Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr.

Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. (born August 29, 1762 in Croton , Westchester County , New York Province, † July 13, 1848 in Peekskill , New York ) was a British- American politician. He was the brother of US MP Philip Van Cortlandt .

Career

Pierre Van Cortlandt took classical subjects and then graduated from Queen's College (now Rutgers University ) in New Brunswick ( New Jersey ) in 1783 . He then studied law at Alexander Hamilton's office , was admitted to the bar and then began to practice. However, he soon gave up his practice as a lawyer and devoted himself to running his estate in Westchester County.

Van Cortlandt decided to pursue a political career. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1791 to 1792 and again from 1793 to 1795 . During this time he was a member of a committee that was allowed to decide on several formal errors in the gubernatorial election of 1792 . The decision was made in favor of George Clinton . He was later elected to the 12th US Congress as a Democratic Republican . He worked there from March 4, 1811 to March 3, 1813.

Later in his life, he appeared as the presidential elector for William Henry Harrison in the 1840 election . He was also the founder of Westchester County Bank at Peekskill. He was the president of this bank from 1833 until his death in 1848. After his death he was buried in the Hillside Cemetery in Cortlandt (New York).

Honors

The Cortland County in upstate New York named after him.

Web links

• Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. at The Political Graveyard