Abraham Van Vechten (December 5, 1762 – January 6, 1837) was an American lawyer and a Federalist politician who served twice as

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...

Early life

Abraham Van Vechten was born on December 5, 1762, in Catskill, Albany County (now Greene County), New York. He was the son of

Dutch Americans Dutch Americans ( nl, Nederlandse Amerikanen) are Americans of Dutch descent whose ancestors came from the Netherlands in the recent or distant past. Dutch settlement in the Americas started in 1613 with New Amsterdam, which was exchanged with ...

Teunis Van

Vechten Fectio, known as ''Vechten'' in Old Dutch, was a Roman ''castellum'' in the province Germania Inferior established in the year 4 or 5 AD. It was located at the place where the river Vecht (''Fectio'') branched off from the Rhine, leading to Lake ...

(1707–1785) and Judikje "Judith" Ten Broeck (1721–1783). His brothers were Samuel Ten Broeck Van Vechten (1742–1813) and Teunis Van Vechten (1749–1817), who became a prominent merchant in Albany and held the office of commissary on the staff of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Morgan Lewis during the revolution. Their maternal grandfather was Jacob Ten Broeck (1688–1746), nephew of

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). Van Vechten was educated at Columbia College, studied law with John Lansing, Jr., and began practice in

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a major general during the Sev ...

, but soon removed to Albany.

Career

In 1792, he was elected one of the first directors of the Bank of Albany. From 1796 to 1797, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Fifth District, comprising Albany, Saratoga, Schoharie and Montgomery Counties. He was a Federalist

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital ...

, and cast his votes for

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

and Thomas Pinckney. Van Vechten was the first lawyers admitted to the bar after the adoption of the

New York State Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

and ranked among the most gifted men of that time, including Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and Robert Livingston.

Public office

From 1797 to 1808, Van Vechten served as Recorder of the City of Albany. Concurrently, he was a member of the New York State Senate, serving in the 22nd, 23rd, 24th,

25th 25 (twenty-five) is the natural number following 24 and preceding 26. In mathematics It is a square number, being 52 = 5 × 5. It is one of two two-digit numbers whose square and higher powers of the number also ends in the same last t ...

, 26th,

27th 27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. In mathematics * Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...

and 28th New York State Legislatures from 1798 to 1805, representing the Eastern District, which included

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Clinton, Rensselaer, Albany and Saratoga counties. After leaving the Senate, he was elected to the New York State Assembly, serving in the 29th, 30th, 31st,

32nd 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, 33rd, 34th,

35th Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

and 36th New York State Legislatures from 1808 to 1813, representing Albany County. While serving in the Assembly, he also served as the 10th

from 1810 to 1811, and again from 1813 to 1815 as the 13th Attorney General, under Governor

Daniel D. Tompkins Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fifth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkins ...

. His successor was

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

, who later became the 8th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

. After serving as Attorney General of New York, he was elected to return to the State Senate, serving in the 39th, 40th, 41st and

42nd New York State Legislature The 42nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 13, 1819, during the second year of DeWitt Clinton's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the pro ...

s from 1816 to 1819, representing the Middle District, which included Albany, Chenango, Columbia,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

counties. In 1821, he was a delegate to the

New York State Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

, where he opposed the extension of the franchise. From 1797 to 1823, he was a regent of the

University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it is, in fact, a lic ...

. In the 1828 presidential election, Van Vechten was a

, voting for the 6th President,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

and Richard Rush.

Personal life

In 1784, he married Catharina Schuyler (1766–1820), eldest daughter of Philip P. Schuyler (1736–1808) of the prominent Schuyler family. She grew up on her father's farm in the

Schuyler Flatts Schuyler Flatts is an important prehistoric and historic settlement site overlooking the Hudson River in Colonie, New York. The site includes evidence of prehistoric Native American, early Dutch colonial settlement, and 18th and 19th-century Ameri ...

section of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. Catharina was the great-granddaughter 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 ...

(1657–1724), the first

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 Maria Van Rensselaer, daughter of

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 ...

(1632–1674). Together, they had thirteen children, including: *Judith Van Vechten (1785–1799) *Phillip Van Vechten (1786–1814) *Teunis A Van Vechten (1787–1811) *Anna Van Vechten (1789–1857) *Elizabeth Van Vechten (1791–1878) *Samuel Van Vechten (1794–1824) *Gertrude Van Vechten (1798–1842) *Jacob Ten Broeck Van Vechten (1801–1841) *Judith Van Vechten (1803–1825) Van Vechten died in Albany on January 6, 1837, and was buried at

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical A ...

Early life

Career

Public office

Personal life

Sources

Further reading