| Office: | Mayor of Norwich, Connecticut |
| Term: | 1838 |
| Birth Name: | Charles James Lanman |
| Birth Place: | Norwich, Connecticut |
| Death Place: | New London, Connecticut |
| Alma Mater: | Yale College |
| Occupation: | Lawyer, politician, real estate investor |
| Parents: | James Lanman Marian Griswold Chandler |
| Relations: | 9, including Charles |
Charles James Lanman (June 5, 1795 – July 25, 1870) was an American lawyer and politician.
Lanman was born on June 5, 1795, in Norwich, Connecticut. He was one of four sons and eight daughters born to James Lanman (1769–1841) and Marian Griswold (Chandler) Lanman (1774–1817), a granddaughter of Governor Matthew Griswold. His father was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut who was a cousin of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.[1]
He attended Yale College, from where he graduated in 1814.[2]
Following his graduation from Yale, he studied law with his kinsman, Roger Griswold (the former Governor of Connecticut), and with his father before being admitted to the bar in 1817.[3]
Although he was invited by Henry Clay to settle in Kentucky, Lanman emigrated to the Michigan Territory in 1817 on the invitation of his friends, William Woodbridge (later a U.S. Senator and Governor of Michigan) and Lewis Cass (the 2nd Governor of the Michigan Territory and later the Secretary of War under Jackson, U.S. Ambassador to France under Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler and Secretary of State under Buchanan),[3] making the journey from Buffalo to Detroit largely on horseback.[3]
While in Michigan, Lanman began practicing law as a partner with Woodbridge.[4] While "riding the circuit he visited Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, where he married the daughter of Frenchman" and settled there. In Frenchtown, he "held many local positions, such as attorney for the Territory, Judge of Probate, colonel of Militia, inspector of customs, and postmaster of Frenchtown." President Monroe appointed him receiver of public moneys for the District of Michigan and he was reappointed by President Adams, serving from 1823 to 1831. He was also an extensive dealer in public lands; owning at one time the entire site upon which the city of Grand Rapids was built, and was one of the founders of the town of Tecumseh."
He returned to Norwich in 1835 for "family considerations". Although he lost the bulk of his properties in Michigan during the Panic of 1837, he was chosen Mayor of Norwich in 1838 and then president of the Norwich Water Power Company.[5] [6] In 1862, he moved to New London, Connecticut "because of his intense love of the scenery and air of the ocean."[5]
On March 19, 1819, Lanman was married to Marie Jeanne Guie (1801–1879), a native of Canada who was a daughter of Antoine Francois Guie and Mary Angelica (Bourdeau) Guie. Together, they were the parents of nine children, seven daughters and two sons, of whom the following survived to adulthood:[7]
Lanman died in New London on July 25, 1870.[15] His widow died at their daughter Susan's residence in East Orange, New Jersey, in 1879 and was buried with Lanman in Norwich.[5]