John Jay (lawyer), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

John Jay (lawyer)

American lawyer and diplomat

Date of Birth: 23-Jun-1817

Place of Birth: New York City, New York, United States

Date of Death: 05-May-1894

Profession: lawyer, politician, diplomat

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

John Jay (June 23, 1817 – May 5, 1894) was an American lawyer and diplomat to Austria-Hungary, serving 1869–1875.
He was the son of William Jay and a grandson of Chief Justice John Jay of the United States Supreme Court.
Jay was active in the anti-slavery movement, elected president of the New York Young Men's Antislavery Society while still in college.
He published several speeches and pamphlets on slavery and history, and was elected in 1889 as president of the American Historical Association. Jay defended numerous fugitive slaves in court and helped several gain freedom.
In 1852 Jay led a team of attorneys in New York City in Lemmon v.
New York, gaining the freedom of eight Virginia slaves brought to New York by their owners in transit to Texas.
The ruling survived appeals through the state courts.
In 1854 Jay was among the founders of the Republican Party in the United States.
In 1883 he was appointed as the Republican member of the New York Civil Service Commission, founded to reduce patronage and corruption in government, and later was selected as its president.