Pieter Schuyler

Pieter Schuyler
Painting of Schuyler from between 1710 and 1718
Acting Governor of the Province of New York
In office May 6 – May 9, 1709
Preceded by	Lord Lovelace
Succeeded by	Richard Ingoldesby
In office May 25 – June 1, 1709
Preceded by	Richard Ingoldesby
Succeeded by	Richard Ingoldesby
In office July 21, 1719 – September 17, 1720
Preceded by	Robert Hunter
Succeeded by	William Burnet
Personal details
Born	September 17, 1657 Beverwijck, New Netherlands
Died	February 19, 1724 (aged 66) Albany, Province of New York
Resting place	Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands
Spouse(s)	Engeltie Van Schaick Maria Van Rensselaer
Parents	Philip Pieterse Schuyler Margarita Van Slichtenhorst

Pieter Schuyler (September 17, 1657 – February 19, 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

Pieter Schuyler was born in 1657 in Beverwyck, New Netherland, the son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler (1628-1683) and Margarita Van Slichtenhorst. His parents had 10 children:

• Gysbert Schuyler (1652-1664/5)
• Gertruj Schuyler (b. 1654), who married Stephanus van Cortlandt (1643–1700), the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and a Mayor of New York City from 1677–1678 and again from 1686–1688.
• Alida Schuyler (b. 1656), who first married Nicholas van Rensselaer (1636-1678) and then second, Robert Livingston (1654–1728)
• Pieter Schuyler (1657-1724)
• Brant Schuyler (1659-1702), who married Cornelia Van Cortlandt
• Arent Schuyler (1662-1730), who first married Jannetje Teller, then married Swantje Van Duyckhuysen
• Sybilla Schuyler (b. 1664)
• Philip Schuyler (b. 1666)
• Johannes Schuyler (b. 1668)
• Margritta Schuyler (b. 1672), who married Jacobus Verplanck

Career

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]

In April 1685 he was appointed Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. On July 22, 1686, Albany was incorporated as a city and Pieter Schuyler was named its first mayor.^[2] As mayor, Schuyler was also chairman of the Board of the Commissioners for Indian Affairs.^[2]

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.

When Robert Hunter had his commission as governor revoked in July 1719, 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.

Marriage and children

Print of Schuyler.

Pieter Schuyler was married twice. His first wife was Engeltie Van Schaick (died 1689). Together, they had:

• Margarita Schuyler (born 1682), who married Robert Livingston Jr. (1663–1725)
• Philip Schuyler (born 1684), who died young.
• Anna Schuyler (born 1686), who died in childhood
• Gertruj Schuyler (born 1689), who died young

After Engeltie's death in 1689, he married Maria Van Rensselaer, the daughter of Jeremias Van Rensselaer. Her brother was Hendrick Van Rensselaer whose wife Catherina was the sister of the mayor of Albany Pieter Van Brugh. Catherina Van Brugh was the great-grandmother of Continental General Peter Gansevoort, the grandfather of author Herman Melville. Peter Gansevoort was married to Catherina, the sister of Continental General Goose Van Schaick. Catherine and Gose were the children of Albany mayor Sybrant Van Schaick. Together, Pieter and Maria Van Rensselaer had:

• Gertruj Schuyler (born 1694), who married Johannes Lansing.
• Philip Schuyler (born 1696), who married Margarita Schyuler.
• Pieter Schuyler (born 1698), a twin of Jeremiah who married Catherine Groesbeck.
• Jeremiah Schuyler (born 1698), a twin of Pieter who married Susanna Bayeux.

Extended family

Their many Schuyler children established the family name and the Schuyler Mansion in Albany. They were closely related with the great family patroons of New York, the Van Cortlandts. In addition:

• Pieter Schuyler third son's granddaughter married Col. Philip Kiliaen van Rensselaer of "Cherry Hill" in Albany (Philip was a great-grandson of Jeremias Van Rensselaer).
• Two great-grandsons of Pieter Schuyler and Maria Van Rensselaer were Richard Livingston and Colonel James Livingston (American Revolution).
• Pieter Schuyler's 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; see link on Schuyler Colfax to Dudley-Winthrop family.
• Philip Schuyler's sister was married to Director General of the Military Hospitals of the Continental Army Dr. John Cochran (military physician). They were the grandparents of US General/Congressman John Cochran (general).

See also

• Schuyler family

References

1. Bielinski, Stefan. Pieter Schuyler, New York State Museum
2. Schuyler, George W. Colonial New York: Philip Schuyler and His Family, Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1885
3. Lincoln, Charles Z. (1910). "The governors of New York". Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association (New York State Historical Association) 9: 54–55.

External links

• Van Rensselaer/Schuyler genealogy-for reference only
• The Schuyler House and Family, Albany NY, New York State Museum