John Pintard
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John Pintard, Jr. (May 18, 1759 – June 21, 1844) was an American merchant and philanthropist.


Biography

He was a descendant of Antoine Pintard, a
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
from La Rochelle,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. He was orphaned when his mother died when he was "a fortnight old" and his father died when he was about eighteen months old. His father, John, was a seagoing merchant, and his mother was Mary Cannon. He was raised by his uncle, Lewis Pintard, and attended grammar school under the Reverend Leonard Cutting at
Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on ...
. He attended the College at New Jersey (which later became
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
), but left school to join the patriot forces when the British arrived at New York. He went on various expeditions to harass the enemy. He returned to school briefly and received the degree of A.B. in 1776. He served as deputy commissary of prisoners at New York under his uncle Lewis. His duties were to examine and relieve the wants of the prisoners. On November 12, 1784, he married Elizabeth Brashear, daughter of Colonel Abraham Brashear of
Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...
. Pintard had inherited a legacy from his maternal grandfather, John Cannon, and this allowed him to go into the China and East India trade. Like his father and his grandfather before him, John served as an alderman to the City of New York. Pintard drafted the constitution of the
Tammany Society Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
, developed the titles of the members, and urged the canonization of
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
within the society. The society was renamed ''The Society of St. Tammany or Columbian Order in the City of New York'' in the late 1780 or early 1790s but removed the canonization process and names from its title in 1792. He was rated as one of New York's most successful and prosperous merchants when in 1792 he lost his fortune by engaging with William Duer in a scheme to fund the national debt. He had personally endorsed notes for over a million dollars and was imprisoned for the debt. John Pintard resided in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
to seek his fortune but decided not to settle there. He filed a very favorable report of the French colony to
Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan–American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years o ...
, secretary of the treasury, and minister to France
James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
, a relative by marriage to his wife's aunt. Pintard's report was instrumental in convincing
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
to purchase the
Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of the ...
. He served as first city inspector of New York City for many years after 1804, and was authorized by the corporation of New York to issue fractional notes during the War of 1812. John was secretary of the Mutual Assurance Company from 1809 to 1829. From 1819 to 1829 he served as secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce. He served as treasurer of the Sailor's Snug Harbor from 1819 to 1823 and was instrumental in the purchase of the property on Staten Island where the home is now located. He also was a founder of the New York Historical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society. John Pintard served as manager of the state lotteries and was first sagamore of the
Tammany Society Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
. He was also elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
in 1814. In 1832 he was 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 ...
during the
second cholera pandemic The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
. On February 19, 1805 he began the efforts which became the present free school system in New York. He was also active in the movement that resulted in the building and completion of the
Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
. John Pintard surveyed the plans for the streets and avenues in upper New York City. A deeply religious man, he was one of the chief supporters of the General Theological Seminary and helped found the American Bible Society, which he always called his "brat." He was vestryman for the Huguenot Church of New York City for thirty-four years and his translation of the "Book of Common Prayer" from English to French is still used today. In 1822, the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by
Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...
. Pintard was an active Freemason, serving as Master for his Lodge in New York. Perhaps his greatest contribution to American society, however, was his role in establishing the modern popular conception of Santa Claus based upon the Dutch legend of
Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' ("The ...
. His papers demonstrate that he personally observed the feast of
St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
in an era when such remembrances were still frequently considered "hagiolatry" in America and when almanacs of the day omitted reference to such a feast day. Protestants, he argued, unlike Catholics and even pagans, had systematically suppressed the kind of “religious festivals” at which “mechanics and laborers” could find officially sanctioned and organized “processions” that would allow them to release their “pent-up” energies in satisfying but orderly ways. To remedy this, he directed considerable energy toward constructing a renewed Winter holiday involving St. Nicholas. His publication in 1810 of a pamphlet proposing St. Nicholas as the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of New York City, and Patron Saint of his newly established New York Historical Society became a theme just following his friend
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
publishing ''A History of New York'' in 1809, (itself coming from Irving's January 25, 1808 article in Salmagundi magazine). Irving's publication being the first widely published record of Santa Claus as St. Nicholas in New Amsterdam (old New York City), and Pintard lending gravitas to the cause of St. Nicholas for many years to follow. According to Dr. Niels Henry Sonne, former director of the library, John Pintard also was a patron of the library of the
General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...
in New York, and helped establish their first collection of books.Sonne, Niels H. John Pintard and the Early Years of the General Theological Seminary Library. New York: s.n.], 1961. Reprinted with revisions from the Bulletin of the General Theological Seminary, v. 47, no. 1 (February, 1961). Blind in his later years, he died at the home of his daughter, Louise, in New York on June 21, 1844.


References


Guide to the John Pintard Papers, 1750-1925


Further reading

*"Letters from John Pintard to his Daughter", Vol I, p 102 *John Pintard (Class of 1776, in Richard A. Harrison., ed., ''Princetonians, 1776-1783'' (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981), 424-229.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pintard, John 1759 births 1844 deaths Huguenot participants in the American Revolution Leaders of Tammany Hall New-York Historical Society Princeton University alumni Members of the American Antiquarian Society