ABSTRACT
Julia Gardiner was born May 4, 1820, on Gardiners Island, New York, and grew up in East Hampton, Long Island. Her father, David Gardiner, was a direct descendant of Lion Gardiner, who emigrated from England to Connecticut in 163 5 and subsequently purchased from the Indians the 3,300-acre island off the eastern tip of Long Island. Julia's mother, Juliana McLachlan Gardiner, was the daughter of a wealthy Scottish brewer from New York City. David Gardiner, a Yale graduate, practiced law in New York City from 1807 to 1815 and then leased and managed Gardiners Island from 1816 to 1822, while the heir apparent to the family estate was a minor. In 1822 he moved his family to East Hampton and thereafter spent his time managing his wife's extensive property holdings in New York City and giving legal advice to family members. A supporter of]ohn Quincy Adams, Gardiner was elected in 1824 to the New York State Senate, where he served until 1828.
