|
General
Gansevoort married, January 12, 1778,
Catherine (Catrina) Van Schaick, baptized
august 16, 1752, died December 30, 1830,
daughter of Wessel Van Schaick, who was
baptized February 10, 1712, and married,
November 3, 1743, Maria Gerritse, who died
January 31, 1797. Wessel Van Schaick was
son of Anthony (or Antony) Van Schaick,
Sybrant, filius, glazier, born 1681,
married, October 198, 1707, Anna Catherine
Ten Broeck, who died in December, 1756. In
1704 Anthony Van Schaick's house lot was at
the south corner of State and Pearl streets,
Albany. He was a son of Sybrant Van Schaick,
bon in 1653, who married Elizabeth Van Der
Poel, and died about 1785. In 1678 his
step-mother agreed to sell him her half of
the brewery on the easterly half of the
Exchange block for one hundred beavers. He
was a son of Captain Goosen Gerritse Van
Schaick, brewer of Albany. In 1664 he and
Philip Pieterse Schuyler were granted
permission to purchase Halve Maan of the
Indians, to prevent "those of Connecticut"
from purchasing it. In 1664 also he bought
of his stepfather, Ryner Elbertse, a lot on
the north corner of Columbia street and
Broadway, and in 1675 he and Pieter Lassingh
bought Harmne (or Harme) Rutger's brewery on
the Exchange block. "In 1657, being about
to marry his second wife, he made a contract
in which he reserved from his estate 6,000
guilders for his four eldest children by the
first wife, that being her separate estate;
and in 1668 he and his second wife made a
joint will, he being about to depart for
Holland." Captain Van Schaick married
(first) in 1649, Geertie Brantse Van
Nieuwkerk, who died about 1656; married
(second), 1657,. Annatie Lievens, or
Lievense.
General
Gansevoort's children: 1. Herman, born
1779, died 1862, married, in 1813, Catherine
Quackenboss, born 1774, died 1855. 2.
Wessel, born 1781, died 1862. 3. Leonard,
born 1783, died 1821; married 1809, Mary A.
Chandonette, born 1789, died 1851. 4.
Peter, born 1786, died 1788. 5. Peter,
born December 22, 1788, (see post). 6.
Maria, born 1791, married, 1814, Allan
Melvin, born 1782, died 1832.
(V) Judge
Peter Gansevoort, son of General Peter and
Catherine (Van Schaick) Gansevoort, was born
in Albany, December 22, 1788, and died at
his home in that city, January 4, 1876. His
higher literary education was acquired at
the College of New Jersey, Princeton, where
he graduated, and afterward he attended the
celebrated Litchfield Law School; still
later, read law in the office of Harmanus
Bleecker, and was ad-
Page 143
mitted to the bar about
1811. His practice for many years
was very considerable, and he ranked among
the prominent members of the profession.
For some time he acted as private secretary
to Governor DeWitt Clinton, and then on
his military staff as judge advocate general
from 1819 to 1821. In 1830-31 he
was a member of the assembly, and then
a senator for four years, 1833 to 1836
inclusive. In all matters of public
interest he took an active part, and was
thoroughly attached to all that concerned
his native city. He was a trustee
of the Albany Academy for fifty years,
and for twenty years was chairman of the
board. In 1840 he was one of a committee,
with Stephen Van Rensselaer, John A Dix,
and others, to organize the Albany Cemetery
Association, and to select grounds for
the cemetery. He was a trustee of
the cemetery until his death, and took
a warm interest in arranging and beautifying
the grounds. For many years he was
a director of the New York State Bank,
and occupied other positions of trust.
Although his military service was short,
he took a warm interest throughout life
in military matters.
Among the
public positions held by General Gansevoort
was that of first judge of the county court
of Albany County from 1843 to 1847, the
duties of which office he discharged with
great fidelity and to the entire
satisfaction of the legal profession and the
public. He carried marked traits of his
ancestry with him through life, and was a
most thorough representative of the Dutch
element of his native city. he was the very
embodiment of high-souled honor and
integrity, pure in private life, and
devotedly attached to his country and its
institutions. On more then one occasion he
visited the countries of the Old World in
search of health and instruction, but always
returned home wit his love for his own
government strengthened by comparison wit
those abroad. He was a man of courtly
manners and commanding presence, and in
society was very genial and engaging. His
kind heart and generous impulses made him a
favorite with all classes of men, and he
lived without enemies, and no one is left of
all who knew him who does not mourn his
death and honor his memory. The illness of
Judge Gansevoort was long and trying; but he
retained his mental powers to the last and
sank quietly and peacefully to his rest,
just as his country had entered on the
centennial year of its independence, in
achieving which his father had rendered such
important service. His funeral took place
on Saturday, January 8, 1876, and was
largely attended by public officers as well
as by family friends and citizens. The
officers of the Albany Burgesses Corps, with
the patriotic spirit which always marked
that organization, attended in military
undress as a guard of honor; and the cadets
of the Albany Academy, to the number of
nearly one hundred, were also present in
their drill uniforms. Religious services
were performed at the house by the Rev. Dr.
Clark of the North Ditch (Reformed) Church,
of which church Judge Gansevoort was a
member in communion; and his remains were
conveyed to that cemetery for which he had
done so much.
In 1833 Judge
Gansevoort married (first) Mary Sanford,
born 1814, died 1841; daughter of Hon.
Nathan Sanford, chancellor of this state,
and subsequently senator in Congress. He
married (second) December 12, 1843, Susan
Lansing, who died in October, 1874, daughter
of Abraham g. Lansing. Of Albany.
Children: 1. Henry Sanford (see post). 2.
Mary. 3. Catherine, married Abraham
Lansing, and survives him. 4. Herman.
(VI) Colonel
Henry Sanford Gansevoort, U> S. A., son of
Judge Peter and Mary (Sanford) Gansevoort,
was born in Albany, New York, December 15,
1835, and died April 12, 1871, on board the
steamer "Drew," in the Hudson River,
opposite Rhinebeck, on the passage home from
Nassau, New Providence. His earlier
education was received at the Albany
Academy, and Philips Andover Academy, where
he fitted for college, then entered the
sophomore class at Princeton College, where
he soon became a member of the same literary
society to which his father had belonged
many years before, and was graduated in 1855
with distinguished honors; his collegiate
course having been highly successful, not
along in mere scholarship, but in having
secured to him a fixed position among his
associates as the possessor of leading and
brilliant qualities of mind. This general
success as a student culminated well at the
close of his college life,
Page 144
when his display of
oratorical ability at commencement was
regarded as showing the possession of
powers of a high order. Leaving
college he entered Harvard Law School,
and afterward became a student in the
law office of Sprague & Fillmore,
Buffalo, New York, and still later with
Bowdoin, Barlow & Larocque, New York
City; and while with the latter
firm he accompanied his father, mother
and sister to Europe, and remained abroad
about fifteen months. On his return
he became paw partner with George h. Brewster,
in New York, and as a member of that firm
engaged in active practice at the beginning
of the Civil War.
Many
incidents of his life thoroughly prove that
while emulous of civil distinction he
nevertheless had a strong inclination for
the military service; and with tastes and
predilections of this character it is not
strange that in the public incidents at this
time occurring his active mind should at
once seek employment in a new and congenial
career. He had joined the Seventh Regiment
of New York militia, which was among the
first to be sent to Washington at the
outbreak of the war, and at a time when that
city was cut off from all communication with
the North. He served as private with the
regiment until its return; but what was to
some of his comrades the termination of a
dangerous service was to him but the
beginning of an active public duty to which
he became solely devoted, and to which he
finally gave up his life. He accordingly
applied himself to obtaining a commission in
the regular service, for which purpose he
went to Washington, and after many delays
and disappointments he was rewarded by
receiving a commission as second lieutenant
in the Fifth Regiment of regular artillery,
U. S. A. After receiving his commission and
while General McClellan was moulding the
material under his command into the Army of
the Potomac, Colonel Gansevoort was under
orders as second lieutenant in a camp of
instruction at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
fitting himself for the duties of an
artillery officer. He joined McClellan on
the Peninsula, and was with the Potomac Army
throughout the peninsular campaign after it
left Yorktown. He was in the second battle
of Bull Run and afterward at Antietam, where
his battery was placed in a position near
the famous cornfield, by Hooker's orders,
and sustained heavy loss in men and horses.
He was with his battery throughout the
battle, and for a time was in command.
Obtaining a
leave of absence from the regular army to
take a command in the volunteers, Colonel
Gansevoort was appointed by Governor
Seymour, lieutenant-colonel of the
thirteenth Regiment New York Volunteer
Cavalry, took command of his regiment soon
after his appointment, and was almost
immediately ordered to take it to
Washington. This was about the time when
Lee was advancing to the Potomac and just
previous to the battle of Chancellorsville.
His command, new, undisciplined, and never
before in the field, was put on duty in the
defenses of Washington. It is stated in
colonel Gansevoort's letters that after he
had obeyed ordered to report to Washington
and had reported to the strength of his
command, he received an immediate reply that
there was an equal number of horses and
saddles awaiting them, and orders to go
forward to the defense of the capital. In
these embarrassing circumstances, with a
regiment secured in the advanced period of
enlisting, with untried and to a great
extent turbulent and insubordinate soldiers,
colonel Gansevoort's conduct was worthy of
the highest commendation. After lee's
retreat the Thirteenth was stationed in
Virginia and at other posts with troops
engaged in watching the actions of Mosby,
and in seeking to effect his capture, a feat
at one time actually accomplished by a
detachment acting under Colonel Gansevoort's
immediate orders. The escape of Mosby after
capture, by his feigning to be badly wounded
and dying, was an incident of peculiar
interest among the many adventures that
attended his sphere of service. At another
time, through a well-conceived and
successfully executed plan, Colonel
Gansevoort was rewarded for his patience and
energy by the capture of Mosby's artillery,
which crippled him and ina measure defeated
his further raids on the troops stationed in
that vicinity. The duties of this service
demanded constant vigilance and activity,
and he discharged them with zeal and
fidelity, at the time fully acknowledged by
the government. His reg-
Page 145
iment was among the
very last mustered out of service, and
its condition at that time was not inferior
to any other cavalry regiment in the volunteers.
Colonel
Gansevoort was brevitted brigadier-general
of volunteers and lieutenant-colonel of the
regular service, and held at the time of his
death the rank of captain of artillery in
the regular line of promotion in the United
States Army. After the close of the war he
was ordered to Fortress Monroe and thence to
Barrancas, Florida, and from the latter
place to Fort Independence, Boston Harbor.
During his long period of service he was
several times prostrated with fever, the
germs of which appeared to remain in his
system and to cause at intervals new
attacks. he was thus prostrated anew in the
fall of 1870, and when the fever had nearly
abated he sought his home at Albany, where
he arrived with a bad cough which constantly
increased upon him. Not long after his
return he insisted on going back to Boston,
and although his strength seemed not to
warrant it he had so determinedly made up
his mind to go that remonstrance was without
avail; and it is evident that his chief
purpose was to arrange such affairs as he
had been unable to attend to during his
illness. His visit to Nassau, New
Providence, which failed to give him any
hope of a restoration to health; his
yearning for home and its comforts and
consolations with his sister who could not
be kept from his side; his gradually wasting
strength as he neared that home, the goal of
his earthly hopes, soon the bosom of his
beloved river; his consciousness of the
death soon to close over him; and his
readiness to meet his end, firm in his honor
as a soldier and humble in his faith as a
Christina--these scenes follow in sad but
quick succession upon all that was earthly
of the beloved object of this sketch.
Colonel
Gansevoort had taste in drawing and painting
and was a devoted lover of history; and his
inclination for oratory was very strong. He
also had a taste of writing, and from
boyhood he was distinguished for his
readiness in debate and the facility with
which he could express his thoughts. When
he left Albany Academy he delivered the
salutory oration, and his address at
Princeton when he graduated is remembered as
conspicuous among the exercises of the day.
on one occasion at Allentown, Pennsylvania,
he delivered an Independence Day address
which was spoken of in terms of warm
commendation. While in the army he was
frequently called upon to act on
courts-martial, where his powers were
thoroughly tested and his ability
conspicuously exhibited, and he was
undeviatingly honorable, and the possession
of this admirable trait was fully recognized
by all who came in contact with him.
Notwithstanding his decided political
convictions, it was a part of his creek that
the duties of a soldier were incompatible
with any active participation in political
strife; and as he never was troubled with
misgivings when the path of duty lay clear
before him, the adoption of this article of
faith without hesitation was followed by a
strict adherence to its injunctions from
which he never departed.
PRUYN.
The Pruyn arms:
Shield, a field of gold or saffron, on
which are placed three martlets of natural
color, without beaks or feet, turned to
the fore part (dexter side), one
in the base of the shield and the remaining
two in chief, at either side; crest, a
barred or tournament helmet adorned with
a mantling of gold or saffron and black,
on the top of which, on a twisted band
(wreath) or diadem of the ancient kinds
of the same colors, between two wings
of yellow or gold, is placed a martlet
like those on the shield, but having feet
and beak, looking toward the dexter side,
like al of these are seen depicted.
(the last phrase refers to a drawing given
on a Dutch parchment of 1527).
(I) Johannes
(John) Pruyn, a Hollander, was the
progenitor of the family in America. It is
believed that his immediate family was
confined to two sons, Francis, see forward,
and Jacques, Jacus, or Jacob. The latter
was enrolled among the "Small Burghers" of
New Amsterdam, April 18, 1657. He purchased
a house and lot "outside of the Gate of the
city," February 19, 1659, from Sybout
Classen.
Those of the
first three generations in this country
varied at times the spelling of the family
name appearing as Pruyn, Pruyne, Pryne and
Pruen.
Page 146
(II) Francis Pruyn (who frequently
wrote his name Pruen) was called Frans
Jansen, because the son of Johannes (John)
Pruyn, and he was in Albany, New York,
with his wife, Aeltje (or Alida), as early
as 1665, when he was a tailor. It
is recorded that in 1668 representing
Jacques Cornelise Van Slyck, he conveyed
a piece of property in the colony of Rensselaerwyck
(later Albany) to one Jan Labatie, and
later in the same year bought for himself
a lot at the northwest corner of Maiden
lane and James Street, in that city.
On February 19, 1686-87, he bought from
Johannes Clute and wife, Bata, for which
he paid the sum of two and twenty beavers,
a lot on Broadway, Albany, about the third
south from Steuben Street, running through
to James Street. His son, Johannes,
afterward occupied the same house built
thereon. Being a Papist, in January,
1699, he refused to take the oath of allegiance
to King William, but expressed himself
as willing to swear fidelity.
However his son, Johannes Pruyn, subscribed.
His wife, Alida, joined the Reformed Protestant
Dutch church in 1683. She died September
20, 1704, and he died May 6, 1712. Children:
1. Anna, married Warner van Yveren.
2. Johannes, born January 5, 1663,
married, September, 1705, Emelia Sanders.
3. Hendrick, married Anna Hofmans.
4. Maria, married Elbert Gerritse,
5. Christine, married Johannes Gerritsen.
6. Madeleine, born January 8, 1676.
7. Samuel, see forward. 8.
Helena, married Jacob Lansing. 9.
Frans, born September 28, 1683, married
Margarita ------------. 10.
Bernardine, (Barenjte), born April 11,
1686, married John Evertsen. 11.
Arnold, (Arent), born May 24, 1688, married,
November 21, 1714, Catryna Gansevoort.
(III)
Samuel, son of Frans Jansen (Francis) and
Alida Pruyn, was born December 2, 1677,
buried January 27, 1752. In 1703, he was
one of those "who furnished labor or
materials for the Dominie's house." In 1720
his name appears on the list of freeholders
in the old third ward of Albany. He lived,
between 1703-27, at the northeast corner of
Maiden Lane and James Street, Albany. He
married, January 15, 1704, Maria, born June
14, 1681, daughter of Jacob Cornelise and
Jeanette (Quackenbush) Bogart. Children:
1. Francis Samuelse, see forward. 2.
Alida, baptized November 17, 1706, buried
January 3, 1727. 3. Jacob, baptized
February 10, 1712, buried June 27, 1752.
4. Maria, (or Maritja) baptized September
20, 1713, buried September 5, 1746. 5.
Johannes S., born July 14, 1723, married
Jannetje van Aalsteyn.
(IV) Francis
Samuelse, son of Samuel and Maria (Bogart)
Pruyn, was baptized march 15, 1705, (Jacob
Bogart and Anna van Yveren, sponsors), died
August 27, 1767. He was firemaster,
1731-32; assistant alderman, 1745-46;
alderman from the second ward, Albany,
1761-62. He married (first) Anna ---------;
(second) Alida, daughter of Warner and Anna
(Pruyn) van Yveren, baptized August 6,
1704. Children: 1. Francis, born January
16, 17--. 2. Anna, born October 1, 1726,
died young. 3. Samuel, born October 2,
1727, died young. 4. Samuel, born
September 15, 1728, married February 7,
1756, Neeltje Ten Eyck. 5. Anna, born
April 20, 1732, died in New York City,
December 21, 1747. 6. Casparus, see
forward. 7. Johannes Francis, born
December 23, 1739, married Gertrude Ten
Eyck, died March 23, 1815. 8. Jacob
Francis, born July 22, 1744, married
Hendrickjse Van Buren.
(V) Casparus,
son of Francis Samuelse and Alida (van
Yveren) Pruyn, was born May 10, 1734, and
Jacob and Maria Pruyn were sponsors. His
name appears as lieutenant on the roll of
the First Albany county Regiment; in 1785 he
was an assessor of the second ward in that
city; was for some years an elder of the
Reformed Dutch church, and this memorandum
refers to his government aid: "This is to
certify that Casparus Pruyn has due to him
from the United States the sum of
Seventy-one pounds four shilling specie, for
work done for the use of the Indians, by the
request of the Commissioners of Indian
Affairs, in 1779-1780. P. Van Rensselaer."
He died October 7, 1817. He married,
December 19, 1762, Catherine Groesbeck, born
may 8, 1737, died February 17, 1788,
daughter of David and Maria (Van Poel)
Groesbeck. Children: 1. Maria, born April
17, 1764, died March 14, 1821. 2. Alida,
born January 12, 1765, died September 11,
1767. 3. Franciscus, baptized September
16, 1767, died September 27, 1768. 4.
Francis Casparus, see forward. 5. David,
born August 24, 1771, married
Page 147
Huybertie Lansing,
died January 20, 1843. 6.
Alida, born December 11, 1773. 7.
Willem, born March 11, 1776.
(VI) Francis
Casparus, son of Casparus and Catherine
(Groesbeck) Pruyn, was born at Albany, New
York, July 19, 1769, baptized by dominie
Eilardus Westerloe, with Samuel Pruyn and
Neelthje Ten Eyck as sponsors, and died June
14, 1837. He married, August 30, 1791,
Cornelia Dunbar, born January 11m 1770, died
July 12, 1844, daughter of Levinius and
Margaret (Hansen) Dunbar, the latter being a
niece of Mayor Hendrick Hansen. Children:
1. Casparus Francis, see forward. 2.
Catherine, born January 3, 1794, married
Adrian Van Santvoord. 3. Levinius, born
October 4, 1796, married Brachie (Bridget)
Oblens. 4. Davis, born January 26, 1799,
died young. 5. Margaret, (twin to David)
married William I. Pruyn. 6. David, born
November 20, 1801, lost at sea. 7.
Gertrude, married Samuel Randall. 8.
Alida, married William Boardman. 9. Maria,
married David Bensen. 10. Cornelia,
married Owen Munson.
(VII)
Casparus Francis, son of Francis Casparus
and Cornelia (Dunbar) Pruyn, was born May
26, 1792, baptized with Casparus Pruyn
(grandfather) and mary Pruyn (aunt)
sponsors. When thirteen years old he
entered the office of the Van Rensselaer
estate, his uncle, Robert Dunbar, being the
agent to conduct affairs of the extensive
property. When Mr. Dunbar resigned, in
1835, he was appointed agent for the
Manor. It was a position requiring
considerable executive ability, and he
filled the post with satisfaction. When
general Stephen Van Rensselaer, the Patroon,
died January 26, 1839, the estate was
divided, that portion on the east shore of
the Hudson River going to Willian Paterson
Van Rensselaer, so Mr. Pruyn removed across
the river to Bath,, Rensselaer County, to be
in the vicinity, and became the agent of
what was called the "East Manor," continuing
as such until the autumn of 1844, when he
resigned. He died February 11, 1846. Mr.
Pruyn was married by Rev. John Melancthon
Bradford, April 19, 1814, to Ann Hewson,
born January 27, 1794, died February 12,
1841, daughter of robert and Elizabeth
(Fryer) Hewson, of Albany. Children: 1.
Robert Hewson, see forward. 2. Francis,
born November 2, 1816, married Isabella
Kirk. 3. Elizabeth, born December 16,
1818, died February 6, 1842. 4. Cornelia,
born December 5, 1820, married Charles Van
Zandt. 5. Mary, born January 27, 1823,
died young. 6. Alida, born March 9, 1825,
married, January 16, 1845, James C. Bell,
died November 2, 1895. 7. William Fryer,
born February 28, 1827, married Gertrude
Dunbar Visscher. 8. Edward Roggen, born
July 12, 1829. 9. Augustus, born October
23, 1831, married Catalina Ten Eyck. 10.
Mary, born April 3, 1834, married Montgomery
Rochester.
(VIII) Hon.
Robert Hewson Pruyn, son of Casparus Francis
and Ann (Hewson) Pruyn, was born in Albany,
New York, February 14, 1815, and was
baptized by the Rev. John Melancthon
Bradford, pastor of the "North" Dutch
Reformed Church. His home life in childhood
trained him in reverence, patriotism and
industry, attributes which gave him
prominence in after years. In 1825 he
entered the Albany Academy, where his
classical education under Dr. Theodoric
Tomeyn Beck and his education in the
sciences under professor Joseph henry, the
eminent scientist-discoverer, was most
thorough. He then entered Rutgers College,
from which he was graduated in 1833. On
leaving college he became a law student in
the office or Hon. Abraham Van Vechten, a
jurist of recognized ability, city recorder,
senator, assemblyman, attorney-general and
member of the constitutional convention of
1821. Mr. Pruyn was admitted to the bar in
1836, and shortly after was appointed
attorney and counselor for the corporation
of Albany, holding office for three years,
and for alike period was a member of the
city council, in which body he was one of
the most active members in public affairs.
He was judge-advocate from 1841 to 1846, on
the staff of governors William H. Seward,
William C. Bouck and Silas Wright Jr.;
member of assembly in 1848-59-50 from the
third district of Albany county, a member of
the Whig party. In 1850 he was the Whig
candidate for speaker of assembly. The
Democrats had a tie vote with the Whigs, but
it having become apparent to Mr. Pruyn that
one of the Whig members could not properly
hold his seat, Mr. Pruyn abstained from
voting , and the Democratic candidate was
chosen. The appreciation of this high-minded
course was shown shortly afterward. The
speaker was called home by family
affliction, and the Democrats elected Mr.
Pruyn speaker
Page 148
pro tempore.
In 1851 Mr. Pruyn was again appointed
judge-advocate general, this time by governor
Washington Hunt. In 1854 he was
again an assemblyman and chosen speaker.
\In that office he displayed courage and
such marked justice that never was there
a single one of his rulings in the chair
appealed from. Governor Myron
H. Clark, on March 5, 1855, appointed
him adjutant-general, and in 1860, when
there was intense excitement in politics,
he came within sixty-two votes of being
elected to the assembly, although the
Lincoln electoral ticket had tenfold that
majority, in that district alone, against
it.
President
Lincoln appointed Mr. Pruyn United States
minister to Japan, as successor to the Hon.
Townsend Harris, in September, 1861, who was
the first diplomatic representative of any
country to that isolated kingdom. It was at
a time when it was most essential for this
country to be represented by a man of
firmness and possessing strong convictions
of his won in order to maintain an equality
among the great powers. There being no
cable communications, nor even steamship
intercourse at that time, the minister was
largely left to exert his own
resourcefulness and responsibility more
largely rested on him than on the diplomats
sent later by this country. It was common
occurrence that if any inquiry regarding the
policy to be pursued on a certain feature
were sent to Washington, the reason for it
might have so changed by the time of
receiving the reply that the minister found
it necessary to act along a far different
course. He was thus forced to contest for
influence among the trained diplomats of the
world, and while the task was undoubtedly
enormous, even so much higher in the
public's estimation, did he rise.
In 1863, two
naval expeditions were under taken against
the transgressing Daimio of Chosu, whose
vessels had fired on the American merchant
steamer "Pembroke." The allied forces in
the latter engagement demolished the
fortification of Chosu, and Mr. Pruyn
demanded an indemnity of three million
dollars or, in lieu, the opening of new
ports. Later on the sum of $1,500,000 was
turned over to the state department at
Washington, and the effect of the American
representative's insistence was so salutary
that it exerted a lasting benefit, opening
the eyes of Japan as a nation to white men's
methods so as to be the true initiative of
its desire for education and the modern
methods of the powers. Minister Pruyn
became an authority for all America on the
arts and institutions of Japan, and in
apprising the state department through his
voluminous reports on the observations and
reasons for his acts, furnished much
beneficial information. On his return to
the United States in 1867, Minister Pruyn
was the candidate for lieutenant-governor
but was not elected, and an attack of
diphtheria at that time caused him to retire
from public life for a few years. In 1872
governor John T. Hoffman appointed him on a
non-partisan commission to frame amendments
to the state constitution, and this
important body made him its presiding
officer.
Mr. Pruyn was
chosen the president of the National
Commercial Bank of Albany, an institution
noted for its soundness throughout the civil
war, when it afforded great aid to the
government, and for more than half a century
it continued to be a depository for the
general funds of the state of New York. He
was vice-president of the Albany Savings
Bank; a trustee of the Metropolitan Trust
company, of new York City; trustee of
Rutgers' College; president of the board of
directors of the Dudley Observatory;
vice-president of the board of trustees of
the Albany Medical College, and on the
executive committee of the State Normal
College; member of The Albany Institute,
and of the Young Men's Association, being
its president in 1838, and a governor of the
Fort Orange Club. He was made a Mason in
Master's Lodge, No. 5, before he left for
Japan, and upon his return was connected
with the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,
delivered the oration at the dedication of
the Temple in September, 1875.
Mr. Pruyn
brought from Japan a great number of rare
art treasures, and his collection of carved
ivories is regarded as one of the finest in
the world. He received the degree of M. A.
from Rutgers in 1865, and of LL. D. from
Williams. he was devoted to his church and
advanced its work very materially and all
who knew him beat witness to his honor,
charity and unusual qualities of intellect.
He died Sunday, February 26, 1882, of
embolism of the brain, and was buried in the
Pruyn family lot in the Albany Rural
Cemetery on the 28th.
Page 149
Robert Hewson Pruyn married, in Albany,
New York, November 9 1841, Jane
Ann, born June 28, 1811, daughter of Gerrit
Yates and Helen (Ten Eyck) Lansing.
Children: 1. Edward Lansing,
born at Albany, August 2, 1843, died in
San Francisco, California, February 8,
1862. 2. Robert Clarence,
see forward. 3. Helen Lansing,
born in Albany, September 13, 1849, died
May 5, 1854. 4. Charles Lansing,
born in Albany, December 2, 1852; married
(first) October 11, 1877, Elizabeth Atwood,
born October 31, 1853, daughter of William
Trimble and Elizabeth Mary (Atwood) McClintock,
of Chillicothe, Ohio, who died December
20, 1884; married (second) in Albany,
October 20, 1886, Sarah Gibson, born December
25, 1851, daughter of Sebastian Visscher
and Olivia Maria (Shearman) Talcott.
Charles Lansing Pruyn died at his summer
home in Altamont, new York (outside of
Albany), July 7, 1906, leaving five children:
1. Elizabeth McClintock, born July
14, 1878. 2. Jane Anne Lansing,
December 15, 1880. 3. Sarah
McClintock, November 17, 1884. 4.
Caspar landing, September 29, 1887.
5. Olivia Shearman Talcott, October
25, 1892.
|
