Philip Schuyler

Philip John Schuyler was born on 21 November [O.S. 10 November] 1733 in Albany, New York, to Cornelia Van Cortlandt (1698–1762) and Johannes ("John") Schuyler Jr. (1697–1741), the third generation of the Dutch Schuyler family in America. His maternal grandfather was Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the 17th Mayor of New York City.

Before his father died on the eve of his eighth birthday, Schuyler attended the public school in Albany. Afterward, he was educated by tutors at the Van Cortlandt family estate at New Rochelle. Fluent in both Dutch and English from childhood, in 1748 he began to study with Reverend Peter Strouppe at the New Rochelle French Protestant Church, where he learned French and mathematics. While he was at New Rochelle, he also joined numerous trade expeditions where he met Iroquois leaders and learned to speak Mohawk.

Schuyler joined the British forces in 1755 during the French and Indian War, raised a provincial company, and was commissioned as its captain by his cousin, Lieutenant Governor James Delancey. In 1756, he accompanied British officer Colonel John Bradstreet to Oswego, where he gained experience as a quartermaster, which ended when the outpost fell to the French. Schuyler took part in the battles of Lake George, Oswego River (Battle Island), Carillon and Fort Frontenac.

After the war, Bradstreet sent Schuyler to England to settle Bradstreet's reimbursement claims for expenses he incurred during the war effort, and he remained in England from 1760 to 1763. After returning to British America he took over management of several farms and business enterprises in upstate New York, including a lumber venture in Saratoga. In addition, Schuyler was responsible for constructing the first flax mill in the American colonies. Schuyler became colonel and commander of a militia district regiment in 1767. In 1768, he served as a member of the New York Assembly.

As a prominent politician and Patriot leader in New York, Schuyler was the subject of an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt, which was plotted and led by John Walden Meyers on August 7, 1781. Schuyler was able to vacate his Albany mansion before the kidnappers arrived. Schuyler was an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati.

After the war, he expanded his Saratoga estate to tens of thousands of acres, adding slaves, tenant farmers, a store, and mills for flour, flax, and lumber. He built several schooners on the Hudson River, and named the first Saratoga. According to the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, Schuyler had as many as 40 slaves between the Albany and Saratoga estates. In 1785, he was a founder of the New York Manumission Society, which advocated for gradual abolition. In 1790, he enslaved 27 persons. In 1800, he owned about 11; at his death in 1804, he had none, having either conveyed them to others or manumitted them.

He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1780 to 1784, and at the same time New York State Surveyor General from 1781 to 1784. Afterwards, he returned to the State Senate from 1786 to 1790, where he actively supported the adoption of the United States Constitution.

In 1789, he was elected a U.S. Senator from New York to the First United States Congress, serving from July 27, 1789, to March 3, 1791. After losing his bid for re-election in 1791 to Aaron Burr, he returned to the State Senate from 1792 to 1797. In 1797, he was selected again to the U.S. Senate and served in the 5th United States Congress from March 4, 1797, until his resignation because of ill health on January 3, 1798.

According to the Schuyler Family's Bible, on September 7, 1755, he married Catherine Van Rensselaer (1734–1803) at Albany. In the Bible entry, he was called "Philip Johannes Schuyler" and she was called "Catherina Van Rensselaer". She was the daughter of Johannes Van Rensselaer (1707/08–1783) and his first wife, Engeltje Livingston (1698–1746/47). Johannes was the grandson of Hendrick van Rensselaer (1667–1740). Engeltje was the daughter of Robert Livingston the Younger. Philip and Catherine had 15 children together, eight of whom survived to adulthood, including:

Angelica Schuyler (1756–1814), who married John Barker Church (1748–1818), later a British MP.

Elizabeth Schuyler (1757–1854), who married Alexander Hamilton (1755/7–1804), later the first Secretary of the Treasury. Elizabeth co-founded the first orphanage in New York City.

Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler (1758–1801), who married Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764–1839), 8th Patroon.

Cornelia (1761–1762).

Unnamed Son Schuyler, Twin to Cornelia (1761–1761).

John Bradstreet Schuyler (1763–1764).

John Bradstreet Schuyler (1765–1795), who married Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (1768–1841), the sister of Stephen Van Rensselaer III who married his sister Peggy.

Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (1768–1835), who married first, Sarah Rutsen (d. 1805), and after her death, Mary Anna Sawyer. Philip served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Triplets (1770–1770, Unbaptized).

Rensselaer Schuyler (1773–1847), who married Elizabeth Ten Broeck, daughter of General Abraham Ten Broeck.

Cornelia Schuyler (1776–1808), who married Washington Morton.

Cortlandt Schuyler (1778–1778).

Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1781–1857), who married first, Samuel Malcolm (son of William Malcolm), and then James Cochran (1769–1848), her cousin and the son of John Cochran and Gertrude Schuyler, Philip Schuyler's sister.

Schuyler also adopted an Acadian orphan who took the name Henry Schuyler Thibodaux. He later became the fourth governor of Louisiana and the namesake of Thibodaux, Louisiana.

Schuyler's country home had been destroyed by General John Burgoyne's forces in October 1777. Later that year, he began rebuilding on the same site, now located in southern Schuylerville, New York. This later home is maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Saratoga National Historical Park, and is open to the public.

Schuyler died at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany on November 18, 1804, four months after his son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton, was killed in a duel and two days before his 71st birthday. He is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.