Simeon De Witt: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American geographer and surveyor general}}

[[Image:Simeon De Witt.gif|right|Simeon De Witt painted by Ezra Ames]]

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Simeon De Witt

| image = Ezra Ames - Simeon de Witt - Google Art Project.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| alt =

| caption = (1804)<br>by [[Ezra Ames]]

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1756|12|25|mf=y}}

| birth_place = [[Wawarsing, New York|Wawarsing]], [[Ulster County, New York]]

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1834|12|3|1756|12|25}}

| death_place = [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]], [[Tompkins County, New York]]

| residence =

| citizenship =

| nationality =

| fields =

| workplaces =

| alma_mater = [[History of Rutgers University#Queen.27s College|Queen's College]]

| doctoral_advisor =

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}}

'''Simeon De Witt''' (December 25, 1756 – December 3, 1834) was Geographer and Surveyor General of the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolution]] and [[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|Surveyor General of the State of New York]] for the fifty years from 1784 until his death.

==Life and career==

'''Simeon De Witt''' ([[1756]]-[[1834]]) was the ''Geographer and Surveyor-General of the Continental Army'' during the [[American Revolution]] and ''Surveyor General of the State of New York'' for the fifty years from [[1884]] until his death, a time of rapid expansion into the Indian lands of the central and western [[New York]].

De Witt was born in [[Ulster County, New York]],<ref name=citygrid78>Koeppel (2015), p.78</ref> one of fourteen children of [[physician]] Andries De Witt and Jannetje Vernooy De Witt, both of [[Dutch people|Dutch]] ancestry.<ref name=dutch>[http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/simeon-de-witt/ Simeon de Witt], ''[[New Netherland Institute]]''</ref> He was the only graduate in the class of 1776 at Queens College &ndash; now [[Rutgers College]] of [[Rutgers University]] &ndash; in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]]. After the capture of New Brunswick by the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] during the war, De Witt fled to [[New York City]] where he joined the Revolutionary Army.

[[File:NYC-GRID-1811.png|thumb|left|187px|A modern redrawing of the 1807 version of the Commissioners' grid plan for [[Manhattan]], a few years before it was adopted in 1811]]

De Witt grew up in [[Wawarsing, New York|Wawarsing]] in [[Ulster County, New York]], one of the fourteen children of Jannetje Vernooy and his physician father Dr. Andries De Witt. Simeon was the only graduate of Queens ([[Rutgers]]) College in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]] in [[1776]]. With the capture of New Brunswick by the [[Kingdom of Great Britin|British]] during the war De Witt fled to [[New York City]] where he joined the Revolutionary army.

In June [[1778]], having been trained as a surveyor by his uncle, [[James Clinton]], the husband of De Witt's Aunt Mary, De Witt was appointed as assistant to the ''Geographer and Surveyor of the Army'', [[Robert Erskine (inventor)|Colonel]] [[Robert Erskine]], and contributed to a number of historically significant maps. Col.After Erskine's died from a feverdeath in [[October 2]], [[1780]] at age 45, and in December of that year De Witt was promotedappointed to Ersikine’shis formerpost.<ref position.name=dutch />

After the [[American Revolutionary War]], De Witt attempted, but failed, to get the [[Continental Congress]] interested in a national mapping project.<ref name=citygrid78 />

De Witt was married three times. In [[1789]], he married Elizabeth Lynott, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh Lynott. Elizabeth died in [[1793]] after bearing two children. Around [[1791]] he married Jane Varick Hardenberg, a widow and niece of the New York City mayor. She died in [[1808]] &mdash; their son, [[Richard Varick De Witt]], became a prominent [[civil engineer]]. Simeon’s third wife was Susan Linn.

De Witt was appointed [[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|New York State Surveyor General]] in 1784, New York being one of the few states which had such an office.<ref name=citygrid79 /> De Witt died 50 years later still holding that position, having been re-appointed and re-elected several times. Although he was a [[cousin|first cousin]] of [[DeWitt Clinton]] &ndash; the most powerful politician in the state, and both the [[Mayor of New York City]] and a [[New York State Senate|State Senator]] &ndash; and was a [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]], De Witt was never removed from office. Both [[United States Federalist Party|Federalists]] and [[Bucktails]] recognized his outstanding qualification for the office.

De Witt held four slaves at his residence in Albany, but by [[1810]] he had freed them, a common practice of the area, though they continued to work in his household. He owned a considerable of land in the Finger Lakes area and is considered one of the founders of [[Ithaca, New York]]. He was often given credit for giving classical Greek and Roman names to the 28 [[central New York Military Tract]] [[township]]s that his office mapped after the war, to be given to veterans in payment for their military service, but credit has been given more recently to Robert Harpur, a clerk in his office and apparent reader of classical literature.

De Witt was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1787.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Simeon De Witt|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Simeon+De+Witt|access-date=14 December 2020|website=American Philosophical Society Member History|publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]]}}</ref>

==Portfolio Samples==

In 1796, [[George Washington]] favored De Witt to become the Surveyor General of the United States, but De Witt turned down the nomination. Washington wrote to [[Thomas Jefferson]] about De Witt "I can assure you, he is extremely modest, sensible, sober, discreet, and deserving of favors. He is esteemed a very good mathematician," but despite this praise, none of De Witt's various proposals gained traction during Jefferson's presidency, and De Witt had nothing to do with the [[Land Ordinance of 1785]], despite what some sources claim.<ref>Koeppel (2015), pp.78–79</ref><ref>An example of the rectangular grid laid down according to the 1785 law can be found at {{cite greatest|page=52}}</ref>

De Witt was appointed in 1807 by the state legislature, at the request of the [[New York City Common Council]], to a three-man commission which was to determine how the city's future streets would be laid out. Frustrated by opposition from landowners, who wanted to determine for themselves where streets would go as they developed their properties, and interference from various political factions, the Council had called on the state for assistance. The Commission was given "exclusive power to lay out streets, roads, and public squares, of such width, extent, and direction, as to them shall seem most conducive to public good, and to shut up, or direct to be shut up, any streets or parts thereof which have been heretofore laid out... [but] not accepted by the Common Council."<ref name='Remarks'>[https://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/nyc1811.htm Remarks Of The Commissioners For Laying Out Streets And Roads In The City Of New York, Under The Act Of April 3, 1807]</ref><ref name=gray>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/realestate/23scap.html|title=Streetscapes: The Commissioners' Plan of 1811: Are Manhattan's Right Angles Wrong?|last=Gray|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Gray (architectural historian)|date=October 23, 2005|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 9, 2010}}</ref><ref name=gotham>{{cite gotham|pages=419-22}}</ref> The commissioners were authorized to be paid $4 a day for their work ({{Inflation|US|4|1807|fmt=eq}})<ref>Koeppel (2015), p.83</ref> &ndash; although De Witt was the only one who was actually compensated; the other two commissioners, [[Gouvernor Morris]] and [[John Rutherfurd]], were rich men and waived their fees. De Witt, however, also wanted additional compensation for the days he spent traveling from his home in Albany to New York City, and for Sundays he was required, because of Commission business, to stay in the city; he was reluctantly given travel payment, but was refused additional payment for his Sundays in New York City.<ref name=citygrid80>Koeppel (2015), p.80</ref>

The result of the work of the commission was the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]], which laid out Manhattan's streets above [[14th Street (Manhattan)|14th Street]] &ndash; and to a certain extent between 14th and [[Houston Street (Manhattan)|Houston]] Streets &ndash; in a regular rectilinear [[Grid plan|gridiron]] pattern, which has garnered both praise and intense criticism ever since it was presented to the public.<ref>Koeppel (2015), pp.xix-xxi and ''passim''</ref>

Ironically, considering the massive effect on Manhattan of the Commissioners' Plan, De Witt himself did not much like New York City. He never took up residence there, and seems to have held his time there to a minimum.<ref name=citygrid80 />

In addition to his work on New York City, De Witt laid out rectilinear street grids in [[Albany, New York]];<ref>De Witt's map of Albany can be found at {{cite greatest|page=51}}</ref> [[Ithaca, New York]], of which he is considered one of the founders; and on a number of other developments of state-owned land.<ref name=citygrid79>Koeppel (2015), p.79</ref>

From 1810 to 1816, De Witt was also a member of the first [[Erie Canal Commission]], a project dear to the heart of his cousin, De Witt Clinton. He ordered the making of surveys which would prove essential for the eventual building of the canal.<ref name=citygrid80 />

[[File:Map of the State of New York, by Simeon De Witt, 1802.jpg|thumb|267px|1802 Map of the State of New York]]

As well as being Surveyor General of New York, from 1829 until his death in 1834, De Witt was the [[Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York#Chancellors|Chancellor of the University of the State of New York]] and thus the head of the [[Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York|Board of Regents]]; he had been a Regent since 1798. The Board of Regents is the governing body for the [[University of the State of New York]] &ndash; not to be confused with the [[State University of New York]] &ndash; which regulates many public and private institutions in New York State, licensing, accrediting and setting standards for schools operating in New York State, from [[pre-kindergarten]] through professional and [[graduate school]], as well as for the practice of a wide variety of professions.

De Witt was often given credit for giving [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] names to the twenty-eight [[central New York Military Tract]] [[township (United States)|townships]] that his office mapped after the war, to be given to veterans in payment for their military service. More recently, credit has been given to his clerk [[Robert Harpur]], apparently a reader of classical literature.<ref>{{Cite journal | volume = 89 | issue = 3 | page = 245 | last = Lemak | first = Joseph | title = Roman Grandeur in Central New York: the Classical Tradition in a Nineteenth-Century Pioneer Town | journal = New York History | year = 2008 | url = http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/nyh/89.3/lemak.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120428001141/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/nyh/89.3/lemak.html | archive-date = 2012-04-28 }}</ref>

De Witt did not leave much in the way of writings. He wrote a treatise published in 1813 on perspective drawing, and one in 1819 which argued for the establishment of a state agricultural college, and also had some letters published on scientific topics.<ref name=citygrid80 />

===New York State map===

In 1802, De Witt produced a detailed map of the state of New York, which was then engraved by Gideon Fairman.<ref>{{cite web|last1=De Witt|first1=Simeon|title=Map of the State of New York|url=https://lccn.loc.gov/73693310|date=1802|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref> The map is said by historian [[Gerard Koeppel]] to have been "meticulously drawn" and to have "set a standard for American cartography; it is still considered 'the most important map ever made of the Empire State.'"<ref>Koeppel (2015), p.79, quoting {{Citation | publisher = New York Map Society | last = Allen | first = David Y. | title = How Simeon De Witt Mapped New York State | year = 2008|url=https://www.academia.edu/12688958}}</ref> The map shows New York state to be primarily uninhabited, at least as far as white settler go: the map does not indicate [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] encampments or lodges.<ref name=citygrid79/>

==Personal life==

De Witt was almost {{convert|6|ft|m|adj=on|spell=in}} tall, and was described by his son as having "a noble, serious face, resembling in some respects that of Genl Washington." He was a devout Christian.<ref name=citygrid79 />

De Witt was married three times. In 1789, he married Elizabeth Lynott (1767–1793), the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh Lynott, and they had two children. In 1799, he married Jane Varick Hardenbergh (d. 1808), the widow of Abraham Hardenbergh (1756–1794), and the sister of [[Richard Varick]], the longtime mayor of New York City. Their son, Richard Varick De Witt, became a prominent [[civil engineer]]. Later, Simeon married [[Susan Linn de Witt|Susan Linn]] in October 1810. Linn was the daughter of the theologian [[William Linn (clergyman)|William Linn]]. The Linns were a literary family: Susan wrote fiction and [[poetry]], her brother [[1800 in poetry|John Blair Linn]] was a poet, and her sister, Elizabeth, married [[Charles Brockden Brown]], who wrote novels.<ref name=citygrid80 />

De Witt owned a considerable amount of land in the [[Finger Lakes]] area, and held four slaves at his residence in [[Albany, New York]], but by 1810 he had freed them, a common practice of the area. They continued to work in his household.

De Witt died in Ithaca after having caught a very bad cold while traveling to his various properties in upstate New York.<ref name=citygrid80 /> He was buried on his estate in Ithaca, but his remains were subsequently moved to [[Albany Rural Cemetery]].<ref name=dutch />

==Exhibitions and collections==

On May 25, 2010 the [[Smithsonian Institution]] [[National Museum of American History]] exhibited the oldest surviving Anglo-American star map, hand-drawn in 1780 by Simeon De Witt, in its [[Albert H. Small]] Documents Gallery. The map shows the stars visible from De Witt's post in New Jersey. Drawing such a map, as De Witt himself later said, fostered an appreciation of "the ever shifting scenery of the skies and all the gorgeous drapery of heaven." During the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], when cut off from trade with Europe, colonists had to make their own maps; De Witt assisted military geographer and surveyor general [[Robert Erskine (inventor)|Robert Erskine]] in drawing the maps needed by [[George Washington]]. Also on view are De Witt's drawing instruments and examples of European star maps and astrolabes. The exhibition closed on December 5, 2010. An existing online exhibition offers views of the star map and images of objects in the exhibition.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web|url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/documentsgallery/exhibitions/dewitt_1.html |title=Cosmos in Miniature: The Remarkable Star Map of Simeon De Witt |publisher=National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution |access-date=24 April 2012}}</ref>

==Portfolio samples==

The following map sections were drawn by, or under the direction of, Simeon De Witt. The originals were not colored as these are.

{|

|[[Image:George Croghan's Otsego Patents.png|thumb|300px|'''1.''' [[George Croghan]]'s Otsego Patents, c. 1790]]

|[[Image:Otsego Town of Burlington.png|thumb|300px|'''2.''' [[Burlington, New York|Town of Burlington]], [[Otsego County, New York]], c. 1792-1793]]

|-

|[[Image:CNY Military Tract.png|thumb|300px|'''3.''' [[Central New York Military Tract]], c. 1792-1793]]

|[[Image:Twenty Townships.png|thumb|300px|'''4.''' Twenty (Sale) Townships in Central New York, c. 1792-1793]]

|}

<gallery class=center widths="275px" heights="250px">

==Sources==

File:Simeon DeWitt Central NY Military Tract c.1792.png|[[Central New York Military Tract]], {{circa|1792–1793}}

*[http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/eng-pamphlets/ep870-1-37/c-1.pdf Army Engineer Pamphlet: ''Nation Builders, Ch.1'']

File:Simeon DeWitt Twenty Townships c.1792.png|Twenty Townships, {{circa|1792–1793}}

*[http://www.sunysb.edu/libmap/DeWitt.htm SUNY Stony Brook: 1802 Map of New York]

File:Simeon DeWitt Otsego County NY c.1792.png|[[Otsego County, New York]], {{circa|1792–1793}}

*[http://users.erols.com/jpley/1802map.html 1802 Map of Central New York]

File:George Croghan's Otsego Patents.png|[[George Croghan]]'s Otsego Patents, {{circa|1790}}

*[http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/d/sdewitt.html| New York State Museum: Biography of Simeon De Witt]

File:DeWittmapofAlbany1790.jpg|Albany, New York 1790

*[http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/franklin/dewitt.htm Franklin and His Friends]

</gallery>

*Peter J. Guthorn, ''American Maps and Map Makers of the Revolution'', Philip Freneau Press, Monmouth Beach, NJ [[1966]]

*[http://home.hetnet.nl/~fatcat/military.html Names of Townships in the Military Tract]

==References==

'''Notes'''

{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''

*{{cite citygrid}}

'''Further reading'''

*{{Cite book | publisher = Philip Freneau Press | last = Guthorn | first = Peter J. | title = American Maps and Map Makers of the Revolution | ___location = Monmouth Beach, New Jersey | year = 1966 | oclc = 1019460}}

* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.3138/D235-1057-104G-J643 | issn = 0317-7173 | volume = 5 | issue = 2 | pages = 90–107 | last = Ristow | first = Walter W. | title = Simeon De Witt / Pioneer American Cartographer | journal = The Canadian Cartographer | date = December 1968}}

* {{Cite book | publisher = Office of History, United States Army Corps of Engineers | editor-last = Schubert | editor-first = Frank N. | title = The Nation Builders: A Sesquicentennial History of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, 1838–1863 | ___location = Fort Belvoir, Va. | series = EP 870-1-37 | date = June 1988 | url = http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA471967 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722191526/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA471967 | url-status = dead | archive-date = July 22, 2011 | oclc = 17385113}}

==External links==

{{commons category|Simeon De Witt}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040723114910/http://users.erols.com/jpley/1802map.html 1802 Map of Central New York]

* [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/d/sdewitt.html Biography of Simeon De Witt] on the [[New York State Museum]] website.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050404015706/http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/franklin/dewitt.htm ''Franklin and his Friends'']

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100713140759/http://home.roadrunner.com/~nrw/history/military.html Names of Townships in the Military Tract]

* [http://www.armygeographer.org Department of the Geographer to the Army Reenacting Unit, Brigade of the American Revolution]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080514025926/http://christchurchmanlius.org/tour_20-39.htm Hardenbergh family info] at Christ Church Cemetery, Manlius

* [http://www.mrjumbo.com/contents/genealogy/dewitt/tjerck/histulstco.html De Witt genealogy] at Mr. Jumbo

{{s-start}}

{{s-off}}

{{succession box | before = [[Philip Schuyler]] | title = [[New York State Engineer and Surveyor|New York State Surveyor General]] | years = 1784–1834 | after = [[William Campbell (NY surveyor)|William Campbell]]}}

{{s-aca}}

{{succession box | before = [[John Tayler]] | title = [[Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York#Chancellors|Chancellor of the University of the State of New York]] | years = 1829–1834 | after = [[Stephen Van Rensselaer]]}}

{{s-end}}

{{NYSEngineersSurveyors}}

{{Erie Canal Commissioner}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:1756 births|De Witt, Simeon]]}}

[[Category:18341756 deaths|De Witt, Simeonbirths]]

[[Category:American1834 Revolution people|De Witt, Simeondeaths]]

[[Category:NewPeople Yorkfrom history|De WittWawarsing, SimeonNew York]]

[[Category:AmericanMilitary cartographers|Depersonnel Wittfrom Albany, SimeonNew York]]

[[Category:American cartographers]]

[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]

[[Category:Rutgers University alumni]]

[[Category:Continental Army officers from New York (state)]]

[[Category:Erie Canal commissioners]]

[[Category:New York State Engineers and Surveyors]]

[[Category:People from Ithaca, New York]]

[[Category:New York (state) Democratic-Republicans]]

[[Category:Central New York]]

[[Category:People from the Province of New York]]

[[Category:Clinton family (New York)]]

[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]

[[Category:De Witt family]]