Frederic de Peyster

Frederic de Peyster II (November 11, 1796, in New York City – August 17, 1882, in Tivoli, New York) was a New York City lawyer and prominent member of the De Peyster family. Early life De Peyster was born in Hanover Square in New York City on November 11, 1796. He was the third son of Helen Livingston (née Hake) de Peyster (1773–1801) and Frederick de Peyster (1758–1834), who fought for the British crown in the Nassau Blues Battalion, King's American Regiment during the American Revolution. After the war, his father emigrated to Saint John, New Brunswick, but later returned to the United States. Among his siblings was Catherine Van Cortlandt de Peyster, who married Benjamin Hazard Field, and Mary Elizabeth de Peyster. His brother was James Ferguson De Peyster, who married Frances Goodhue Ashton (the parents of Frederic James de Peyster). His paternal grandfather was Col. James Abraham de Peyster, the brother of Arent DePeyster, both of whom were descended from Arent Schuyler and Abraham de Peyster (the 20th Mayor of New York City). His maternal grandparents were Commissary general Samuel Hake and Helen (née Livingston) Hake (the daughter of Loyalist merchant Robert Gilbert Livingston). De Peyster attended Columbia College during the War of 1812, graduating in 1816. While at Columbia, he became Captain in a student corps known as the "College Greens" that helped construct the field works at McGowan's Pass on the heights between Harlem and Manhattanville.