(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
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He was born on May 18, 1759 in New York, United States, the son of John and Mary (Cannon) Pintard, and was descended from Anthony Pintard, a Huguenot from La Rochelle who had settled at Shrewsbury, New Jersey, in 1695.
He lost both parents during his first year, his father, a seagoing merchant, dying on a voyage to Haiti. John was brought up by his uncle, Lewis Pintard.
After preparing at the grammar school of the Rev. Leonard Cutting at Hempstead, Long Island, he attended the College of New Jersey where he received the degree of A. B. in 1776 after running away for a brief military service.
He served for some time as deputy to his uncle, who was commissioner of prisoners at New York. In 1780 he went to Paramus, New Jersey, for a while, and then was associated in his uncle's mercantile operations.
Inheriting a legacy from his maternal grandfather, he was enabled to go into the China and East India business on his own account, and until 1792, when he was dragged down by the crash of the stock speculations of William Duer, he was rated as one of New York's most successful and prosperous merchants. Pintard, who had indorsed his notes for more than a million, it is said, lost his entire fortune and was even imprisoned for debt. For eight years he resided at Newark and then declared himself bankrupt in New York.
For a short while he was book auctioneer and editor of the Daily Advertiser. He then went to New Orleans to try his fortune but decided not to settle there, and was soon back in New York where he spent the rest of his life. He never recovered his old fortune, but his positions as secretary of the pioneer New York fire insurance company and later as bank president seem to have enabled him to contribute generously to the various movements which he sponsored.
Pintard's great work was as a promoter. DeWitt Clinton was always ready to allow Pintard to use his name and moral support for any measure. He developed a real passion for the preservation of historical manuscripts. He purchased a valuable collection of material on the Revolution from a Tory clergyman.
In 1789, while visiting Jeremy Belknap, he gave the initial impulse which resulted in the establishment of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
He also developed the systematic municipal recording of vital statistics during his term (1804 - 10) as clerk of the corporation and city inspector of New York City.
Religious activity also appealed to him. He was for thirty-four years vestryman of the Episcopalian Huguenot church in New York and translated the Prayer-Book into French for its use. He was also a prime mover in founding the General Theological Seminary and was active in raising funds for it. The American Bible Society, which he called his "brat, " he served as secretary and vice-president. He had been an alderman in 1788 and 1789, and in 1790 he sat in the state legislature.
After the War of 1812 he helped to revive the Chamber of Commerce and was its secretary from 1817 to 1827. In 1815 he promoted a mass meeting in favor of the Erie Canal project. He engineered the organization of New York's first savings bank in 1819 and was its president from 1828 to 1841. He was also interested in the Sailors' Snug Harbor, the House of Refuge, and the Mercantile Library.
He died in New York at the home of a daughter.
John Pintard was a well-known philanthropist, who took the leading part in organizing the New York Historical Society in 1804 and organized a historical museum under the auspices of the Tammany Society of which he was the first sagamore and later grand sachem. Besides, Pintard was a patron of the library of the General Theological Seminary in New York, and helped establish their first collection of books. Perhaps his greatest contribution to American society, however, was his role in establishing the modern popular conception of Santa Claus based upon the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas.
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
A deeply religious man, he was one of the chief supporters of the General Theological Seminary (Episcopal Church).
He had a handsome and kindly face, with a high forehead.
He had been deafened in youth by a Fourth of July explosion and in his last years was nearly blind.
Quotes from others about the person
Belknap described him as "very loquacious and unreserved. "
"He could indite a handbill, " says Scoville, "that would inflame the minds of the people for any good work. He could call a meeting with the pen of a poet, and before the people met, he would have arranged the doings for a perfect success. He knew the weak points of every man, and he would gratify the vanity of men and get their money. "
On November 12, 1784, he married a celebrated beauty, Eliza, daughter of Abraham Brashear of Paramus. They had two daughters.
