Peter Waldron Yates (August 23, 1747 – 1826) was a lawyer and statesman from Albany,

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 a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

in 1786. Yates was the son of John G. and Rebecca Waldron Yates. His father was a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

in Albany, but also owned a farm in

Rensselaerswyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an English manor owned by the van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District of New York in the United States. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West In ...

(in what is today the town of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

). Despite his background as one child in a large working-class family, Peter acquired an education, and read for the law. In 1767 he was admitted to the

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and married Ann Margarita Helms of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1768 Yates opened a law practice in Albany. His practice was very successful for over thirty years, even though interrupted by the Revolutionary War. In its later years he trained a number of young men in the law. His political career began in 1772 when he was elected to the Albany

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. He would be reelected annually for several years until the last council meeting under the colonial government in March 1776.

American Revolutionary War

The revolution was a difficult time for Yates. He had been elected to the

Committee of Correspondence The committees of correspondence were a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independence during the American Revolution. The brainchild of S ...

for Albany in 1775 but resigned after only two months. He wrote an essay that expressed doubts over the direction of the revolution. When asked to rejoin the revolutionary committee, he declined and was never again entirely trusted by the rebels. He had close connections with the colonial establishment and ties to the landed interests. He took several steps to counter this. He left the

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Church and joined the

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Church in Albany. On June 28, 1775 he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the

2nd New York Regiment The 2nd New York Regiment was authorized on May 25, 1775, and formed at Albany from June 28 to August 4 for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel Goose Van Schaick. The enlistments of the first establishment ended on Dec ...

. He was a colonel of the Albany County militia from 1779 to 1780, and saw action around

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. He continued to expand his law practice throughout the revolution.

After War Years

When the active fighting in the revolution ended, Yates again entered politics. A long-time

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, he became an officer in the Albany lodge and was the Senior Grand Warden of the

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in 1784-1788.''Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York'', May 1921, p. 254. In 1784 he ran for the

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. He represented Albany there in 1784 and 1785. In 1786 they sent him to

as a delegate in the

. This would be his last major office. During the debate over ratification of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

, Yates was an active

Anti-Federalist The Anti-Federalists were a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles ...

. When removed from politics, his practice and investments thrived, and he became one of the most prosperous men in Albany. In 1794 his wife died, and in 1798 he remarried, this time to Mary Terbush ''(Ter Boss)''. He would have three more children with Mary, bringing his large family up to eleven children. He built a mansion on the south side of town, and only the

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

house was more impressive. In 1808 he was made a state judge for the western district of New York. In 1810 he moved to

Montgomery County, New York Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,532. The county seat is Fonda. The county was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1 ...

, living on another property that he owned. He died there in Caughnawaga (now

Fonda, New York Fonda is a village in and the county seat of Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 668 at the 2020 census, down from 795 in 2010. The village is named after Douw Fonda, a Dutch-American settler who was killed and scalpe ...

) on March 9, 1826.

References

External links

Yates's Congressional Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Peter W. 1747 births 1826 deaths Continental Congressmen from New York (state) New York (state) lawyers Continental Army officers from New York (state) New York (state) militiamen in the American Revolution Politicians from Albany, New York Lawyers from Albany, New York 19th-century American lawyers