Richard Riker (September 9, 1773 – September 26, 1842) was an American lawyer and politician from New York, who served as the first district attorney of what is now

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, and as

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

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 ...

Career

Riker studied law at the College of New Jersey (now

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 ...

) under Rev.

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

, and was admitted to the New York state

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1795. In 1801, he was appointed to the newly created office of the District Attorney of the First District, where he prosecuted cases in New York, Queens, Kings, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester counties. Before 1801 the

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 ...

had personally prosecuted cases. During his tenure, he also served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1806, representing

. Riker remained in office until 1810, and then served as district attorney again from 1811 to 1813.''Civil List and Forms of Government of the Colony and State of New York''
Weed, Parsons and Company, 1867. He served three non-consecutive terms as the

Recorder of New York City The Recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boar ...

between 1815 and 1838. In this position, Riker abused the

Fugitive Slave Act A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kno ...

to send free blacks to the South to be sold into slavery. By the 1830s,

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

considered Riker a member of the "Kidnapping Club", along with Daniel D. Nash and Tobias Boudinot, who "boasted that he could 'arrest and send any black to the South.'" In 1828, Riker was also made the subject of a satirical poem, "The Recorder" by

Fitz-Greene Halleck Fitz-Greene Halleck (July 8, 1790 – November 19, 1867) was an American poet and member of the Knickerbocker Group. Born and raised in Guilford, Connecticut, he went to New York City at the age of 20, and lived and worked there for nearly fo ...

, which mockingly compared him and other members of the New York party machine to classical figures like

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

. Riker was a close friend of DeWitt Clinton, and both were supporters of Alexander Hamilton, leading to duels with supporters of Hamilton's rival Aaron Burr. Riker served as Clinton's second in a duel with John Swartwout on July 30, 1802 at the dueling grounds in

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

, where Swartwout was wounded in the leg. On November 21, 1803, Riker dueled with John Swartwout's brother, Brigadier General Robert Swartwout, at Weehawken in defense of Clinton's honor. Riker was shot in the leg at this duel, giving him a permanent limp.Di Novi, Will
"Re-Naming Rikers"
'' Pacific Standard'', May 18, 2016.

Personal life

He was born in Newtown, Queens County, New York, the son of Congressman Samuel Riker and Anna Lawrence Riker, niece of Jonathan Lawrence. In March 1807, Riker married Janette Phoenix, daughter of Daniel Phoenix (ca. 1740-1812, who served as New York City Treasurer, 1784-1809), and they had six children. He was a member of the prominent and wealthy Riker family, which owned Rikers Island, now New York City's primary jail complex, until 1884. The island's name has been the subject of some controversy, and has drawn comparisons between Riker's kidnappings and the disproportionately African-American population of the jail.Mock, Brentin
"The Dark 'Fugitive Slave' History of Rikers Island"
''

CityLab ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', July 23, 2015. Richard Riker is buried in Riker-Lent Burial Ground in Astoria, Queens Borough, New York City, Queens County, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riker, Richard 1773 births 1842 deaths People from Elmhurst, Queens American duellists New York County District Attorneys Queens County (New York) District Attorneys Members of the New York State Assembly New York City Recorders 19th-century American lawyers