Daniel D. Tompkins Birthplace
Village of Scarsdale, Westchester County, New York
Marker Inscription
Near This Spot Was Born June 21st 1774 Daniel D. Tompkins Governor Of The State Of New York 1807-1817 Vice-President Of The United States 1817-1825 This Site Is Marked By The Westchester County Historical Society Through The Generosity Of Charles Butler… transcription continues on the marker
This transcription may be incomplete
Our source stores marker text in a field capped at 255 characters, and this inscription appears to have been cut off. We won’t guess at the missing words — the inscription is the primary source, and inventing it would be worse than leaving it short.
Have you stood in front of this marker? Send us the full text or a photo of the sign and we’ll complete the record.
The Story
In 1774, near this spot in the countryside that would become Scarsdale, Daniel D. Tompkins was born into a New York on the eve of revolution. He rose to serve as the state's governor from 1807 to 1817 — the demanding War of 1812 years, when he pledged his own credit to keep New York's troops supplied — and then two terms as Vice President of the United States under James Monroe. The Westchester County Historical Society placed this marker, funded by Charles Butler, to fix the memory of where his life began.
Why it matters
Tompkins was one of the early republic's most consequential New Yorkers, a wartime governor and vice president whose career links the young state to the nation's highest office.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
This memorial marks a beginning: near this spot, in the summer of 1774, Daniel D. Tompkins was born into the New York countryside that would one day become Scarsdale. He entered the world on the very eve of the American Revolution, in a colony about to be swept into the fight for independence.
The New York of his childhood was still largely rural, a patchwork of farms and small communities in Westchester County. But it sat at the heart of the coming struggle, and the generation born in these years would grow up to build the institutions of a brand-new republic.
Tompkins came of age just as that republic was finding its footing. By the time he reached public life, the questions were no longer whether America would be independent, but how the young nation and his own rising state of New York would govern themselves and defend what they had won.
People & events
The marker traces the arc of a remarkable career. Daniel D. Tompkins served as Governor of the State of New York from 1807 to 1817, and then as Vice President of the United States from 1817 to 1825.
His governorship spanned the demanding years of the War of 1812, when the young nation once again faced Britain and New York stood on the front lines. In that crisis he became known for his energy in keeping the state's forces supplied and its defense organized during a genuinely perilous time. He then rose to the nation's second-highest office, serving as vice president through the two terms of President James Monroe.
The memorial itself has a smaller human story attached. It was placed by the Westchester County Historical Society and made possible through the generosity of Charles Butler — a reminder that local remembrance often depends on individuals who care enough to mark the spot before it is forgotten.
Its place in the American story
Tompkins belongs to that founding generation of state leaders who turned the promise of independence into working government. His career links a single Westchester birthplace to both the statehouse in New York and the highest councils of the nation.
As a wartime governor, he helped his state weather the War of 1812, a conflict that tested whether the young United States could survive a second confrontation with a great power. As vice president under Monroe, he served during a formative stretch of the early republic, when the nation was expanding and defining what kind of country it would be.
That combination — a consequential state leader who also reached national office — is what makes this modest marker significant. It anchors the story of the early republic to a specific patch of American ground, reminding us that national history is stitched together from countless local beginnings like this one.
If you visit
This is a marker that rewards curiosity more than sightseeing. It commemorates a birthplace "near this spot," so part of the experience is simply standing in a now-settled corner of Scarsdale and imagining the open countryside that once was.
Take a moment to read the tribute and notice who placed it and why — a county historical society and a single generous benefactor, working to keep a native son's memory fixed to the land. That small act of preservation is part of the story too.
If you're exploring the historic towns and villages of Westchester County, this makes a thoughtful, low-key stop. It pairs well with a broader look at New York's early statehood, and it invites you to remember that one of the era's most consequential New Yorkers began his life right here.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Daniel D. Tompkins
- · James Monroe
- · Charles Butler
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
General Worth Monument
New York, NY
This granite obelisk at the crossing of Fifth Avenue and Broadway honors William Jenkins Worth, a soldier from Hudson, New York, whose career traced the young republic's expanding military ambitions. He earned his commission in the War of 1812, spent the 1820s shaping the officer corps as Commandant of Cadets at West Point, and won his greatest fame in the hard-fought campaigns of the Mexican-American War of the 1840s. When he died in 1849, the city he served brought him home, and the monument that rose over his grave became one of the very few burial sites in Manhattan marked by a public memorial.
South
New York, NY
From the earliest days of the Republic, the vessels of the U.S. Coast Guard and its ancestor services—the Revenue Cutter Service among them—sailed from New York to defend the young nation and protect its commerce. During the War of 1812, cutters such as the Vigilant took part in the maritime fight against British power. This panel honors that long tradition of service launched from the harbor.
Macy's Monument
Village of Irvington, NY
V. Everit Macy (1871–1930) belonged to the wealthy Macy family and became one of Westchester County's most influential public figures during the Gilded Age and early Progressive era. Rather than simply enjoying his inherited fortune, he poured his time into public service, serving in county government and championing social welfare, parks, and civic improvement across the region. This monument honors that blend of private generosity and personal commitment to the common good that the inscription so plainly celebrates.
Cyrus Field Road
Village of Irvington, NY
In an age when a message could only cross the ocean as fast as a ship could carry it, the New York financier Cyrus W. Field spent years and several heartbreaking failures trying to lay a telegraph cable across the floor of the Atlantic. His persistence paid off in 1866, when a working line finally linked North America and Europe and let words leap between continents in minutes rather than weeks. Field made his home in the Hudson River village of Irvington, which honored its most famous resident by naming this road for him and dedicating it in December 1931.