Peter Schermerhorn

Peter Schermerhorn (October 1, 1749 – January 28, 1826)[1] was a wealthy New York City merchant and land owner.[2] He was the father of Abraham Schermerhorn and the paternal grandfather of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor.[3]

Peter Schermerhorn
BornOctober 1, 1749
New York City, Province of New York, British America
DiedJanuary 28, 1826(1826-01-28) (aged 76)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeGreen-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn
OccupationMerchant
Spouse
Elizabeth Bussing
​
​
(m. 1771; died 1809)​
Children6, including Abraham
Parent(s)Johannes Schermerhorn
Sarah Cannon
RelativesCaroline Schermerhorn Astor (granddaughter)
William Colford Schermerhorn (grandson)

Early life

Schermerhorn was born in New York City in what was then the Province of New York on October 1, 1749.[4] His parents were Johannes "John" Schermerhorn (1715–1768) and Sarah (née Cannon) Schermerhorn (1721–1762).[1] Among his siblings was brother Simon Schermerhorn (1748–1818), who married Jane Bussing (1750–1826), the older sister of Peter's wife Elizabeth.[5][6]

His paternal grandparents were Arnout (or Aernout) Schermerhorn and Maria (née Beekman) Schermerhorn (b. 1692) (herself the granddaughter of Wilhelmus Beekman,[7] Governor of the Colony of Swedes, acting Mayor of New York City and founder of the Beekman family in the United States).[4] He descended from Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, who settled in New York from the Netherlands in 1636.[7][8] His maternal grandfather, John Cannon, was a Huguenot refugee from La Rochelle in France.[4]

Career
Part of Schermerhorn Row, early 19th-century mercantile buildings

Schermerhorn, like his father and grandfather, was a commander and owner of shipping vessels trading between New York City and Charleston, South Carolina.[9] From 1776 to 1783, during the American Revolutionary War, Schermerhorn and his family lived in Hyde Park, New York to protect their vessels from British seizure. After the war ended, the family returned to New York City, the Schermerhorn family resided at 68 Broadway.[5]

In 1808, Schermerhorn admitted his sons Abraham and Peter to his ship-chandlery firm,[10][11] which was renamed "Peter Schermerhorn & Sons."[3]

In 1811, Schemerhorn built six Federal style urban counting houses on Fulton Street in Manhattan,[12] today known as the Schermerhorn Row Block.[8] The houses were built to serve the growing South Street Seaport.[12] Peter also served as a governor of New York Hospital.[13]

Personal life

On September 11, 1771, Schemerhorn was married to Elizabeth Bussing (1752–1809),[1] a daughter of Abraham Bussing, a dry goods merchant,[14] and Elizabeth (née Mesier) Bussing.[15] Together, they were the parents of:[16][6]

  • John Peter Schermerhorn (1775–1831), who married to Rebecca Hodgson Stevens (1780–1815), the daughter of Gen. Ebenezer Stevens.[16]
  • Peter Schermerhorn Jr. (1781–1852), who married Sarah Jones (1782–1845), sister of Gen James I. Jones.[16]
  • Abraham Schermerhorn (1783–1850), who married Helen Van Courtlandt White (1792–1881), the daughter of Henry White and Anne (née Van Cortlandt) White.[17]
  • George Schermerhorn (b. 1785).[4]
  • Elizabeth Schermerhorn (1787–1857), who married Edward Renshaw Jones (1785–1839).[4]
  • Jane Schermerhorn (1792–1886), who married Rev. William Creighton, S.T.D.[7]

Schermerhorn died in New York City on January 28, 1826.[4]

Descendants

His son Abraham had nine children, including Augustus Van Courtlandt Schermerhorn (1812–1846), who married Ellen Bayard, daughter of Sen. James A. Bayard Jr.;[7] Elizabeth Schermerhorn (1817–1874),[18] who married General James I. Jones;[7] Anna White Schermerhorn (1818–1886),[19] who married Charles Suydam;[10] Helen Schermerhorn (1820–1893),[20] who married John Treat Irving Jr.,[21] a nephew of Washington Irving;[7] Katharine Elida Schermerhorn (1828–1858), who married Benjamin Sumner Welles, a descendant of Colonial Gov. Thomas Welles and Gov. Increase Sumner;[7] and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn (1830–1908), who married William Backhouse Astor Jr.,[22] the middle son of William Backhouse Astor Sr.[7]

Legacy

In 1795, Schermerhorn and his brother Simon purchased over 150 acres in Gowanus, Brooklyn, including a home built in 1690, that they used as a family summer home. After his death, he left his son Abraham the property which he later sold around 1835 for $600 an acre,[23] (totaling $102,000)[3] and which Green-Wood Cemetery was built on.[24]

References
  1. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. p. 138. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  2. Irving, Washington (1969). Journals and notebooks. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 197. ISBN 9780805785043. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  3. Homberger, Eric (2004). Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age. Yale University Press. p. 128. ISBN 0300105150. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  4. Aitken, Ph.D., William B. (1912). Distinguished Families in America Descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke. New York: Knickerbocker Press. p. 3.
  5. "Guide to the Peter Schermerhorn papers ARC.089". dlib.nyu.edu. Brooklyn Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  6. Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1410. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  7. Harrison, Mrs. Burton; Lamb, Mrs. Martha J. (1896). HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK; ITS ORIGIN RISE, AND PROGRESS. p. 754. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  8. Bielinski, Stefan. "Schermerhorn Family". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  9. Schermerhorn, Richard, Jr. Schermerhorn Genealogy and Family Chronicles. New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1914.
  10. Greene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Mann, Conklin; Maynard, Arthur S. (1904). The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 203. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  11. Cooper, James Fenimore; Beard, James Franklin (1968). The Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper: 1845-1849. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780674525511. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  12. Bindelglass, Evan (April 1, 2015). "A Rare Peek Inside Schermerhorn Row's 19th-Century Hotels". Curbed NY. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  13. Corner, George Washington (1965). A History of the Rockefeller Institute, 1901-1953: Origins and Growth. Rockefeller University Press. p. 585. ISBN 9780874700039. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  14. Cutter, William Richard (1913). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation ... Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 46. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  15. Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1915. p. 46. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  16. Moffat, R. Burnham (1904). The Barclays of New York: Who They are and who They are Not,-and Some Other Barclays. R. G. Cooke. p. 142. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  17. "DIED. Schermerhorn" (PDF). The New York Times. May 26, 1881. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  18. "DIED. Jones" (PDF). The New York Times. August 23, 1874. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  19. "DIED. Suydam" (PDF). The New York Times. November 25, 1886. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  20. "DIED. Irving" (PDF). The New York Times. December 21, 1893. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  21. "JOHN TREAT IRVING DEAD.; He Was Graduated from Columbia in 1829 -- Lawyer and Author" (PDF). The New York Times. February 28, 1906. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  22. "William Astor Is Dead; Stricken Suddenly at the Hotel Liverpool, Paris. He Leaves a Fortune of Many Mill- Ions -- John Jacob Astor Will Inherit It -- the Body Will Be Brought Home for Burial" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1892. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  23. Lockwood, Charles (2003). Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House, 1783-1929. Rizzoli. p. 93. ISBN 9780847825226. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  24. Benardo, Leonard; Weiss, Jennifer (2006). Brooklyn By Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges, and More Got Their Names. NYU Press. p. 51. ISBN 9780814791493. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
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