Nicholas Van Dyke (December 20, 1769 – May 21, 1826) was an American lawyer and politician from

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of 2020, the city's population was 5,551. New Cast ...

. He was a member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as U.S. Representative from Delaware, and as U.S. senator from Delaware.

Early life and education

Van Dyke was born in New Castle, Delaware, son of

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

and Elizabeth (Nixon) Van Dyke. His mother died two weeks after giving birth to Nicholas. His father, who had been a member of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

and a President of Delaware, later married again, to Charlotte Stanley. The younger Nicholas graduated from the College of New Jersey, now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, in 1788, studied law with his brother-in-law, Kensey Johns, and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in New Castle, in 1792.

Career

Van Dyke was a Federalist who was a member of the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

in 1799. From 1801 until 1806 he served as

Attorney General of Delaware The attorney general of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice. On January 1, 2019, Kathy Jennings was sworn in as the 46th attorney genera ...

. In 1807 he was elected to the 10th

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Representative James M. Broom. He was reelected to the 11th Congress, and served in the U.S. House from October 6, 1807, until March 3, 1811. With the Federalists a powerless minority in Congress, he returned home to serve as the Attorney General of Delaware. He was elected to the

Delaware State Senate The Delaware State Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, a ...

for the 1816 and 1817 sessions. While serving there, he was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, where he served from March 4, 1817, until his death on May 21, 1826. He missed the first month and a half of the 18th U.S. Congress, as his first term in the Senate expired on March 3, 1823, and he was not re-elected by the Delaware Legislature until January 7, 1824. He did not take his seat in the Senate for the 18th Congress until January 14, 1824, while the Senate had convened on December 1, 1823. He was Chairman of the Committee on Pensions in the 16th U.S. Congress.

Personal life

He married Mary Ann Leuvaneigh in 1792. They had six children, including Nicholas III, Kensey Johns, and Dorcas Montgomery and lived at many houses in and around

. One of these was at the corner of Delaware and Fourth Streets and was the location of the 1824 wedding of Dorcas Van Dyke and Charles I. du Pont, which was attended by the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

. His farm and summer retreat, The Hermitage, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973. The family were members of Immanuel Episcopal Church.

Death and legacy

Van Dyke died in

, and is buried there in the cemetery at

Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green Immanuel on the Green (Episcopal) is an historic church in New Castle, Delaware, New Castle, Delaware, listed as a contributing property in the New Castle Historic District (New Castle, Delaware), New Castle Historic District. The church is sit ...

. A fellow lawyer who knew Van Dyke compared him to other lawyers by saying that he was a "sound lawyer and superior to them all as a fluent, graceful and successful advocate and in the skillful management of his cases."

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday of October and members of the General Assembly took office on the first Tuesday of January. The State Senate had a term of three years and the State House had a term of one year. U.S. Representatives took office March 4 and had a two-year term. The General Assembly chose the U.S. senators who also took office March 4, but for a six-year term.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV3-Q7J6?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=LCMN-W9B

External links

Biographical Dictionary of the United States
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dyke, Nicholas 1769 births 1826 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American lawyers American politicians of Dutch descent Delaware attorneys general Delaware lawyers Delaware National Republicans Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Delaware Federalist Party United States senators from Delaware National Republican Party United States senators from Delaware People from New Castle, Delaware People from colonial Delaware Princeton University alumni 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the Delaware House of Representatives

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Death and legacy

Almanac

See also

Notes

References

References

External links