Jacob Glen Cuyler (1773 – April 14, 1854) was an American of Dutch origin who was an important character in the settlement of the British

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

to the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Early life

Jacob Glen Cuyler was born in 1773 to Abraham Cuyler, the son of Cornelius Cuyler and Catalynyje Schuyler, and Jannetje Glen (the sister of Henry Glen) in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, British America. Jacob's father was the last British-appointed mayor of Albany. Abraham Cuyler remained loyal to the crown, but was banished from New York by the revolutionaries, and lost all of his substantial land holdings in Albany. At the start of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Jacob Glen Cuyler's father was incarcerated and the family went from exile in New York City to Canada where Abraham Cuyler died in 1810. In 1789, Jacob was among several family members compensated for their American losses by the British with land in Canada. Abraham Cuyler was able to purchase commissions as officiers for his sons in the British army in 1799.

Arrival in Cape Colony

In 1806, Jacob Glen Cuyler was a captain in the 59th Regiment of Foot when it sailed from England to Cape Colony. In October 1808 he married a Cape Colony woman, Maria Elizabeth Hartman, they had two daughters and three sons. His granddaughter was the botanist and botanical illustrator Maria Elizabeth Holland. He settled on a large farm and was one of the founders of

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

, a town in the East Cape district of Albany. The farm is now Cuyler Manor historic museum. According to a newspaper obituary, "General Jacob Glen Cuyler died at his residence, Cuyler Manor, near Uitenhage, on Friday, the 14th April

854 __NOTOC__ Year 854 ( DCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Emperor Lothair I meets his (half) brothers (Louis the German and Charles the Bald) in Attigny, Ardennes for the third ...

1820 Settlers

Cuyler together with

Lord Charles Somerset Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it ma ...

persuaded the British Parliament to vote funds to finance the settlement of parties of British settlers in order to strengthen the frontier. In 1820 numbers of English and Scots arrived. The Scots were settled in the Baviaans River Mountains, on land confiscated from the Slagtersnek rebels while the English were settled in the Albany district to the south.

Slagtersnek Rebellion

In 1815, a farmer from the eastern border of the Cape Colony, Frederik Bezuidenhout, was summoned to appear before a magistrate's court after repeated allegations of his mistreating one of his

Khoi Khoikhoi ( /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "foragers") peop ...

labourers. Bezuidenhout resisted arrest and fled to a cave near his home where he defended himself against the soldiers sent to capture him. When he refused to surrender he was shot dead by one of the soldiers. Bezuidenhout's brother, Hans, swore revenge. Together with a neighbour Hendrik Prinsloo, Hans Bezuidenhout organised an uprising against the British colonial power, believed by them to be hostile towards the Afrikaner farmers. On 18 November 1815, a commando of rebels met an armed force led by Jacob Glen Cuyler at Slachter's Nek. Negotiations failed but 20 rebels surrendered, followed by several more over the following days. However, some of the leaders, among whom was Hans Bezuidenhout, refused to turn themselves over to Cuyler. On 29 November 1815, they were attacked by colonial troops. Everybody but Bezuidenhout surrendered and, like his brother, Hans died while resisting arrest. The rebels were finally charged at Uitenhage. Some were cleared, others imprisoned or banished, six were sentenced to death but one of these was pardoned by the Governor,

. On 9 March 1816 the remaining five were hanged in public at Van Aardtspos. Four of the nooses broke during the execution due to old ropes being used. The four whose ropes broke, as well as the public, pleaded for their lives but Cuyler ordered that they be hanged a second time and they were hanged one by one. The names of the five who were hanged were Hendrik Prinsloo, Stephanus Bothma, Abraham Bothma, Cornelius Faber and Theunis de Klerk. The hanging of these five caused deep resentment towards the British by the

Boers Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

Commemoration

The village of Cuylerville was established by British settlers in 1820. They named it in honour of Cuyler, then military commander at Fort Frederick, in recognition of the assistance he rendered them. There is a Cuyler Street in the city of

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

. A toposcope and commemorative cairn in Bathurst mark the spot where Cuyler made his camp while supervising the placing of the 1820 Settlers on their locations. While camped here at the same time Sir

Rufane Donkin Lieutenant-General Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin (17721 May 1841), was a British Army officer of the Napoleonic era and later Member of Parliament. Background Rufane Donkin came of a military family and was the eldest child of General Robert Donkin, ...

chose the site for the administrative centre to be named Bathurst. The beacon was erected by Captain W. Bailey as an observing station during his survey of the eastern districts, 1855-1859.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuyler, Jacob Glen 1773 births 1854 deaths People from colonial New York Cape Colony people Cuyler family Schuyler family