Peter Mesier Sr. was an American merchant and politician who served as alderman of New York City's
West ward from 1759 to 1763.[1]
Peter was a merchant active in the East Indies trade, who owned several properties in the city, including a brewery. In 1776 a fire on the west side of Broadway consumed 15 of his properties.[2][3] A
loyalist during the American Revolution, he moved with his family to
Wappingers Falls in
Dutchess County after the fire.[4]
Mesier married Catherine Sleight; they had eight children:
Peter Jr., a New York politician in the early 19th century.[5]
Matthew - married Joanna Schenck
Abraham
Catherine - married her cousin Peter A. Mesier
Marie - married merchant David Lydig
Jane - married John Suydam
Phoebe
Eliza - married Thomas Goelert
Family
His paternal grandfather, Pieter Jansen Mesier, was born around 1631.[6] He was a ship's carpenter and resided in New Amsterdam by 1659.[7] He and his family lived near
Fort Willem Hendrick until in 1673 Governor
Anthony Colve ordered the land cleared in the course of renovations at the fort. He built a windmill west of Broadway on land purchased from the
Van Cortlandts around 1682. Located on a bluff above the
North River, it served as a landmark for navigation. The path leading to the mill from Broadway was called "Pieter Jansen's Lane".[8]
In 1701, Pieter Jansen Mesier received a grant for a water lot at the end of
Cortlandt Street. In 1760, his grandson, Abraham Mesier, obtained a second lot, extending the first. Abraham developed both lots, creating "Mesier's Slip" and built a wharf alongside it.[9] The
Paulus Hook ferry, began in July 1764[10] and operated from
Paulus Hook to Mesier's dock at the foot of Courtland Street.[11][12] The Mesiers held a financial interest in the ferry. In 1767 merchant Jacob Van Voorhis obtained the lease of the ferry operation. His partners were Abraham Mesier, Peter Mesier, and Abraham Bussing.[13] In 1771, Abraham Mesier took over the lease. Abraham died around 1774 and his wife, Elizabeth, continued to operate the ferry until 1789.[14]
Pieter Jansen Mesier married Marritje Willems; they had two sons: Abraham Pieters and Peter Pieters, and a daughter, Jannetje. Members of the First Reformed Dutch Church, they lived on
"The Strand".[6]
Abraham Pieters was the father of Peter A. Mesier, a stationer and lithographer in New York City.
Peter Pieters Mesier had four children:
Abraham
Peter Mesier Sr.
Elizabeth -married Abraham Bussing
Catherine -married Jacob Van Voorhis; she predeceased her father, leaving two sons, Jacob, Jr. and John Van Voorhis.
^History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Charles Hardenburg Winfield, pg. 243-246, Kennard & Hay Stationery M'fg and Print. Company, 1874
^Railroad Ferries of the Hudson: And Stories of a Deckhand, by Raymond J. Baxter, Arthur G. Adams, pg. 64 ,1999, Fordham University Press, 978-0823219544