Myndert Van Schaick (September 2, 1782 in Albany, New York – December 1, 1865 in New York City) was an American politician from New York and co-founder of Children's Village with 23 others.[1]

Myndert Van Schaick
Member of the New York State Senate
First District (Class 2)
In office
January 1, 1833 – May 22, 1836
Preceded byStephen Allen
Succeeded byFrederick A. Tallmadge
Personal details
Born(1782-09-02)September 2, 1782
Albany, New York
DiedDecember 1, 1865(1865-12-01) (aged 83)
New York City, New York
Resting placeNew York Marble Cemetery
Spouse
Elizabeth Hone
(after 1815)
Parent(s)Goose Van Schaick
Maria Ten Broeck
OccupationPhilanthropist, co-founder of Children's Village

Early life

edit

He was the son of Brigadier General Goose Van Schaick (1736–1789), a Continental Army officer during the American Revolutionary War,[2] and Maria (née Ten Broeck) Van Schaick (1750–1829).

His paternal grandparents were Sybrant Van Schaick, who served as Mayor of Albany, New York from 1756 to 1761, and Alida (née Rosebloom) Van Schaick.[3] His mother was the eldest of ten daughters born to John Tobias Ten Broeck (himself the son of Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck).[4]

Career

edit

Van Schaick was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co.) in 1832, and an Alderman of New York City (5th Ward) in 1832-33. At the same time he was Treasurer of the Board of Health of New York City, while a cholera epidemic ravaged the city.[5]

He was a member of the New York State Senate (1st D.) from 1833 to 1836, sitting in the 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th New York State Legislatures. He was also an Assistant Alderman of New York City (5th Ward) in 1835-36. He resigned his seat in the State Senate on May 22, 1836.[5]

During his tenure in the City Council, Assembly and State Senate, he was the driving force behind the planning, and enacting of the pertinent legislation, of the construction of the Croton Aqueduct.[6] When the aqueduct was inaugurated in 1842, Van Schaick was appointed to the Water Board, and remained in office until 1848, part of the time as Chairman.[7] He was President of the Board of Commissioners of the Croton Aqueduct Department from 1855 to 1860.[8]

Personal life

edit

In 1815, he married Elizabeth Hone, daughter of John Hone and niece of Philip Hone (1780–1851), also a Mayor of New York City. Together, they were the parents of:[9][10]

  • Mary Van Schaick, who married William B. Oddie in 1849.[11]
  • Joanna Van Schaick (d. 1819), who died young.[9]
  • John Hone Van Schaick (d. 1841).[10]
  • Henry Van Schaick (1825–1914), who married Charlotte Sargent Gray (1832–1912), daughter of Samuel C. Gray.[9]

Van Schaick died at his residence on December 1, 1865.[12] He was buried at the New York Marble Cemetery.[13]

Descendants

edit

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the grandfather of Elizabeth Van Schaick Oddie, who married Grenville Winthrop (1837–1869), the son of Thomas Charles Winthrop (1797–1873) and brother of Robert Winthrop (1833–1892).[14]

Through his son Henry, he was the grandfather of Mary Van Schaick (1858–1858), who died young, Henry Sybrant Van Schaick (1859–1901), who died unmarried, George Gray Van Schaick (1861–1924), who married Alice Monson (1871–1953), Elizabeth Van Schaick (b. 1863), who married Count Alexander in Florence, Italy on June 8, 1886, and Eugene Van Schaick (1865–1916), who married Minnie Delamater Haulenbeck (1863–1922), daughter of Peter Delamater and Ellen (née Kronkjeit) Haulenbeck.[9]

References

edit
  1. ^ "OUR CITY CHARITIES--NO. II.; The New-York Juvenile Asylum". New York Times. January 31, 1860. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Bielinski, Stefan. "Goose Van Schaick". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  3. ^ Bielinski, Stefan. "Sybrant G. Van Schaick". exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov. New York State Museum. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  4. ^ Runk, Emma Ten Broeck (1897). The Ten Broeck Genealogy. New York: De Vinne Press.
  5. ^ a b Hough, Franklin Benjamin (1858). The New York Civil List: Containing the names and origin of the civil divisions, and the names and dates of election or appointment of the principal state and county officers from the Revolution to the present time. Weed, Parsons and Co. pp. 129f, 146, 212 and 312. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  6. ^ Koeppel, Gerard T. (2001). Water for Gotham: A History. Princeton University Press. p. 149. ISBN 0691089760. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  7. ^ Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York. 1852. pp. 192, 194. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Croton Aqueduct Department.; Retirement of Commissioner Myndert Van Schaick". The New York Times. January 6, 1860. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1440. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  10. ^ a b Holgate, Jerome Bonaparte (1851). American Genealogy: Being a History of Some of the Early Settlers of North America and Their Descendants, from Their First Emigration to the Present Time ... J. Munsell. p. 146. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. ^ Cole, David (1894). History of the Reformed Church of Tappan, N.Y. Press of Stettiner, Lambert & Company. p. 162. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Obituary.; HON. MYNDERT VAN SCHAICK. Hon. MYNDERT VAN SCHAICK died at his residence in Fifth-avenue, corner of Fourteenth-street,on Friday last. Mr. VAN SCHAICK had attained the venerable age of eighty-four, but it was only within..." The New York Times. 3 December 1865. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  13. ^ Fuller, Ph.D., Harold deWolf. "Myndert Van Schaick, 1782-1865 Proponent of the Croton Aqueduct Founder of New York University". www.marblecemetery.org. New York Marble Cemetery. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  14. ^ Adlard, George (1862). The Sutton-Dudleys of England and the Dudleys of Massachusetts in New England. John Russell Smith. p. 127. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
edit
New York State Senate
Preceded by New York State Senate
First District (Class 2)

1833–1836
Succeeded by