Pieter Schuyler

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Pieter Schuyler (born September 17, 1657 in today's Albany , New York ; † February 19, 1724 ibid), was provisional governor of the province of New York in 1708 and 1709 and again from 1719 to 1720 .

Life

Pieter Schuyler was born on September 17, 1657 in what was then the town of Beverwijck in Nieuw Nederland . After the area was taken over by the English in 1664, the city was named Albany and the previously Dutch colony became the province of New York. Like his father, he was in the fur trade in his younger years. He later acquired larger lands in the Albany area and in the now English province of New York. He joined the Albany Militia, where he rose to Colonel. He also worked as a judge. After Albany was officially made a city, Schuyler became its first mayor. He held this office between 1686 and 1694. At the same time, he headed the local committee for Indian affairs. The Leisler Rebellion (1691) also fell during his tenure as Mayor of Albany . In 1692 he was appointed the first citizen of Albany to the upper house of the province of New York, whose members were not elected but appointed by the colonial governor. He remained a member of this body until 1721.

In 1708 and 1709, Pieter Schuyler was acting colonial governor of New York for a few days. This resulted from his membership in the Upper House of the Province, of which he was the longest serving member in 1708. For the same reason he took over the office of colonial governor again in 1719, again only on a provisional basis. He bridged the time between the recall of Robert Hunter and the arrival of his successor William Burnet in 1720. The new governor ordered in 1721 the recall of Schuylers from the colonial upper house.

In addition to his aforementioned activities, Schuyler managed his estates in the province of New York. In 1710 he traveled to England, where he introduced five chiefs of the Iroquois (Four Iroquois Kings) to the English court under Queen Anne . He died on February 19, 1724. The Schuyler family played an important role in the further development of the colony and then at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries in the new US state of New York.

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personal data
SURNAME Schuyler, Pieter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor of the English colony of New York
DATE OF BIRTH 17th September 1657
PLACE OF BIRTH Albany , New York
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1724
Place of death Albany , New York