On page 28 of volume 2 of the diary, Enos T. Throop (pronounced Troop) is mentioned as the governor who pardoned an Irish prisoner named James Moore. Pardoning was a big feature of the prison system during this era, as overcrowding threatened the integrity of Auburn Prison System, which was the model Sing Sing was ran in. Throop himself was a proponent of this system, called an “Auburnian”.

Throop was born on August 21, 1784 in Johnstown, Fulton County, which is located in central New York. His father was originally named George Bliss, and was reportedly adopted and educated by Reverend Benjamin Throop of Borah, Connecticut.  Enos Throop  received a classical education (meaning a focus on Greco-Roman knowledge, with a strong emphasis on Latin) before studying law at Albany, where he met and befriended future President Martin Van Buren. Law schools were not very common in the early half of the nineteenth century, so many lawyers-to-be trained in the field as an apprentice to an established lawyer where he read the law, copied legal documents, and observed. 

Throop eventually was admitted to the bar in 1806, and began practicing at Auburn. He quickly became involved in the political scene of the town as part of the Republican Party. He became a Cayuga County Clerk in 1811, and was elected to the House of Representatives for New York’s 20th congressional district in 1814. However, he was forced to resign his seat due to the great antagonism of his constituents after casting an affirmative vote on the Compensation Act, which changed the way congressmen were paid - from a daily compensation to around 1500 dollars a year.

After this political blunder, Throop returned home to Auburn to farm and practice law. In 1823, he served as a New York State Circuit Judge, a position he held until 1827. In 1828, he was elected New York’s Lieutenant Governor as a Democrat with the support of his old friend Martin Van Buren. In March 1829, he became Governor when Governor Van Buren resigned to serve as Secretary of State in the first Jackson administration. In 1830, he was elected to the same post, this time in his own right by popular vote. He oversaw liberal policies like the passage of legislation that provided asylum for the impoverished insane and ending the practice of imprisoning debtors. He didn’t run for re-election in 1832, reportedly due to his strong opposition to the popular plan of construction of the Chenango Canal.

In 1833, President Andrew Jackson appointed him Naval Officer of the Port of New York, probably as part of the president’s infamous spoils system where he awarded loyal supporters. He held this post until 1838, when President Van Buren appointed him Chargeé d’affaires to the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, which eventually became part of the unified country of Italy. After his post ended in 1842, Throop again returned to the Auburn area, where he resided on the shore of the Owasco Lake. In 1847, he moved out west to the new state of Michigan, where he speculated real estate for a time before retiring back to Auburn in 1857.

He was still residing in his familial lands as of 1865, apparently living with his similarly named nephew, Enos Martin. He then reportedly spent some time in New York City after 1868, before returning back to his nephew’s home where he died on November 1st, 1874

Sources

[1] Lewis, W. David, From Newgate to Dannemora: The Rise of the Penitentiary in New York, 1796-1848, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1965), 41-45.

[2] Ibid., 169-170.

[3] Peter Eisenstadt, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York State, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2005), 1557.

[4] John Homer Bliss, ed., Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America, (Boston: John Homer Bliss, 1881), 89-90.

[5] James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 1 (New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company, 1900), 107,  https://archive.org/details/appletonscyclopa01wils/page/n10; Eisenstadt, The Encyclopedia of New York State, 1557.

[6] Susan Katcher, “Legal Training in the United States: A Brief History,” Wisconsin International Law Journal 24, no. 1 (July 2006): p. 341, https://hosted.law.wisc.edu/wordpress/wilj/files/2012/02/katcher.pdf.

[7] Wilson and Fiske, Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography.

[8] Eisenstadt, The Encyclopedia of New York State, 1557.

[9] Wilson and Fiske, Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 107; "Mortuary Notice." Evening Post (New York, New York), no. 70, November 2, 1874: [3]. Readex: America's Historical Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=EANX&docref=image/v2:10945F2563DD7908@EANX-13DC848AA369B450@2405830-13D9D105DD34B710@2-13EAA6D79E1C26C4@Mortuary+Notice; 30. An Act to change the mode of compensation to the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the delegates from territories, (1816): 257-258.

[10] Eisenstadt, The Encyclopedia of New York State, 1557.

[11] Wilson and Fiske, Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 107.

[12]  Eisenstadt, The Encyclopedia of New York State, 1557.

[13] Wilson and Fiske, Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 107; "Mortuary Notice." Evening Post (New York, New York), no. 70, November 2, 1874: [3]. Readex: America's Historical Newspapers.