Myndert M. Dox

Captain Myndert Marselis Dox (January 6, 1790 – September 8, 1830) was a soldier and government official in Western New York.

Captain
Myndert M. Dox
Collector of the Port of Buffalo
In office
1822–1829
Appointed byJames Monroe
Preceded byOliver Forward
Succeeded byPierre A. Barker
Personal details
Born
Myndert Marselis Dox

(1790-01-06)January 6, 1790
Albany, New York
DiedSeptember 8, 1830(1830-09-08) (aged 40)
Buffalo, New York
RelationsGerrit L. Dox (brother)
Peter Myndert Dox (nephew)
Parent(s)Pieter Dox
Catalyntje Lansing

Early life

Dox was born on January 6, 1790, in Albany, New York and was baptized in the Albany Dutch Reformed Church on January 17, 1790.[1] He was a son of Catalyntje Lansing and merchant and skipper Pieter Dox, who served in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.[2] His brother, Peter P. Dox, was Postmaster of Albany from 1814 until his death in November 1815 when he was succeeded by another brother, Gerrit Lansing Dox in January 1816, who later served as New York State Treasurer from February 1817 to January 1821.[1] Through his brother Abraham, he was uncle to Peter Myndert Dox, who represented Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1869 and 1873.[3]

His paternal grandparents were Abraham Dox and Rebecca (née Marselis) Dox (a daughter of his namesake Myndert Marselis).[4] His maternal grandparents were Gerrit Lansing Jr. and his second wife, the former Wyntie (née Vandenbergh) Lansing.[2][5]

Career

Dox relocated to Geneva, New York and during the War of 1812, served as a captain in the Thirteenth Regiment of Infantry from 1812 to 1815.[6][7] In 1817, Dox was elected to represent Seneca County in the New York State Assembly for the 41st New York State Legislature. He claimed his seat, but was not admitted. However, he was paid like a member until the final rejection of his claim. John Sutton was returned as elected from both Seneca Co. and Tompkins Co. which gave Dox a strong argument to pursue his claim vigorously, but without success.[8] It was reported that Dox "declined to take the oath prescribed by the law to prevent dueling, on account, it is said, of conscientious scruples which he entertained."[9]

In 1822,[10] President James Monroe appointed Dox to replace Collector of the Port of Buffalo Oliver Forward.[11][12] President John Quincy Adams wrote of Dox in his diary on March 24, 1828, claiming that Stephen Pleasonton, Auditor of the U.S. Treasury Department, had supplied him with letters and depositions asserting that Dox embezzled $4,000 intended for the construction of a light house on the Buffalo harbor.[13] Nevertheless, he remained in his post and was succeeded by Andrew Jackson's appointee Pierre A. Barker in 1829.[14][15]

Personal life

Dox died, unmarried,[1] in Buffalo on September 8, 1830.[16]

References
  1. Talcott, Sebastian Visscher (1973). Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8063-0537-0. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  2. Bielinski, Stefan. "Catharina Lansing Dox". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  3. Charles F. Milliken (1911). A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 368.
  4. Bielinski, Stefan. "Peter Dox". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  5. Munsell, Claude Garfield (1916). The Lansing family. A genealogy of the descendants of Gerritt Frederickse Lansing who came to America from Hasselt, province of Overijssell, Holland, 1640. Eight generations. New York: Priv. print. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  6. "From James Madison to Myndert M. Dox, 21 June 1816". founders.archives.gov. Founders Online, National Archives. Retrieved 19 January 2023. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 11, 1 May 1816–3 March 1817, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Mary Parke Johnson, Katharine E. Harbury, and Anne Mandeville Colony. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2020, p. 95.]
  7. "Page 2 in War of 1812 Pension Files". www.fold3.com. The National Archives. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  8. York (State), New (1818). Laws of the State of New York. p. 295. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  9. "Otsego Herald by Hugh MacDougall: Renaming the village". Cooperstown Crier. February 8, 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  10. "Appointments in the Revenue". Alexandria Gazette. 27 June 1822. p. 2. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  11. "OLIVER FORWARD". Buffalo Gazette. 29 April 1812. p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  12. Sheldon, James (1875). The Life and Public Services of Oliver Forward : Read Before the Buffalo Historical Society, January 25, 1875. Buffalo, New York: Press of Warren, Johnson & co. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  13. "John Quincy Adams Digital Diary | 24 March 1828". www.masshist.org. Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  14. "Appointments by the President". Vermont Republican and American Journal. Windham, Windsor and Orange County Advertiser. 9 May 1829. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  15. "A Directory for the Village of Buffalo" (PDF). Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  16. "DIED". The Evening Post. 15 September 1830. p. 2. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
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