Samuel L . Southard Samuel Lewis Southard ( June 9 , 1787June 26 , 1842 ) was a prominent U . S . statesman of the early 19th century , serving as a U . S . Senator , Secretary of the Navy , and the tenth Governor of New Jersey . History . The son of Henry Southard and brother of Isaac Southard , he was born in Basking Ridge , New Jersey , attended the Brick Academy classical school and graduated from Princeton University in 1804 . He is descended from one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam , Anthony Janszoon van Salee . Early career . After teaching school in New Jersey , he worked for several years as a tutor in Virginia and studied law there . Upon being admitted to the bar , he returned to New Jersey , where he was appointed law reporter by the New Jersey Legislature in 1814 . Elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1815 , Southard was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court to succeed Mahlon Dickerson shortly thereafter , and in 1820 served as a presidential elector . He was elected to a seat in the United States Senate over James J . Wilson and was appointed to the remainder of Wilson ' s term when he resigned , and served in office from January 26 , 1821 , to March 4 , 1823 when Southard himself resigned . During this time , he was a member of the committee that produced the Missouri Compromise . Navy career . President James Monroe selected Senator Southard to be Secretary of the Navy in September 1823 , and he remained in office under President John Quincy Adams . During these years , he also served briefly as " ad interim " Secretary of the Treasury ( 1825 ) and Secretary of War ( 1828 ) . Southard proved to be one of the most effective of the Navy ' s early Secretaries . He endeavored to enlarge the Navy and improve its administration , purchased land for the first Naval Hospitals , began construction of the first Navy dry docks , undertook surveys of U . S . coastal waters and promoted exploration in the Pacific Ocean . Responding to actions by influential officers , including David Porter , he reinforced the American tradition of civilian control over the military establishment . Also on Southard ' s watch , the Navy grew by some 50 % in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man - of - war . Political life . In 1829 , after leaving his Navy post , Samuel Southard became New Jersey Attorney General following Theodore Frelinghuysen in that post . Elected Governor over Peter D . Vroom by a vote of 40 to 24 by the joint session of the Legislature in 1832 , he re - entered the U . S . Senate in the following year . During the next decade , he was a leader of the Whig Party and a figure of national political importance . As President pro tempore of the Senate , he became Acting Vice President from April 4 , 1841 to May 31 , 1842 after the death of William Henry Harrison and the Vice President John Tyler becoming President . Failing health forced his resignation from the Senate in 1842 . Samuel Southard died in Fredericksburg , Virginia on June 26 of that year . He was interred in the Congressional Cemetery . Societies . During the 1820s , Southard was a member of the prestigious society , Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences , who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day , including well - known representatives of the military , government service , medical and other professions . Legacy . The destroyer " USS Southard " ( DD - 207 ) , ( later DMS - 10 ) , 1919 – 1946 , was named in his honor . There is also a public park in Basking Ridge , New Jersey named after him .