Peter van Schaack was of Dutch origin, a descendant of Elias (or Claas) van Schaack, three of whose four sons took an oath of allegiance to King William III in Albany in 1699. Emanuel, the youngest of these four, was the father of Cornelius Van Schaack, fur-trader, owner of a sloop and of extensive lands near Kinderhook, New York, who on October 6, 1728, married Lydia Van Dyck, daughter of Dr. Hendrik Van Dyck and Lydia (Schuyler) of Albany. Their seventh child and fourth son, Peter, was baptized in the Reformed Dutch Protestant Church at Kinderhook, April 24, 1747.
Education
Prepared for King's College by the Rev. Richard Charlton, he graduated from Trinity College in Dublin.
On graduation in 1766, he ranked at the head of his class and proceeded to study law, first in Albany with his brother-in-law, Peter Silvester, an agent of Sir William Johnson, and later in New York with William Smith, 1728-1793, the historian. In 1769, Van Schaack was admitted to the bar.
Career
In 1773, Van Schaack was appointed reviser of the statutes of the Colony of New York, in the work of which office he injured his eyesight seriously. In May 1774, he became a member of the New York Committee of Fifty-one to correspond with the sister colonies, in November of the Committee of Sixty for executing the association entered into by the Continental Congress, and in the following May, of the Committee of One Hundred. About this time his wife's precarious health and his own failing eyesight led him to return to Kinderhook, where he was promptly elected to the local Committee of Safety.
When summoned to take oath of allegiance to the State of New York at Albany, January 9, 1777, he refused and on January 25 was ordered to Boston, but was called back by order of the Convention, February 3, and permitted to remain on parole at Kinderhook until after his wife's death in April 1778. In June of that year, he obtained permission from Gov. George Clinton to go to England for an operation by an oculist, but his further refusal to take oath of allegiance (July 18) subjected him to the penalties of the Banishment Act of June 13, 1778, and in October he sailed for seven years of exile in England. He was readmitted to the bar (April 1786), is said to have edited a work called Conductor Generalis (1786) for use of local magistrates, and engaged extensively in the practice of law until his eyesight failed entirely.
Between 1786 and 1828, he gave, it is said, a legal instruction to about a hundred young men who came to him as resident pupils.
Achievements
Peter van Schaack was a reviser of the statutes of the Colony of New York. The result of his labors, Laws from the Year 1691 to 1773 Inclusive, was published in 1774.
Politics
Though Van Schaack took no active part in politics, he was keenly interested in the adoption of the federal Constitution and sympathized with the Federalist party.
Views
Though Peter strongly disapproved of the British government's treatment of the colonies and supported such American measures as non-importation and non-consumption, prolonged meditation and consultation of Locke, Grotius, and other writers failed to convince him that it was right to offer armed resistance to the royal government.
At the meeting of the Committee of Safety in Albany on May 29, 1776, he therefore refused to pledge himself to take up arms against Great Britain and was expelled from the Committee. Thereupon he attempted to maintain neutrality.
Personality
Van Schaack became an accomplished Latin scholar and was noted for the purity and elegance of his English, both written and oral. Entering college in 1762, he there became intimately acquainted with Gouverneur Morris, Robert R. Livingston, Egbert Benson, and John Jay. His friendship with Benson and Jay continued throughout his life. In 1765, while still an undergraduate, he eloped with Elizabeth Cruger, daughter of a wealthy New York merchant, who soon became reconciled with his son-in-law. His voluminous letters, published by his son, give an excellent picture of his life during this period. Through his brother-in-law, Henry Cruger, M. P. for Bristol, he became acquainted with Lord Eldon and other prominent lawyers and consulted with them on professional matters.
He attended debates in Parliament to hear Fox, Burke, Sheridan, Pitt, and Mansfield and traveled fairly extensively in England. In London, he renewed his friendship with John Jay. In 1784, the legislature of New York restored him to citizenship and in 1785, he returned to take the oath of allegiance, settling at Kinderhook and building a house there.
Connections
In 1765, Van Schaack married Elizabeth Cruger, the daughter of Henry Cruger (1739–1827), a wealthy New York merchant. On April 27, 1789, he married Elizabeth Van Alen of Kinderhook. Her seven children, besides three children by his first wife, survived when he died at Kinderhook.
Father:
Cornelius Van Schaack, Sr.
October 17, 1705 - October 13, 1776
Mother:
Lydia van Schaack (Van Dyke)
July 16, 1704 - June 10, 1785
Brother:
Cornelius Van Schaack, Jr.
September 15, 1734 - March 18, 1797
Brother:
John Wesley Van Scyoc
September 21, 1755 - February 12, 1838
Brother:
David Van Schaack
Brother:
Henry Van Schaack
1733 - 1823
Sister:
Jannetje Silvester (Van Schaack)
Born in 1739.
Sister:
Lydia Van Vleck (Van Schaack)
1745 - 1774
Wife:
Elizabeth Van Schaick (Cruger)
Wife:
Elizabeth Van Alen
Daughter:
Elizabeth Frey (Van Schaick)
Born in 1770.
Daughter:
Elizabeth Van Schaack
Son:
Cornelius Van Schaick
Born in 1772.
Son:
Hendrick Van Schaick
October 8, 1768 - February 1797
Son:
Henry Cruger Van Schaack
April 3, 1802 - December 16, 1887
Was an American author and antiquarian.
brother-in-law:
Henry Cruger Jr.
November 22, 1739 – April 24, 1827
Was an American and British merchant at the time of the American Revolution.
brother-in-law:
Peter Silvester
1734 – October 15, 1808
Was an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, and a prominent Federalist attorney in Kinderhook.
