Nicholas Van Dyke (September 25, 1738 – February 19, 1789) was an American
Founding Father
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
, lawyer, and politician from
New Castle in
New Castle County, Delaware
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of th ...
. He served in the
Delaware General Assembly
The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisl ...
, in the
Continental Congress, where he signed the
Articles of Confederation, and as
president of Delaware.
Early life and family
Van Dyke was born at ''Berwick,'' his family's home in
St. George's Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, near the present location of
Delaware City. He was the son of Nicholas and Rachael Alee Van Dyke, whose father, Andrew Van Dyke, had moved there from
Long Island in New York in 1704. Young Nicholas was educated at home, then
read law in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
where he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1765.
Van Dyke returned to New Castle where he lived with his family and began a law practice. He married twice, first in 1766 to Elizabeth Nixon who died in 1770, two weeks after the birth of
Nicholas. After her death he married Charlotte Stanley. They made their home in New Castle and had several more children. They were members of
Immanuel Episcopal Church.
Professional and political career
Van Dyke entered political life in 1774 as a member of the Boston Relief Committee in Delaware. He then was a member of the Delaware Constitutional Convention of 1776 and served in the State Council for two years beginning with the 1776–77 session. That same year he was appointed judge of Delaware's Admiralty Court, and on February 22, 1777, he was elected to the Continental Congress to replace John Evans who had declined to serve. He remained in Congress through 1781 and signed the Articles of Confederation for Delaware. For five sessions, from 1778–79 until he became president of Delaware in 1783, he served in the State House and was the speaker in the 1780–81 session.
A few months after
John Dickinson
John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...
resigned as president of Delaware in 1782, the
Delaware General Assembly
The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisl ...
held a special vote to choose a successor to the conservative President
John Cook. The conservative faction tried to elect
John McKinly
John McKinly (February 24, 1721August 31, 1796) was an American physician and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War, served in the Delaware General Assembly, was the first elected President of Delawar ...
, who had been the first president, but the
Patriot
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution
* Patriot m ...
faction won by electing Van Dyke. He took office February 1, 1783, and served until October 27, 1786.
It was during his tenure as president of Delaware that the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
officially ended with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
in September 1783. In an attempt to solve one problem resulting from the war, Van Dyke proposed and carried out a plan to pay Delaware's portion of the war debt. Another difficult unresolved war problem was the fate of
Loyalist Cheney Clow. Arrested in 1778, tried for and acquitted of
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in 1782, he was then charged with the murder of a member of the posse sent to capture him in 1778. Though there was no evidence that Clow actually killed the man, in May 1783 a jury convicted him and sentenced him to death. Unable politically to pardon Clow, but aware that many responsible people, including
Caesar Rodney
Caesar Rodney (October 7, 1728 – June 26, 1784) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. He was an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War a ...
's brother,
Thomas Rodney
Thomas "Tommy" Rodney (June 4, 1744 – January 2, 1811) was an American lawyer and politician from Jones Neck in East Dover Hundred, St. Jones Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, Kent County, Delaware and Natchez, Mississippi, Natchez, Mississ ...
, believed the man innocent, Van Dyke postponed the execution indefinitely.
Van Dyke returned to the State Senate for single session tenures in 1786–87 and briefly until his death in the 1788–89 session, when he was the speaker.
Death and legacy
Van Dyke died at ''Berwick'' and was buried there. Later his remains were removed to the
Immanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery at New Castle.
His son, also
Nicholas, later represented Delaware in the
U.S. House
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
and
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
. His daughter, Nancy Ann, married Kensey Johns at a 1784 wedding in the Amstel House in New Castle that was attended by General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
. Their son,
Kensey Johns Jr., would later serve in the U.S. House.
Much of the property surrounding Van Dyke's original home ''Berwick'' was taken in 1829 for the
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, but the house remained through the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. All the remaining lands and home are believed to have been taken when the canal was expanded in 1929. His New Castle home, now known as the
Amstel House, still stands on Fourth Street in New Castle and is open to the public.
No known portrait of Nicholas Van Dyke exists.
Almanac
Elections were held October 1 and members of the General Assembly took office on October 20 or the following weekday. State Legislative Councilmen had a three-year term and State Assemblymen had a one-year term. The whole General Assembly chose the Continental Congressmen for a one-year term and it chose the State President for a three-year term.
References
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External links
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress*
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Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a statewide historical institution with several buildings, including Old Town Hall and the Delaware History Muse ...
website*
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...
Library website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dyke, Nicholas
1738 births
1789 deaths
American people of Dutch descent
18th-century American Episcopalians
People from New Castle, Delaware
People of Delaware in the American Revolution
Delaware lawyers
Delaware Federalists
Members of the Delaware House of Representatives
Delaware state senators
Governors of Delaware
Continental Congressmen from Delaware
18th-century American politicians
Signers of the Articles of Confederation
Burials in New Castle County, Delaware
Independent state governors of the United States
Delaware Independents
People of colonial Delaware