British colonial military leader, acting governor of New York 1657?1724
Pieter Schuyler
(17 September 1657 ? 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of
Albany, New York
. A long-serving member of the
executive council
of the
Province of New York
, he acted as
governor
of the
Province of New York
on three occasions ? twice for brief periods in 1709, after the death of
Lord Lovelace
, and also from 1719 to 1720, after
Robert Hunter
left office.
Early life and family
[
edit
]
Pieter Schuyler was born in 1657 in
Beverwyck
,
New Netherland
. He was one of 10 children born to
Philip Pieterse Schuyler
, a Dutch- born landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family, and Margarita Van Slichtenhorst. His siblings were Gysbert Schuyler, Gertruj Schuyler, who married
Stephanus van Cortlandt
(the patroon of
Van Cortlandt Manor
and a
Mayor of New York City
from 1677 to 1678 and again from 1686 to 1688), Alida Schuyler, who first married
Nicholas van Rensselaer
and then second,
Robert Livingston the Elder
, Brant Schuyler, who married Cornelia Van Cortlandt,
Arent Schuyler
, who married Jannetje Teller and later Swantje Van Duyckhuysen, Sybilla Schuyler, Philip Schuyler,
Johannes Schuyler
, and Margritta Schuyler, who married Jacobus Verplanck.
The many Schuyler children established the family name and homes, including the
Schuyler Mansion
in Albany. They were closely related to the great family
patroons
of New York, the
Van Cortlandts
.
Career
[
edit
]
In March 1685,
Governor Dongan
appointed Pieter Schuyler lieutenant of cavalry in the Albany militia. He later attained the rank of Major, and then Colonel. In 1690, during
King William's War
, Schuyler's younger brother led an attack on
La Prairie, Quebec
. Colonel Schuyler led a
second attack
the following year.
[1]
First mayor of Albany
[
edit
]
In April 1685, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. On 22 July 1686, Albany was incorporated as a city, and Pieter Schuyler was named its first mayor, serving for eight years.
[2]
As mayor, Schuyler was also chairman of the Board of the
Commissioners for Indian Affairs
.
[2]
Acting governor of the Province of New York
[
edit
]
From 1692, Schuyler was a member of the
executive council
, which was the unelected
upper house
of New York's colonial legislature. He was the first man from Albany to be appointed to the council.
[1]
When
Lord Lovelace
died in May 1709, the lieutenant governor,
Richard Ingoldesby
, was absent. Under the terms of Lovelace's commission as governor, the executive council's most senior member was next in the
line of succession
, and Schuyler thus served as acting governor until Ingoldesby's return a few days later.
[3]
Ingoldesby was again absent later in the month, with Schuyler taking over as governor for another period of less than a week.
In July 1719, when
Robert Hunter
had his commission as governor revoked, Schuyler was still the most senior member of the executive council, and consequently served a third term as acting governor. The new governor,
William Burnet
, did not take office until September 1720. Burnet removed Schuyler from the executive council in 1721, along with another Councillor,
Adolphus Philipse
, who like Schuyler, was a
New Netherlander
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Pieter Schuyler was married twice. His first wife was Engeltie Van Schaick, who died in 1689.
[4]
Together, they had:
- Margarita Schuyler (born 1682), who married
Robert Livingston the Younger
[4]
- Philip Schuyler (born 1684), who died young
[4]
- Anna Schuyler (born 1686), who died in childhood
[4]
- Gertruj Schuyler (born 1689), who died young
[4]
After Engeltie's death in 1689, he married Maria Van Rensselaer, daughter of
Jeremias van Rensselaer
and brother of
Hendrick Van Rensselaer
. Hendrick's wife and Maria's sister-in-law, Catherina Van Brugh, was the sister of the
6th Mayor of Albany
Pieter Van Brugh
. Together, Pieter and Maria Van Rensselaer had:
- Maria Margreta Schuyler (born 1692), who married Abraham Staats.
- Gertruj Schuyler (born 1694), who married Johannes Lansing.
[4]
- Philip Schuyler (1696?1758), who married
Margarita Schuyler
, daughter of Pieter's brother,
Johannes Schuyler
.
[4]
- Pieter Schuyler (born 1698), a twin of Jeremiah who married Catherine Groesbeck.
[4]
- Jeremiah Schuyler (born 1698), a twin of Pieter who married Susanna Bayeux.
[4]
Schuyler died on 19 February 1724, aged 66, in Albany.
Descendants
[
edit
]
Pieter Schuyler third son's granddaughter married
Col. Philip Kiliaen van Rensselaer
of "
Cherry Hill
" in Albany, great-grandson of
Jeremias Van Rensselaer
. His great-nephew was Continental General
Philip Schuyler
whose cousin Hester Schuyler married General William Colfax, the grandparents of Congressman and Vice President
Schuyler Colfax
, who married a niece of Senator
Benjamin Franklin Wade
and who was related to Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes
.
[5]
His grand-niece,
Philip Schuyler
's sister, married
Dr. John Cochran
, the Director General of the Military Hospitals of the Continental Army, and were the grandparents of U.S. General and Congressman
John Cochran
.
His great-grandchildren included Richard Livingston and
Col. James Livingston
.
Schuyler's sister-in-law, Catherina Van Rensselaer (nee Van Brugh) was the great-grandmother of Continental General
Peter Gansevoort
, who married Catherina Van Schaick, the sister of Continental General
Goose Van Schaick
. Catherine and Goose were the children of Albany mayor
Sybrant Van Schaick
. The Gansevoort's were the grandparents of author
Herman Melville
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Bielinski, Stefan.
Pieter Schuyler
, New York State Museum"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 March 2016
. Retrieved
23 March
2005
.
- ^
a
b
Schuyler, George W.
Colonial New York: Philip Schuyler and His Family
, Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1885
- ^
Lincoln, Charles Z. (1910). "The governors of New York".
Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association
.
9
.
New York State Historical Association
: 54?55.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Reynolds, Cuyler (1906).
Albany Chronicles: A History of the City Arranged Chronologically, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time; Illustrated with Many Historical Pictures of Rarity and Reproductions of the Robert C. Pruyn Collection of the Mayors of Albany, Owned by the Albany Institute and Historical and Art Society
. Albany, New York: J. B. Lyon Company, printers. p.
110
. Retrieved
7 September
2016
.
- ^
See link on
Schuyler Colfax
to Dudley-Winthrop family.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
History
| General
| |
---|
17th century
| |
---|
18th century
| |
---|
19th century
| |
---|
20th century
| |
---|
21st century
| |
---|
| |
---|
Government
| |
---|
Neighborhoods
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Geography
| |
---|
Education
| |
---|
Religion
| |
---|
Culture
| |
---|
Transportation
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|