Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Schuyler

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Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Schuyler

[This information is from Vol. I, pp. 28-41 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in the Reference collection of the Schenectady County Public Library at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]

The family name of Schuyler was originally "van Schuyler," when coming to this country, and by it was meant one residing in a place of shelter, from the Dutch "schuiler," a hider; or "schuil," a shelter; and possibly also from the German word "schuler," a scholar, the intention being to signify a family of education, or scholarly. The progenitor of the family in America commonly wrote his name "Philip Pieterse," excepting when he signed contracts, deeds, or other important documents, when he added "Schuijler," which could also be expressed by writing it "Schuyler" by placing the two small marks over the letter "y." After the year 1667 he usually wrote his name in full; but after 1672 he had dropped the name "Pieterse," signifying that Peter was his father as one might now drop the "Junior" after the death of a father, and he signed his will "Philip Schuijler." In the early family records he wrote the names of seven of his children with the prefix "van." Thus one traces the transition, with its definite reasons, to the present form.

The Schuyler Arms: Shield: Argent, a sinister cubit arm, vested azure, cuffed or, holding on the hand a falcon proper, beaked and membered of the third, hooded gules. Crest: A falcon as in shield. Motto: Semper fidelis.

Two brothers of the name of Schuyler, David and Philip, were among the earliest settlers of Beverswyck who came to this country from Holland, and it is from them all of the name in America have proceeded, which for the first century and a half after their arrival was distinctively an Albany name. Unfortunately, by the year 1900 it became extinct in that city but was still held in highest respect in memory. There were many of them who attained high distinction, especially in military valor, in governmental affairs, and as owners of very large estates. Five of the name were mayors in Albany, and hardly a more illustrious name appears in American history than that of General Philip Schuyler of the Revolution.

(I) Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler was the son of Pieter Schuyler, of Amsterdam, Holland. He was the better known of the two brothers who settled in New Netherland, and is recognized as the head of the family in America, or progenitor of the Schuyler family.

He purchased the property four miles north of Albany, on the public highway to Saratoga, which has been the home of the Schuyler family to this day. The original house on this bouwerie was the residence of Arent Van Curler, a cousin of the first Patroon, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, who came with the colonists to Rensselaerswyck in 1630. He had married in 1643, and on his return from his bridal journey to Holland settled on his farm; known as The Flatts, even as at present it is styled. After him it was owned by Richard Van Rensselaer, a son of the Patroon, who relinquished it when he returned to live in Holland. The entry in the account-book of the Van Rensselaer estate reads: "Debit: Philip Schuyler, for the Bouwery called de Vlachte (The Flatts) and the Island, sold to him for 700 beavers and 1600 florins Holland money, together 8,000 florins. Contra: Credit, a bill of Exchange drawn on Jan Baptist Van Rensselaer, calculated at 2,400 florins; 650 whole Beavers; 5,200 do.; 50 do.; 400 do.; total 8,000 florins." The county clerk's records show: "Jeremias Van Rensselaer in his life time That is to say on the two and twentieth day of June in the year of our Lord Christ one thousand six hundred seventy, and two for an in consideration of the sum of five thousand Holland guilders to him in hand paid did grant Bargain and sell unto the said Philip Schuyler his heirs and assigns for ever all that farm Tract and parcell of Land commonly called The Flatts as also one Island over against said flatts commonly called the great Island of the flatts situate on the west side of Hudson river in the Colony of Rensselaerswyck in the like manner as the said farm heretofore has been occupied and enjoyed by Mr. Richard van Rensselaer."

Philip's son, Colonel Pieter Schuyler, inherited The Flatts, and he lived there twelve years, when he leased it to his son Philip, who inherited it in turn; but, having no children, by his will, dated June 28, 1748, he gave the "Great Island" to his brother Jeremy, and to his brother Pieter he left The Flatts. In the latter's will, drawn April 27, 1771, he left it to his grandson, Stephen Schuyler, and in 1910 it was occupied by the widow of Richard Philip Schuyler (Susan Drake), because he was the son of Stephen R. Schuyler and Catherine Elizabeth Schuyler, who was the son of Peter S. Schuyler and Catherine Cuyler, who was in turn the son of Stephen Schuyler and Engeltie Van Vechten, whose parents were Pieter Schuyler, Jun., and Catherine Groesbeck, and his father was Mayor Pieter Schuyler. In 1910, in the hallway of The Flatts, hangs the old oil portrait of "Quidor," the Indian name for Pieter Schuyler, meaning the "Indians' Friend," and in the brick mansion standing on the brow of the hill, west of the Troy road, hangs the seven-foot oil portrait of Pieter Schuyler, first mayor of Albany, painted in England in 1710, by order of Queen Anne, and now owned by the children of John Cuyler Schuyler, uncle of the late Richard P. Schuyler.

It is interesting to learn a few facts about this old mansion, as described by Mrs. Grant more than a century ago in her famous Memoirs of an American Lady, wherein she writes:

"It was a large brick house of two, or rather three stories (for there were excellent attics), besides a sunk story, finished with exactest neatness. The lower floor had two spacious rooms, with large, light closets; on the first there were three rooms, and in the upper one four. Through the middle of the house was a wide passage, with opposite front and back doors, which in summer admitted a stream of air peculiarly grateful to the languid senses. It was furnished with chairs and pictures like a summer parlor. Here the family usually sat in hot weather, when there were no ceremonious strangers. * * * One room, I should have said, in the greater house only, was opened for the reception of company; all the rest were bedchambers for their accommodation, while the domestic friends of the family occupied neat little bedrooms in the attics or the winter-house. This house contained no drawing-room — that was an unheard-of luxury; the winter rooms had carpets; the lobby had oilcloth painted in lozenges, to imitate blue and white marble. The best bedroom was hung with family portraits, some of which were admirably executed; and in the eating-room, which, by the by, was rarely used for that purpose, were some Scriptural paintings. * * * The house fronted the river, on the brink of which, under shades of elm and sycamore, ran the great road toward Saratoga, Stillwater, and the northern lakes; a little simple avenue of morella cherry trees, enclosed with a white rail, led to the road and river, not three hundred yards distant."

The place may be reached by taking a drive four miles to the north of Albany, or about one mile beyond the Rural Cemetery, then turning abruptly to the east, crossing the canal by the "Schuyler's Bridge," and continuing a fourth of a mile towards the Hudson. The road passes between rows of elms evidently a century old, and the low, brick house stands to the right, facing the river, while across the road is the old family burialground, containing some sixty graves, whose rows of invariable brown sandstone, some tottering to the right or left, look weirdly like a decrepit army, for thus have they stood during two centuries, bearing testimony in verse to the exalted memory of many a soldier Schuyler.

This head of the Schuyler line was a man much esteemed by his acquaintances and by representatives of the Dutch government. He was the first man in the colony to receive the commission of captain. He died at The Flatts, May 9, 1683, and was buried in the old Dutch church which then stood at the intersection of Broadway and State street, Albany.

Philip Pieterse Schuyler married, at Rensselaerswyck, December 12, 1650, Margarita Van Slechtenhorst, in the presence of the officers of Fort Orange, Antoni de Hooges, secretary of the colony, officiating. She was born at Nykerck, Holland, in 1628; died at Rensselaerswyck in 1711, and was the daughter of Brant Arentse Van Slechtenhorst, who came to Rensselaerswyck in 1648, acting as an official for Van Rensselaer. Children:

Gysbert, born at Rensselaerswyck, July 2, 1652; died young.
Geertruj, born at Rensselaerswyck, February 4, 1654; died about 1719; married, Rensselaerswyck, September 10, 1671, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who was born May 7, 1643, died November 25, 1700, and was the son of Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt and Anneke Loockermans.
Alida, born at Rensselaerswyck, February 28, 1656; married (first) Rensselaerswyck, February 10, 1675, Rev. Nicholaas Van Rensselaer, who was born in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1636, died November, 1678, and was the son of first Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Anna Van Wely; married (second) July 9, 1679, Robert Livingston, (q. v.), secretary of Albany from 1675 to 1721, who was born abroad and was buried in the Dutch church at Albany, April 21, 1725.
Pieter, born at Rensselaerswyck, September 17, 1657: first mayor of Albany, officiating from date of the charter, July 22, 1686, to October 13, 1694; died at Rensselaerswyck, February 19, 1724; married (first) Rensselaerswyck, in 1681, Engeltie (Angelica) Van Schaick, who was born at Rensselaerswyck, in 1659, died there, in 1689, daughter of Captain Goosen Gerritse Van Schaick and Annatje Lievens; by whom:
1. Margarita, born November, 1682, married, August 26, 1697, Robert Livingston, Jun.;
2. Philip, baptized October, 1684, died young;
3. Anna, baptized September 12, 1686, died aged twelve years;
4. Gertrude, baptized August 17, 1689, died young;
He married (second) Rensselaerswyck, September 14, 1691, Maria Van Rensselaer, born at Rensselaerswyck; October 25, 1672, daughter of Colonel Jeremias Van Rensselaer, the third Patroon, and Maria Van Cortlandt; by whom:
1. Maria, baptized May, 1692;
2. Gertrude, baptized February 11, 1694, married, June 13, 1714, Johannes Lansing;
3. Philip, baptized January 15, 1696, died in 1758, without issue, married, December 29, 1720, Margarita Schuyler;
4. Pieter, Jr., baptized January 12, 1698, married December 29, 1722, Catherine Groesbeck;
5. Jeremiah (twin), baptized January 12, 1698, buried at The Flatts, December 10, 1753, married Susanna ————.
Brandt, born at Rensselaerswyck, December 18, 1659; resided on Broad street, New York, in 1686; died August 15, 1752; married, July 12, 1682, Cornelia Van Cortlandt, baptized November 28, 1655, daughter of Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt and Anneke Loockermans, by whom:
1. Philip, baptized November 6, 1683, married August 28, 1713, Ann Elizabeth Staats, who was baptized December 21, 1690;
2. Olof, born December 12, 1686, died without issue;
3. John, baptized January 15, 1690, died without issue.
Arent, born at Rensselaerswyck, June 25, 1662, died at Belleville, New Jersey, November 26, 1730, was a trader; created freeman of New York City in 1695; settled before 1725 on the Passaic river, near Belleville, New Jersey; married (first) November 26, 1684, Jenneke Teller, who died in 1700, daughter of Willem Teller (who arrived in Fort Orange in 1639) and Margaret Donchesen; by whom:
1. Margareta, baptized Albany, September 27, 1685, married (license) November 7, 1704, Charles Oliver;
2. Philip, baptized Albany, September 11, 1687, married Hester Kingsland;
3. Maria, baptized Albany, October 6, 1689, died young;
4. Judik, baptized Albany, March 11, 1692, died young;
5. Casparus, baptized New York, May 5, 1695, died April 13, 1754, married Jane ————; (second) Mary ————;
6. William, baptized June 2, 1700, died young.
Arent Schuyler married (second) January 2, 1703, Swantje Van Duyckhuysen; by whom:
1. John, married Anne Van Rensselaer;
2. Pieter, married (first) Hester Walter, (second) Mary ————;
3. Adoniah, born 1717, died 1763, married Gertrude Van Rensselaer;
4. Eve, married Peter Bayard;
5. Cornelia, married Pierre De Peyster.
Sybilla, born at Rensselaerswyck, November 12, 1664; died December, 1664.
Philip, born at Rensselaerswyck, February 8, 1666; died May 24, 1724; married (first) New York, New York, July 25, 1687, Elizabeth De Meyer; who died, and he married (second) Albany, May 19, 1719, (Mrs.) Catherine Schierph, widow of Ritsiert Brouwer. By his first wife he had: Nicholas, born in New York, New York, September 11, 1691, died July 3, 1748; married (first) December 2, 1714, Elsie Wendell, who died April 8, 1744; married (second) Mary Stephenson, who survived him. By his second wife Philip had no child.
Johannes, born at Rensselaerswyck, April 5, 1668; died February 27, 1747; married, in 1695. Elizabeth Staats, widow of Johannes Wendell, who died June 3, 1737, (see forward).
Margaret, born at Rensselaerswyck, January 2, 1672; died May 15, 1748; married (first) September 8, 1691. Jacobus Ver Planck, son of Isaac Ver Planck and Abigail Uytenbogart, who died in 1700; married (second) November 2, 1701, Lieut. John Collins, who died April 13, 1728, his wife surviving. By her first husband: Jannetie, baptized Albany, April 13, 1693, and Philip, baptized in New York, June 3, 1695. By her second husband: Edward, baptized July 30, 1704, married Margarita Bleecker, and was buried in the Dutch Church, March 29, 1753.

(II) Johannes Schuyler, tenth mayor of Albany, son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and Margarita Van Slechtenhorst, was born at The Flatts, Rensselaerswyck, April 5, 1668, died July 25, 1747, and was buried in the Dutch Church at Albany.

He was only five years old when his father died, and at an early age developed great interest in public affairs. In 1689, when twenty-one, he joined the convention which assumed the government of Albany and its dependencies in opposition to Leisler. The next year he was a volunteer in General Winthrop's army for the invasion of Canada. When the others of greater age and experience than he held back, he volunteered to lead a company into the enemy's country, and he was commissioned a captain in 1690. Twenty-nine whites and one hundred and twenty Indians volunteered to go under his lead. He left camp August 13, 1690, going by way of Wood Creek, and two days later was within three miles of Crown Point. Marching across the country in the direction of La Prarie, he made a number of prisoners, and arrived back at Albany on August 30th.

In the spring of 1691 he made another invasion into Canada, and in January, 1693, having been appointed lieutenant of cavalry, he drove the French from the Mohawk country when on their raids. A gratuity was voted to him on the suggestion of Lord Bellomont "in consideration of his extraordinary diligence and his wise observations while in Canada. Later he was made a colonel, and because of having greater influence with the Indians than any other man in the colony, he was invariably a delegate to conventions for consideration of treaties.

He was appointed the tenth mayor of Albany by Colonial Governor Edward Hyde, serving from 1703 to 1706. He was Indian Commissioner, 1705-1723; member of colonial assembly, September 1, 1710 to March 3, 1713; alderman of First Ward, 1738 and 1739. He was a trader, dealing largely in beaver and other skins, and engaged extensively in river transportation by sloops. His land transactions were considerable. He bought 2,000 acres on the south side of the Mohawk, east of Schenectady, named Rosendale; was one of the company procuring a land patent in the Schoharie valley, named Huntersfield; owned half of a tract of 2,000 acres on the east side of the Hudson, and in 1702 made his important purchase from Abraham Wendell of a portion of the vast Saratoga patent. Fish creek, the outlet of Saratoga lake flowing eastward for twelve miles into the Hudson river and forming the northern boundary of his tract, afforded fine waterpower for the mills which he erected in the vicinity of Schuylerville, while on the southern bank, close to the falls and notu much more than a quarter mile from the river, he built his residence, which was to be transmitted from father to son, until possessed by his grandson, General Philip Schuyler, who turned it over to his son. His house in Albany, in 1712, was at the southeast corner of State and Pearl streets, with grounds running back to the Rutten kill.

Captain Johannes Schuyler, the tenth mayor, married at Albany, April 25, 1694, Elizabeth Staats, widow of Captain Johannes Wendell. Elizabeth Staats was the daughter of Dr. Abraham Staats, who came to Beverswyck in 1642 with Dominie Megapolensis, and she died June 3, and was buried in the Dutch Church, June 5, 1737. Her mother was Catrim Jochemse Wesselse. Children:

Philip, baptized at Albany, December 25, 1695 shot by the French marauders while in his house at Schuylerville, and died November 17, 1745.
Johannes, baptized at Albany, October 31, 1697; buried at The Flatts, November 6, 1741; married in New York City, October 18, 1723, Cornelia Van Cortlandt, daughter of Stephanus van Cortlandt and Gertrude Schuyler, (see forward).
Margarita, (known as "The American Lady," see Mrs. Grant's Memoirs,) baptized at Albany, January 12, 1701; died at The Flatts, August 28, 1782; married, Albany, December 29, 1720, Philip Schuyler, who was baptized at Albany, January 15, 1696, died in 1758, and was the son of Mayor Pieter Schuyler and Maria Van Rensselaer; no issue.
Catalyntje (Catherine), baptized at Albany, March 5, 1704; married at Albany, December 9, 1726, the twentieth mayor of Albany, Cornelis Cuyler, who was baptized in New York, New York, February 14, 1697; died at Albany, March 14, 1765; officiating as mayor from October 14, 1742, to September 28, 1746, and was the son of the fourteenth mayor of Albany, Johannes Cuyler and Elsie Ten Broeck; by whom:
1. Johannes, baptized January 29, 1729;
2. Elizabeth, baptized August 8, 1731;
3. Philip, baptized August 29, 1733;
4. Hendrick, baptized August 22, 1735;
5. Elsie, baptized April 10, 1737, buried in Dutch Church, July 2, 1752;
6. Margarita, baptized December 10, 1738;
7. Cornelis, born October 31, 1740;
8. Colonel Abraham Cornelis, twenty-sixth mayor of Albany, born April 11, 1742, died at Yorkfield, Canada, February 5, 1810;
9. Dirck, baptized May 12, 1745.

(III) Johannes Schuyler, Jun., nineteenth mayor of Albany, son of Johannes Schuyler and Elizabeth Staats, was born at The Flatts, in Watervliet, Albany county; was baptized at Albany, October 31, 1697, and was interred in the family burial-ground at The Flatts, November 6, 1741.

He died in the prime of life, when his accomplishments indicated that he was abundantly able to continue a career of great public usefulness. He succeeded his father in the mercantile business about 1733, and that year was appointed, with Johannes De Peyster, a commissioner to furnish supplies to the forts at Oswego. He was elected alderman of the First Ward in 1738 and again in 1739. In December of the latter year he took a seat in the Board for Indian Affairs. He was appointed nineteenth mayor of Albany by Lieutenant-Governor George Clarke, and took the oath October 31, 1740, serving until November 22, 1741. He began to invest in land so soon as he had acquired surplus capital. In December, 1722, he bought of Philip Livingston, trustee, a portion of the Saratoga Patent, lying on the east side of the Hudson river and bounded on the north by the Batten kill. On August 10, 1738, the land commissioners issued to him, Jacob Glen and Arent Bradt, a certificate of survey for a tract which they had purchased by license of the Indians, situated on the north side of the Mohawk river, beginning below Little Falls, extending west to Canada creek, thence northerly along that creek for thirty miles, thence easterly twelve miles, and to the place of beginning. In 1740 he and five others procured a title from the Province for 12,000 acres lying on the east side of the Hudson river above the Saratoga Patent, of which he had an equal share.

Mayor Johannes Schuyler, Jun., married, in New York City, October 18, 1723, Cornelia Van Cortlandt. She was born at Van Cortlandt Manor, February 30, 1698; her will proved November 24, 1762; she was the youngest daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Gertrude Schuyler. Children:

Gertrude, born at Albany, August 18, 1724; married (first) Pieter Schuyler (baptized February 20, 1723; buried at The Flatts, September 2, 1753), son of Pieter Schuyler and Catherine Groesbeck; by whom:
1. Pieter, who married Gertrude Lansing, January 17, 1767, died January 4, 1792, and
2. Cornelia, baptized July 26, 1746, married Walter Livingston.
Gertrude Schuyler married (second) December 4, 1760, Dr. John Cochran, who died April, 1807.
Johannes, born at Albany, December 30, 1725; died without issue, and was buried in the Dutch Church, November 7, 1746.
Stephanus, born at Albany, September 30, 1727; died young.
Catherine, baptized at Albany, July 14, 1728; died young.
Stephanus, born at Albany, December 20, 1729; died young.
Philip, baptized at Albany, October 17, 1731; died young.
General Philip, born at Albany, November 22, 1733; died in the Schuyler Mansion, Albany, November 18, 1804; married, at Claverack, Columbia county, New York, September 17, 1755, Catherine Van Rensselaer, (see forward).
Cortlandt, baptized at Albany, July 9, 1735; married Barbara ————, and had John Cortlandt, who married Angelica Van Rensselaer, and died without issue, December, 1793.
Stephanus, baptized at Albany, August 14, 1737; died young.
Elizabeth, baptized at Albany, October 8, 1738; died young.
Oliver, baptized at Albany, February 22, 1741; died young.

(IV) General Philip Schuyler [Portrait with signature: original size (29K) | 4x enlarged (114K)], son of Mayor Johannes Schuyler, Jun., and Cornelia Van Cortlandt, was born in his father's house on the southeast corner of State and Pearl streets, Albany, New York, November 22, 1733, and died in the Schuyler Mansion, Albany, November 18, 1804.

Philip Schuyler had only Dutch blood in his veins. There was absolutely no line of descent in America at that time of which anyone could be more justly proud. Both his father and grandfather had been mayors of Albany. His grandfather's brother, Pieter Schuyler, had been appointed the first mayor of the city, and two of that dignitary's cousins, David Davidse Schuyler and Myndert Schuyler; had served respectively as the eleventh and thirteenth mayors. Probably no other family in America has experienced such a record in civic administration, and appointments in those days were because of prominence or proficiency. In regard to military valor, the major portion of all the males in his family had acquired some sort of title or had participated in one or more of the almost constant colonial conflicts or struggle for supremacy against the savage.

His was a life filled with eminent services to his country, and his fame will ever remain so well established that no eulogistic phrase in this biography can better its brilliancy. There are other volumes devoted exclusively to his life; but for the benefit of the person who seeks it here, a resume is presented, which is purposely of a local nature because this life sketch is pertinent to Albany, and for that reason it may seem that space devoted to family matters outweighs what might have been employed in recounting deeds of national importance.

He was fourth in descent from Philip Pieterse Schuyler, progenitor of the family, and was eight years old when his honored father died. However, he was brought up by his cultured mother with unusual diligence to train him to be a youth who should make his mark as those before him had done. Living sometimes at her house in Albany and at other seasons at The Flatts, a model and moral household, where "Aunt Schuyler" was wont to entertain the most prominent visitors coming into the colony, he received a certain polish which proved useful to him, and all those things moulded his character.

A Huguenot tutor instructed him until he was fifteen years of age, and then he was sent to New Rochelle, a locality of many Huguenot refugees, and placed in charge of the Rev. Mr. Stouppe, pastor of the French Protestant church. He remained there three years, learned to speak the language fluently, and became especially proficient in mathematics, thus inculcating system, orderly habits and accurate thinking, essential habits for a creditable military career. It is curious to look upon the mathematical drawings and calculations made then, of canal locks, and figures having to do with the public debt. The place, however, had its serious disadvantages, for with the snow forcing its way through the chinks of his bedroom walls, he contracted a form of rheumatic gout which confined him to the house for a year, and at important stages of his after life it bore its more serious aspects, by affecting him when in the northern military camps. In his youth he paid many visits to New York, mingling with society which brought about many intimacies that were to be of importance later on, when he was one of those engaged in shaping the destiny of the new nation.

One of his first experiences in active battle conflict was during the celebrated engagement with the French in the late summer of 1755, when he was only twenty-two years of age and a captain by commission. The French Baron, Ludwig August Dieskau, was proceeding southward by the route of Lakes Champlain and George. Colonel William Johnson and Colonel Ephraim Williams, both men famed in American history, took regiments to the head of Lake George in order to thwart the attempt to turn the province over to the French, which was to be accomplished first by an attack made on Albany. Young Schuyler was in the party as a participant, and when General Dieskau was wounded in the encounter of September 8, held prisoner in Sir William Johnson's tent, an angry horde of savage allies pressed about the spot where he lay and demanded that he be given over as a victim for their right to torture; but Colonel Johnson ordered Schuyler to convey him safely to Albany. This he did, and he showed him all the courtesy due to an honored guest, and so appreciated was this act that the foreign general never failed thereafter to speak of the nobility of Americans.

Philip Schuyler was one of the officers who went north with General Abercrombie, leaving Albany in the latter part of June, 1758, to block the French attack at Fort Ticonderoga. On the morning of July 6th, soon after making the landing of the army at the northern end of Lake George, and while walking ahead of his men near Trout Brook, about a mile south of the present village of Ticonderoga, Lord Howe was mortally wounded. It was but a week before that he had drilled his men in the "pasture" at Albany, and had ridden on horseback early nearly every morning to breakfast at the Schuyler Flatts, where he had become as one of the family and was dearly loved by all. Schuyler brought the body of this friend to Albany, as is verified by contemporaneous publication of despatches in the newspapers, although this incident has been a matter of dispute between inhabitants of Ticonderoga and Albany. It is said that the body was placed first in the Schuyler family vault, until the interment took place in old St. Peter's Episcopal church, on September 5, 1758, and is authentically established by the entry in the "Church Book," there preserved with care to this day, and examined by the writer of this sketch, for this very reason.

General Schuyler was a member of the Provincial Assembly, 1768-1774; delegate to the Continental Congress, taking his seat May 15, 1775; member of the New York State Senate, 1780-1790; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1775-1797; surveyor-general, 1782-1788; president of the Northern Inland Lock Navigation Company, and of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, in 1792, projects enlisting his closest interest; the first United States senator from New York, 1790-1792; re-elected, 1792-1797.

He was appointed major-general, commanding the Army of the Northern Department, in 1775, a most important position in the Revolution, as one of the gravest dangers of the entire conflict was the advance of the British forces under General Burgoyne coming from Canada by way of the Adirondack lakes and the valley of the Hudson. With the greatest skill and consummate system he both planned and developed all the necessary preparations to meet the powerful foe — in fact, with such ability that defeat of the enemy was finally brought about in October, 1777. He had found an insurmountable difficulty in acquiring men to form an army of sufficient numbers and adequately equipped as would guarantee victory. The writer of this sketch has time and again come across manuscript letters of General Schuyler in which he made most urgent appeals to General Washington to grant him more men, and even the windows in the houses of friends in Albany were stripped of the metal in order to furnish material for bullets. His army, in August of that fateful year, numbered not more than two thousand men, and it was known that Burgoyne was marching southward with eight thousand, and camp luggage which even included numerous cases of champagne. Soldiers from adjacent states were loth to come into another and fight under its generals for credit which would not redound to the state whence they came. A sad and serious spirit of jealousy was plainly manifest; but by the appointment of Horatio Gates of Massachusetts to the command, brought about by connivance, this impediment was overcome, so that an army of proportions was the result. It required several severe conflicts to overthrow Burgoyne, the principal onslaughts being the fighting at Bemis Heights on September 19th, and at "Old Saratoga" (Schuylerville), on October 7th. General Schuyler's country residence, the ancient homestead on the southern bank of Fish creek and east of the highway from Albany to Canada, was occupied by Burgoyne on the night of October 9th, when he gave a banquet to his officers, drinking to the health of the women of his entourage, and promising to feast in Albany presently, and he burned it the next morning on departing. The surrender took place on October 17th, and immediately afterward the prisoners marched southward. It was then that General Schuyler took General Burgoyne and his brother officers to his home in Albany, where they became his guests October 18, 1777. It was another act of gentlemanly courtesy that won a credit for the chivalry of Americans.

Washington had always thought of Schuyler in the highest esteem, and never failed to maintain confidence in and speak of his ability and courage. He had had an abundant opportunity throughout the war to form an accurate estimate, and as the commander-in-chief was noted for his judgment of character of his officers, it is certain that his opinion is more just than that of any captious critic or antagonistic historian who writes of men he has never known and about incidents of which he was not a witness. General Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to General Schuyler, on January 21, 1784, as follows:

"Your favor of the 20th of Dec. found me, as you conjectured, by that fireside from which I have been too long absent for my own convenience; to which I return with the greatest avidity, the moment my public avocations would permit; and from which I hope never again to be withdrawn. While I am here solacing myself in my retreat from the busy scenes of life, I am not only made extremely happy by the gratitude of my countrymen in general; but particularly so by the repeated proofs of the kindness of those who have been intimately conversant with my public transactions, and I need scarcely add that the favorable opinion of no one is more acceptable than that of yourself. In recollecting the vicissitudes of fortune we have experienced, and the difficulties we have surmounted, I shall always call to mind the great assistance I have frequently received from you, both in your public and private character. May the blessings of peace amply reward your exertions; may you and your family (to whom the compliments of Mrs. Washington and myself are affectionately presented) long continue to enjoy every species of happiness the world can afford. With sentiments of sincere esteem, attachment and affection, I am, Dear Sir, your most obedient, very humble servant,
G. WASHINGTON."

Before passing to the consideration of the kith and kin of General Schuyler, it is advisable to show with no unmistakable clearness why they and the great men of the country have revered his memory. A few excerpt from the writings of well-known characters will serve to illustrate. In Washington Irving's Life of Washington appears the following: "When the tidings reached General Washington of the action of the Congress in superseding Schuyler (by Gates), he wrote him immediately 'that he looked upon the whole scheme as diabolical,' that he regarded it `with sentiments of abhorrence, having the utmost confidence in your integrity and the most incontestible proofs of your attachment to your country.' Schuyler asked for a court-martial to sit on the case and was fully acquitted, the information being forwarded to General Washington by the court with an expression of hope that 'Schuyler's name might be handed down to posterity as one of the pillars of the American cause.'" On finishing his book, Irving regretted that he was "too old" to undertake that of Schuyler.

Daniel Webster also expressed a desire to add at least "a chapter on General Schuyler to the History of the Revolution," writing as follows: "I was brought up with the New England prejudices against him; but I consider him as second only to Washington in the services he rendered to the country in the War of the Revolution. His zeal and devotion to the cause under difficulties that would have paralyzed most men, and his fortitude and courage when assailed by malicious attacks, having impressed me with a strong desire to express publicly my sense of his great qualities."

Gov. Horatio Seymour, in his address delivered on the occasion of the centennial celebration of Burgoyne's surrender, held at Schuylerville, in 1877, on the very spot where Schuyler's house and property had been destroyed by the British, gave testimony again to General Schuyler's patriotism and unselfishness, — "as the one figure which rises above all others, upon whose conduct and bearing we love to dwell. There was one who won a triumph there which never grows dim, one who gave an example of patience and patriotism unsurpassed on the pages of history, one who did not, under cutting wrongs and cruel suspicions, wear an air of martyrdom; but with cheerful alacrity served where he should have commanded."

Mrs. Lamb, in her History of New York, writes: "In this connection, the figure of Philip Schuyler rises grandly above all others, — he uttered no complaint at seeing his laurels won by another! He even congratulated Gates, who had displayed no professional skill whatever."

It will not do to omit mention of the historic Schuyler Mansion at Albany, the scene of so much social life that was of importance in the period just described and an edifice which to this day has attracted every foreign visitor to the Capital City.

After his earlier campaigns, Philip Schuyler settled down at The Flatts with his bride, intending to busy himself with private affairs. He was, however, soon called away from the anticipated quiet life to engage again in public matters. Colonel John Bradstreet had another campaign on hand in 1760, this time against the Indian allies of the French in the West. The colonel's health was poor, and he had accounts with the government covering several years which required close attention. Thinking to manage his point successfully, he wrote to Philip Schuyler: "Your zeal, punctuality and strict honesty in his Majesty's service, under my direction, for several years past, are sufficient proofs that I can't leave my public accounts and papers in a more faithful hand than yours to be settled, should any accident happen to me this campaign; wherefore that I may provide against it and that a faithful account may be rendered to the public of all the public money that I have received since the war. I now deliver to you all my public accounts and vouchers and do hereby empower you to settle them with whomsoever may be appointed for that purpose, either in America or England."

It proved to be difficult to conduct the business properly without visiting London, so Schuyler determined to go abroad. He sailed in February, 1761, aboard a packet named "General Wall," and he interested himself in the study of navigation, which, because of his previous taste for mathematics, and the slowness of the voyage, allowed him to make peculiarly rapid progress. It happened that the captain of the vessel died on the journey over, and both passengers and crew requested him to assume command. He was then but twenty-eight years old, but he possessed much self-reliance, and he navigated the vessel with full success until nearing the coast of England. At this time there was a war in progress between England and France in Europe, although peace had come between them in the colonies, and the "General Wall" was taken by a French privateer, with the result that a French lieutenant and a prize crew were placed aboard. It was then that his knowledge of French proved very beneficial, and he found himself presently on good terms with his foreign captor. As both privateer and prize, the "General Wall," were nearing France they were both captured by an English frigate, and it happened thus that young Schuyler was able to reach London in safety with his valuable papers. After attending to these affairs he devoted some time to the study of the products which he hoped to see produced at home instead of the colonies continuing to import them. He also made a study of canal systems, with the expectation that some day he might introduce such methods into his province.

On his arrival home, as the little sloop neared the city of Albany, his eyes rested on an unfamiliar sight. He knew that when he had departed a new house for his family was in contemplation; but here it was a reality on the spot he had selected. Its construction had been brought about by the fact that, after the war ended, Colonel Bradstreet recommended the number of newly idle men, carpenters and the like, as an inducement to be reckoned with in constructing it advantageously, and Mrs. Schuyler coincided with these views. It was a large, double house, in the English colonial style, built facing the Hudson, and about a mile from it, with pleasing outlook because of its elevation which sloped gradually to the river shore, affording the family extensive terraces and gardens. It was of brick, with spacious rooms within and porticos on front and sides, the whole painted cream and white in later years. So well was the work accomplished that although erected in 1761, it has stood in about the same condition to this day, and the only striking change has been in the encroachments made by the city growing about it on all sides, until the estate was limited to an acre or two.

The principal guest chamber was on the second floor on the left hand side, and there slept Lafayette, the Duke de Lauzun, and, after his surrender, General Burgoyne, with several of his leading officers. After the Revolution also came there the Marquis de Chastellux, Vicomte de Noailles and Comte de Damas. Washington also was his guest, and was godfather of one of his children, the infant, Catherine Schuyler. Her elder sister Margaret married Alexander Hamilton in one of the rooms, December 14, 1780. She likewise figured in the attack made on the Schuyler Mansion by Indians on the evening of August 7, 1781, when a band of Tories planned to carry General Schuyler off to Canada. He was seated in his front hall, with doors open on account of the extreme heat, when he was apprised of the fact that some one wished to see him at the rear gate. Doors and windows were immediately barred, having reason to fear trouble, and, because of the suspicious character, the family proceeded to rush upstairs. Discovering that the infant Catherine was sleeping on the main floor, Mrs. Schuyler ran back to save her; but the General intercepted, and the child's sister Margaret, who later married Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer, rescued the babe, and while mounting the stairs barely escaped the flying tomahawk, which lodged in the balustrade. By a subterfuge of the General, calling to imaginary armed men to hasten, the band of marauders was scared away.

General Philip Schuyler married, at Claverack, Columbia county, New York, September 17, 1755, Catherine Van Rensselaer. She was born at Claverack, New York, November 4, 1734; died in the Schuyler Mansion, Albany, March 7, 1803, daughter of Johannes Van Rensselaer, of Claverack (born Jan. 11, 1708) who married (Jan. 3, 1734) Engeltje (Angelica) Livingston, who was baptized July 17, 1698. Children of General Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer:

Engeltje (or Angelica), baptized at Albany, February 22, 1756; married John Barker Church.
Elizabeth, born at Albany, August 9, 1757; died at Washington, D. C., November 7, 1854; married, in the Schuyler Mansion at Albany, December 14, 1780, Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the U. S. Treasury under appointment by President Washington. He was born on the island of Nevis, in the West Indies, January 11, 1757, and was mortally wounded in a duel fought with Aaron Burr, at Weehawken, New Jersey, on the morning of July 11, 1804, dying at his home, "The Grange," in New York City, July 12th. His father was a proprietor planter in the West Indies, named James Hamilton, the son of Alexander Hamilton, of Grange, Scotland. He and his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, are buried in the graveyard of Trinity Church in New York City, to the south of the edifice. She lived to be ninety-seven years old, and when she died her husband's last letter to her was found in a receptacle worn attached to her neck. They had the following issue:
1. Philip, born January 22, 1782, killed in a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey, November 24, 1801.
2. Angelica, born September 25, 1784, died February 6, 1857.
3. Alexander, born May 16, 1786, died August 2, 1875.
4. James Alexander, born April 14, 1788, died at Irvington, New York, September 24, 1878; married, Brooklyn, October 17, 1810, Mary Morris (b. Dec. 25, 1790; d. May 24, 1869).
5. John Church, born August 22, 1792; died Long Branch, New Jersey, July 25, 1882.
6. William Steven, born August 4, 1795, died at Sacramento, California, August 7, 1850.
7. Eliza, born November 26, 1799.
8. Philip, born June 1, 1802, died at Poughkeepsie, New York, July 9, 1884; married Rebecca McLane, and had Allan McLane Hamilton, born Brooklyn, October 6, 1848.
Margarita, born at Albany, September 19, 1758, baptized September 24, died at Albany, March 14, 1801; married at Schuylerville, New York, June 6, 1783, General Stephen Van Rensselaer, who was born in New York City, November 1, 1764; died in the Van Rensselaer Manor Hguse at Albany, January 26, 1839, and was the son of 7th Patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer, who married (New York, Jan. 23, 1764) Catherine Livingston, daughter of Philip Livingston, the Signer of the Declaration; by whom:
1. Catherine Schuyler (Van Rensselaer), born in July, and baptized August 9, 1784, died at Albany, April 26, 1797;
2. Stephen (Van Rensselaer), born at Albany, June 6, 1786, died in 1787;
3. General Stephen (Van Rensselaer), born at Albany, March 29, 1789, the 8th Patroon, died in the Manor House at Albany, May 25, 1868, married, New York City, January 2, 1817, Harriet Elizabeth Bayard.
Cornelia, born at Albany; baptized there, August 1, 1761: died young.
John Bradstreet, born at Albany; baptized October 8, 1763: died young.
John Bradstreet, born in the Schuyler mansion, Albany; baptized there, July 23, 1765; died at Schuylerville, New York, August 19, 1795; married, Albany, September 18, 1787, Elizabeth Van Rensselaer, who was born in the Manor House at Albany, August 15, 1768, died at Albany, March 27, 1841, daughter of 7th Patroon, Stephen Van Rensselaer and Catherine Livingston; to whom: Philip, born in Albany, October 26, 1788, died at Pelham, New York, February 12, 1865, was member of assembly and United States consul to Liverpool, England, married, New York City, September 12, 1811, Grace Hunter, daughter of Robert Hunter, of Edinburgh, Scotland, and sister of Hon. John Hunter, of Hunter's Island, in Long Island Sound. John Bradstreet Schuyler's other child was Stephen Van Rensselaer, born at Albany, May 4, 1790, died when three weeks old. When a widow Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (Schuyler) married, Albany, November 17, 1800, John Bleecker.
Philip Jeremiah, born January 20, 1768; died in New York City, February 21, 1835; married, May 31, 1788, Sarah Rutsen (who died October 24, 1805); by whom five children; married (second), January 21, 1807, Mary Anna Sawyer, of Newburyport, Massachusetts (b. September 2, 1786, d. March 25, 1852), by whom six children. Issue:
1. Philip, born April 5, 1789, died May 22, 1822, married Rosanna Livingston.
2. John Rutsen, died June 22, 1813.
3. Catherine, died November 20, 1829; married, January 27, 1816, Chief Justice Samuel Jones (b. March 26, 1770, d. August, 1853).
4. Robert, born September, 1798; died, 1855.
5. Stephen Van Rensselaer, born April, 1801; married, December 11, 1831, Catherine Morris, and he died in 1859.
6. William, born December 6, 1807; died when twenty-two years old, unmarried.
7. Sybill, born May 16, 1809; died January 26, 1813.
8. George Lee, born June 9, 1811; died July 31, 1890; married (first), February 18, 1835, Eliza Hamilton (b. Oct. 8, 1811; d. Dec. 20, 1863), granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton; married (second), April 15, 1869, Mary Morris Hamilton, born January 1, 1818; died May 11, 1877.
Rensselaer, born at Albany, January 29, 1773; died December 16, 1847; married Eliza Ten Broeck (b. Aug. 25, 1772; d. Apr. 10, 1848), daughter of Gen. Abraham Ten Broeck and Elizabeth Van Rensselaer; no issue.
Cornelia, born at Albany, December 22, 1776; died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1808; married Washington Morton.
Cortlandt, born at Albany, May 15, 1778; died young.
Catherine Van Rensselaer, born at Albany, February 20, 1781; died at Oswego, New York, August 26, 1857; married (first), Samuel Malcolm, son of General Malcolm of the Revolution; married (second), Major James Cochran, son of Surgeon-General John Cochran.

(Arent Schuyler's Line)

This is the line of descent of Arent Schuyler, son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler, the progenitor of the family in America.

(II) Arent Schuyler, son of Philip Pieterse Schuyler and Margarita Van Slechtenhorst, was born at Rensselaerswyck (Albany, N. Y.), June 25, 1662, and died November Z6, 1730. The codicil of his will was dated October 30, 1730.

In July, 1684, being shortly after attaining his majority, and having fitted himself for the life of a merchant or trader, also possessing a sufficient sum of money to embark, he began preparations for marriage and housekeeping by buying a house on Pearl Street, "where the eagle hangs out," from his mother, paying her two hundred beavers in two instalments. Instead of door-plate, in order to represent his name by its significance, he hung outside a live eagle in a cage.

He selected for his wife, Jenneke Teller, the daughter of William Teller, who had come to Fort Orange in 1639, and Margaret Donchesen, and he married her in Rensselaerswyck, November 26, 1684, two years before the city received its charter as Albany. A few months after their marriage they appeared before a notary to make a joint will. It was filed in Albany, and written in Dutch, read in part as follows: "The worthy Mr. Arent Schuyler and Jenneke Teller, lawfully wedded husband and wife, living here in Albany, both sound in body and mind, able to walk and stand, memory and speech unimpaired, who together having met and moved by their mutual affection and love, and together having meditated on the certainty of death, and the uncertainty of the hour of it, have directed, without being persuaded or influenced by anybody, to have their last will and testament drawn up. They first and above all commend their souls to God Almighty, and their bodies to a Christian burial."

His wife died in the year 1700, and he married, at Albany, January 2, 1703, Swantie Van Duyckhuysen. It is recorded in one family narrative (Taylor's Annals), that he married a third wife, Maria Walter, in 1724, who was living in Belleville, New Jersey, in 1734.

Arent Schuyler continued to attend to his thriving business for the first five years of his married life, and then was called more and more into public service. He served on a committee for providing fuel and other comforts for the houses occupied by Indians when on their trading expeditions to Albany. He was also on the committee to raise funds to erect fortifications, and he participated energetically in the proceedings of the Albany convention in opposition to the pretensions of Jacob Leisler. After the Indians and French had accomplished the destruction of Schenectady in 1690, he joined the party of Captain Abraham Schuyler, who were directed to proceed to Otter Creek and remain four weeks to watch the lakes and surrounding country in case of attack. He volunteered to lead a scouting party into Canada at this time and although it consisted of eight Indians and he, the only white man, he was undaunted. They went through the wooded wilderness and through the lake, down the Sorel river to Fort Chambly, and under its walls killed two and took one Frenchman a prisoner. By this exploit he was the first man of the English or Dutch to lead a hostile party from this province into Canada. He was thereafter widely known as a courageous man, and was commissioned captain.

In August, 1692, the acting governor, Ingoldesby, was apprised of the fact that a delegation of southern Indians, who had been at war with the Five Nations, was on the way to visit their enemies and sue for peace. They had arrived at the Delaware river and were waiting for permission to continue their journey.

The governor and his council considered this an important business, requiring unusual wisdom in its management. They concluded that Captain Arent Schuyler, then in New York, was exactly suited to the delicacy of the undertaking, and decided to despatch him to meet the Indians, that he might conduct them to the governor and council. He was furnished with the proper instructions and given wampum belts to use. Considering the mode of traveling in those days, he was decidedly expeditious, for only six days afterward he returned with the "far Indians, called Shawanoes, and some Senecas, who had been traveling together for nine years." His expense account is of peculiar interest, and sets forth that on August 13th it was necessary to pay for ferriage at Elizabethtown; on the 14th, lodging and horse-hire; on the 15th, for horse-hire to (Trenton) Falls and a guide to the Indians; on the 16th, for two Holland shirts to be given to Indian chiefs; expenses at Raritan and Woodbridge; on the 17th, horse-hire from Benjamin Cluet's to Elizabethtown; on the 18th, expense at the same place and ferriage from Davitt's; at New York, charges for "butcher's meat, crackers and peas" furnished the Indians, and on arrival, for the comfort and keeping of the Indians, "fourteen gallons single beer, fish, bread and oysters," the expenses for the entire trip, for all, amounting to but little more than twelve English pounds. He presented a belt at the end of each proposition, addressing them as "brethren," and they him as "Corlaer."

On account of so many and frequent demands made upon him to treat with the Indians or engage in campaigns, Arent Schuyler's business had been seriously neglected. His brother Brandt and his sister Gertrude were both married and had settled in New York. Albany was then a frontier town and exposed to attack, so considering everything, he departed for New York about February, 1694, determined to resume business as a merchant.

It was determined at a council held February 3, 1694, by Governor Fletcher, that as there were one hundred Frenchmen and fifty French Indians coming into the Minisink country to debauch the Minisink Indians, that a trustworthy messenger must be despatched to seek out their intent. Arent Schuyler was again selected. He started the afternoon of the day he was told of the mission, and the day after reached the Indian village, eight miles beyond the Hackensack. His conference was favorable, and after an absence of six days among dangerous tribes, returned to New York City.

On June 6, 1693, Arent Schuyler and Anthony Brockholst purchased of the Indians 4,000 acres of land at Pequannock. On November 11, 1695, they purchased the title of the East Jersey Proprietors to the same tract for one hundred pounds. On May 20, 1697, he received from Governor Fletcher a patent for land in the Minisink country, called by the Indians Sankhekeneck, alias Maghawaem; also a parcel of meadow called Waimsagskmeck, on the Minisink river, containing one thousand acres.

He removed from New York to Pompton Plains, New Jersey, about 1702, where he remained until 1710, when he removed to a large farm which he had purchased from Edmund Kingsland, on New Barbadoes Neck, on the east side of the Passaic river, the deed dated April 20, 1710; amount, 330 pounds.

A negro slave belonging to him accidentally found a copper deposit while he was plowing. He had turned up a peculiarly, greenish and very heavy sort of stone. He took it to his master and it was sent to England to be analyzed. The reply was that it contained 80 per cent. of copper, and this opened a means for Arent Schuyler to obtain wealth. Desiring to reward the slave, he told him that he might make three requests, to which the fellow replied; first, that he might remain with his master so long as he lived; second, that he might have all the tobacco he could smoke; third, that he might be given a dressing-gown, with big, brass buttons, like his master's. Schuyler told him to consider and ask for something less trifling, and the answer was that for the fourth request he might have "a little more tobacco." Before his death he had shipped to the Bristol copper and brass works, England, 1,386 tons. In 1761, on receipt of an engine from England, the mine was extensively operated for four years.

Three miles above the present city of Newark and opposite the old town of Belleville, on the Passaic river, Arent Schuyler erected his mansion. It was built by him in 1710, and is standing, in excellent condition, this day. It is believed that he had to send to Holland for the brick that composed the front, and formed the other walls of brownstone found at Belleville. It has been the residence of generations of the Schuyler family since that time, and in its simple, substantial architecture is a noble type. In the olden times there was a magnificent deer park about the house, stocked with no less than 150 animals of that kind.

While living, Arent Schuyler was most liberal. He was an officer of the Reformed Dutch Church, and soon after he settled on the Passaic he assisted in organizing it at Belleville. He gave it 150 pounds in 1729, as a commencement of a fund for the pastor's salary, and shortly added 300 pounds. After his death in 1730, his widow and five children, in respect to his memory, contributed 50 pounds apiece, and in 1739 John added 150 pounds, arranging for the right to vote on calling a minister, as also the privilege of signing the call, and the consistory bound itself and successors not to invite a clergyman of another denomination to occupy the pulpit without his or their consent, provided always that they were members of the Dutch church. Colonel Schuyler, however, withdrew from the church because of a difference, and, while leaving the fund, he united with the Episcopalians and built a church for them in the same place.

The children of Captain Arent Schuyler and his first wife, Jenneke Teller, are the first seven named; the later five by his second wife, Swantje Van Duyckhuysen. Dispute or confusion possible to arise over the list presented here, will be benefited by the plain statement that Mr. George W. Schuyler, in his Colonial New York, (Scribner's, 1885, vol. II, p. 196), does not furnish the name of the fourth child, Olivia, and Charles H. Winfield, in his History of Hudson County, New Jersey, 1874, page 535, does not furnish (what Schuyler does) the names of the first child, Margareta; of the third child, Maria, died young; of fifth child, Judik, died young; nor of the seventh child, Wilhelmus, died young. Considerable research leads to the conclusion that no one has yet placed in type the birth dates of Arent Schuyler's last five children, all born after he left Albany, Swantje Van Duyckhuysen their mother. Children:

Margareta, baptized in Albany, September 27, 1685; marriage license with Charles Oliver issued November, 1704.
Philip, baptized in Albany, September 11, 1687; married Hester Kingsland, daughter of Isaac Kingsland, of New Barbadoes Neck, New Jersey, and his wife, Elizabeth; member of assembly of New Jersey in 1719 and 1721; inherited the tract of land at Pequannock, which his father owned jointly with Samuel Bayard of Hoboken and the heirs of Anthony Brockholst, which included Pompton, New Jersey.
The children of Philip (Arentse) Schuyler and Hester Kingsland were:
1. Johannes, born September 2, 1713, married, June 24, 1741, Isaac Kingsland;
2. Arent, born February 23, 1715, will proved December 15, 1806, married (first), October 1, 1741, Helena Van Wagenen, married (second), Rachel ————;
3. Isaac, born April 26, 1716, died in infancy;
4. Philip, born December 23, 1717, married and had Philip and Garret;
5. Isaac, born September 8, 1719, married and had Major Schuyler;
6. Elizabeth, born February 22, 1721, married (bond dated), November 9, 1748, Rev. Benjamin Van der Linde;
7. Pieter, born June 7, 1723, died without issue (wife Mary) October 18, 1808;
8. Hester, born April 12, 1725, married Teunis Dey;
9. Maria, born September 11, 1727;
10. Jenneke, born October 26, 1728, married ———— Board, and resided at Wesel;
11. Johannes, born June 4, 1730, died in infancy;
12. Casparus, born December 10, 1735, married and had one child, Hester, who married General William Colfax, of Pompton, New Jersey, grandfather of Schuyler Colfax, vice-president of the United States.
Maria, baptized in Albany, October 6, 1689; died young.
Olivia, mentioned in her father's will, but dead at that time, and leaving issue.
Judik, baptized in Albany, March 11, 1692; died young.
Casparus, baptized in New York City, May 5, 1695; received from his father a deed for land in Burlington, New Jersey, at Lossa or Wingworth's Point.
Wilhelmus, baptized in New York City, June 2, 1700; died young.
John, died before proving of will on February 12, 1773; married Anne Van Rensselaer, born January 1, 1719 (see forward; also, see Van Rensselaer family).
Pieter, born probably at New Barbadoes Neck, opposite Belleville, New Jersey, about 1710; died at his home, then called Petersborough, on the east bank of the Passaic, a short distance above Newark, March 7, 1762; married Mary, daughter of John Walter, a man of great wealth residing on Hanover Square in New York City. By his father's will he received 760 acres of land in Elizabethtown, near Rahway river. When it was proposed to invade Canada in 1746, he was authorized to recruit, then placed in command of 500 men; embarked at Perth Amboy, September 3rd, for Albany, where he arrived on the 9th, when, through failure of the home government to send forces from England, the expedition was abandoned. While located there the soldiers complained from actual winter suffering, were denied their pay, and made threats to leave. He wrote on February 26, 1747, to the authorities in New Jersey, that his men needed a surgeon, medicines, shirts, flints, colors, bread and peas. On May 11, 1747, Governor Hamilton, of New Jersey, complimented Colonel Schuyler on his zeal, and authorized each man to receive "two speckled shirts and one pair of shoes." It was necessary for Schuyler to do more to quiet his men, and he advanced several thousands pounds from his own pocket. Later he marched his regiment to Saratoga, to garrison the fort. When warfare broke out in 1754 he was placed in command of the New Jersey forces, and his regiment moved up the Mohawk from Schenectady early in July, reaching Oswego July 20th, but because of defeats in New Jersey was called back hurriedly. In August, 1755, he was again returned to engage in the defense of Forts Oswego and Ontario. He was captured by Montcalm's men and taken to Montreal, and from there to Quebec, where he remained a prisoner until paroled, October, 1757. When he arrived in New York City, November 19th, there was a general illumination in his honor and a bonfire of proportions on the campus. When he reached his home he was welcomed with a salute from thirteen pieces of cannon. His parole over and no exchange effected, he surrendered himself to Montcalm at Ticonderoga, July 23, 1758, and sent to Montreal; but on November 1, 1758, he was exchanged for Sieur de Noyau, commandant at Fort Frontenac, and brought back with him eighty-eight prisoners, many of whom he had paid for highly, some of whom he had supported in captivity. Peter Schuyler and Mary Walter had one child, Catherine, who married Archibald Kennedy, Earl of Casselis, who married, as widower, Anne Watts.
Adonijah, born in 1717; died before May 28, 1762, when his will was proved; received by his father's will two tracts of land at Elizabethtown Point, New Jersey; married Gertrude Van Rensselaer, who was born at Rensselaerswyck, October 1, 1714, daughter of 4th Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Maria Van Cortlandt; by whom:
1. Van Rensselaer;
2. Mary;
3. Swan, married November 2, 1772, Arent Schuyler, and died May 20, 1801, (see forward);
4. John, married February 16, 1769, Mary Hunter;
5. Peter;
6. Adonijah, when aged twelve years entered the British navy under Captain St. John, became lieutenant, married Susan Shields, of Plymouth, England, where he settled;
7. Philip, died without issue, will proved September 26, 1795.
Eve, married Peter Bayard, died in 1737.
Cornelia, married Pierre De Peyster.

By their father's will these two last daughters received two lots of ground on Broadway, in New York, Eve receiving an Indian slave, Molly, and Cornelia one named Nanny.

(III) John Schuyler, son of Arent Schuyler and Swantje Van Duyckhuysen, was born about 1708, and died at Belleville, New Jersey, January 12, 1773.

By his father's will, he received the homestead farm and the very valuable copper mines situated at New Barbadoes Neck, New Jersey. He was a colonel of the regiment of militia and also of the regiment of horse in Bergen county. New Jersey. Governor Cosby recommended him to a seat in the New Jersey council, September 5, 1733, to which he was appointed, and in 1746 he resigned. His will was signed December 22, 1772, and was probated February 12, 1773.

John Schuyler married, at Albany, Anne Van Rensselaer, who was born there January 1, 1719, died in 1791, daughter of the 4th Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Maria Van Cortlandt. (See Van Rensselaer family). Children:

Arent John, born October 10, 1746, at Belleville, New Jersey; died there, October 28, 1803; married, November 2, 1772, Swan Schuyler (see forward).
Mary, born about 1762; died unmarried.

(IV) Arent John Schuyler, son of John Arent Schuyler and Anne Van Rensselaer, was born in the family homestead at Belleville, New Jersey, October 10, 1746. and died there October 28, 1803. He was a member of the standing committee of correspondence of the county of Bergen, N. J.

He married, November 2, 1772, Swan Schuyler, daughter of Adonijah Schuyler and Gertrude Van Rensselaer, therefore his cousin, and she died May 20, 1801, aged sixty years. Children:

Anne, died July 20, 1783, aged seven years eight months.
John Arent, born at Belleville, New Jersey, April 12, 1779; died there October 12, 1817; married (first) Eliza Kip, (second) Catherine Van Rensselaer (see forward).

(V) John Arent Schuyler, son of Arent John Schuyler and Swan Schuyler, was born April 12, 1779, and died at Belleville, N. J., October 12, 1817.

He married (first), in 1800, Eliza Kip, daughter of James H. Kip, by whom his first two children. She died November 17, 1805, and he married (second) in 1807, Catherine Van Rensselaer, daughter of General Robert Van Rensselaer of Claverack, New York, son of John Van Rensselaer, and she died February 2, 1867, by whom he had five children:

Arent Henry, born November 25, 1801; married, April 24, 1828, Mary Caroline Kingsland, and died May 19, 1878 (see forward).
Harriet Ann, born January 31, 1803; baptized February 17, 1803; married, December 19, 1822, Smith W. Anderson.
Angelica Van Rensselaer, died March 30, 1864.
John Arent, died November 21, 1855; married Frances Elizabeth Bleecker, daughter of Alexander Bleecker, of New York City.
Robert Van Rensselaer, born June 4, 1813; died at Jersey City, New Jersey, February 17, 1856; married, September 9, 1851, Kate Manchini, daughter of Angelo Manchini; by whom one child, Van Rensselaer, who was born at Brooklyn, New York, July 27, 1852, married, at Buffalo, N. Y., June 26, 1899, Ethel Cornelia Paul, born at Evanston, Ills., August 10, 1876, daughter of Cornelius Danforth Paul. Kate Manchini (Schuyler), when a widow, married her husband's nephew, John Arent Schuyler (see forward).
Jacob Rutsen, born in 1816; died February 4, 1887; married, November 18, 1847, Susanna Edwards, daughter of Timothy Edwards. She was born in 1826, and died January 23, 1870.
Catherine Gertrude, born in 1818; died October 8, 1887; married, October 4, 1838, Henry S. Craig.

(VI) Arent Henry Schuyler, son of John Arent Schuyler and Eliza Kip, was born at Belleville, New Jersey, November 25, 1801, and died there, May 19, 1878.

He married, at Belleville, New Jersey, April 24, 1828, Mary Caroline Kingsland. She was born at Kingsland, New Jersey, June 21, 1804; died at Newark, New Jersey, July 21, 1894, daughter of Henry W. Kingsland and Sarah Jauncey. Children, all born in Belleville, New Jersey:

Henry Kingsland, born March 5, 1829; died there, August 10, 1896; married, December 15, 1858, Ellen Valentine, daughter of Anthony P. Valentine, of Spottswood, New Jersey; by whom:
1. Arent, born September 25, 1860, died 1908;
2. Campbell Valentine, born July 2, 1864;
3. Henry Kingsland, born August 29, 1876.
John Arent, born February 19, 1831; died June 15, 1870; married, Jersey City, New Jersey, January 14, 1863, Kate Manchini (Schuyler) (see forward).
Smith Arent, born November 18, 1832; died at Newark, New Jersey, July 26, 1870; married Elizabeth Kneeland, and had Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, Frank Herbert, Smith Anderson.
Edwin Nesbit, born June 15, 1834; died there, September 13, 1835.
Harriet Anderson, born August 29, 1836; died at Newark, New Jersey, February 17, 1882; married, September 15, 1858, Sidney Augustus Schieffelin, and had Caroline Schuyler, Henry Hamilton, Alice Van Rensselaer, Harriet Augusta and Schuyler.
Sarah Jauncey, born June 22, 1838, married, Belleville, October 6, 1858, Stephen Van Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, son of John Van Rensselaer, and had one son, Stephen Van Cortlandt, who died young.
Arent Henry, born August 8, 1840; died there, September 20, 1863.
Richards Kingsland, born June 24, 1842; married, Brooklyn, New York, December 3, 1879, Lucretia Kellogg, and had John Arent, died young; Walter Kellogg; Philip Van Rensselaer; Mary Kingsland, and Clarence Richards.
Mary Caroline, born February 16, 1845; died, August 9, 1845.
Catherine Gertrude, born, August 17, 1846: died, December 16, 1866.

(VII) John Arent Schuyler, son of Arent Henry Schuyler and Mary Caroline Kingsland, was born at Belleville, New Jersey, February 19, 1831, and died at Jersey City, New Jersey, June 15, 1870.

He married, at Jersey City, January 14, 1863, Kate Manchini, widow of Robert Van Rensselaer Schuyler. She was born at New York, New York, April 15, 1831, and was the daughter of Angelo Manchini and Anne Eaton. Issue: Sidney Schieffelin, born at Jersey City, August 25, 1864 (see forward).

(VIII) Sidney Schieffelin Schuyler, son of John Arent Schuyler and Kate Manchini (Schuyler), was born at Jersey City, New Jersey, August 25. 1864. He is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, senior member of firm of Schuyler, Chadwick & Burnham, 100 Broadway, and resides in Plainfield, New Jersey.

He married, at Bayonne, New Jersey, December 12, 1894, Cora Anderson. She was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut, September 29, 1866, died at Kingsland, New York, June 16, 1898, daughter of John Joseph Anderson, of St. Louis, Missouri, and Emma Dyer. By this marriage one child, Marion Van Rensselaer, born at Bayonne, New Jersey, January 14, 1896. He married (second), at Cranford, New Jersey, July 15, 1903, Hélenè Gladys Abry. She was born at Cranford, July 10, 1886, daughter of Charles Leo Abry, of New York City; by whom two children:

Van Rensselaer, born at Plainfield, New Jersey, April 29, 1905;
John Arent, born at Plainfield, November 23, 1910.

CUYLER REYNOLDS.

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:Schuyler

(Arent Schuyler's Line)

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Schuyler