Pieter Schuyler


Pieter Schuyler 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

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, 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

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.

First mayor of Albany

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. As mayor, Schuyler was also chairman of the Board of the Commissioners for Indian Affairs.

Acting governor of the Province of New York

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. 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. 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

Pieter Schuyler was married twice. His first wife was Engeltie Van Schaick, who died in 1689. Together, they had:
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:
Schuyler died on 19 February 1724, aged 66, in Albany.

Descendants

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. 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 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.