Henry Cruger Van Schaack

Background

Van Schaack was born in Kinderhook, New York. He was the son of Peter Van Schaack by his second wife, Elizabeth Van Alen.

His mother was of Dutch stock, tracing descent to Lourens Lourensen, in 1630 a resident of Beverwyck (Albany).

Education

Van Schaack's academic education was carefully supervised by his father, who trained him for the practice of law. At twenty-one, he was admitted to the bar.

Career

After a brief stay at Black Rock, near Buffalo, Van Schaack moved to Manlius, New York, opened a law office, and settled down to the quiet life of a country lawyer. But the practice of law, though nominally his profession for half a century, soon yielded place to his keen interest in antiquarian pursuits. In 1823, he fell heir to the papers of his uncle Henry Van Schaack, an officer in the French and Indian Wars, an officer of the Crown in Albany, and a Loyalist in the Revolution. In 1832, his father's manuscripts were added to his collection; and there followed in 1833 the papers of his brother-in-law, Maj. John Frey of Palatine Bridge, and those of Matthew Vischer of Albany.

Achievements

• Henry acquired many items from the papers of John Jay. The most interesting of these materials, as well as manuscripts acquired from other sources, by gift as well as by exchange, he arranged in three great folio volumes which he entitled "An Autographic History of the American Revolution: Consisting of Letters and Other Writings of Revolutionary Characters, Illustrated by Engravings and Elucidated by Historic and Biographic Notices in Print. " Among the materials thus preserved are letters and other documents written by, or relating to, colonial governors of New York, officers of the Crown, the first officers of the State of New York, and members of the Continental Congress. There are also autographs of forty-four of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as those of the framers of the Constitution, of the presidents and vice-presidents through Andrew Jackson's administration, and of all of the members of the successive cabinets of Washington and John Adams. With these, he arranged letters and documents written by lesser figures, as well as quantities of clippings from newspapers and magazines. From his rich collections, Van Schaack drew the material for a biography of his father, The Life of Peter Van Schaack, LL. D. (1842).

Works

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  • A history of Manlius village

    (This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)

  • Memoirs of the Life of Henry Van Schaack: Embracing Selections from His Correspondence During the American Revolution

    ( About the Book Collections of Essays are anthologies th...)

  • An old Kinderhook mansion

    (This volume is produced from digital images from the Corn...)

  • Henry Cruger: The Colleague of Edmund Burke in the British Parliament; A Paper Read Before the New York Historical Society, January 4Th, 1859 (Classic Reprint)

    (Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Society: The paper whi...)

Personality

At Van Schaack's death, his manuscript collections were left to three of his fourteen children.

Connections

In 1827, Van Schaack married Adaline Ives. He had fourteen children.

Father:

Peter Van Schaack

1747 - 17 September 1832

Mother:

Elizabeth Van Schaick (Cruger)

Born in 1751.

Wife:

Adaline Ives Van Schaack

16 April 1810 - August 1876

Daughter:

Lydia Beekman Van Schaack Hibbard

5 March 1835 - 25 April 1920

Daughter:

Adaline Elizabeth Van Schaack Vanderpoel

28 February 1830 - 27 July 1912

Daughter:

Orpha Van Schaack Ward

17 June 1839 - 25 April 1922

Son:

John Jay Van Schaack

17 April 1836 - 28 October 1864