Abraham Van Vechten (December 5, 1762 – January 6, 1837) was an American lawyer and a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

politician who served twice as

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

Early life

Abraham Van Vechten was born on December 5, 1762, in Catskill, Albany County (now Greene County),

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He was the son of

Dutch Americans Dutch Americans () are Americans of Dutch and Flemish descent whose ancestors came from the Low Countries in the distant past, or from the Netherlands as from 1830 when the Flemish became independent from the United Kingdom of the Netherla ...

Teunis Van

Vechten Fectio, known as ''Vechten'' in Old Dutch, was a Roman ''castellum'' in the province Germania Inferior established in the year 4 or 5 AD. It was located at the place where the river Vecht (''Fectio'') branched off from the Rhine, leading to Lak ...

(1707–1785) and Judikje "Judith" Ten Broeck (1721–1783). His brothers were Samuel Ten Broeck Van Vechten (1742–1813) and Teunis Van Vechten (1749–1817), who became a prominent merchant in Albany and held the office of commissary on the staff of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Morgan Lewis during the revolution. Their maternal grandfather was Jacob Ten Broeck (1688–1746), nephew of

Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck (December 18, 1638 – November 24, 1717), also known as Dirck Wessels, was a prominent early settler of Albany, New York. He is known as "the progenitor of the Albany family of Ten Broecks." Early life Dirck Ten Broe ...

(1638–1717). Van Vechten was educated at Columbia College, studied law with

John Lansing Jr. John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. (January 30, 1754 – vanished December 12, 1829), a Founding Father of the United States, was an attorney, jurist, and politician. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Lansing was trained as a lawyer, and was long in ...

, and began practice in

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its colonial founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Britain in the Province of New York and a major ...

, but soon removed to Albany.

Career

In 1792, he was elected one of the first directors of the Bank of Albany. From 1796 to 1797, he was Assistant Attorney General for the Fifth District, comprising Albany, Saratoga, Schoharie and Montgomery Counties. He was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital of Upper Can ...

, and cast his votes for

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

and

Thomas Pinckney Thomas Pinckney (October 23, 1750November 2, 1828) was an American statesman, diplomat, and military officer who fought in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, achieving the rank of major general. He served as Governor of So ...

. Van Vechten was the first lawyers admitted to the bar after the adoption of the

New York State Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

and ranked among the most gifted men of that time, including

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

and Robert Livingston.

Public office

From 1797 to 1808, Van Vechten served as Recorder of the

City of Albany The City of Albany is a local government area in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, about south-southeast of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It covers an area of , including the Greater Albany metropolitan area and the ...

. Concurrently, he was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

, serving in the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th,

26th 26 (twenty-six) is the natural number following 25 and preceding 27. In mathematics *26 is the seventh discrete semiprime (2 \times 13) and the fifth with 2 as the lowest non-unitary factor thus of the form (2.q), where q is a higher prime. ...

, 27th and 28th New York State Legislatures from 1798 to 1805, representing the Eastern District, which included

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

, Rensselaer, Albany and Saratoga counties. After leaving the Senate, he was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, serving in the

29th 29 (twenty-nine) is the natural number following 28 and preceding 30. It is a prime number. 29 is the number of days February has on a leap year. Mathematics 29 is the tenth prime number. Integer properties 29 is the fifth primorial prime, ...

, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th,

35th Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

and 36th New York State Legislatures from 1808 to 1813, representing Albany County. While serving in the Assembly, he also served as the 10th

from 1810 to 1811, and again from 1813 to 1815 as the 13th Attorney General, under Governor

Daniel D. Tompkins Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fourth Governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth Vice President of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkin ...

. His successor was

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

, who later became the 8th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. After serving as Attorney General of New York, he was elected to return to the State Senate, serving in the 39th, 40th, 41st and

42nd New York State Legislature The 42nd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 13, 1819, during the second year of DeWitt Clinton's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the prov ...

s from 1816 to 1819, representing the Middle District, which included Albany, Chenango, Columbia,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Greene, Iowa, a city * Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene * Greene (town), New York **Greene (village), New York, in the to ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

, Otsego, Schoharie,

Sullivan Sullivan may refer to: People Characters * Chloe Sullivan, from the television series ''Smallville'' * Colin Sullivan, a character in the film ''The Departed'', played by Matt Damon * Harry Sullivan (''Doctor Who''), from the British science f ...

and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

counties. In 1821, he was a delegate to the

New York State Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

, where he opposed the extension of the franchise. From 1797 to 1823, he was a regent of the

University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state governmental umbrella organization that oversees all educational institutions, including schools, libraries, and museums in New York State. It is governed by the Board of Regents. D ...

. In the 1828 presidential election, Van Vechten was a

, voting for the 6th President,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

and

Richard Rush Richard Rush (August 29, 1780 – July 30, 1859) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat who served as the 8th United States Attorney General from 1814 to 1817 and the 8th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1825 to 1829. He serv ...

Personal life

In 1784, he married Catharina Schuyler (1766–1820), eldest daughter of Philip P. Schuyler (1736–1808) of the prominent

Schuyler family The Schuyler family (Help:IPA/English, /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: Help:IPA/Dutch, xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the forma ...

. She grew up on her father's farm in the

Schuyler Flatts Schuyler Flatts is an important prehistoric and historic settlement site overlooking the Hudson River in Colonie, New York. The site includes evidence of prehistoric Native American, early Dutch colonial settlement, and 18th and 19th-century Ame ...

section of the

Manor of Rensselaerswyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an England, English Proprietary colony, manor owned by the Van Rensselaer (family), van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District, New York, Capital District of New Yor ...

. Catharina was the great-granddaughter of

Pieter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

(1657–1724), the first

mayor of Albany In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

, and Maria Van Rensselaer, daughter of

Jeremias Van Rensselaer Jeremias van Rensselaer (Amsterdam, 16 May 1632 – October 12, 1674) was the third son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company who was instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland a ...

(1632–1674). Together, they had thirteen children, including: *Judith Van Vechten (1785–1799) *Phillip Van Vechten (1786–1814) *Teunis A Van Vechten (1787–1811) *Anna Van Vechten (1789–1857) *Elizabeth Van Vechten (1791–1878) *Samuel Van Vechten (1794–1824) *Gertrude Van Vechten (1798–1842) *Jacob Ten Broeck Van Vechten (1801–1841) *Judith Van Vechten (1803–1825) Van Vechten died in Albany on January 6, 1837, and was buried at

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical ...

Early life

Career

Public office

Personal life

Sources

Further reading