo, NY; Chautauqua County Historical Society, Westfield, NY; Cornell University Libraries, Ithaca, NY; Dutchess County Historical Society, Poughkeepsie, NY; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY; Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York, NY; Hagley Museum and Library, Greenville, DE; Mills Mansion State Historic Site, Staatsburg, NY; New York City Municipal Archives, New York, NY; New York University Archives, New York, NY; New York Society Library, New York, NY; New York State Archives, Albany, NY; Northwestern University Library, Evanston, IL; St. Lawrence County Historical Association, Canton, NY; Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, CA; State University of New York, Buffalo, NY; State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Special Collections, Plattsburgh, NY; Syracuse University, George Arents Research Library, Syracuse, NY; Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA; University of Rochester, Rush Rhees Library, Rochester, NY; Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site, Newburgh, NY.

  • Alexander, Holmes Moss. The American Talleyrand: The Career and Contemporaries of Martin Van Buren, Eighth President. 1935. Reprint. New York: Russell & Russell, 1968.
  • Bancroft, George. Martin Van Buren to the End of His Public Career. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1889.
  • Brown, Richard Holbrook. "'Southern Planters and Plain Republicans of the North': Martin Van Buren's Formula for National Politics." Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1955.
  • Butler, William Allen. Martin Van Buren: Lawyer, Statesman and Man. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1862.
  • Cole, Donald B. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
  • Fitzpatrick, John C., ed. The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren. 2 vols. 1920. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1973. Originally published as American Historical Association Annual Report for the Year 1918, vol. 2.
  • Ford, Worthington C., ed. "Van Buren - Bancroft Correspondence, 1830-1845." Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings 42 (October 1908-June 1909): 381-442.
  • Harrison, Joseph Hobson, Jr. "Martin Van Buren and His Southern Supporters." Journal of Southern History 22 (November 1956): 438-58.
  • Huston, Reeve. "The 'Little Magician' after the Show: Martin Van Buren, Country Gentleman and Progressive Farmer, 1841-1862." New York History 85 (Spring 2004): 93-121.
  • Irelan, John R. History of the Life, Administration, and Times of Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States. Chicago: Fairbank & Palmer, 1887.
  • Lynch, Denis Tilden. An Epoch and a Man: Martin Van Buren and His Times. 2 vols. 1929. Reprint. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971.
  • Mackenzie, William Lyon. The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren: The Correspondence of His Friends, Family and Pupils. Boston: Cooke & Co., 1846.
  • Mintz, Max M. "The Political Ideas of Martin Van Buren." New York History 30 (October 1949): 422-48.
  • Mushkat, Jerome and Joseph G. Rayback. Martin Van Buren: Law, Politics, and the Shaping of Republican Ideology. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1997.
  • Niven, John. Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
  • Rayback, Joseph G. "Martin Van Buren: His Place in the History of New York and the United States." New York History 64 (April 1983): 121-35.
  • Remini, Robert V. "The Albany Regency." New York History 39 (1958): 341-55.
  • ___. Martin Van Buren and the Making of the Democratic Party. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959.
  • ___. "Martin Van Buren and the Tariff of Abominations." American Historical Review 63 (July 1958): 903-17.
  • Roper, Donald M. "Martin Van Buren as Tocqueville's Lawyer: The Jurisprudence of Politics." Journal of the Early Republic 2 (Summer 1982): 169-189.
  • Shade, William G. "'The Most Delicate and Exciting Topics': Martin Van Buren, Slavery, and the Election of 1836." Journal of the Early Republic 18 (Fall 1998): 459-84.
  • Shepard, Edward Morse. Martin Van Buren. 1892. Reprint, with new introduction by Robert V. Remini. New York: Chelsea House, 1980.
  • Silbey, Joel H. Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002.
  • Sloan, Irving J., ed. Martin Van Buren, 1782-1862: Chronology, Documents, Bibliographical Aids. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1969.
  • Smith, Richard Williams. "The Career of Martin Van Buren in Connection with the Slavery Controversy through the Election of 1840." Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 1959.
  • Sullivan, Wilson. "Martin Van Buren: Old Kinderhook the Politician." Mankind3 (June 1972): 34-38.
  • Van Buren, Martin. Inquiry into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States. Edited by Abraham Van Buren and John Van Buren. New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1867.
  • Whitehurst, Alto L. "Martin Van Buren and the Free Soil Movement." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1932.