Peter Silvester (1734–1808)

Peter Silvester was born at Shelter Island, Province of New York on Long Island in 1734. Silvester is probably descended from Nathaniel Sylvester (1610-1680), an Anglo-Dutch sugar merchant and the first European settler of Shelter Island.

Silvester completed preparatory studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1763, and practiced in Albany, New York.

Legal practice

In 1763, he began employment as the attorney for Sir William Johnson (1715–1774) in Albany. Johnson had commanded the Iroquois and colonial militia forces during the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War (1754–1763) in Europe. Johnson's role in the British victory at the Battle of Lake George in 1755 earned him a baronetcy; his capture of Fort Niagara from the French in 1759 brought him additional renown. Johnson served as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern district from 1756 until his death in 1774, working to keep American Indians attached to the British interest. In letters to Johnson, Silvester writes that he met with Witham Marsh concerning the wrongs of Indians. Silvester was subsequently appointed "clerk of the peace."

In 1767, he moved to the Van Schaack estate in Kinderhook, and began his practice of law there as the first attorney in Kinderhook. Among the students who began the study of law in his office were: Peter van Schaack (1747-1832) beginning in 1766 for eighteen months; Francis Silvester (1767-1845), his son; and Martin Van Buren (1782–1862), who later became the 8th President of the United States.

Van Buren began his formal education with Silvester, and his son Francis, when he began reading law in 1796, before Van Buren reached the age of 14. When Van Buren first began his legal studies, he often presented an unkempt appearance in rough, homespun clothing. It was the Silvesters who suggested that Van Buren could improve his professional prospects by dressing fashionably and taking care in how he appeared in public; he heeded the advice and patterned his clothing, appearance, bearing and conduct after theirs. After six years under the Silvesters, the elder Silvester and Democratic-Republican political figure John Peter Van Ness suggested that Van Buren's political leanings made it a good idea for him to complete his education with a Democratic-Republican attorney. Van Buren accepted their advice and spent a final year of apprenticeship in the New York City office of John Van Ness's brother William P. Van Ness, a political lieutenant of Aaron Burr.

Revolutionary War

During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Silvester backed the patriot cause and held a variety of positions in New York including: member of the Albany Common Council in 1772, member of the Committee of Safety in 1774, and a member of the First and Second Provincial Congresses in 1775 and 1776.

His wife's family, the Van Schaacks, were Loyalists, and some historians have suggested that Silvester's in-laws may have influenced him to take a reduced role as the Revolution progressed.

Government service

Silvester as a New York State Senator in 1798.

He was appointed judge of the court of common pleas of Columbia County, New York in 1786, and served until 1789. He was a regent of the University of the State of New York from 1787 to 1808.

From July 1, 1787 to June 30, 1788, Silvester served in the 11th New York State Legislature as a member of the New York State Assembly from Columbia County, the first year that Columbia was represented in the Legislature.

After serving in the New York State Assembly, Silvester was elected to the First and Second United States Congresses as a Pro-Administration (Federalist) candidate. He served in the United States Congress from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1793.

After his time in Congress, Silvester was elected to a four-year term as a member of the New York State Senate, serving from 1796 to 1800 in the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd New York State Legislature. After his service in the Senate, he returned to serve again in the Assembly from 1803 (26th Legislature), and again in 1804 (28th Legislature), 1805 (29th Legislature) until June 30, 1806. He retired from public life after his last term in the Legislature.

On August 16, 1764, he married Jannetje "Jane" Van Schaack, daughter of Cornelius Van Schaack (1705-1776) and Lydia Van Dyck. Cornelius Van Schaack owned a large estate in Kinderhook, New York. Jane was the elder sister of Peter van Schaack, who married the daughter of Henry Cruger, a wealthy New York merchant. Together they had:

• Francis Silvester (July 22, 1767 - January 31, 1845), who married Lydia Van Vleck Van Schaack, a niece of Peter van Schaack and foster daughter of David Van Schaack
  • Peter Henry Silvester (1807–1882), who married Catherine Susan Bronk (?-1858)
    • Francis Silvester II (November 15, 1833 - December 6, 1903 in New York City), district attorney and member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1867
    • John L. B. Silvester
  • Margaret Silvester (1812-1903)

Silvester was a warden of St. Peters Church in Albany in 1773, and was listed as a vestryman in the Church's charter of incorporation, granted by King George III on April 25, 1769.

Silvester resided in Kinderhook, where he died on October 15, 1808, aged 74 years. He was interred in the Old Van Schaack Cemetery, where the Kinderhook Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1814. He was interred in the "Old Van Schaack Cemetery", over which the Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church and Cemetery were built in 1814. The exact location of his grave, however, is not known.

Memorials

The SS Peter Silvester, an American merchant marine ship built for the United States Maritime Commission in service from 1942 to 1945 was named for Peter Silvester.