b. 1786
d. 1857-07-04
William Learned Marcy, American secretary of state, was born in Sturbridge (later
Southbridge), Massachusetts. Educated at Woodstock Academy and Brown University, Marcy
studied law in New York and became active in politics. He served with the 155th Regiment
during the War of 1812, and in April 1816, he was appointed recorder for the city
of Troy, New York, a position he held, with some interruptions, to 1823. He served
as comptroller for New York state, 1823-29, associate justice of the state supreme
court, 1829-31, and as US senator from 1831 to January 1833, when he resigned to run
for governor.
A life-long Democrat, Marcy served as governor of New York from 1833-38, member of
the Mexican Claims Commission from 1840-42, as secretary of war in the administration
of President James K. Polk from 1844-48, and secretary of state under Franklin Pierce,
1852-56, during which time he was responsible for negotiating the Reciprocity Treaty
with the British North American colonies in 1854. Marcy retired from public office
in the spring of 1857. He died at Ballston, New York, on 4 July 1857.
Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribner's, 1964). Vol.6, pp. 274-77. BCPO 123.4.