Moses I. Cantine (January 18, 1774 - January 24, 1823) was an American politician, judge and newspaper editor from New York. A Democratic-Republican, he was most notable for his service as a member of the New York State Senate and First Judge of the Greene County Court.
A member of the Democratic-Republican Party,[4] Cantine served as district attorney of the Third District (Columbia, Greene and Rensselaer counties) from 1805 to 1806, 1808 to 1810, and 1811 to 1818.[5] He served in the New York State Senate from 1814 to 1818.[2] He served as First Judge of the Greene County Court from 1818 to 1820.[1]
A longtime member of the New York Militia, Cantine served as inspector of the 4th Brigade with the rank of major.[6][7] During the War of 1812, he served on the northern frontier, the border area between New York and Canada.[8] In 1818, he was appointed the militia's judge advocate general with the rank of lieutenant colonel.[6][9]
On August 25, 1820, Cantine and Isaac Q. Leake took over the Albany Argus from Jesse Buel.[1] In addition to publishing the newspaper, Cantine and Leake received appointment as the official state printers.[10]
He died in Albany, New York on January 24, 1823.[2] Contemporary news accounts indicate that Cantine died after drinking Crème de Noyaux.[11] This liqueur contains trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide, and bottles left to age will sometimes have the poison concentrate near the top, posing a risk to the person who takes the first drink after the bottle is opened.[12]
Cantine was married to Christina Hoes (1780-1823), the sister of Martin Van Buren's wife Hannah.[1] They were the parents of two children, Moses Jr. and Christina.[1]
^Beers, J. B. (1884). "History of Greene County, New York". History of Greene County. Dianne Schnettler, transcriber. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.