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From the pen of Aaron Burr, Vice-President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, also famous for having killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
"The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure and pleasure my business."
-- Letter to Pichon, reported in Marshall Brown, Wit and Humor of Bench and Bar (1899), p. 67.[1]
"There is a maxim, 'Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.' It is a maxim for sluggards. A better reading of it is, 'Never do today what you can as well do tomorrow,' because something may occur to make you regret your premature action."
-- Reported in Marshall Brown, Wit and Humor of Bench and Bar (1899), p. 67. Alternately reported as "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Delay may give clearer light as to what is best to be done", reported in Jacob Morton Braude, The Complete Art of Public Speaking (1970), p. 84.[1]
"Law is whatever is boldly asserted and plausibly maintained."
-- Reported in Burton Stevenson, Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims and Familiar Phrases (1948).[1]
Aaron Burr, Jr. (06 February 1756 – 14 September 1836) was the third Vice President of the United States (1801–1805), and served during President Thomas Jefferson's first term.
When Colonel Aaron Burr was quite young he was placed by his father for a time in the charge of Oliver Burr, who was his third cousin, to pursue his studies.[2]
After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer [3] and politician. He was elected twice to the New York State Assembly (1784–1785, 1798–1799), was appointed New York State Attorney General (1789–1791), was chosen as a United States Senator (1791–1797) from the state of New York, and reached the apex of his career as Vice President.
The highlight of Burr's tenure as President of the Senate (one of his few official duties as Vice President) was the Senate's first impeachment trial, of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.
In 1804, the last full year of his single term as Vice President, Burr killed his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Burr was never tried for the illegal duel, and all charges against him were eventually dropped. The death of Hamilton, however, ended Burr's political career. President Jefferson dropped him from the ticket for the 1804 presidential election, and he never held office again.[4]
In 1805 Burr traveled west and stopped at Blennerhassett Island, where he enjoyed the company of Harmon Blennerhassett and his charming wife. While he was there he was able to convince Mr. Blennerhassett to fund an adventure which was also being funded by Andrew Jackson.[5] This adventure is what caused Burr to be arrested and arraigned before a grand jury in Frankfort Kentucky. The charge was raising troops for illegal purposes. Burr was again arrested for treason and had to appear in Richmond, Virginia to answer those charges.[6] Eugene L. Didier's account of Burr here is sympathetic and avers that he was and has been slighted.[3]
There is a lot of discussion around the fact that Burr may have had two illegitimate mixed-race children with Mary Emmons, aka Eugénie Bearhani (phonetic spelling), a servant in the Philadelphia household, while his wife Theodosia was still alive. Burr was living away from his wife while serving in the state assembly located in Albany.[7]
Their children were Louisa Charlotte (born 1788) and John Pierre Burr (born 1792).[8]
His grave is at Princeton Cemetery, Princeton and his Memorial has pictures and links to his wives Eliza Bowen Jumel, with a fascinating biography, and Theodosia Stillwell Bartow Prevost Burr. There are also links to the children's memorials.
In his will, Burr freed a slave called Cato.
Acadian heritage connections: Aaron is 19 degrees from Beyoncé Knowles, 17 degrees from Jean Béliveau, 18 degrees from Madonna Ciccone, 18 degrees from Rhéal Cormier, 17 degrees from Joseph Drouin, 18 degrees from Jack Kerouac, 14 degrees from Anne Langstroth, 18 degrees from Matt LeBlanc, 14 degrees from Roméo LeBlanc, 17 degrees from Azilda Marchand, 14 degrees from Mary Travers and 18 degrees from Clarence White on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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