Phineas Lyman Tracy

b. 25 December 1786, d. 22 December 1876
  • Phineas Lyman Tracy was born on 25 December 1786 in Norwich, New London County, Connecticut.
  • He married Harriett Lay, daughter of Unknown (?), circa 1815.
  • Phineas Lyman Tracy and Harriett Lay appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1860 in Batavia, Genesee County, Connecticut, and also Julia L[ay?] Axtell, age 59, and Mary M. Axtell, among others. Note Julia Axtell living with George Lay and family.
  • He was a Gentleman, according to the 1860 census.
  • Phineas Lyman Tracy died on 22 December 1876 at age 89 in Batavia, Genessee County, New York.
  • He was interred at Batavia Cemetery, Batavia, Genesee County, New York.
  • The following appeared on 30 January 1877 in the Georgia Weekly Telegraph: We have been handed the annexed notice of the death of Judge Phineas L. Tracy of Batavia, New York. The name of Tracy is endeared to Georgians. The late Edward D. Tracy was one of the founders of Macon, and was the first Intendent of the city, being elected to that position two years after the first street was laid off and lots sold for building a town. He was distinguished as a lawyer, a judge, a linguist and scholar of highest attainments. His two sons, Philemon and Edward, inherited the talents of their father, and were well known as among the most rising young men in the South, when they fell, the one was a Brigadier-General under General Joseph E. Johnston in Mississippi, and the other a Major at the head of his regiment in Virginia, in defense of the noblest cause for which a man can die.
         The following is the notice: Died-- In Batavia, on the 22d December, 1876, Hon. Phineas L. Tracy.
         He would have been 90 years old on Christmas day. A good and just man, full of years and ripe for the harvest, has bone to his peaceful rest. His mother earth received his mortal remains on the day of the anniversary of his birth. He was born on the 25th day of December, 1786, in the town of Norwich, in the State of Connecticut. His father was Dr. Philemon Tracy, and he survived his only brothers, Edward D. Tracy, who went in early life to the State of Georgia, where he was for many years Judge of the Superior Court, the late Albert H. Tracy, of Buffalo, who was an eminent jurist and statesman, and Dr. Richard Tracy, who succeeded his father in his profession of Norwich. Judge Tracy did not leave any children, and there is but one male descendant of the family now living, a son of his brother Albert H. Tracy. The family was remarkable in many respects, and the line of their ancestry is traced back to the earliest Puritan stock of New England. Their common ancestor, Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, came to Salem, Mass., in 1636, and removed to Norwich, Ct., in 1660, and was one of the original proprietors of the town. Some of his descendants intermarried with the celebrated family of Hyde, and were closely connected with the branch from which Chancellor Reuben Hyde Walworth descended.
         He graduated at Yale College in 1806 and was the sole survivor of his class, distinguished for many eminent men, among whom were Ex Governor Bissell, of Connecticut, Prof. Tulley, of Yale College, Senator Huntington, of Connecticut, and the Rev. Lucius Smith, formerly Rector of St. James Church, Batavia. At the time of his death he was probably the oldest living graduate of Yale College. After graduating, he commenced his law studies in Albany, and finished them at Utica, at which place he was admitted to the bar in the year 1811. He practiced law for a short time in the county of Madison, and came to Batavia in 1813, where he resided more than 63 years. He opened a law office and was immediately engaged in a very large practice. Genesee county then embraced what is now Genesee, the counties of Wyoming, Orleans, and parts of Monroe and Livingston counties. In this wide field, and among many lawyers eminent in their profession, he soon established a high reputation. Few lawyers have had so long or successful a career at the bar. He was thoroughly trained in the law, and conscientious in the discharge of all the duties of life. His cases were prepared with the utmost care, and he had an earnest and commanding eloquence both before the court and in addressing a jury.
         He was married to Harriett Lay in 1815, who died about five years since. This union lasted more than a half a century, and during the last and protracted illness of his wife, he showed her the most devoted tenderness. Soon after his marriage he formed a law partnership with the brother of his wife, Hon. George W. Lay, which was the only law partnership he ever had.
         In 1837 he was elected to Congress to fill a vacancy, and for two successive terms was re-elected, and then his partner, Mr. Lay, was elected as his successor. In this high position he sustained the high character and reputation he had won at the bar, and at the time of his death was probably the oldest living member of Congress. A few days before his death he received a letter from Hon. George Grennell, of Greenfield, Mass., in which he stated that he was in Congress with him, and that he was born on the same day-- on Christmas day, 1786, and that they were probably the eldest Congressmen living; but Judge Tracy was in Congress one term before his friend Mr. Grennell. In 1840 Judge Tracy was chosen Elector of General Harrison, and in 1841 he was appointed first judge of Genesee county by Governor Seward, the duties of which office he discharged with marked ability and integrity. He was truly a conscientious and upright judge. He adorned the bench with his courtesy, learning and integrity. On retiring from the bench, he did not continue the practice of the law to much extent. At the time of his death he was the Nestor of the bar, no one living in this part of the State having commenced the practice of law at an earlier day.
         In passing in review such a busy life, so long, so well spent, we should fail to do justice to the memory of one who filled so large and high a space in our community, did we not speak of his Christian character. He had been a member and one of the wardens and vestrymen of St. James Church for many years, and to which he had been nobly generous and devoted both in time and money.
         He was no common man, and his tall and commanding form and benignant countenance, which have been so familiar in our streets for so many years until within the past few days, will be long remembered. He was beloved by all; his integrity, his pure life in all his social and personal relations, his noble example and Christian virtues, enderared him to a community which he adorned, and in which he had lived for more than sixty-three years, and he will be mourned as one that has been gathered like a ripe sheaf of "grain into the garner." Blessed be his memory.
  • Last Edited: 26 Mar 2012

Family: Harriett Lay b. circa 1792, d. circa 1871