Henry Glen (July 13, 1739 – January 6, 1814) was a merchant, military officer and politician who served as a Federalist in the United States House of Representatives during the years immediately following the adoption of the United States Constitution.
Early life Henry Glen was born in Albany in the Province of New York on July 13, 1739,U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926, Baptism record for Hendrik Jacob Glen, retrieved January 20, 2014 to Jacob Glen and Elizabeth Cuyler. His sister, Janet (Jannetje), was the wife of Abraham Cuyler, who was the Mayor of Albany from 1770 until 1776 when he was banished for Tory leanings and settled in Canada.Stefan Bielinski, New York State Museum, Janet Glen Cuyler, 2005 His brothers included Johannes (John) Glen and Jacobus (Jacob) Teller Glen. Glens Falls was named for Johannes, and Glenville was named for their ancestor, Sander Leendertse Glen, also known as Alexander Lindsay Glen.Stefan Bielinski, New York State Museum, Glen Family, May 30, 2005New York State Assembly, Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, Volume 23, 1915, pages 56Bob Bayle, Andrea Matte, Tim Weidne, Queensbury and Glens Falls, 2012, page 7
Henry's middle name was Jacob, and his names in Dutch were "Hendrick" (the Dutch version of Henry) and "Jacobse" or "Jacobus." He grew up in the Dutch culture of Albany and Schenectady, and his name often appears in records in English, in Dutch, or in a combination of both languages. In addition, his name is sometimes recorded with his middle name, without his middle name, and with spelling variants, including "Hendrik" and "Hendrick." His last name also sometimes appears in written records as "Glenn."
Career Early career Glen became a merchant and was successful in the Indian Trade and land speculation, operating a company in partnership with his brother Johannes and Jacobus Teller.Jonathan Pearson, Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of Schenectady, 1873, page 78 He was an early white settler of Schenectady, and was appointed Town Clerk in 1767. He held this post until 1809.Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins, Edgar Albert Werner, compilers and editors, The New-York Civil List: County Clerks, 1889, page 541Maeva Marcus, The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800, 1985, page 905 Glen was a slaveowner; according to the 1790 U.S. Census, he owned seven. In 1800, the U.S. Census recorded Glen as possessing five slaves. According to the 1810 Census, he owned none.
In the 1760s, Glen was appointed a second lieutenant in his brother's militia company.New York State Historian, Annual Report, Volume 3, 1898, page 834
American Revolution At the start of the American Revolution, Glen was appointed commander of the 2nd Company of Schenectady Militia, with the rank of captain.George Rogers Howell, John H. Munsell, History of the County of Schenectady, N.Y., from 1662 to 1886, 1886, page 40 Glen also served as a member of Schenectady's Committee of Safety.Jacob Judd, The Van Cortlandt Family Papers, Volume 1, 1976, page 79 In addition, he was elected to the New York Provincial Congress.New York Department of State, Calendar of Historical Manuscripts Relating to the War of the Revolution, 1868, page 191Alexander Hamilton, author, Harold Coffin Syrett, editor, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Volume 25, 1977, page 330
Glen was later appointed a Continental Army Assistant Deputy Quartermaster General with the rank of major.Paul Hubert Smith, editor, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, Volume 19, 1992, page 128 He then advanced to deputy quartermaster general, and attained the rank of colonel.Schenectady County Historical Society, Historic Manuscripts Collection: Military Documents , 2012, page 17 Quartermasters were responsible for procuring food, horses, wagons, weapons, ammunition, uniforms, tents and other materiel and arranging for them to be distributed to the Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery units.Willis T. Hanson, Jr., A History of Schenectady During the Revolution , 1916, pages 19, 33, 47, 81, 91, 105, 117-118, 122, 168-169, 202-203, 249-250, 268
During the Revolution, Glen also served as one of New York's three Commissioners of Indian Affairs, and was one of the commission's executive agents. The Commissioners of Indian Affairs were responsible for negotiating with the nations of upstate New York in an effort to end their support for the British, and possibly begin to support the Patriot cause.Franklin Benjamin Hough, editor, Proceedings of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, Volume 1, 1861, pages 10-11, 17, 19, 27-28, 30-33, 35-36, 48, 51, 56, 68, 72, 74, 78-79, 83-84, 89, 95
Post-American Revolution After the Revolution, Glen resumed his Schenectady business interests. An early supporter of what became the Federalist Party, he served in the New York State Assembly from 1786 to 1787.Weed, Parsons & Co., publishers, New-York Civil List, 1889, page 412
In 1792, he was a successful candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives. He served four terms, beginning with the Third and through the Sixth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1793, to March 3, 1801. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1800, and was succeeded by Killian K. Van Rensselaer.Weed, Parsons & Co., publishers, New-York Civil List, 1858, page 68
In 1810, Glen returned to the New York Assembly and served one term.Weed, Parsons & Co., publishers, New-York Civil List, 1889, page 422
Personal life In 1762, Henry Glen married Elizabeth (Elisabet) Vischer.New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York Marriages Previous to 1784, 1915, page 439 Their children included: Elisabeth Glen, who married Willem Van Ingen Catarina Glen, who married Rev. Jacob Sickles Jannetje Glen Jacob Glen Johannes Glen Cornelius Glen
Glen died in Schenectady on January 6, 1814. He is presumed to have originally been interred in Schenectady's First Dutch Churchyard. The remains at this site were later moved to Vale Cemetery, presumably including Glen's. Not all the gravestones from Schenectady's first cemeteries were transported to Vale Cemetery, so the exact location of his grave is not known.Daughters of the American Revolution, Report of Daughters of the American Revolution: Graves of Soldiers of the Revolution Located, 1914, page 140Committee on Publication, Two Hundredth Anniversary of the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Schenectady, N.Y., 1880, pages 199, 214, 222, 223Heather Cunningham, The Stockade Spy, Gravestones in Our Backyards , October 2009, page 1Charlotte Taylor Luckhurst, A Copy of the "Corrected List" of Tombstone Inscriptions, Schenectady N.Y., 1914Austin A. Yates, Schenectady County, New York: Its History to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, Chapter XXIV: Genealogy of the Glen Family, 1902, pages 217-220
References
External links Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website