Jacob Glen Cuyler

by


Jacob Glen Cuyler was born in August 1773. He was the last child born to the marriage of Abraham C. and Jannetje Glen Cuyler. He was christened "Jacob Glen Cuyler." His older brother was "Jacob A. Cuyler" who became an Albany resident. Yet another same-named contemporary lived in Albany at that time.

Jacob's father was the last British-appointed mayor of Albany. Abraham C. Cuyler remained loyal to the crown, was apprehended by the revolutionaries, banished from New York, and subsequently lost all of his substantial possessions in Albany and its hinterland.

At the start of the war, his father was incarcerated and the family went from exile in New York City to Canada where Abraham C. Cuyler re-established his position and died in 1810.

In 1789, Jacob was among several family members compensated for their American losses by the British with land in Canada.

Family tradition holds that the elder Cuyler was able to purchase commissions for his sons in the British army in 1799. In 1806, Jacob Glen Cuyler was a captain in the 59th Regiment of infantry when it sailed from England to South Africa. Later, he was known as "General" Cuyler.

In October 1808, he is said to have married Maria Elizabeth Hartman of South Africa. They had at least four children.

He settled on a large farm and was one of the founders of Uitenhage, a town in the East Cape district of Albany. The farm museum survives today. Favored by government preferment, he became a prominent landholder and developer.

According to a newspaper obituary, "General Jacob Glen Cuyler died at his residence, Cuyler Manor, near Uitenhage,on Friday, the 14th April [1854]."


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Jacob Glen Cuyler is CAP biography number 544. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. His life after Albany has been accorded more extensive justice (including a portrait and other welcome visuals) in a recent online essay.




first posted 3/25/08; updated 3/23/14