USA > New York > Famous families of New York; historical and biographical sketches of families which in successive generations have been identified with the development of the nation, Vol. I > Part 7
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Fraunces Tavern From an old print
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and made him prominent in public affairs. He was made a mem- ber of the Provincial Council in 1729, his father at the same time being a member of the General Assembly. The following year he was appointed Chairman of the Charter Commission, and drew nearly all the provisions of what is known as " The Montgomerie Charter." For his services, the City Council presented him with the freedom of the city, he being the first upon whom that honor was conferred. In 1731, he was made the second Judge of the Supreme Court, and in 1733, Chief Justice. He retained this judicial office until his death in 1760.
Although classed with the aristocrats of that time, he was democratic in his legal and political views. In 1746, when there was a struggle between the Colonial Governor, Admiral George Clinton, and the Assembly, regarding the former's salary and fees, Judge De Lancey sided strongly with the latter and incurred the bitter ill-will of the former. This soon expressed itself in action. In 1747, De Lancey was appointed Lieutenant-Governor. Instead of delivering the royal commission to the appointee, Admiral Clinton locked it up and wrote to the British Ministry, requesting its cancellation and demanding the removal of the Chief Justice. It was a long and vindictive fight, but in 1753, after six years of hostility, Clinton was obliged to deliver the commission.
In 1754, De Lancey was President of the First Congress held in America. Here he met Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, for whom he soon contracted a warm friendship. The same year he granted the charter of King's, now Columbia College. It sounds odd to-day, but the act almost precipitated a riot. The Presby- terians and other sects regarded the incorporation of the school as a Jesuitical attempt by the Church of England to assume control of the colonies. So strong was the resentment that De Lancey, rather than have disorder, withheld the charter for six months. In 1755, he was a member of the Colonial Council, composed of the governors of the different colonies, which was held at Alexandria, Va., and its object was the arranging of a plan of offence and de- fence against the French and their Indian allies.
He married Anne Heathcote, eldest daughter of the Hon. Caleb
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Heathcote, Lord of the Manor of Scarsdale, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and Mayor of New York. By her he had eight children, four sons and four daughters. At his death, in 1760, he was, besides Chief Justice, Lieutenant-Governor of the province.
Peter, the second son of Stephen the Huguenot, born in 1705, married Elizabeth Colden, daughter of Governor Cadwallader Col-
Peter den, by whom he had twelve children, seven sons and five daughters. He dwelt at what is now West Farms, Westchester County, where he had a large estate. He took an active part in public affairs, and was a member of the Provincial Assembly from 1750 to 1768, when he declined the renomination in favor of his second son, John, who served to the end of the British rule.
Oliver, the youngest son of Stephen the Huguenot, born in 1718, was a successful merchant, soldier, and politician. He mar- General Oliver ried Phila Franks of Philadelphia, by whom he had two
sons and four daughters. He made a superb record during the French War, raising troops, taking part in the Crown Point expedition, and serving as " Colonel-in-Chief" of New York, under General Abercrombie. In 1758 he received the thanks of the New York Assembly for his services. In June, 1776, he joined General Howe on Staten Island, being appointed brigadier-general. An enthusiastic Royalist, he tried to aid his commanding officer with the knowledge and experience he had gained in the French wars. His advice, it seems, was often ignored. Nevertheless, in less than three months he raised three regiments, of five hundred men each, from New York, Westchester, and the surrounding districts, which were known as "De Lancey's Battalions." They were formed into a brigade, of which he was appointed commander, with the rank of brigadier-general. He was detailed to the com- mand of Long Island, where he remained during the Revolution. One of his battalions was transferred to the South, where it behaved with great gallantry under his son-in-law, Colonel John Harris Cruger. He made an admirable executive, controlling the Revolutionary sympathizers upon Long Island and the adjacent districts on the other side of Long Island Sound. In November,
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1777, a party of Revolutionists landed one night at Bloomingdale, on the Hudson, and robbed and burned his fine country-seat, driv- ing his wife and daughters in their night-robes into the fields and woods. At the close of the Revolution he was named in the Act of Attainder, and his immense estates in New York and New Jersey were confiscated. He took his loss philosophically, and retired to England, where he remained until his death in 1785.
The other two sons of the Huguenot, Stephen II. and John, died bachelors. They were merchants and men of wealth, whose activity was manifested mainly in commercial and social channels.
The third generation of the De Lancey family was born under less happy stars than the second. All had lost property by the result of the war, and several of them had been ruined and exiled. Of the daughters of the Chief Justice, Mary married William Walton, Susannah died a spinster, Anna married the Hon. Thomas Jones, Justice of the Supreme Court, author of Jones's History of New York during the Revolution, and Martha died a spinster.
James II., the eldest son of the Chief Justice, was educated at Eton and Cambridge. He entered the army upon his return from England, and served with distinguished bravery during Captain James
the French war. On his father's death, he succeeded to the De Lancey estate, becoming one of the richest men in the world. Up to the breaking out of hostilities, he was bitterly op- posed to the misrule of the British government, and in 1775 went to England to aid in obtaining redress. While there the war broke out, and he never returned to his native land. His estates were confiscated, and he banished. He married Margaret Allen of Phila- delphia, daughter of Chief-Justice William Allen, by whom he had two sons, both officers in the British army, who died bachelors, and three daughters.
Stephen, the second son, settled in North Salem, a part of the Van Cortlandt Manor, which fell to his father in the division of the manor. Here he built a large house, which afterwards Captain he presented to the town for a school. He married Stephen Hannah, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Sackett, and died without issue. John Peter [1753] was educated in England and entered
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the British army in 1771 as ensign, soon afterward being promoted to be captain. He served in the Revolution, taking part in many battles with much credit. When peace was declared he returned to England with his regiment. His feeling for home, however,. was stronger than his love for England, so in 1789 he resigned from the army and returned to New York. He dwelt in Mamaro- neck, in the Manor of Scarsdale, which had descended to him from his grandfather, Heathcote, where he remained until he died, in 1828. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Richard Floyd, of Long Island, by whom he had three sons and five daughters.
Of the children of Peter, Stephen [1740] was a lawyer and an official of distinction, serving as City Clerk, County Clerk, Re- corder of Albany, Indian Commissioner, and member of the Com- mittee of Safety. He was a royalist, but during the war was not in arms. In 1783, he went with other royalists to Annapolis, Nova Scotia, where he became a prominent official.
John [1741], second son of Peter, was a lawyer, and took an active part in local affairs. He was High Sheriff of Westchester in John the 1769, and a member of the Assembly for six years, of High Sheriff the General Committee of One Hundred, and of the First Provincial Congress. During the Revolution his sympathies were with the colonists, but he took no active part in the exciting events of that period. Peter, the third son, was a lawyer, who James the removed to Charleston, which he made his home. High Sheriff James [1750] was High Sheriff of Westchester, and in the Revolution was Colonel of the Westchester Light Horse, known as the "Cow Boys." At the end of the war, being ban- ished, he went to Nova Scotia. Oliver was a lieutenant in the British navy, and resigned because he would not fight against his fellow-countrymen. He lived in Westchester up. to his death in 1820. Warren, the youngest son of Peter, ran away from home to join the British army, and when but fifteen years old was made a cornet for gallantry at the battle of White Plains. After the war he made peace with the authorities, and remained in this country up to his death, in 1855.
Alice De Lancey Wife of Ralph Izard Portrait in miniature on gold snuff-box
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Izard From the painting by John S. Copley
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Of the daughters of Peter, Anne married John Cox of Philadel- phia; Alice, Ralph Izard, the South Carolina Delegate to the Con- tinental Congress, and first United States Senator from Stephen, the South Carolina ; Susannah, Colonel Thomas Barclay, Governor and Jane, the Hon. John Watts. Of the three children of Oliver, Stephen [1748] was a soldier, lawyer, judge, and governor. He was a lieutenant-colonel on the British side during the war of the Revolution, and afterwards became Chief Justice of the Bahamas and Governor of Tobago. He married Cornelia, the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Barclay of Trinity Church, by whom he had one son, Sir William Howe De Lancey, K. C. B., who fell at Waterloo in 1815, Quartermaster-General of Wellington's army.
Of the fourth generation, the children of John Peter seem to have been the most prominent. Thomas J. [1790] was a lawyer of great promise, who died when but thirty-two years Bishop old. He married Mary Ellison, by whom he had one William H. son, Thomas J. (II.). Edward Floyd [1795] died unmarried. William Heathcote [1797] was the first Bishop of Western New York. He was graduated from Yale in 1817, and ordained by Bishop Hobart in 1882. He married Frances, daughter of Peter Jay Munro. In 1839, he was made Bishop, and died in 1865. He was a man of great intellectual activity; Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, 1828 to 1833; Secretary of the House of Bishops, and Secretary of the Pennsylvania Convention. He took an active part in the founding of De Veaux College and the Theological Training School of Western New York. He was an able writer, speaker, debater, and parliamentarian. He died in 1865.
Of the five daughters of John Peter, Anne Charlotte married John Loudon Macadam, the creator of macadamized roads, and Susan Augusta, James Fenimore Cooper, the novelist. The three others never married.
In the fifth generation, the family of the Bishop has attained distinction. Edward Floyd [1821] was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Hobart College, and the Harvard Law Edward Floyd School. He was admitted to the bar of New York the Historian State in 1846, and has been a resident of New York City since 1850. 7
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He has travelled extensively, and has earned a high reputation as an historian and genealogist. Among the many honorable posi- tions he has held have been the presidency of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, President of the West- chester Historical Society, President of the St. Nicholas Society, and the corresponding secretaryship of the New York Historical Society. He has written many valuable volumes upon historical and biographical subjects, and edited for the New York Historical Society the History of New York in the Revolution by Judge Thomas Jones, in two volumes. He married Josephine Matilda, daughter of William S. de Zeng, by whom he has one son, Edward Etienne De Lancey, a civil engineer.
Margaret M., daughter of the Bishop, married Dr. Thomas F. Rochester, of Buffalo, President of the Medical College of that city. John Peter (11.) married Wilhelmina V. Clark, and William Heath- cote (11.) married his cousin, Elizabeth E. Hunter.
All of the old families of New York have become inter-related through marriage. In this regard the De Lanceys seemed to have surpassed the rest, in proportion to their numbers. In the two hundred and fifteen years of their career in America they have blended with at least four hundred families, so that their con- nections are now so numerous as almost to defy the patience of the genealogist. This blending has been of benefit to the community.
The characteristics of their race have been conscientiousness and the courage of conviction. These have been the secret at once of their success and of their adversity. There can be little hope for a people which accepts without struggle or protest what its conviction abhors, but there is every hope and every possibil- ity for a community which makes righteousness its aim and subordinates thereto all other earthly considerations.
De Pepster
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Statue of Abraham De Peyster Bowling Green, New York City
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DE PEYSTER
N the sixteenth century, Holland was the Mecca of the victims of religious persecution. These refugees were people of strong convictions, an in- tense moral nature, high intelligence, and physical courage. They made an invaluable addition to the population of the Netherlands, and contributed largely to its prosperity and greatness. Among them were the members of the De Peyster family, which had been driven from Brabant, where they had lived for many generations. The race came originally from Normandy, and descended from the fierce Vikings, who had con- quered that province from its original French rulers.
The expulsion of the Flemings to Holland served to develop or increase the nomadic instinct which, at least in their youth, obtains in all strong and healthy men. The De Peysters were no exception to the rule. The records show that at this period many of them became wanderers, searching for lands in which they could enjoy the liberty denied them in their old home. At least one of the family settled in England; another is said to have gone to Greece; several remained in Amsterdam, Holland; while one crossed the ocean to find a home and found a house in the Dutch colonies of North America.
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This was Johannes de Peyster, the progenitor of the family upon this continent. He was born in Holland [1620], where he Johannes the enjoyed the advantages of wealth, education, and high Renteneer social position. The exact date of his arrival in the Dutch colony is uncertain. The official records of the New Neth- erlands were poorly kept, and the change in the suzerainty from Holland to Great Britain, which involved a change in the lan- guage of the country, did not tend to better matters in this re- spect. Only of late years have the ancient church archives been restored and published. They show that Johannes was a mem- ber in good standing of the Dutch Church of New Amsterdam as early as 1649, during the governorship of Petrus Stuyvesant, and that in this church, in December, 1651, he was married to Cor- nelia Lubbertse, a beautiful girl from Haarlem in the Netherlands. That he was very well-to-do, if not rich, is shown by the fact that he visited the various settlements in the New Netherlands, either for pleasure or else for the purpose of discovering oppor- tunities for judicious investment, and that after his wedding he took his bride to the home country, doubtless upon a honey- moon journey. While in Holland, Johannes converted much of his patrimony into cash, with which he purchased household goods, luxuries, and decorations for his home across the sea. The remainder of his estate must have been wisely invested, as he is referred to in the chronicles of the seventeenth century as a "renteneer," i.e., a person whose active capital was sufficient to support him in more than ordinary comfort.
The quiet excitement in New Amsterdam occasioned by the presence of a man of independent means was increased by his bringing with him a handsome family carriage, the first that had been seen in the colony. The vehicle was a seven-days' won- der, and for many weeks was surrounded by an admiring crowd whenever it appeared upon the modest streets or execrable roads of Manhattan. He was active and industrious. Instead of living upon his income and leading an idle life, he worked as diligently as any poor man. He established a mercantile business, which he conducted with great success, and took an active part in civic
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The De Peyster House in Queen Street, New York, about 1800 From an old wood-cut
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affairs. He was a cadet in the burgher corps of the city, and one of the Committee of Six who were associated to draft the first charter for the city. In 1665, he was made schepen, a quaint mediæval office, which was partly sheriff and partly magistrate. He held the position five terms, and after the colony was trans- ferred to the British Crown, he served four terms as Alderman.
In 1673, Johannes was selected as one of the three Burgomas- ters to govern the city conformably to the laws and statutes. In the same year he was made a member of the Commission of Five for Public Defence. To increase the efficiency of the fortifi- cations constructed, the Commission destroyed many buildings and orchards which might have afforded protection to an ad- vancing enemy. They did this under what would be termed martial law to-day, but nevertheless they decreed that the com- munity should pay the full market value for everything taken or destroyed. In 1677, he was made Deputy-Mayor of New York, and the same year was appointed Mayor by Governor Nicoll. To the surprise of the Governor, the stout burgher declined the honor on account of his imperfect acquaintance with English. During his long life he was a generous contributor to both public and private enterprises and charities. He was fearless in the de- fence of his ideas of right, and took sides against the Crown or the opposition, without regard to consequences, whenever he believed the public welfare to be in jeopardy. He died in 1685, leaving a large estate to his heirs. He left seven sons and two daughters.
Four sons of the founder were eminent in the second genera- tion, of whom Abraham was the foremost figure. Born in 1657, he received an excellent education, and even before he Judge
came of age was an energetic participant in public Abraham affairs. His life was long, laborious, and marked by many honors. He was, successively, Alderman, Mayor, Judge of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the province, member and Chairman of the King's Council, Acting Governor and Colonel-Commander of the Militia of New York, President of the Council, Treasurer of the provinces of New York and New Jersey, and Deputy Auditor- General. He managed his large estate with great financial skill,
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and, though a liberal donor, increased his wealth steadily from year to year. He was public-spirited and patriotic.
Seeing the necessity of improvements, he presented a large piece of land to the city, to be used for the extension of commerce. Some of the land was cut up into lots, which were sold upon con- dition that the buyers should build or help to build wharves on the river-front. Another part was converted into the Fly Market, which stood on the lower part of Maiden Lane. More important was his gift of a valuable tract of land to the municipality as a site for a city hall worthy of the metropolis. With notable generosity, he selected a piece of his estate on which at the present time stands the United States Sub-Treasury, at Wall, Nassau, and Pine Streets. For this princely present, he received resolutions of thanks from the city government as well as complimentary letters from many of the leading citizens of New York. A handsome building was erected, which was an ornament to that part of the city, and which remained until the growth of the metropolis rendered it inadequate for its purposes.
Throughout his life Abraham was eager to promote public ed- ucation. There was general apathy upon the subject in those days. Society was divided by national, linguistic, and class lines, and few of the leading men had risen to the plane on which is to be perceived the necessity of universal education in a civilized community. Abraham belonged to that few. He encouraged the schools and aided poor pedagogues and poorer scholars. To stim- ulate ambition, he offered rewards for scholarship, and in many instances, when the schools were not self-supporting, he himself made good the deficit.
To him belongs the credit of having induced the city to as- sume the support of the poor and sick. Whenever the Govern- ment got into financial trouble he advanced it the money necessary to conduct its business. In 1701, the Colonial Legislature passed unanimously a vote of thanks to him for having "for three weeks past subsisted the soldiers in his Majesty's pay on his own charge without any bills."
By his will, he gave a church-bell to the Middle Dutch Church,
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which was then on Kip Street, now Nassau, between Cedar and Liberty. When this church was occupied as the city post-office, the bell was taken to the church on Ninth Street, near Broadway, thence to the church on Lafayette Place, and last of all to the belfry of the Reformed Dutch Church on Fifth Avenue and Forty- eighth Street, where its voice is still heard regularly. Abraham married Catharina de Peyster, his cousin in Amsterdam, Holland. Their issue consisted of eight sons and five daughters.
Isaac [1662] was a wealthy merchant and a distinguished citizen, who for several years was a member of the Provincial Assembly, and for four years an Assistant Alderman. Isaac the His wife was Mary Van Baal, or Balen, as it was writ- Merchant ten in English.
Johannes II. [1666] was said to be the handsomest man of his day. He was rich, popular, and patriotic. Many public honors were accorded to him. He was Assessor, Assistant Mayor Aderman, Mayor, 1698-99, Assemblyman, Chairman of Johannes Committees, and Captain of the New York Troop of Horse. There must have been bad politicians and devious political ways in his time, because in 1698 he was one of a Committee of Four appointed to maintain the purity of the elective franchise, in which capacity he drew a strong report against the Sheriff and his deputies for making deficient returns of representatives. He married Anna Bancker, by whom he had seven sons and five daughters. He was the head of what is known as the younger branch of the family.
Cornelius [1673] was patterned after his three brothers. He was the owner of large estates and filled many responsible posi- tions in the government. He was Assistant Alderman Cornelius the for fourteen years, and the first Chamberlain appointed. Chamberlain He married, first, Mary Bancker, by whom he had one son and six daughters, and, secondly, Miss Dessington, by whom he had five daughters.
In the third generation five of the sons deserve Abraham mention. Chief among these was Abraham [1696], son the Treasurer of Abraham. At the age of twenty-five he was made Treasurer
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of New York, succeeding his father, who had resigned on account of illness, and held that important office forty-six years, until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Frederick. His administration was noted for its honesty and efficiency. He managed the city's finances as carefully as his own. During this period there were no charges of corruption or dishonesty, and in every department the same principle seemed to be at work. If there ever was a model office-holder it was this conscientious and able citizen. He married Margaret Van Cortlandt, daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt, by whom he had eleven children.
Pierre Guillaume [1707], brother of the Treasurer, devoted his life to church work and the management of his estate. He was
Pierre a social favorite, who dispensed lavish hospitality.
Guillaume He had an able helpmate in his wife, Catharine Schuy- ler, daughter of Arent Schuyler, and sister of Colonel Pieter Schuyler.
Captain Johannes [1694], son of Johannes and grandson of the founder, was born and educated in New York, but removed to
Captain Albany on reaching manhood's estate. He was already
Johannes acquainted with the leading people of that city, and had the prestige which attached to the family name. When but twenty-two years of age he was made Recorder, which office he held for twelve years, and thereafter he was made Mayor for three years. Great credit came to him while acting as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1744, he was a member of the Colonial Assem- bly, in 1750 Commissioner of Repairs to the fort at Albany; in 1751, Commissioner for the Collection of Duties; in 1753, Commissioner for the Construction of Barracks; in 1754, an officer and inspector of ordnance; and in 1755 one of the two commissioners for carry- ing out the first expedition against Crown Point. His life was given unreservedly to the State, and to him Albany may well look as to one of its great benefactors. He married Anna, daugh- ter of Captain Myndert David Schuyler, by whom he had four children.
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