Johannes Schuyler

Johannes Schuyler (October 15, 1668 – November 5, 1747) was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the 10th Mayor of Albany, New York from 1703 to 1706, and later was a member of the provincial assembly. He was the paternal grandfather of U.S. Senator Philip Schuyler and Mayor Abraham Cuyler.[1]

Johannes Schuyler
Johannes Schuyler and his wife
10th Mayor of
Albany, New York
In office
1703–1706
Preceded byAlbert Janse Ryckman
Succeeded byDavid Davidse Schuyler
Personal details
Born(1668-10-15)October 15, 1668
Albany, Province of New York
DiedNovember 5, 1747(1747-11-05) (aged 79)
Albany, Province of New York
Spouse
Elizabeth Staats Wendell
​
​
(m. 1695; died 1737)​
RelationsPieter Schuyler (brother)
Arent Schuyler (brother)
Stephanus van Cortlandt (brother-in-law)
Nicholas van Rensselaer (brother-in-law)
Robert Livingston the Elder (brother-in-law)
Philip Schuyler (grandson)
Abraham Cuyler (grandson)
Parent(s)Philip Pieterse Schuyler
Margarita Van Slichtenhorst

Early life and family
Coat of Arms of Johannes Schuyler

Johannes Schuyler was born in 1668 in Albany, New York, the son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler (1628–1683) and Margarita Van Slichtenhorst. His father was a Dutch-born landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family.[2]

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 (1643–1700) (the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and a Mayor of New York City 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 (1654–1728), Brant Schuyler (1659-1702), who married Cornelia Van Cortlandt, Arent Schuyler (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.[3]

Career

Several English governors used him as an envoy to the Iroquois because as he was well liked and trusted by them.[4] In 1724, Lieutenant Governor William Dummer of Massachusetts appointed him a commissioner to negotiate with the Iroquois.[5] He again visited Canada in 1713 and again in 1725 to seek the return of prisoners.[6][7]

Later, he became well known and wealthy as a trader and river transport operator.[8] In 1703, he was appointed the 10th Mayor of Albany, serving until 1706,[9] and later as a member of the provincial assembly.[10] 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.[10] He also served in Albany as a justice of the peace, an alderman, a lieutenant of cavalry.[4]

Personal life

In 1695, he married Elizabeth (née) Staats Wendel (1659–1737), daughter of Abraham Staats (1620–ca. 1694), who was ten years his elder.[9] She had previously been married to Johannes Wendell (1649–1692),[11] who was already the father of her 11 children, including Jacob Wendell (1691–1761).[10] Together, they were the parents of:[2]

  • Philip Johannes Schuyler (1695–1745), who was killed during the French and Indian raid on Saratoga on November 28, 1745.[12]
  • Johannes Schuyler Jr. (1697–1741), who married Cornelia van Cortlandt (1698–1762), his first cousin.[9]
  • Margarita Schuyler (1701–1782), who married Phillipus Schuyler (1696–1758), her first cousin and the son of Schuyler's brother, Pieter
  • Catalyntie "Catharina" Schuyler (1704–1758), who married Cornelis Cuyler (1697–1765), the son of Johannes Cuyler (1661–1740)

Schuyler died on November 5, 1747, in Albany.[4]

Descendants
Main article: Schuyler family

Through his second son, Johannes Jr., Schuyler was the grandfather of Continental General Philip Schuyler (1733–1804),[13] whose cousin Hester Schuyler who married General William Colfax and were the grandparents of Schuyler Colfax, a Congressman and later Vice President of the United States. Colfax married a niece of Senator Benjamin Franklin Wade and who was related to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.[14] His granddaughter, Philip Schuyler'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.[2]

Through his youngest daughter, Catharina, he was also the grandfather of Abraham Cuyler (1742–1810), the last mayor of colonial Albany and the third generation in a row to serve in that office.[15]

Schuyler's sister-in-law, Catherina Van Rensselaer (née Van Brugh) was the great-grandmother of Continental General Peter Gansevoort (1749–1812), who married Catherina Van Schaick, the sister of Continental General Goose Van Schaick. Catherine and Goose were the children of Albany mayor Sybrant Van Schaick. The Gansevoort's were the grandparents of author Herman Melville.[2]

References
  1. "Captain and Mrs. Johannes Schuyler". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  2. Reynolds, Cuyler (1911). Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: A Record of Achievements of the People of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York State, Included Within the Present Counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schenectady, Columbia and Greene. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 32. Retrieved 21 April 2017. Philip Johannes Schuyler.
  3. Morgan, John Hill (1921). The John Divine Jones Fund Series of Histories and Memoirs. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  4. Pell, John H. G. (1974). "Biography – SCHUYLER, JOHANNES – Volume III (1741-1770)". University of Toronto/Université Laval. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  5. O'Callaghan, Journal of Captain John Schuyler [1690] is printed in Documentary history of New-York, II, 160–62.
  6. Charlevoix, History (Shea). "Correspondance échangée entre la cour de France et le gouverneur de Frontenac, pendant sa seconde administration (1689–1699)," APQ Rapport, 1927–28, 38–39. NYCD (O'Callaghan and Fernow)
  7. Coleman, New England captives. W. J. Eccles, Frontenac: the courtier governor (Toronto, 1959). G. W. Schuyler, Colonial New York; Philip Schuyler and his family (2v., New York, 1885).
  8. Carver, Wees, Beth; Higgins, Harvey, Medill (2013). Early American Silver in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588394910. Retrieved 21 April 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Roberts, Warren (October 15, 2010). A Place in History: Albany in the Age of Revolution, 1775-1825. SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438433318. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  10. Bielinski, Stefan. "Johannes Schuyler". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  11. Bielinski, Stefan. "Johannes Wendell". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  12. "Colonel Philip Schuyler (1695-1745)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  13. Annual Report and List of Members of the New-York Historical Society. New-York Historical Society. 1911. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  14. See link on Schuyler Colfax to Dudley-Winthrop family.
  15. Bielinski, Stefan (31 December 1999). "Abraham C. Cuyler". New York State Museum. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
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