Edward Holland (baptized September 6, 1702 – November 10, 1756) was the first
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Mayor of
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 ...
, from 1733 to 1740. He was the 40th
Mayor of New York City from 1747 to 1756, becoming the only man to serve as mayor of both Albany and New York City.
Early life
Holland was born in 1702 in
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 ...
. He was the son of English-born Henry Holland (1661–1736) and Irish-born Jenny (
née Seeley) Edwards (1676–1756).
His father was a commissioned officer of the
garrison company in Albany. Over thirty years, he became a lieutenant, captain, and then Commander of the Albany fort.
His mother was a widow who met his father when he was stationed in Ireland and the two them married and emigrated to the American Colonies.
His brother was Henry Holland Jr. (b. 1704) who received royal appointments as
Justice of the Peace, Master of the
Chancery Court, and
Sheriff of Albany County, and who married Alida Beekman (b. 1702), daughter of
Johannes Martense Beekman.
Career
During his youth, Holland was a part-time soldier at a time of peace on the northern frontier and, therefore, focused on his father's business, running errands between the frontier outposts and down the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
From 1728 to 1733, he served as an Alderman of Albany and was known as an active member of the
Commissioners of Indian Affairs.
In 1733, he was appointed the first
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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 ...
, and presiding over the city until 1741.
During his long tenure as mayor, he negotiated a deed with the Indians for the tract of land at the junction of the
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...
and the
Schoharie Creek that was included in the
1686 Albany City Charter but was not yet incorporated.
By the mid 1740s, Holland moved to Manhattan where he owned several ships, becoming quite prosperous and prominent. In 1747, he was appointed the 40th
Mayor of New York City, serving 1747 until his death in 1756.
In 1748, he was named to
Gov. George Clinton's
Advisory Council and was appointed to the Provincial
Chancery Court, serving from 1748 to 1750.
Personal life
On June 24, 1726, he married Magdalena Bayeux (1706–1737), the daughter of Thomas and Magdalene (
née Boudinot) Bayeux, a prominent business family.
Magdalena's older sister, Susanna Bayeux (1704–1747), married Jeremias Schuyler (b. 1698), son of
Pieter Schuyler
Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 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 ...
, the first mayor of Albany.
They had several children, four of whom survived to maturity, including:
* Mary Magdalen Holland, who married Benjamin Nicolls Jr. (1718–1760), a
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
lawyer who became an incorporator, trustee, and governor of
Kings College in New York. Nicolls was a grandson of William Nicoll and, therefore, a nephew of his mother-in-law, Frances Nicoll Holland.
He was the son of Benjamin and Charity Floly Nicoll, who after her husband's death, married the
Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, President of King's College.
In 1739, two years after the death of his first wife, Holland was married to Frances Nicoll (1704–1787), the daughter of
William Nicoll and Anna (née
Van Rensselaer) Nicoll.
Her father was
Speaker of the New York General Assembly
The Speaker of the New York General Assembly was the highest official in the New York General Assembly, the first representative governing body in New York from 1683 to 1775 when the assembly disbanded after the outbreak of the American Revolution ...
from 1702 to 1718, her maternal grandfather was Col.
Jeremias van Rensselaer
Jeremias van Rensselaer (Amsterdam, 16 May 1632 – October 12, 1674) was the third son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company who was instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland ...
and her paternal grandfather was
Matthias Nicoll, the 6th Mayor of New York City.
Holland died on November 10, 1756, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
New York.
He was buried at
Trinity Church Cemetery
The parish of Trinity Church has three separate burial grounds associated with it in New York City. The first, Trinity Churchyard, is located in Lower Manhattan at 74 Trinity Place, near Wall Street and Broadway. Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gal ...
.
After his death, his widow moved to her brother Rensselaer Nicoll's
house in
Bethlehem, New York.
References
External links
Edward Hollandat the
New York State Museum
The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Edward
1702 births
1756 deaths
Mayors of New York City
Mayors of Albany, New York
People of the Province of New York
Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery
Members of the New York Executive Council