John Watts de Peyster

Front matter

^oV"

o V

4 o

Book I Ancestry

CHAPTER PAGE

I De Peyster 13

II Watts 29

III De Lancey and Golden .... 35

IV Van Cortlandt and Looekermans . . 43 V Livingston and Mac Pheadris . . 50

VI French and Philipse .... 60

VII Beekman 65

VIII Nicoll 70

XI Van Eensselaer 76

X Schuyler and Van Slichtenhorst . . 83

BOOK II EARLY RECOLLECTIONS XI Number Three, Broadway ... 91

XII A New York Boarding-School . . 105

XIII At the Watts Estate . . . .111

XIV More School Days 133

Contents

CHAPTER

PAGE

XV

Book III Military Career . 184

XX

. 205

XXI

Brigadier-General ....

. 323

XXII

Assigned to Visit Europe

. 231

XXIII

. 237

XXIV

Proposed Eeform of the New Yc

)rk

Militia

. 249

XXV

On Fire Departments .

. 260

XXVI

Military Agent of the State of N ew

York

. 267

XXVII

Third Military Ecport .

. 272

XXVIII

Adjutant-General ....

. 292

XXIX

Brevet Major-General .

. 310

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Jolin Watts de Peyster, 1896 . . . Frontispiece Seal of Jan de Peyster, Ghent, 1517 . . . 14 De Heer Abraham de Peyster, 1680 ... 18 Residence of De Heer Abraham de Peyster . . 20 Bellomont Reviewing the New York City Troops . 23

John Watts, Senior 32

Mrs. Frederic de Peyster, nee Mary Justina Watts 34 The Countess of Cassilis, nee Ann Watts . . 96 Frederic de Peyster, Father of General de Peyster 112

Jolm Watts, Junior 168

"Rose Hill,'' Tivoli, New York . . . .208

Book Plate of John Watts de Peyster . . .286 John Watts de Peyster, about 1860 . ■ . .310 John Watts de Peyster, 1863 318

Chapter I

De Peysters figure notably in the history of mediaeval Ghent. Belonging to one of the old aristocratic families, they were leaders in civic and military affairs, as well as in the industrial activities which raised Ghent to wealth and fame.

In 1322 Heinric de Peyster was a burgher of Ghent; in 1325 was Captain, guarding one of the city gates; and in 1349, 1352 and 1356 was Schepen of the Parchons, a district of the city. Jan de Peyster, son of Captain Heinric, in 1349 was sent by the municipality of Ghent on an important mission to Brabant. The turbulent character of the times in which he lived is reflected in three incidents disclosed by the archives of the city. He fought a duel with Simon de Scoenkere, receiving wounds, and his opponent was compelled by the schepens to defray the cost of medical attendance. His daughter, Anne, was abducted by one Ricquaers, and the offence compounded in 1361, by a payment of five hundred livres. His son, Jan, was assassinated by three men. In 1365 the slayers were condemned to go on a pilgrimage in expiation of their crime.

In 1345 Pierre de Peyster was commissioned Captain of Archers. In 1382 Jan de Peyster was one. of five envoys sent to Charles VI of France by the burghers of Ghent after the battle of Eoosebeke.

Baudouin de Peyster, son of Jean, grandson of Willem, great-grandson of Jean, great-great-grandson of Baudouin, and great-great-great-grandson of Willem de Peyster, all gentlemen of Glient, was Schepen of the Parchons in 1476, and in 1477 and 1478 Provost or Dean of the Goldsmith-s' Guild. His son, Jean de Peyster was Schepen in 1481, 1489, 1495, 1497, 1500, and

1525, and Provost of the Guild of the Carpenters in 1488-1491, 1494, 1496, 1499, 1504, 1517, and 1521. In 1498 he was Elector of the Prince, the highest oflfice in the city. The granddaughters of Baudouin, Baudouine and Marguerite, were nuns, the former becoming Superior of the Convent of St. Elizabeth at Ghent.

Othon or Oste de Peyster in 1489 was Provost of the Guild of the Carpenters, and in 1546 was Procurator or Solicitor at the Court of Flanders. Maitre Martin de Peyster, son of Maitre Martin de Peyster, grandson of Jean, and great-grandson of Lievin, in 1581 was Professor and Rector Magnificus at the Reformed University of Ghent. His brother, Reynier de Peyster, suffered the confiscation of his property in 1567 for having embraced the "new religion," was imprisoned in 1586, upon the capture of Ghent by the Duke of Parma, escaped and iled to Amsterdam in Holland.

Martin and Gilles de Peyster were engaged in maritime trade. The latter sold a vessel to one Tobast in 1565, and in 1567 obtained a merchant vessel from his brother.

The above are examples of the references to members of this large and flourishing family which abound in the archives of Ghent from 1148 to the Seventeenth Century. In the latter part of this period many of the de Peysters, becoming Protestants, found it expedient to emigrate.

In the Eighteenth Century we find de Peysters in Grammont and Oudenarde, East Flanders, including Sir Henri de Peyster and "Le Seigneur Pierre Franceois de Pester, son of Seigneur Louis, treasurer of the town of Oudenarde," in 1741. We also find de Peysters in Hainault. To this branch of the family belong Jean Baptiste de Pester, Lord of Locquerie, Warin, Maruais, and Ramiquies; Julien Ghislain de Pester, Count of Seneffe and Tournout, Baron de la Fevt6 de Pestre-en- Sologne, Councillor to the King of France, and Hyacinthe Julien Joseph, Count de Pestre de Bertinchamps.

SEAL OF JAN DE PEYSTER, GHENT, 1517 Drawn by George B. Bissell

Protestant branches of the family became established in Holland, in the cities of Amsterdam, Haarlem, Rotterdam, and Middlebourg, and in England. General de Peyster descended through one of these.

I Hugues de Peyster lived in Ghent in the early part of the Sixteenth Century. His second wife, Antoinette Poelvaech, died 21 March, 1535. From them an unbroken line, down to the de Peysters of New York, has been established by means of documents obtained from Ghent and Holland.

II Josse de Peyster, son of Hugues and Antoinette Poelvaech, appears in the Ghent records as heir to onethird of his mother's estates, 19 December, 1526. He deeded his share to his father, 10 November, 1529. He had issue: (1) Josse; (2) Jacques, mentioned in 1561 and 1563, who married Jeanne Amys; and (3) Jean, who married Jossine van Hecke, and died prior to 23 December, 1578, as we learn from a transaction between two of his sons.

III Josse de Peyster, eldest son of Josse de Peyster, appears in the Ghent records from 1552 to 1585. At one time he was guardian of the children of Othon de Peyster. In the year 1552, with his wife, Elizabeth Danckaert, he was asked to pardon Christian van Hauve, and the latter's wife, for an attempt to steal one of his children. He was married twice. By his first wife, Elizabeth Danckaert, daughter of Thierry Danckaert and Elizabeth van Hiesche, he had issue: (1) Josse; (2) Elizabeth; and (3) Jossine. By his second wife, he had a son, (4) Jacques.

IV Josse de Peyster, eldest son of Josse de Peyster and Elizabeth Danckaerts, on 7 September, 1587, appears in a transaction connected with the estate of his deceased father. On 21 August, 1596, as heir of his mother, he ceded an income to Ferdinand de Salines. The records of Ghent reveal his activity in various other directions. He married Joanne van de Voorde, the daughter of Pierre van de Voorde and Joosyne de Caluwe, and had issue: (1) Josse, of Ghent, Amsterdam, and Middlebourg; (2) Johannes; (3) Jacques; (4) Lievin, of Ghent, Haarlem, and Amsterdam; (5) Jonas, of Ghent and London; and (6) Marie, who married Jacques de Key of Haarlem.

Of these children, both Johannes and Jacques were ancestors of General de Peyster, Johannes forming a link in the direct paternal line, while Jacques was the grandfather of Catharina de Peyster, who married De Heer Abraham de Peyster, of the second generation in America.

This Jacques de Peyster, son of Josse de Peyster and Joanne van de Voorde, was living at Eouen, France, in 1639, and died there in 1676. He married Catharine de Lavoye. They had issue: (1) Sarah, who was born in 1629 and died in 1646 ; (2) Jacques, born in 1630, who married his cousin, Elizabeth Lequesne, and had a son, Jacques de Peyster, who, in turn, married his cousin, Adrienne Jacqueline, daughter of Pierre de Peyster; (3) Adrien, born in 1631, who was living in 1672, when he was mentioned in letters of his cousin, Isaac, to the latter's brother, Johannes de Peyster, of New York; (4) Samuel, of Eouen, France, born in 1634, died in 1703, who married, first Ms cousin, Catharine Lequesne, and second, Catharine de Bils, and by the latter marriage had children, Samuel and Catharine, born in Eotterdam; (5) Pierre; (6) William, born in 1638, and living in 1659, when he was mentioned in a letter of his cousin, Isaac de Peyster, to the latter's brother, Johannes de Peyster, of New York; (7) Jan, who was born in 1641; and (8) Catharine, who was born in 1645.

Pierre de Peyster, tlie son of Jacques de Peyster and Catharine de Lavoye, was born probably about 1636, and in 1660 was a law student at Harderwyk, Holland. He was for a time of Eouen, France, where some of his children were born, Init about 1682 he settled at Amsterdam. He married Pietronella Van Kesteren. They had issue: (1) Adrienne Jacqueline, born about 1G74, who married, first, her cousin, Jacques de Peyster, of Eouen, and, second, Abraham Van der Hulst, and

DE PEYSTEE 17

died at Eouen in 1762, aged eighty-eight, her sole heir being Frederic de Peyster, of New York, grandson of her sister, Catharine, and De Heer Abraham de Peyster, the illustrious New York patriot; (3) Catharina, or Margareta Katrijn; (3) Johannes, who was born in Amsterdam, 30 November, 1685.

Margareta Katrijn de Peyster, as her name appears in her baptismal record, or Catharine, as it was generally written in New York, the second child of Pierre de Peyster and Pietronella Van Kesteren, was born in Amsterdam, Holland, 20 June, 1682. She became the wife of her second cousin, De Heer Abraham de Peyster, of New York.

V Johannes de Peyster, son of Josse de Peyster and Joanne van de Voorde, like his brothers and sister, removed from Ghent, probably on account of his Protestant views. He lived for some time in Amsterdam, where his son, Isaac, was born, and subsequently settled in Haarlem. He was a burgher of the latter city in 1621, and died there in 1648. By his wife, Jossine Martens, he had issue: (1) Johannes; (2) Abraham, who died in England, near London, in 1659 ; (3) Joanna, who married Bruynsteen; and (4) Isaac, of Amsterdam and Haarlem, whose son, Johan, was a student at Leyden University, and became a Counsellorat-Law at Eotterdam, of which city he was Schepen in 1705 and 1706. A number of letters from this Johan to his cousins in New Netherland, with two from his father, Isaac, to the latter's brother, Johannes, of New Amsterdam, were long preserved among the de Peyster family papers in America, and certified translations still exist.

VI Johannes de Peyster, son of Johannes de Peyster and Jossine Martens, was born in Haarlem, Holland. He emigrated to New Amsterdam at least as early as 1647, and there married, 17 December, 1651, Cornelia Lubberts, also a native of Haarlem. Johannes de Peyster was a wealthy importing merchant, one of the eminent men of New Netherland. He was Schepen of

New Amsterdam under Governor Petrus Stuyvesant; was Alderman of New York during the first English administration, under Nicholls; was Burgomaster of New Orange in 1673, when for a short time the city was again under Holland; was subsequently Alderman and Deputy Mayor under the English, and declined to accept his appointment as Mayor, 15 October, 1677, because of his imperfect mastery of the English tongue.

He had issue: (1) Abraham; (3) Johannes, baptized 3 August, 1653, who died in infancy; (3) Johannes, baptized 7 September, 1654, who died young; (4) Maria, baptized 7 September, 1660, who married, first, Paulus Schrick, second, John Sprat, and third, David Provoost, and one of whose daughters became the wife of James Alexander, and the mother of William Alexander, titular Earl of Stirling and Major-General in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War; (5) Isaac, born and baptized 16 April, 1662, who was Assistant Alderman of the city of New York, served a number of years as a member of tlie Provincial Legislature, and left a numerous progeny; (6) Jacob, baptized 33 December, 1663, who died without issue; (7) Johannes, born 31 December, 1666, who was Captain in the Militia, Assistant Alderman, Mayor of the city of New York, and a prominent member of the Provincial Legislature, some of whose descendants were officers in the Continental Army during the Revolution; (8) Cornelius, a Captain in the Militia, Assistant Alderman of New York, and the first Chamberlain of that city; and (9) Cornelia, baptized 4 December, 1678, who died without issue.

VII De Heer Abraham de Peyster, eldest son of Johannes de Peyster and Cornelia Lubberts, was born in New Amsterdam 8 July, 1657, and died in the same city, then New York, 2 August, 1738. He was the most illustrious of his race during the colonial period. An opulent merchant, a civic magnate, and a social grandee, he became an influential supporter of Leisler and the intimate and trusted friend of the royal Governor, Richard, Earl of Bellomont.

^■^^1

DE HEER ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER Prom the Original Portrait, 1680

DE PEYSTEK 19

He was Alderman, Mayor, and Colonel in command of the New York County troops. A member of the King's Council, he subsequently became its President. He was Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and eventually its Supreme Justice. After the death of the Earl of Bellomont, he was for a time Acting Governor of New York, in 1708 became Eeceiver-General of the Port, and from 1706 to 1721 was Treasurer of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey. An aristocrat of aristocrats, he nevertheless boldly stood for representative government in the Colony, in the days of Leisler. Against William Smith, Peter Schuyler, and Robert Livingston, he maintained that, in the absence of Lieutenant-Governor Nanfan, the members of the Council were equals, and that the Presiding Officer and Acting Governor should be elected by his colleagues of the Council.

He married, during a visit at Amsterdam, Holland, 5 April, 1684, his second cousin, Catharina de Peyster, whose descent has been shown. They had issue: (1) Johannes, who was born 12 July, 1685, and died in infancy; (2) Johannes, born 30 October, 1686, who died young; (3) Catharine, born 7 September, 1688, ,who married Philip Van Cortlandt, and became the mother of Pierre Van Cortlandt of Croton, Lieutenant-Governor of New York; (4) Abraham, who was born 7 November, 1690, and died young; (5) Johannes, born 3 April, 1693, and died young; (6) Abraham; (7) Elizabeth, twin of Abraham, born 28 August, 1696, who became the wife of "the Honorable John Hamilton, Governor of the Province of New Jersey; (8) Mary, born 17 October, 1698, and died without issue; (9) Joanna, who was born 13 July, 1701, and who married her kinsman, Isaac de Peyster, but left no issue; (10) Maria, born 25 August, 1703, who died without issue; (11) Johannes, born 28 February, 1706, and died in infancy; (12) Pierre Guillaume, born 15 January, 1707, who married Catharine Schuyler; and (13) John, born 6 May, 1709, who left no issue.

Pierre Guillaume was the father of Colonel Arent Schuyler de Peyster, Commander of the region from the head of Lake Superior eastward to Lake Ontario, where he exercised over the northwestern Indians an influence only equalled by that of Sir William Jolmson over the Six Nations. A grandson of Pierre Guillaume, Captain Arent de Peyster, visited unexplored parts of the Pacific, and was the discoverer of the de Peyster, Ellice, and other islands.

VIII Abraham de Peyster, eldest surviving son of De Heer Abraham de Peyster and Catharina de Peyster, was born in New York, 28 August, 1696. He was a great merchant, like his father, whom he succeeded in the office of Treasurer of the Province, 2 June, 1721, holding it until his death, 17 September, 1767. He married, 1 July, 1722, Margaret, the eldest daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt.

There is extant an old document, containing a "List of Persons invited to, and present at, the Funeral of Abraham de Peyster, Treasurer of the Province of New York, 19th September, 1767," which is practically a register of the great names of the social and official New York of that day. The clergymen in attendance were the Eeverend Messrs. Oglevie, Auchmuty, Ingliss, Provoost, Cooper, Eitsmoy, De Eunda, and Ladley, while the pall-bearers were Judge Horsmanden, Judge William Smith, Colonel Stuyvesant, John Watts, Philip Livingston, Leonard Lispenard, and William Bayard.

Abraham de Peyster had issue: (1) James; (2) Abraham, born 5 October, 1723, who died young; (3) Catharine, born 3 December, 1724, who became the wife of John Livingston; (4) Eve, twin of Catharine, who died young; (5) Pierre, who was born 19 October, 1727, and who died in infancy; (6) Margaret, born 14 November, 1728, who married the Honorable William Axtell, member of the King's Council; (7) Pierre, born 27 March, 1730, who died in infancy; (8) Frederic, born 8 April, 1731, known as "The Marquis," because of his elegant presence and courtly manners, appointed

RESIDENCE OF DE HEER ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER Pearl Street, New York

Treasurer of the Province of New York, 18 September, 1767, went to Ronen, France, to inherit an estate bequeathed to him by a kinswoman, and died unmarried in New York, in 1773; (9) Eve, born 2 January, 1733, who died unmarried at an advanced age; (10) Mary, born 26 August, 1735, who was the wife of Doctor John Charlton, an eminent physician; and (11) Elizabeth, born 11 September, 1737, who married Matthew Clarkson, Esquire.

IX James de Peyster, the eldest son of Abraham de Peyster and Margaret Van Cortlandt, was born in New York City, 6 February, 1736, and died at one of his country estates, in Jamaica, Long Island, 27 July, 1799. He was one of the most notable New York merchants of his day, the proprietor of an extensive maritime fleet, which brought rich cargoes into New York from the ports of all the world. A Loyalist during the Revolution, his ships were swept from the seas by American and French privateers, but, in spite of these disastrous inroads upon it, he died in possession of a fortune large for his day.

He married Sarah, the daughter of the Honorable Joseph Reade, a member of the King's Council, and had issue: (1) Margaret, born 18 January, 1749, who married Colonel Thomas James, at one time Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Artillery in North America, and afterwards in command at Gibraltar; (2) Ann Adriana, born 30 April, 1751, who died young; (3) Abraham, born IS February, 1753, who was a Captain in the British Army during the Revolution, and later became Treasurer of New Brunswick, where he died, leaving descendants, whose male line has become extinct ; (4) Joseph Reade, born 8 April, 1754, who left no male descendants; (5) James, born 16 May, 1755, who died 5 June of the same year; (6) Ann, born 24 August,

1756, who died unmarried; (7) James, born 3 Ljcember,

1757, who, at the age of twenty, was commissioned Captain-Lieutenant, served under the King during the Revolution, and died unmarried at Lincelles, Flanders,

19 August, 1793, being then First Lieutenant of Artillery; (8) Frederic; (9) Lawrence Reade, born 21 February, 1760, who died 24 June, 1761; (10) Sarah, born 20 September, 1761; (11) Lawrence Reade, born 9 March, 1763, who died 20 January, 1771; (13) Mary Reade, born 18 September, 1765, who married and left issue; and (14) Elizabeth, born 17 January, 1768, who married Doctor William Hamersley, and left issue.

X Captain Frederic de Peyster, son of James de Peyster and Sarah Reade, and the eldest whose male descendants are living, was born in New York City, 10 December, 1758. Like his brothers. Captain Abraham and Captain James de Peyster, he fought under King George during the Revolution. At the age of eighteen he was commissioned Captain of the Axtell Guards or Nassau Blues, an independent company of Long Island. Later on he became a Captain of the Royal New York Volunteers, and distinguished himself in the Highlands and at Eutaw Springs. After the Revolution he resided for a time in St. John, New Brunswick, subsequently returning to New York. He died in 1834. He became the head of the family by reason of the deaths of his elder brothers without surviving male issue.

His first wife, who died 1 April, 1801, at the age of twenty-eight, was Helen, only daughter of General Samuel Hake, claimant of the title of Lord Hake, and at one time Commissary-General of the British forces in North America. Captain de Peyster's second wife, who died in 1857, was Ann, only daughter of Gerard G. Beekman, Esq., and granddaughter of Lieutenant- Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt.

Captain Frederic de Peyster had issue, six sons by his first marriage, and seven daughters and one son by his second marriage, as follows: (1) Captain James Ferguson, of whom a brief account is given below; (2) Robert Gilbert Livingston, born 27 June, 1795; (3) Frederic; (4) Abraham, born 18 June, 1798, who died unmarried in 1836; (5) Samuel Hake, born about 1800, who died in linfancy; (6) Captain Frederic Augustus, who was

Commander of a packet line from New York to Liverpool, was Governor of Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten Island, and had children, Maria Roosevelt, Richard Varick de Peyster, who was a Union soldier in the Civil War, Justine Watts, wife of Charles Pox Hovey, of Boston, Augustus de Peyster, of Indianapolis, and Robert Gilbert Livingston de Peyster, of Indianapolis; (7) Joanna Cornelia, who was born 7 March, 1804, and who married Robert Whitmarsh; (8) Ann Frederica, who was born 7 June, 1805, and died unmarried; (9) Margaret James, born 9 June, 1806, who died unmarried in 1867 ; (10) Mary Elizabeth, born 14 April, 1809, who died unmarried in 1892; (11) Pierre Van Cortlandt, born 11 July, 1814, who died unmarried 1 April, 1854; (12) Catharine M. Van Cortlandt, who was born 2 October, 1818, married Benjamin Hazard Field and was the mother of Cortlandt de Peyster Field and Florence Van Cortlandt Field, the latter the wife of David Wolfe Bishop, of New York; (13) a daughter, who died in infancy; and (14) a daughter, who died in infancy.

Captain James Ferguson de Peyster, eldest son of Captain Frederic de Peyster and Helen Hake, was born 2 Februar}', 1794. Entering the United States Army at the age of nineteen, during the War of 1812, he was made First Lieutenant, 30 March, 1814, and Captain, 14 April of the same year. He was a leader in the social life and public affairs of New York, was a Governor of the New York Hospital, President of the New York Dispensary, for nearly forty years Trustee of the Bank for Savings, Treasurer for nearly sixty years of St. Michael's Church, and Treasurer for fifty years of the Society for Religion and Learning, having succeeded his father in this office. He died in New York, 13 June, 1874. By his first wife, Susan Maria, the daughter of Matthew Clarkson of New York, he had a daughter, Susan Maria Clarkson de Peyster, who married Robert Edward Livingston of Clermont, New York; and by his second marriage, with Frances Goodhue Ashton, he had issue: (1) Frederic James; (2) Jacob Ashton;

(3) Frances Goodhue; (4) Walter, and (5) Helen Livingston Hake.

XI Frederic de Peyster, son of Captain Frederic de Peyster and Helen Hake, was born in New York, 11 November, 1796. While a student at Columbia College, during the War of 1813, he organized and became the Captain of a company called the "College Greens." He graduated from Columbia College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and from the Law School with that of Doctor of Laws. In 1819 he was admitted to the Bar. He was Master of Chancery in New York City from 1830 to 1837. He was successively Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, and Brigade Major of the Tenth Brigade, New York Militia, was Aide-de-Camp to Major- General Fleming, and was Volunteer Aide, with the rank of Colonel, to Governor De Witt Clinton. He was also Governor Clinton's Military Secretary for the Southern District of New York,

At the time of his death, 17 August, 1883, it is stated that he had been connected officially with more clubs and societies than any other person in New York. He was Trustee of the Leake and Watts Orphan House, Manager of the New York Bible Society, Director of the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, Manager of the Home for Incurables, and Chairman of its Finance and Building Committee, Vice- President of the Association of the Alumni of Columbia, and Chairman of its Standing Committee; was an original incorporator, a Director, and Vice-President of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children ; was a founder, Manager, Treasurer, and President of the St. Nicholas Society ; was a founder. Trustee, and President of the St. Nicholas Club; was Corresponding Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Second Vice- President, and President of the New York Historical Society ; was Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President of the New York Society Library; was a Trustee of the Free School Society, an honorary member of the Mercantile Association of New York, an honorary

Fellow of the Eoyal Historical Society of Great Britain, a Corresponding Member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and an honorary member of the Historical Societies of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, AVisconsin, Florida, Chicago, and Buffalo. He was Senior Officer of the| Vestry of the Church of the Ascension, New York.

His published works include Early Political History of New York, 1865; The Moral and Intellectual Influence of Libraries, 1866 ; The Culture Demanded by the Age, 1869; William the Third as a Reformer, 1874; The Representative Men of the English Revolution, 1876; The Life and Administration of the Earl of Bellomont, 1879 ; and A Review of the Administration of Governor Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, published posthumously.

He married, 15 May, 1830, in the front parlor of Number Three, Broadway, New York, Mary Justina, the youngest daughter of the Honorable elohn Watts, by whom he had an only child. General John Watts de Peyster. Mrs. de Peyster died soon after the birth of the latter, and Frederic de Peyster married, second, Mrs. Hone, nee Maria Antoinette Kane.

XII John Watts de Peyster, only child of Frederic de Peyster and Mary Justina Watts, was born 9 March, 1821, in the front room on the second story of the house of his maternal grandfather, Number Three, Broadway, New York City — to quote General de Peyster's own words, in the record in one of his Bibles, "on Thursday, at noon, the day being one of the finest it is possible to conceive."

His mother having died, 28 July, 1821, a few months after his birth, he was brought up in the home of his grandfather, John Watts, where his father also resided. During the General's childhood he was in the care of a nurse, Mrs. Frances Trainque.

He was married in New York City, at eleven A. M., 2 March, 1841, by the Rev. Henry Anthon, D. D., to Estelle Livingston, the daughter of John Swift Livingston and Anna Maria Martina Thompson. Mrs. de Peyster's mother was a native of Savannah, Georgia^ the daughter of Captain William Thompson of the Continental Army. John Swift Livingston was a descendant of the first Lord of Livingston Manor.

The General and Mrs. de Peyster had the following children: (1) Jolm Watts; (3) Frederic; (3) Estelle; (4) Johnston Livingston; and (5) Maria Livingston.

John Watts de Peyster, Junior, the eldest child, was born at One Hundred and Six, Leonard Street, New York, 2 December, 1841. He was a Union soldier, serving as First Volunteer Aide-de-Camp to his cousin, Major-General Philip Kearney, in the spring campaign of 1862, afterwards as Second Lieutenant of the Fourth Eegiment of New York Cavalry, and later as Major of the First Eegiment of New York Volunteer Artillery. He was made Brevet Colonel of the United States Volunteers for distinguished services at Chancellorsville, and Brevet Colonel of the New York Volunteers. His father recorded the following death-notice in one of his Bibles:

"My glorious soldier-son. Major and Brevet Colonel, John Watts de Peyster, Jr., in my house, 59 East 21st Street, New York, on the night of the llth-12th April, 1873, Saturday, April 12th, 4^ A. M., of atrophy or consumption, attributable to his services in the field, but more especially in command of the Artillery of the Second Division, of the Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, at Fredericksburg, in the campaign of Chancellorsville. He was the first to lie in my new vault in the rear of St. Paul's Church, Tivoli. Peace to his ashes! To whomsoever passes over the arch can be addressed the words first applied to Field Marshal Mercy at Nordlingen, 'Sta Viator heroem calces.' "

Frederic de Peyster, second son of the General, was born at Seventy-three Leonard Street, New York, 13 December, 1842. He was a Union soldier, Assistant Surgeon to the Eighth New York State Militia in 1861, being, after his participation in the Battle of Bull Run, the only surgeon who returned with his regiment to New

York. He was later Second Lieutenant of the Eighth New York State Militia, assigned to medical duty as Assistant Surgeon. During the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 he was assigned as Assistant Surgeon to the Fifty-third Regiment, ''Enfants Perdus." He was made Brevet Major, United States Army, and Brevet Colonel of the New York Volunteers, for meritorious and faithful services at Bull Run, first, 21 July, 1861, and on the Peninsula in the summer of 1862. He was married 7 September, 1864, to Mary, only daughter of Clermont Livingston, and great-granddaughter of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston. He had issue: (1) Mary, who was born 22 December, 1865, and died 9 September, 1874; (2) Clermont Livingston, born 12 June, 1867, who studied at Harvard and at Oxford, and who died, unmarried, 2 December, 1889.