Arent Schuyler
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arent Philipse Schuyler (June 25, 1662 – November 26, 1730) was a member of the influential
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 ...
(among the first settlers to
New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
). He was a surveyor, Native American trader, miner, merchant, and land speculator.


Early life

Arent Philipse Schuyler was born on June 25, 1662, in Rensselaerswyck, New York. He was the son 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 Republ ...
(1628–1683) and Margarita Van Slichtenhorst (1627–1710) and the younger brother 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). He was one of 10 children born to his parents, including Gysbert Schuyler (1652-1664/5), Gertruj Schuyler (b. 1654), who married
Stephanus van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor's ...
(1643–1700) (the patroon of
Van Cortlandt Manor Van Cortlandt Manor is a 17th-century house and property built by the van Cortland family located near the confluence of the Croton and Hudson Rivers in the village of Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York, United States. The colonial ...
and a
Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
from 1677 to 1678 and again from 1686 to 1688), Alida Schuyler (b. 1656), who first married Nicholas van Rensselaer (1636-1678) and then second,
Robert Livingston the Elder The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
(1654–1728),
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), who married Engeltie Van Schaick and Maria Van Rensselaer, Brant Schuyler (1659-1702), who married Cornelia Van Cortlandt, Sybilla Schuyler (b. 1664), Philip Schuyler (b. 1666), Johannes Schuyler (b. 1668), and Margritta Schuyler (b. 1672), who married Jacobus Verplanck. The many Schuyler children established the family name and homes, including the
Schuyler Mansion Schuyler Mansion is a historic house at 32 Catherine Street in Albany, New York. The brick mansion is now a museum and an official National Historic Landmark. It was constructed from 1761 to 1765 for Philip Schuyler, later a general in the Co ...
in Albany. They were closely related with the great family
patroons In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch ''patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms a ...
of New York, the Van Cortlandts.


Career

Schuyler participated in the military actions of an early
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
in Canada in the 1690s. In 1694, Schuyler traveled into north-western New Jersey to investigate rumors that the French were trying to incite the local
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
population to attack English colonial settlements. Schuyler found no evidence of such rumors, but discovered a rich fertile valley where the Lenape grew a variety of crops. Schuyler reported his findings to his superiors and then convinced Major
Anthony Brockholst Major Anthony Brockholls (or Brockholst) ( – August 29, 1723) was and English born Commander-in-Chief (1677-8) and then acting Governor (1681-2) of New York. Career In 1677, he received a special commission as Commander-in-Chief and when Sir Ed ...
,
Samuel Bayard Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Vetch Bayard (born 1757, New York – d. 28 May 1832 Wilmot, Nova Scotia) was a Loyalist military officer in the American Revolution who served in the King's Orange Rangers (KOR). He is the son of William Bayard who foun ...
, Samuel Berry, Hendrick and David Mandeville, George Ryerson and John Mead to invest in the purchase of the land he referred to as the Pompton Valley. The seven chose Schuyler to be negotiator with the Lenape for the rights to the area. Samual Bayard, however, was chosen to negotiate with the East Jersey Company, which maintained land rights over the area that is now Wayne. Approximately 5,000 acres (20 km2) were purchased on November 11, 1695. He built the Schuyler-Colfax House along the
Pompton River The Pompton River is a tributary of the Passaic River, approximately long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. It is formed south of the borough of Pompton Lakes by the confluence of the Ramapo and Pequannock rivers. It flows south ...
. In 1710, he bought a large tract on
New Barbadoes Neck New Barbadoes Neck is the name given in the colonial era for the peninsula in northeastern New Jersey, US between the lower Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, in what is now western Hudson County and southern Bergen County. The neck begins in the ...
. The new purchase (present-day Kearny, North Arlington, and Lyndhurst and Kingsland) had a significant deposit of copper, and the family became wealthy as they started to mine the metal at the
Schuyler Copper Mine The Schuyler Copper Mine is an abandoned, historic copper mine located in what is now North Arlington in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Operations began in 1715, making it the earliest copper mine in New Jersey and one of the oldest i ...
.


Personal life

Arent Schuyler married three times, first to Jenneke Teller (1662–1703) on November 26, 1684. Together, they had: * Margareta Schuyler (b. 1685) * Philip Schuyler (b. 1687), who married Hester Kingsland * Maria Schuyler (b. 1689), who died young * Olivia Schuyler * Judik Schuyler (b. 1692) * Casparus Schuyler (1695–1754) * Wilhemus Schuyler (b. 1700), who died young After her death in 1703, he married Swantje Van Duyckhuysen (1679–1724). With his second wife, he had: *
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 ...
(1707–1762), who first married Hester Walter, and then second, Mary Walter * Eva Schuyler (d. 1737), who married Peter Bayard * Adonijah "Adonis" Schuyler (1708–1763), who married Gertrude Van Rensselaer (b. 1714), daughter of Maria Van Cortlandt and Kiliaen Van Rensselaer (1663–1719), the fifth Patroon and second
Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
of
Rensselaerwyck The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...
* John Schuyler (1710–1773), who married Anne Van Rensselaer, sister of Gertrude Van Rensselaer * Cornelia Schuyler (1715–1785), who married Pierre Guillaume DePeyster (1707–1785) In 1724, after Swantje's death, he married for the third time, to Maria Walter (1689–1764), the daughter of Robert Walter and Catharine Leisler. They did not have any children. Schuyler died in
Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city / town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 38,222, reflecting an increase of 6.4% from th ...
, on November 26, 1730. After his death, his widow, Maria Walter, married Archibald Kennedy (1685–1763), with whom she had five children, including Archibald Kennedy (1736–1794), who would eventually marry Schuyler's granddaughter, Katherine.


Descendants

Schuyler's son,
Peter 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 ...
(1710–1762), was responsible for the introduction of the first steam engine assembled in the United States. Schuyler Avenue in Kearny and was named for Peter in honor of the early settlers. His grandson, Arent Schuyler DePeyster (1736–1822), was a British military officer. His granddaughter, Katherine Schuyler (1737–1765), married Archibald Kennedy, Earl of Casselis, a Scottish peer who lived in the United States, and was the son of his widow, Maria Walter.


See also

*
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 ...
*
Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,Pompton people The Pompton or Pamapon people were a sub-tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans, who once lived northern New Jersey. The Pompton historically lived along Pompton and Pequannock Rivers, near what is now Paterson, New Jersey, but they were ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuyler, Arent Schuyler family Kearny, New Jersey American people of Dutch descent People of colonial New Jersey People from Belleville, New Jersey 1662 births 1730 deaths People of New Netherland