Abraham Cornelius Cuyler (April 11, 1742 – February 5, 1810) was a businessman and the last mayor of colonial

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, the third generation in a row to serve in that office.

Early life

Abraham was born in 1742 to Mayor Cornelis Cuyler (1697-1765) and Catalyntie Schuyler (1704-1758). His father was a fur trader and merchant who represented Albany's interests in Mohawk Country and Canada. Cornelius was an alderman and an active member of the Indian Affairs Commission and also served as

Mayor of Albany From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan. From 1779 until 1839, may ...

from 1742 until 1746. His older brother was

Sir Cornelius Cuyler, 1st Baronet General Sir Cornelius Cuyler, 1st Baronet (31 October 1740 – 8 March 1819) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth. Early life Cuyler was born in Albany, New York on 31 October 1740, the son of Cornelis Cuyle ...

(1740–1819). Abraham's paternal grandparents were Albany Mayor Johannes Cuyler (1661–1747) and Elsie Ten Broeck. He was also the great-grandson of

Philip Pieterse Schuyler Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler or Philip Pieterse (1628 – 9 May 1683) was a Dutch-born colonist landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family. Early life Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterdam, Holland in the Repub ...

(1628–1683) and the great-grandson of Albany Mayor

Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck (December 18, 1638 – November 24, 1717), also known as Dirck Wessels, was a prominent early settler of Albany, New York. He is known as "the progenitor of the Albany family of Ten Broecks." Early life Dirck Ten Broeck ...

(1638–1717). The Cuyler family is descended from Hendrick Cuyler (1637–1690) who settled in New Amsterdam during the 1650s, and was the father of Johannes, the mayor, and Abraham Cuyler (1663–1747).

Career

Cuyler was a mayor of

from 1770 to 1778, he was also a businessman who made his money from importing metalware. In addition Cuyler was a captain of an Albany militia company, his mayoral administration ended in June 1776 when he was arrested during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

because of his sympathies to the British; Cuyler was exiled to Connecticut, and later imprisoned at

Fishkill, New York Fishkill is a village (New York), village within the Fishkill (town), New York, town of Fishkill in Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, New York (state), New York, United States. The village is in the eastern part of the town of Fishkill o ...

. He escaped to the British. Cuyler's property was confiscated and he was condemned to death under the Act of Attainder in 1779. Destitute, he sailed to England to seek relief, where he was granted an annuity. He eventually returned to New York. He was unsuccessful in recovering his assets in Albany and so he and his family moved to Montreal. Here he was appointed inspector of refugee loyalists in the Quebec City area. Cuyler decided to form a settlement Cape Breton Island for some 3,000 loyalists then in Quebec in 1766. Together with

David Mathews David Mathews ( – July 28, 1800) was an American lawyer and politician from New York City. He was a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and was the 43rd and last Colonial Mayor of New York City from 1776 until 1783. As New York Cit ...

, a former mayor of New York City and attorney general of Cape Breton and a distant cousin through the Schuyler family, he came into conflict with Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, lieutenant governor of Cape Breton over shortage of supplies on the island. This conflict caused him to move back to Montreal, where he spent his final years.

Family

Cuyler was married to Janet (Jannetje) Glen, who was sister to

Henry Glen Henry Glen (July 13, 1739 – January 6, 1814) was a merchant, military officer and politician who served as a Federalist Party, Federalist in the United States House of Representatives during the years immediately following the adoption of the ...

(1739–1814), and the daughter of Jacob Glen and Elizabeth Cuyler. Together they had: * Jacob Glen Cuyler (1773–1854), who married Maria Elizabeth Hartman, a South African, in 1808. they had two daughters and three sons. Cuyler died in Montreal on February 5, 1810.

Descendants

His great-granddaughter was the botanist and botanical illustrator Maria Elizabeth Holland (1836–1878).

References

External links