Abraham Gouverneur (1671 – June 16, 1740) was a Dutch born colonial American merchant and Leislerian politician who served as the

Speaker of the New York General Assembly The Speaker of the New York General Assembly was the highest official in the New York General Assembly, the first representative governing body in Province of New York, New York from 1683 to 1775 when the assembly disbanded after the outbreak of ...

Early life

Gouverneur was born in 1671 "upon the

Single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, near the Konings Pleyn" in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He later moved to New York City in what was then the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

, a part of

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

. He was the son of Nicolas Gouverneur (d. 1682) and Maghteld (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

de Riemer) Gouverneur (1644–1721). He was the brother of Elisabeth Gouverneur, Isaac Gouverneur, and Elisabeth Gouverneur. After the death of his father in 1682, his mother remarried to Jasper Nissepadt (Nesbitt), and had another child, Jannetje Nissepadt.

Career

Gouverneur, a successful merchant, was involved in the organization of Harlem in upper Manhattan, and received land known as the Abraham Gouverneur Patent that he purchased in February 1713. Along with fellow merchant Nicholas Stuyvesant (son of

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

, the last Dutch

Director-General of New Amsterdam This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland (''Nieuw-Nederland'' in Dutch) in North America. Only the last, Peter Stuyvesant, held the title of Director General. ...

), he was an associate of German-born businessman

Jacob Leisler Jacob Leisler ( – May 16, 1691) was a German-born politician and colonial administrator in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in the North American fur trade and tobacco business. In what became k ...

, the 8th

Colonial Governor of New York The territory which would later become the state of New York was settled by European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India C ...

known for his rabid

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

views and the leader of a populist political faction known as " Leislerians". Reportedly, four days before Gov.

Henry Sloughter Colonel Henry Sloughter (died July 23, 1691) was an English Army officer and colonial administrator who briefly served as the governor of New York in 1691. Sloughter was sent from England to the Province of New York The Province of New ...

arrived in New York, Gouverneur shot the parish clerk and was charged with his murder. After Sloughter arrived, he put down Leisler's Rebellion and Leisler was hanged in May 1691. A year after Leisler's execution, Gourverneur and Jacob Leisler Jr. traveled to London and lobbied government officials, members of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and cabinet officers to clear Leisler's name, and were eventually helped by the powerful Whigs. He was a member of the

New York General Assembly The General Assembly of New York, commonly known internationally as the New York General Assembly, and domestically simply as General Assembly, was the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the Province of New York d ...

, representing Orange County (which is now Orange and Rockland counties), from 1699 to 1702, and later representing

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

(the current New York County,

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

), from 1701 to 1702. From May 15, 1699 to May 3, 1702, he was also the

Speaker of the Assembly Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

. Later, he served as

Recorder of New York City The recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boa ...

, essentially the deputy

mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

, from 1701 to 1703 under mayors Isaac De Riemer,

Thomas Noell Thomas Noell (d. 1702) was the 26th Mayor of New York City, who served from 1701 to 1702. He was an English-born merchant from an aristocratic family who became a citizen of New York in 1698. He was appointed mayor on September 29, 1701, and to ...

, and

Phillip French Phillip French II (c. February 13, 1666/7 – c. June 3, 1707) was the 27th Mayor of New York City from 1702 to 1703. Early life French was born in Suffolk, England, and was sometimes known as Philip French Van London. He was the son of Phillip ...

Personal life

Gouverneur was married to Mary Leisler (1669–1747), the daughter of his associate Jacob Leisler. Mary was the widow of

Jacob Milborne Jacob Milborne (''sometimes'' Milburn) ( – 16 May 1691) was an American clerk living in the Province of New York who was an ally, secretary and son-in-law of the rebel Jacob Leisler, served briefly as Attorney General of the province, and was ex ...

, the English born clerk who was an ally and secretary of Mary's father, both of whom were executed for their part in

Leisler's Rebellion Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late-17th century colonial New York in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the southern portion of the colony and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising too ...

. Together, they were the parents of four children who reached maturity, including: * Nicholas Gouverneur (1700–1739), who was the father of Abraham, Esther, Barent and Nicholas Gouverneur. * Jacoba Gouverneur (b. 1701) * Elizabeth Gouverneur (1704–1751) * Jacob Gouverneur (b. 1710), who died young. * Maria Gouverneur (b. 1712), who married Henry Myer Jr. and Captain Jasper Farmer. Gouverneur died in New York City on June 16, 1740.

Legacy and honors

Gouverneur Street, Gouverneur Lane, and Gouverneur Slip were all named after Abraham.

References

External links

Jacob Leisler Papers Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouverneur, Abraham 1671 births 1740 deaths Speakers of the New York General Assembly Members of the New York General Assembly New York City recorders Emigrants from the Dutch Republic Immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Merchants from colonial New York 18th-century American merchants