Pierre Van Cortlandt (January 10, 1721 – May 1, 1814)Van Cortlandt, Pierre (1721-1814) at The Political Graveyard was an American politician who served as the first lieutenant governor of New York.
He was first elected to the New York Assembly in March 1768 and served in that body as the representative from Van Cortlandt Manor until 1775. Subsequently, he was a member of the Second Provincial Congress, 1775–1776, and chairman of its Committee of Safety, 1776. He sat for Westchester County at all four of the Provincial Congresses and was chosen to preside over the last three; was vice president of the Fourth Provincial Congress, 1776; of the Constitutional Convention of the State of New York, 1776–1777; of the First Council of Safety, 1777, of which he was the president; a senator from the Southern District, 1777; president of the New York State Constitutional Convention, 1777; and lieutenant governor of the state, 1777–1795. On July 9, 1776, he was among thirty-eight delegates to ratify the Declaration of Independence at White Plains.
As a colonel, and later general, he commanded the Third Westchester Militia Regiment and later was advanced to be a general. Gen. George Washington ever referred to Pierre Van Cortlandt as his most trusted friend and ally. With NY Gov. George Clinton away from the state in active military service, Lt. Gov. Van Cortlandt had full charge of the revolutionary government of the state and directed its entire war effort. On November 25, 1783, he accompanied General Washington on his triumphant ride into New York City. He was made an original honorary member of the New York State Society of the Cincinnati on July 6, 1784.
Early life
He was born in New York City, the son of Philip Van Cortlandt (1683–1746) and Catherine de Peyster. His father was a son of Geertruy Schuyler and Stephanus Van Cortlandt (1643–1700), Mayor of New York City from 1677 to 1678 and 1686 to 1688. His mother was a daughter of Abraham de Peyster (1657–1728), Mayor of New York City from 1691 to 1694 and Governor of the Province of New York from 1700 to 1701.
Pierre's uncle, Johannes de Peyster II (1666–1711), also served as Mayor of New York City, in 1698–1699, as did his great-uncle, Jacobus Van Cortlandt (1658–1739), in 1719–1720.
Residences Van Cortlandt Manor In 1697, King William III granted by Royal Charter, Van Cortlandt Manor to his grandfather, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. Originally, it was a tract stretching from the Hudson River on the west to the first boundary line between the Province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut, on the east, twenty English miles in length by ten in width, in shape nearly a rectangular parallelogram, forming, "The Manor of Cortlandt." The massive holding was acquired by direct purchase from the Indians, in part, by Stephanus van Cortlandt, a first-generation New Yorker, and in part by others whose titles he subsequently bought. The Van Cortlandt Manor House was built sometime before 1732 but was not any owner's principal residence until Pierre moved there in 1749.
Inheritance
In 1748, Pierre inherited from his father the Van Cortlandt Manor House and surrounding lands (about 1,000 acres),Williams, Gray (2003). Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. p. 9. . a small portion of the huge original manor which had been divided between Stephanus's heirs. He enlarged (to 4,000 acres), diversified, and organized the Croton lands to develop income-producing tenant farms. Pierre maintained the Van Cortlandt Manor House and lands as a farmer/planter.
Upon the survey of the Manor of Cortlandt, Annsville and lands adjoining constituted a portion of Front Lot No. 10, the river portion lot that was bequeathed to Gertrude Beekman, Pierre's aunt and daughter and devisee of Stephanus Van Cortlandt.Gertrude Van Cortlandt Beekman (1688-1777), Historic Hudson Valley Facebook Page It was on 340 acres of Gertrude's land where Pierre built the Upper Manor House and farm. Two miles to the north was Front Lot No. 10, on which another Van Cortlandt mansion, Oldstone, was built, and later near the bay the Fort Independence Hotel. Fort Independence was located on the high bluff on the western end of Roa Hook. Mrs. Gertrude Beekman, one of the original heirs of the first Lord of the Manor, died on March 23, 1777, leaving what was known as the "Peekskill estate" to her great nephew, Pierre's son Gilbert L. Van Cortlandt. It comprised that part of the manor lying on the river from the line of Putnam County and two tracts of land in Peekskill being about 340 acres, embracing Anthony's Nose, Roa Houk, Annsville, and the large estate on which, in later years, was the residence of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., where a spacious mansion [Oldstone, discussed below] was probably built about 1769.
These properties were eventually inherited and occupied by General Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. (1762–1848), the lieutenant governor's son, and later Pierre, III, deriving title to this portion of the ancient Manor from Pierre's son Gilbert, heir of his great-aunt Gertrude Beekman. "The situation of the Van Cortlandt estate is very fine, covering, as it does, some of the most graceful undulations of a hilly district, diversified with the richest scenery. The old brick mansion [Upper Manor House] erected A. D. 1773, occupies a very sequestered and romantic spot on the north side of the post road, immediately above the vale of Annsville."
Van Cortlandt Manor House In 1749, Pierre turned the family's simple hunting lodge into an elegant residence known as Van Cortlandt Manor House, adding the upper stories and porches. The house remained in the Van Cortlandt family until 1945 and was purchased in 1953 by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to assure its preservation. The restored manor house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1961. During the American Revolutionary War Pierre entertained numerous military commanders, such as Washington, Lafayette, Rochambeau, and von Steuben (as well as other prominent citizens, such as Franklin) at the Manor House. When the place was threatened by the British Army, he removed his wife and children to one of the Livingston farms at Rhinebeck, and for a time, to the Upper Manor House near Peekskill.
Upper Manor House
Between 1756 and 1773, Pierre Van Cortlandt built and enlarged a home along the Albany Post Road, in Cortlandtville, a suburb near Peekskill, Westchester County, New York, known as the Upper Manor House. Records indicate that a smaller building stood on the site in 1756 which was enlarged by 1773. Van Cortlandt and his family occupied it at various times until he died, and thereafter. During the Revolution, Pierre and his family was obliged to leave the Manor House at Croton, and spent most of the time at their Rhinebeck home and at the Upper Manor Home at Peekskill. Pierre moved upstate and Gerald Beekman and his wife Cornelia Van Cortlandt (Pierre's daughter) occupied the house.
In the spring of 1783, Lt. Gov. Van Cortlandt returned with his family to the Upper Manor House at Peekskill to reside while the Manor House at Croton was restored to habitability. By 1803, Lt. Gov. Van Cortlandt and his wife returned to Croton. Pierre and Joanna resided there for the balance of their lives, 1814 and 1808, respectively.
Oldstone
In 1760, Van Cortlandt may have built another home, Oldstone (28 Bear Mountain Bridge Road, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567), a magnificent estate on a bluff upon Anthony's Nose overlooking the far-reaching river and Peekskill Bay. The 29-acre property overlooks a bend in the Hudson and an eagle sanctuary. Because of its strategic location on the eastern banks of the old Hudson River, Oldstone was commissioned by the United States Military and used as a military outpost during The Revolutionary War.
The accompanying graphics show the proximity of the Upper Manor House to Van Cortlandt's home, Oldstone, on the buff of Anthony's Nose, overlooking the site where the Fort Independence Hotel once stood. Below the hotel site, the industrial area shown overlays where Fort Independence stood in 1777. Another graphic shows the location of his several homes: Oldstone, Upper Manor House, Pound Ridge and Van Cortlandt Manor at Croton.
Pound Ridge
During the 1700s, the Boutonville area of Pound Ridge found itself at the center of a 50-year land dispute concerning overlapping grants to the Stephanus Van Cortlandt Manor grant and to the Stamford patentees. After a lengthy legal battle, clear title to the 3,000 acres was finally given to Van Cortlandt heirs in 1788. Most of this land is now part of the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Sometime after that, Pierre Van Cortlandt built a home there as well.
In 1815, Samuel Piatt (Peatt) (1773–1850) purchased seven acres and an existing house from Pierre's son, Gen. Philip Van Cortlandt. This home, since demolished, was on what now is Honey Hollow Road. The farmland in the Pound Ridge and Lewisboro sections (Ward Pound Ridge Reservation) were part of the Van Cortlandt Manor lands that were divided into "great lots" of about 3,000 acres each. These lots were further divided into 300-acre farms.
Kip-Beekman Mansion In 1726, Col. Henry Beekman, Jr., who was married to Gertrude Van Cortlandt, Van Cortlandt's aunt, became the owner, through an exchange of property, of the Kip House, near the river in Rhinebeck, and moved into it. He greatly enlarged it, and became his mansion when he became a resident there. From 1777 to 1780, Van Cortlandt leased this home after his family had evacuated from Croton and then Peekskill. Following the death of Col. Henry Beekman on January 3, 1776, his daughter, Margaret Beekman, by his first wife Janet Livingston, inherited this property, and it became known as the Livingston Mansion.
In 1780, a family dispute arose causing Van Cortlandt and his family to relocate yet again, this time to a farm in the Nine Partners Patent. His son, Philip, wrote in his memoir that in "the Spring of 1780 ... having passed thro the Manor of Cortlandt Saw My friends at Peeks Kill and then to Nine Partners where my Father and his family were obliged to remove from Rhinebeck as Colo. Livingston would not suffer him to remain any longer".
American Revolution Van Cortlandt served in the colonial forces during the American Revolution in spite of efforts by British officials to ensure his loyalty to Great Britain. On October 19, 1775, he was appointed colonel of the Third Regiment of Westchester County Militia. He remained colonel of the regiment until June 28, 1778, when he was replaced by John Hyatt.
"Neutral Ground"