Johannes Schuyler (October 15, 1668 – November 5, 1747) was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the 10th

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

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 Cit ...

from 1703 to 1706, and later was a member of the

provincial assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

. He was the paternal grandfather of U.S. Senator

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 18, 1804) was an American general in the Revolutionary War and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler. Born in Alb ...

and Mayor

Abraham Cuyler Abraham Cornelius Cuyler (April 11, 1742 – February 5, 1810) was a businessman and the last mayor of colonial Albany, New York, the third generation in a row to serve in that office. Early life Abraham was born in 1742 to Mayor Cornelis Cuyler ...

Early life and family

Coat of Arms of Philip Piterse Van Schuyler

Johannes Schuyler was born in 1668 in Albany, New York, 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 Repub ...

(1628–1683) and Margarita Van Slichtenhorst. His father was a Dutch-born landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family. He was the youngest of six sons and 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' ...

(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 '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(1654–1728), Brant Schuyler (1659-1702), who married Cornelia Van Cortlandt,

Arent Schuyler Arent Philipse Schuyler (June 25, 1662 – November 26, 1730) was a member of the influential Schuyler family (among the first settlers to New Netherland). He was a surveyor, Native American trader, miner, merchant, and land speculator. Early l ...

(1662–1730), who married Jannetje Teller and later Swantje Van Duyckhuysen, Sybilla Schuyler (b. 1664), Philip Schuyler (b. 1666), and Margritta Schuyler (b. 1672), who married Jacobus Verplanck.

Career

Several English governors used him as an envoy to the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

because as he was well liked and trusted by them. In 1724, Lieutenant Governor

William Dummer William Dummer (bapt. September 29, 1677 (O.S.) October 10, 1677 (N.S.)/small> – October 10, 1761) was a politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He served as its lieutenant governor for fourteen years (1716–1730), including an e ...

of Massachusetts appointed him a commissioner to negotiate with the Iroquois. He again visited Canada in 1713 and again in 1725 to seek the return of prisoners. Later, he became well known and wealthy as a trader and river transport operator. In 1703, he was appointed the 10th

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 ...

, serving until 1706, and later as a member of the provincial assembly. He enacted a law mandating that each homeowner had to build an eight-foot sidewalk. Also served as Indian Commissioner, member of Colonial Assembly and alderman. He also served in Albany as a justice of the peace, an alderman, a lieutenant of cavalry.

Personal life

In 1695, he married Elizabeth (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

) Staats Wendel (1659–1737), daughter of

Abraham Staats Major Abraham Staats or Abram Staes (Amsterdam January 19, 1620 (baptized)– New York ca. 1694) was one of the first settlers of the New Netherland colonies and is the founder of the Staats family in New Amsterdam and the early American colonies. ...

(1620–ca. 1694), who was ten years his elder. She had previously been married to Johannes Wendell (1649–1692), and was already the father 11 children, including Jacob Wendell (1691–1761). Together, they were the parents of: * Philip Johannes Schuyler (1695–1745), who was killed during the French and Indian raid on Saratoga on November 28, 1745. *

Johannes Schuyler, Jr. Johannes Schuyler Jr. (October 1697 – November 5, 1741) was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York from 1740 to 1741, and was a merchant, alderman, and Indian commissioner. Schuyler married Cornelia v ...

(1697–1741), who married Cornelia van Cortlandt (1698–1762), his first cousin. *

Margarita Schuyler Margarita Schuyler (January 12, 1701 – August 28, 1782), known primarily as Madame Schulyer and Aunt Schuyler during her lifetime, daughter of Johannes Schuyler, society leader, and advisor. The wife of Colonel Philip Schuyler, she frequently hos ...

(1701–1782), who married Phillipus Schuyler (1696–1758), her first cousin and the son of Schuyler's brother,

Pieter Pieter is a male given name, the Dutch form of Peter. The name has been one of the most common names in the Netherlands for centuries, but since the mid-twentieth century its popularity has dropped steadily, from almost 3000 per year in 1947 ...

* Catalyntie "Catharina" Schuyler (1704–1758), who married

Cornelis Cuyler Cornelis Cuyler or Cornelius Cuyler (baptized February 14, 1697 – March 14, 1765) was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1742 to 1746. Early life and family Cuyler was born in 1697 and ba ...

(1697–1765), the son of

Johannes Cuyler Johannes Cuyler (1661 – July 20, 1740) was a prominent American merchant of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1725 to 1726. Early life and family Cuyler was born in 1661 in New Amsterdam in the Province of New ...

(1661–1740) Schuyler died on November 5, 1747, in Albany.

Descendants

Through his second son, Johannes Jr., Schuyler was the grandfather of Continental General

(1733–1804), whose cousin Hester Schuyler who married General William Colfax and were the grandparents of

Schuyler Colfax Schuyler Colfax Jr. (; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th speaker of the Hous ...

, a Congressman and later

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

. Colfax married a niece of Senator

Benjamin Franklin Wade Benjamin Franklin "Bluff" Wade (October 27, 1800March 2, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator for Ohio from 1851 to 1869. He is known for his leading role among the Radical Republicans.

and who was related to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.See link on

to Dudley-Winthrop family. His granddaughter,

's sister, married Dr. John Cochran, the Director General of the Military Hospitals of the Continental Army, and were the grandparents of U.S. General and Congressman John Cochran. Through his youngest daughter, Catharina, he was also the grandfather of

(1742–1810), the last mayor of colonial Albany and the third generation in a row to serve in that office. Schuyler's sister-in-law, Catherina Van Rensselaer (née Van Brugh) was the great-grandmother of Continental General

Peter Gansevoort Peter Gansevoort (July 17, 1749 – July 2, 1812) was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for leading the resistance to Barry St. Leger's Siege of Fort Stanwix in 1777. Gansevoort was also th ...

(1749–1812), who married Catherina Van Schaick, the sister of Continental General

Goose Van Schaick Goose Van Schaick (September 5, 1736 – July 4, 1789) was a Continental Army officer during the American Revolutionary War. Early life Van Schaick was born in Albany on September 5, 1736. He was the first child born to Sybrant Van Schaick, who s ...

. Catherine and Goose were the children of Albany mayor Sybrant Van Schaick. The Gansevoort's were the grandparents of author

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are '' Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a ...

References

External links

Van Rensselaer/Schuyler genealogy
for reference only

in

Albany, NY 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 Cit ...

at 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:Schuyler, Pieter 1668 births 1747 deaths Schuyler family American people of Dutch descent Mayors of Albany, New York People of New Netherland Members of the New York General Assembly