Cornelius C. Van Cott (February 12, 1838 – October 25, 1904) was the owner of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

for two years in the 1890s. He later 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 ...

and served two terms as

Postmaster of New York City A post office may have operated in New York City as early as 1687. The United States Postal Service has no information on New York's postmasters prior to the year 1775. The New York City Post Office is first mentioned in Hugh Finlay's journal da ...

Biography

Van Cott was born on February 12, 1838, to Richard Gabriel Van Cott and Caroline Case. In 1860, he married Fanny Thompson. As a youth, Van Cott worked in a print shop for the

American Tract Society The American Tract Society (ATS) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825, in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating tracts of Christian literature. ATS traces its lineage back thro ...

.VAN COTT, CORNELIUS
in ''

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'', 1902-1903 He subsequently held other positions, including vice-president of Etna Fire Insurance. In January 1893, Van Cott purchased the

franchise from John B. Day; in January 1895, he sold the franchise to

Andrew Freedman Andrew Freedman (September 1, 1860 – December 4, 1915) was an American businessman who is primarily remembered as the owner of the New York Giants professional baseball team of the National League from 1895 to 1902. He also briefly owned the B ...

. Van Cott was a member of the

, representing the 8th District in

1888 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

and

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

. On May 1, 1889, Van Cott took office as

; he was succeeded by Charles W. Dayton on June 5, 1893; Van Cott then returned to office on May 12, 1897, and remained in office until his death. Van Cott died on October 25, 1904, at his temporary residence at 163 West 86th Street, in

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 ...

, reportedly of heart disease.

References

1838 births 1904 deaths Baseball executives New York Giants (baseball) owners Republican Party New York (state) state senators Postmasters of New York City Sportspeople from New York City 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature {{US-baseball-business-bio-stub