Name Herman Knickerbocker | Role Judge | |
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Died January 30, 1855, Williamsburg, New York City, New York, United States | ||
Herman Knickerbocker (also Knikkerbakker, Knickerbacker ) (July 27, 1779 – January 30, 1855) was a United States Representative from New York.
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Early life
Herman Knickerbocker was born in Albany on July 27, 1779. He was the son of Johannes Knickerbocker (1749-1827). His grandfather, Johannes Knickerbocker (1723–1802), a colonel in the Continental Army in the War of Independence, was a grandson of Harmen Jansen Knickerbocker, of Friesland, Holland, one of the earliest settlers of New York.
Knickerbocker completed preparatory studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1803 and commenced practice in Albany. He moved to Schaghticoke (near Albany) and became known as "the Prince of Schaghticoke" because of his hospitality and liberality.
Career
Knickerbocker was elected as a Federalist to the Eleventh Congress, holding office from March 4, 1809 to March 3, 1811. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1810 and served in the New York State Assembly in 1816. He was judge of Rensselaer County.
Personal life
In 1801, he married his first wife, Arietta Lansing (d. 1814), the daughter of Abraham Lansing and Else Van Rensselaer. They had five children before her death in 1814, four of his daughters attended the Troy Female Seminary:
In December 1814, he married for the second time to Rachel Wendell (d. 1823), daughter of John H. Wendell, an officer in the Revolution, and Catherine Van Benthuysen. Together, they had five children:
On July 20, 1826, he married for the third time to Mary Delia Buel, who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, and was the daughter of David Buel and Rachel McNeil. Together, they had:
He died in Williamsburg (now a part of New York City) in 1855; his interment was in the Knickerbocker family cemetery, Schaghticoke.
Legacy
Through his friend Washington Irving borrowing his name for a fictional figure, he gave rise to the name Knickerbockers for a kind of trousers. During one of Irving’s visits to Washington to meet President James Madison, he introduced Knickerbocker to the President as “My cousin Diedrich Knickerbocker, the great historian of New York.”