Governor William Franklin Preceded by Joseph Warrell Preceded by Robert Ogden Name Cortlandt Skinner | Governor William Franklin Role Attorney Preceded by Stephen Crane Succeeded by Stephen Crane | |
Governor Jonathan Belcher, Sir Francis Bernard, Thomas Boone, Josiah Hardy, William Franklin Died March 15, 1799, Bristol, United Kingdom | ||
Cortlandt skinner
Cortlandt Skinner (December 16, 1727 – March 15, 1799) was the last Royal Attorney General of New Jersey and a brigadier general in the British, Loyalist force, the New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Skinner's Greens, during the American Revolutionary War.
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Early life
Cortlandt Skinner was born December 16, 1727, to a wealthy family, in Perth Amboy in the British Province of New Jersey, the eldest son of the Reverend William Skinner and Elizabeth Cortland (the daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first native born mayor of New York). Skinner was of English, Dutch, and possibly, Scottish ancestry. There was a firm family tradition that William Skinner, later the Rector of St. Peter's Church in Perth Amboy, had participated in one of the Jacobite risings, and was related to the chiefs of the Clan Gregor - changing his name from MacGregor to avoid the persecution inflicted upon all those of that name.
Career
Cortlandt Skinner studied law at Newark while clerking for David Ogden, a member of the governor's council, and then began practising at Perth Amboy. At the age of twenty-seven, he was appointed Attorney General of New Jersey in 1754 and also acted as speaker of the provincial Assembly between 1765 and 1770 and between 1772 and 1776. Sources differ as to his conduct as Attorney-General of New Jersey, but his general reputation was one of integrity and ability.
Military career
Cortlandt Skinner was one of the three current and past speakers, of the Province of New Jersey colonial assemblies, who actively opposed American independence. At the outbreak, of the hostilities, in the American colonies, Cortlandt Skinner was offered, by the Patriot rebels, the pick of all civilian and military posts. In January, 1776, Skinner fled, after having received an intercepted letter, authorizing his arrest, by the Rebels.
As a prominent, New Jersey Loyalist, Cortlandt Skinner accepted service and a commission, on September 4, 1776, as a brigadier general, under the British Crown and was authorized to raise a Provincial corps, known as the New Jersey Volunteers and "Skinner's Greens". Three battalions were authorized, to consist of 2,500 soldiers. In the first months, of trying to increase enlistments, the corps could only raise 1,000 men, but eventually, Skinner's Greens increased their ranks to 2,000 soldiers. The New Jersey Volunteers mercilessly harassed, their Loyalist and Patriot rebel opponents, throughout the war, in the Province of New York, from the defensive outposts, of Long Island, to Staten Island.
By the end of war, in 1783, Brigadier General Skinner was one of the three, highest ranking, Loyalist officers, in the British Army.
Exile to England
His wife and family embarked for England in the summer of 1783, in the Le Solitaire, and were forced into Halifax by stress of weather. He himself followed after the evacuation of New York City. His claim to compensation for his losses as a Loyalist was difficult to adjust, and caused the Commissioners much labour ; but an allowance was finally made; and he also received the half-pay of a Brigadier-General during his life.
Personal life
In 1751, Cortlandt Skinner married Elizabeth Kearney, the daughter of Philip Kearney, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. They had many children, including:
He died at Bristol, England, in 1799, aged seventy-one. He is buried in St. Augustine's Church, in Bristol.