Peter Stuyvesant (merchant) explained

Peter Stuyvesant
Birth Name:	Petrus Stuyvesant
Birth Date:	13 October 1727
Birth Place:	New York City, Province of New York, British America
Death Place:	New York City, New York, U.S.
Parents:	Peter Gerard Stuyvesant Judith Bayard Stuyvesant
Children:	5, including Nicholas, Peter
Relations:	Hamilton Fish (grandson) Peter Stuyvesant (great-grandfather)

Petrus "Peter" Stuyvesant (October 13, 1727 – October 7, 1805) was a New York landowner and merchant who was a great-grandson of his namesake, Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of New Amsterdam.

Early life

Stuyvesant was born in New York City on October 13, 1727. He was one of four sons born to Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1691–1777), who was prominent in the civil affairs of New York and served as a magistrate for over thirty years, and Judith (née Bayard) Stuyvesant (b. 1685), who married in 1720.^[1] His father owned the original Stuyvesant family home, and which burned down in 1778. Being the only son that left descendants, Peter inherited the 60acres Stuyvesant family bouwerie (or farm).^[2] His eldest brother was fellow merchant Nicholas William Stuyvesant, who died unmarried in 1780.^[3] His other two brothers died in infancy.

His maternal grandparents were Balthazar Bayard (a brother of the Mayor Nicholas Bayard) and Maria (née Loockermans) Bayard. His paternal grandparents were Nicholas William Stuyvesant and Elizabeth (née Van Slichtenhorst) Stuyvesant (a daughter of Brant Van Slichtenhorst, the director of Rensselaerwyck; her sister, Margaretta, was the wife of Philip Pieterse Schuyler).^[4] Before their marriage, his grandfather had been married to Maria Beekman, the eldest daughter of Mayor of New York City Wilhelmus Beekman, with whom he had a daughter before Maria's death in 1679. As was common in colonial America, his family regularly intermarried and his grandfathers were first cousins; his maternal grandfather Balthazar was the son of Ann (née Stuyvesant) Bayard, sister of Peter Stuyvesant. Further, Peter Stuyvesant's wife, Judith Bayard, was the sister of Ann's husband, Samuel Bayard.

Career

Stuyvesant was educated in the schools of New York and became a merchant in New York City like his elder brother. He inherited significant property and great wealth, and was active in philanthropy like his father before him. He is credited with the original layout of the streets between what is today known as Fourth Avenue and the East River, and East 5th Street to East 20th Street.

St. Mark's Church

In 1793, Stuyvesant sold the property encompassing the Stuyvesant family chapel to the Episcopal Church for $1,^[5] stipulating that a new chapel be erected to serve Bowery Village, the community which had coalesced around the Stuyvesant family chapel.^[6] His great-grandfather had purchased the land from the Dutch West India Company and in 1651 and, by 1660, had built the family chapel. The elder Stuyvesant was interred in a vault under the chapel following his death in 1672.^{[7] [8]} In 1795, the cornerstone of the present day St. Mark's Church was laid, and the fieldstone Georgian style church, built by the architect and mason John McComb Jr., was completed and consecrated on May 9, 1799. Alexander Hamilton provided legal aid in incorporating the church as the first Episcopal parish independent of Trinity Church in New York City.^[9]

Personal life

In 1764, Stuyvesant was married to Margaret "Peggy" Livingston (1738–1818), the daughter of Gilbert Livingston and Cornelia (née Beekman) Livingston. Margaret was a granddaughter of Hendrick Beekman and Robert Livingston the Elder, the first Lord of Livingston Manor, and great-granddaughter of Wilhelmus Beekman (who arrived in New Amsterdam aboard the same ship as his great-grandfather, Peter Stuyvesant). Among her siblings were Henry Gilbert Livingston (father of Gilbert, John Henry, and Henry Livingston Jr. among others), Alida Livingston (wife of Jacob Rutsen and Hendrick Van Rensselaer), and Joanna Livingston (who was married to Pierre Van Cortlandt, the first Lieutenant Governor of the New York).^[10] Together, Peter and Margaret were the parents of five children, two sons and three daughters, including:^[11]

• Judith Stuyvesant (1765–1844), who married Benjamin Winthrop (1762–1844), a son of John Still Winthrop and a descendant of Wait Winthrop and Joseph Dudley. They were the grandparents of U.S. Representative John Winthrop Chanler who married Margaret Astor Ward (daughter of Samuel Cutler Ward and granddaughter of William Backhouse Astor Sr.).^[12]
• Cornelia Stuyvesant (1768–1825), who married Speaker of the New York State Assembly Dirck Ten Broeck, a son of Abraham Ten Broeck and grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer I and Dirck Ten Broeck.^[12] His younger sister, Elizabeth Ten Broeck, was married to Rensselaer Schuyler (a son of Gen. Philip Schuyler).^[13]
• Nicholas William Stuyvesant (1769–1833), who married Catharine Livingston Reade (1777–1863), a descendant of Robert Livingston.^[12] He was educated in Scotland, inherited his uncle's "the Bowery House",^[14] and had nine children.^{[15] [16]} In 1795, he built a Federal-style house that today is the oldest house in Greenwich Village at 44 Stuyvesant Street.^[17]
• Elizabeth Stuyvesant (1775–1854), who married Adjutant General of New York Nicholas Fish, a close friend of Alexander Hamilton, in 1803.^{[12] [18]} As a wedding present to the couple, Stuyvesant built them a residence that is today known as the Hamilton Fish House, and located at 21 Stuyvesant Street.^[19]
• Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1778–1847), who married Susannah Barclay (1785–1805), a daughter of lawyer Thomas Henry Barclay, a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War who became one of the United Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia.^{[20] [21] [22]} After her death, he married Helena Rutherfurd (1790–1873),^[23] daughter of U.S. Senator John Rutherfurd and Helena (née Morris) Rutherford, and granddaughter of Walter Rutherfurd and Continental Congressman Lewis Morris.^[24] He owned "Petersfield, overlooking the East River between 16th and 17th Streets,^[25] and developed the family farm into residential housing from Houston Street to 23rd Street.^[26]

The American portrait painter Gilbert Stuart made a portrait of Stuyvesant in -95,^[27] that was later owned by his 2x great-grandson, Winthrop Astor Chanler, and his son, Rear Admiral Hubert Winthrop Chanler (d. 1974),^[28] Stuyvesant's 3x great-grandson.^[29]

Stuyvesant died in New York City on October 7, 1805, a few days shy of his seventy-eighth birthday. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in Manhattan.

Descendants

See also: Stuyvesant family. Through his eldest daughter Judith, he was a grandfather of Elizabeth Sherriff (née Winthrop) Chanler (1789–1866) (wife of John White Chanler and mother of U.S. Representative John Winthrop Chanler), Margaret Cornelia (née Winthrop) Folsom (1801–1863) (wife of the chargé d'affaires to the Netherlands George Folsom),^[30] and Benjamin Robert Winthrop (1804–1879) (who married Eliza Ann Coles Neilson and was the father of Egerton Leigh Winthrop).^[31]

Through his daughter Cornelia, he was a grandfather of at least twelve grandchildren including Petrus Stuyvesant Ten Broeck (1792–1849), a priest who married Lucretia Loring Cutter (daughter of Mayor Levi Cutter), and Stephan Philip Van Rensselaer Ten Broeck (1802–1866), a physician who married Mary Nielson.^[32]

Through his son Nicholas, he was a grandfather of Gerard Stuyvesant (1805–1859),^[33] Nicholas Stuyvesant (1805–1871),^[34] and Margaret Livingston Stuyvesant (1806–1845), who married Robert Van Rensselaer (a son of Jeremiah Van Rensselaer and Sybil Adeline (née Kane) Van Rensselaer and nephew of Jacob R. Van Rensselaer).^[35]

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was a grandfather of at least five, including Hamilton Fish (1808–1893), a New York governor, United States Senator, and U.S. Secretary of State,^[36] who married Julia Ursin Niemcewiez Kean (sister of U.S. Senator John Kean and granddaughter of Continental Congressman John Kean).^[37]

External links

• Guide to the Stuyvesant-Rutherfurd Papers 1647-1917 (bulk 1840-1917) at the New-York Historical Society
• Portrait of Petrus Stuyvesant by Gilbert Stuart, -95, at the New-York Historical Society

Notes and References

1. New-York Historical Society . Quarterly, Volumes 42-43 . 1958 . 197–198 . 28 September 2020 . en. New-York Historical Society .
2. News: Schulz . Dana . Peter Stuyvesant's NYC: From the Bouwerie Farm to That Famous Pear Tree 6sqft . 9 June 2018 . 6sqft . November 5, 2014.
3. Web site: Guide to the Stuyvesant-Rutherfurd Papers 1647-1917 (bulk 1840-1917) Series VII: Nicholas William Stuyvesant (1722-1780) . dlib.nyu.edu . . 28 September 2020.
4. Book: Roper . Louis H. . Ruymbeke . Bertrand Van . Constructing Early Modern Empires: Proprietary Ventures in the Atlantic World, 1500-1750 . 2007 . BRILL . 978-90-04-15676-0 . 314 . 28 September 2020 . en.
5. , p.67
6. p. 389
7. http://www.stmarksbowery.org/virtual-tour.html Virtual tour
8. Book: Dunlap . David W. . From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship . 2004 . . 978-0-231-12543-7 . 224 . 28 September 2020 . en.
9. p. 389
10. Book: Judd. Jacob. Van Cortlandt Family Papers Vol II. 1977. Sleepy Hollow Restorations. Tarrytown. 0-912882-29-8. xxxviii, liv. registration.
11. Book: Reynolds. Cuyler. 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. 1914. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1011–1015. 30 March 2018. en.
12. Book: 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-. 1905. Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York. 32. 30 March 2018. en.
13. Book: Reynolds. Cuyler. 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. 1911. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 32. 12 September 2017. en.
14. Web site: Miller . Tom . Daytonian in Manhattan: The Lost Nicholas Wm. Stuyvesant Mansion - St. Mark's Place . daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com . Daytonian in Manhattan . 28 September 2020 . 9 April 2018.
15. Web site: Guide to the Stuyvesant-Rutherfurd Papers 1647-1917 (bulk 1840-1917) Series III: Peter (Petrus) Stuyvesant . dlib.nyu.edu . . 28 September 2020.
16. Book: Scoville . Joseph Alfred . The Old Merchants of New York City . 1864 . Carleton . 318–319 . 28 September 2020 . en.
17. News: Berman . Andrew . The oldest house in the Village? It's not what you think . 28 September 2020 . 6sqft . September 13, 2018.
18. Book: Barrett . Walter . The Old Merchants of New York City Volume 3 . 1865 . Books on Demand . 978-0-598-37947-4 . 67 . 28 September 2020 . en.
19. Web site: Alexander. Cathy A.. [{{NHLS url|id=72001456}} Hamilton Fish House]. PDF. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination. September 1, 1974. 2018-06-19. National Park Service.
20. Tulloch . Judith . Barclay, Thomas Henry . 6 .
21. Book: Moffat. R. Burnham. The Barclays of New York: Who They Are And Who They Are Not,--And Some Other Barclays. 1904. R. G. Cooke. 116. 27 October 2017. en.
22. Web site: Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1778-1847). www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. 18 July 2017. en.
23. News: Funeral of Mrs. Stuyvesant. . 9 June 2018 . . 21 August 1873.
24. Book: Rutherfurd. Livingston. Family Records and Events: Compiled Principally from the Original Manuscripts in the Rutherfurd Collection. 1894. De Vinne Press. 252. 18 July 2017. en.
25. Web site: ST. MARK'S HISTORIC DISTRICT, Borough of Manhattan . www.nyc.gov . Landmarks Preservation Commission . 9 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214411/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/StMarks.pdf . 3 March 2016 . dead .
26. News: Dunning . Jennifer . Metropolitan Baedeker; EXPLORING THE HISTORIC STUYVESANT SQUARE AREA . 9 June 2018 . . March 12, 1982 . en.
27. Book: Kelby . William . Notes on American Artists, 1754-1820: Copied from Advertisements Appearing in the Newspapers of the Day . 1922 . . 69 . 28 September 2020 . en.
28. News: Hubert W. Chanler Dies; Retired Admiral Was 74. 21 February 2018. The New York Times. 2 October 1974.
29. Web site: Attributed to Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1828) Winthrop Astor Chanler's "Portrait of Petrus Stuyvesant" . www.cottoneauctions.com . Cottone Auctions . 28 September 2020.
30. News: The Death of Hon. George Folsom . 29 June 2018 . . April 11, 1869.
31. Web site: Century Archives – BENJAMIN R. WINTHROP . centuryarchives.org . . 28 September 2020.
32. Book: Runk. Emma Ten Broeck. The Ten Broeck Genealogy, Being the Records and Annals of Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck of Albany and his Descendants. 1897. De Vinne press. New York. 2 October 2017.
33. Web site: Gerard Stuyvesant (1805-1859). www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. 30 March 2018. en.
34. Book: Hughes. Thomas Patrick. Munsell. Frank. American Ancestry: Giving Name and Descent, in the Male Line, of Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence, A. D. 1776 Vol. X. 1895. Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers. United States. 178. 30 March 2018. en.
35. Book: Aitken . William Benford . Distinguished Families in America, Descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke . 1912 . Knickerbocker Press . 13 . 28 September 2020 . en.
36. Fish, Hamilton . 10 . 427 .
37. Book: Burke. Arthur Meredyth. The Prominent Families of the United States of America. 1908. Genealogical Publishing Com. 9780806313085. 385. 15 September 2017. en.