Peter Henry Silvester (February 17, 1807 – November 29, 1882) was a
U.S. Representative from New York in the
30th and
31st United States Congress. Silvester was the grandson of prominent attorney and former U.S. Congressmen,
Peter Silvester.
Early life
Silvester was born on February 17, 1807, in
Kinderhook, New York. He was the only son of Francis Silvester (1767–1845) and Lydia Van Schaack, a niece of
Peter van Schaack and a descendant of the
Schuyler family
The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especiall ...
.
He was the grandson of
Peter Silvester (1734–1808) and his wife, Jane Van Schaack.
Silvester attended
Kinderhook Academy, and graduated from
Union College,
Schenectady, New York, in 1827. He studied law, was
admitted to the bar in 1830 and practiced in
Coxsackie, New York.
Career
He was originally a member of the
Democratic-Republican Party, and joined the
National Republicans
The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...
and then the
Whigs.
Silvester was elected as a Whig to the
Thirtieth and
Thirty-first Congresses (March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1851). He did not run for reelection in 1850 and resumed practicing law. Like most Whigs, Silvester became a
Republican when the party was organized in the mid-1850s. In 1860 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House, losing narrowly to
John B. Steele
John Benedict Steele (March 28, 1814 – September 24, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York during the American Civil War.
Biography ...
.
Personal life
Silvester married Catherine Susan Bronk (d. 1858), the daughter of John Leonard Bronk and Alida Conine, and born in Coxsackie. She attended
Troy Seminary in Troy New York. Her father was a lawyer and
Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America:
Canada
* Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary
* Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver
* Columbia In ...
graduate.
Together, Silvester and Bronk had four children, of which two survived to adulthood:
* Francis Silvester (1833–1903), a lawyer
who served as District Attorney of
Columbia County.
* John L.B. Silvester (c. 1836)
[John L B Sylvester is listed in the New York State Census, 1855, Line 21.]
* Margaret Silvester, died aged 9
Silvester later retired to one of his farms in Coxsackie, where he lived until his death on November 29, 1882.
He was interred in Kinderhook Cemetery, along with his family.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvester, Peter Henry
1807 births
1882 deaths
People from Kinderhook, New York
Schuyler family
American people of Dutch descent
New York (state) Democratic-Republicans
New York (state) National Republicans
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
New York (state) Republicans
New York (state) lawyers
People from Coxsackie, New York
Union College (New York) alumni
Burials in New York (state)