John Peter Van Ness

John Peter Van Ness
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 6th district
In office October 6, 1801 – January 17, 1803
Preceded by	John Bird
Succeeded by	Isaac Bloom
Personal details
Born	Johannes Petrus Van Ness November 4, 1769[1] Ghent, New York
Died	March 7, 1846 Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s)	Marcia Burns

John Peter Van Ness (November 4, 1769 – March 7, 1846) was an American politician who was a United States Representative from New York and the tenth Mayor of Washington DC. Born in Ghent, New York to an old Dutch family. He completed preparatory studies at Washington Seminary and attended Columbia College in New York City. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced.

Career accomplishments

1805 portrait by Gilbert Stuart. Original on display at Edgewater, a historic mansion in Barrytown, New York.

He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to New York's 6th congressional district for the 7th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Bird and took his seat on October 6, 1801. In April 1802, he was defeated for re-election by Federalist Henry W. Livingston. On January 17, 1803, Van Ness's seat was declared vacant, because in 1802 he had been appointed by President Thomas Jefferson a major of militia in the District of Columbia, and under the U.S. Constitution no member of Congress could hold any federal office. He then made Washington his home and was president of the second council in 1803. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel commandant of the first legion of militia in 1805, brigadier general in 1811, and major general in 1813; he was an alderman of the city of Washington in 1829.

During the 1820s, Van Ness 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.^[2] He was a friend of Washington Irving.

Van Ness was second vice president of the Washington National Monument Society in 1833 and was president of the commissioners of the Washington City Canal in 1834, and president of the branch bank of the United States at Washington, D.C.; he was also president of the National Metropolitan Bank from 1814 until his death 1846.

Mayor of Washington DC

Van Ness was the mayor from 1830 to 1834.

Philanthropy

Although not a Catholic, Van Ness donated the land on which the cornerstone of St. Mary Mother of God church, at the southeast corner of Fifth Street and H Street, N.W. would be laid on March 25, 1846. The land donation was made with the stipulations that Catholic worship should begin there within one year, ensuring the completion of the church on October 18, 1846, and that worship be regularly continued there. If Catholic worship were to ever cease at the location, the land would to revert to the Van Ness family.

Family

Marcia Van Ness, wife John P. Van Ness. 1805 portrait by Gilbert Stuart. Original on display at Edgewater, a historic mansion in Barrytown, New York.

In 1802, Van Ness married Marcia Burns (1782–1832),^[3] a prominent philanthropist herself, and supporter of the orphan asylum.^[4]

The couple lived at the Van Ness House, constructed in 1813 to 1816, located at Constitution Avenue and 17th Street, and 18th Street, N.W. It was demolished for the Pan American Union Building.^[5]

John Peter Van Ness was the son of Judge Peter Van Ness (1734-1804). The siblings of John P. Van Ness included William P. Van Ness and Cornelius P. Van Ness.

Death and Interment

Van Ness died on March 7, 1846 and was entombed, with his wife who had predeceased him on September 9, 1832,^[6] in the Van Ness Mausoleum, which originally stood on H Street, N.W., between Ninth and Tenth Streets in Washington, D.C. In 1872, the mausoleum and the Van Ness remains were moved to Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.^[7]

References

1. U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records, Baptisms at Claverack, New York Reformed Church, entry for Johannes Van Ness, retrieved via Ancestry.com, January 20, 2015
2. Rathbun, Richard. The Columbian institute for the promotion of arts and sciences: A Washington Society of 1816-1838. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, October 18, 1917. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
3. Huntington, Frances Carpenter (1969). "The Heiress of Washington City: Marcia Burnes Van Ness, 1782-1832". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.: The 47th separately bound book. 69-70: 80–101. JSTOR 40067706.
4. "John Peter van Ness [1770-1846] Early Founder/Historic Leader". New Netherland Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
5. Boese, Kent (August 11, 2009). "Lost Washington: The Van Ness House". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
6. William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams, eds. (1910). Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts 1. Lewis historical publishing company.
7. Clark, Allen C. (1919). "General John Peter Van Ness, a Mayor of the City of Washington, His Wife, Marcia, and Her Father, David Burnes". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 22: 125–204. JSTOR 40067123.

Notes

• John Peter Van Ness at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• John Peter Van Ness at Find a Grave
• Marcia Van Ness at Find A Grave