Ross, William

WILLIAM ROSS, perhaps the most prominent member of the class admitted to the bar in 1801, was the son of Robert Ross, of Rossville, Newburgh. He was elected member of Assembly in 1808, 1809, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, and chosen Speaker of that body in February, 1811. During the same month he was appointed a master in chancery. Hammond, in his "Political History of New York," speaks of him as an "honest and kind-hearted man," and as being "sincerely and warmly attached" to the Democratic party; but affirms that he was vain and lacked real talent. In the absence of any knowledge upon the subject of Mr. Ross’ qualifications, we cannot pronounce judgment for or against Mr. Hammond’s criticism. Whatever may have been his failings he enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his constituents, who sufficiently attested their appreciation of him by transferring him from the Assembly to the Senate, where he served from 1815 to 1822, and while in that position was designated by the Assembly as a member of the Council of Apportionment, and served from 1816 to 1819. He died Sept. 5, 1830, in his fifty-fifth year. His wife (first), Mary S., daughter of John McLean, died March 31, 1812, aged twenty-six years. His eldest daughter, Mary McLean, married John F. Butterworth. His second wife was Caroline Middlebrook, of Connecticut.