John Philip Schuyler, born at Albany on the 22d of November, 1733,
was of Dutch origin. He was the second son of John Schuyler, who was
the nephew of Peter Schuyler,--a native of Albany, born in 1657.
At the age of twenty-two he received the appointment of commissary
under Lord Howe, and rendered valuable service throughout the French
and Indian War. In 1755, he recruited a company for the army and was
commissioned its captain, taking part in the battle of Lake George. His
health failing, he was obliged to transfer his command at Ticonderoga
to General Montgomery. After the peace of 1763, he turned to the
management of his private affairs. Inheriting a large property, much
of which was covered with valuable timber, he transported the latter
in his own vessels down the Hudson River to New York City, where he
found a favorable market. Cultivating large fields of flax, and there
being no facilities for its utilization, he built a flax-mill,--the
first of its kind in this country,--and received, in recognition of his
enterprise, a medal from the Society for Promoting Arts. In 1764, he
was appointed a commissioner to settle the disputes between the States
of New York and Massachusetts, relative to their boundary line, and he
arbitrated in the same controversy between New York and New Hampshire.
When elected to a seat in the Assembly of New York, he was one of the
few in that body to antagonize the oppressive measures adopted by the
British Government in its dealings with this country. He was made
colonel of a State militia company in 1768.
In May, 1775, Schuyler was elected a delegate to the Continental
Congress at Philadelphia, but such was the appreciation of his military
ability and his patriotism that on the 19th of June he was appointed
third major-general of the American army, and given command of its
Northern division. Being possessed of great wealth, he provided large
stores of arms, ammunition, clothing, and provisions, from his private
purse, to suitably equip this army for the campaign against Canada.
Stricken by a wasting fever from which he suffered for two years, he
planned and directed even when too ill for active service. Fearing
lest his increasing weakness might work against the public good, he
sought leave during this time to retire; but Congress, well knowing
his worth and his devotion to his country, requested him to reconsider
his determination, at the same time tendering him a vote of thanks for
past services. Schuyler responded nobly, contributing his wealth and
using all his personal influence in behalf of American independence.
At the end of two years of hardships, disappointments, arduous labor,
great responsibility, and inadequate supplies of men and of provisions
to accomplish the tasks set him by Congress, he at length saw his
way to certain victory. At this critical moment Gates appeared in
camp, and Philip Schuyler found himself superseded by a man who, from
jealousy, had always been his enemy, and who had tried in every way
to bring about his downfall. Wounded to the quick, he bore this most
unjust treatment with dignity, and without showing resentment; and
Congress having accepted his resignation on the 19th of April, 1779,
he continued still to serve his country as a private citizen. In 1782,
he was appointed Surveyor-General of New York. A zealous advocate for
the adoption of the Constitution, he was elected a member of the first
United States Senate, filling that office from 1789 until 1798, when a
severe attack of gout compelled his resignation. It is to him that the
State of New York is indebted for her excellent canal system. As early
as 1776 he calculated the actual cost of a canal from the Hudson River
to Lake Champlain; and later he advocated the connection of that river
and Lake Erie by the same means. Dying in his native city at the age of
seventy-one, on the 18th of November, 1804, he was buried with military
honors. In 1871, a Doric column of Quincy granite, thirty-six feet
high, was erected to his memory.