US Congressman, New York City Mayor. He was the grandson of Cadwallader Colden, New York's royal Governor in the 1760s and 1770s. Privately tutored and studied in England before becoming an attorney in 1791, he was District Attorney of New York County in 1798 and again in 1810. He served as a militia officer and Colonel in the War of 1812, as a member of the New York Assembly in 1818, and Mayor of New York City, New York from 1818 to 1821. He was an unsuccessful Federalist candidate to represent New York's 1st Congressional District in the United States House in 1820, but successfully contested Peter Sharpe's election and claimed his seat in Congress, serving from December 1821 to March 1823. He served in the New York Senate from 1824 to 1827, where he was a leading advocate of constructing the Erie Canal. He then relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey, where he was active in construction of the Morris Canal.