Robert Troup

Biography

Robert Troup (19 August, 1757–14 January, 1832) was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York. He participated in the Battles of Saratoga and was present at the surrender of British General John Burgoyne.

Born in 1757, in Elizabethtown, Province of New Jersey, or 19 August, 1757 Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey [1].

Troup graduated from King's College [Columbia University] in 1774 and read law with John Jay. At college, he was the roommate of Alexander Hamilton.

Career

At the start of the American Revolutionary War, Troup joined the Hearts of Oak, a volunteer infantry unit of the New York militia. He entered as a second lieutenant in 1775, serving alongside other King's College students including Hamilton and Nicholas Fish.[citation needed] In May 1776, Troup was a first lieutenant in Colonel John Lasher's regiment.[citation needed] The Hearts of Oak became part of the Continental Army that year, forming the core of the New York Provincial Company of Artillery.

On August 27, 1776, while serving under General Nathaniel Woodhull during the Battle of Long Island, Troup was captured by the British near Brooklyn. He was confined to the prison ship HMS Jersey, and later was transferred to the Provost Prison in New York until his exchange on December 9, 1776.

Troup rejoined the Continental Army in New Jersey, becoming captain of the New York Artillery's 2nd Regiment, and was promoted to major in February 1777.

In August 1777, he became aide-de-camp to General Horatio Gates, and received a commission as lieutenant colonel on October 4, 1777. As aide to Gates, he served in the Battles of Saratoga and the final surrender of General John Burgoyne at Schuylerville, New York on the 17th of October. He was depicted in an 1821 painting by John Trumbull titled Surrender of General Burgoyne.

Troup was secretary of the Board of War starting in February 1778, and secretary of the Board of Treasury from May 29, 1779 to February 8, 1780.

Post War Career

Surrender of General Burgoyne, an 1821 painting by John Trumbull, depicts Troup (8th from right).

Troup completed his study of law under Judge William Paterson, later a Governor of New Jersey. He was in private practice in Albany, New York from 1782 to 1783.[1] He was in private practice in New York City, New York from 1784 to 1796. He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1786. He was Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the District of New York from 1789 to 1796.

Troup was nominated by President George Washington on December 9, 1796, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New York vacated by Judge John Laurance.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 10, 1796, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 4, 1798, due to his resignation.

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Troup resumed private practice in New York City from 1798 to 1804.[1] He was an Agent for Sir William Pulteney's estates in western New York from 1801 to 1832.

Troup served as a trustee of Columbia College from 1811 to 1817, and was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.[5] Troup was a lifelong personal friend of Alexander Hamilton, with whom he had roomed at King's College and served in the Hearts of Oak militia unit, and he continued to support Hamilton in politics.

Personal life

Troup resided for many years in Geneva, New York, with his wife Jannetje Goelet (1758–1840), a daughter of Peter Goelet and Elizabeth Ratsey. Together, they were the parents of four children:

• Charles Troup, who died unmarried.
• Robert R. Troup (1789–1836), who died unmarried.
• Louisa Troup (1791–1885), who died unmarried.
• Charlotte Troup (1792–1872), who married James Lefferts Brinckerhoff and had two daughters, Charlotte and Maria Louisa.

Troup died on January 14, 1832, in New York City. Troup was originally interred at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Manhattan.[10]:322[11] After the death of his daughter Charlotte in 1872, his body was moved to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

• Robert Troup died 14 Jan 1832 (aged 74) New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, buried Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, [PLOT SECTION 138 - 149 findagrave;5006141]

Robert Troup by Stefan Bielinski

Although most of his life was spent elsewhere, Robert Troup was in Albany during the latter stages of the Revolutionary war. He was the Albany roommate of historic rivals Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr—although not at the same time. Beginning in 1805, he again lived in Albany while he was a land agent.

Troup was born in Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey in August 1756. He was the son of privateer Captain Robert Troup of Elizabethtown. Both his parents died when Robert was in his early teens and he probably was raised by his much older siblings.

He first enrolled at Princeton but soon transferred to the King's College where he graduated in 1774. There, he was a roommate and friend of Hamilton. After graduation, Troup joined Burr in reading for the bar with Thomas Smith in Haverstraw. Then, he trained with Manhattan attorney John Jay. However, the War put his legal career on hold when he joined the Revolutionary army.

In May 1776, he was still not twenty when he was commissioned an officer in the New York militia. He was captured at the Battle of Long Island; confined to a prison ship and then in occupied New York City; was exchanged; served as aide-de-camp to General Gates at Saratoga; was appointed secretary of the Board of War by Congress in 1778; and of the Board of Treasury in 1779. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He resigned his commission in February 1780. However, afterwards, he was accorded a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment. He may have first come to Albany with General Gates in 1777—both before and after the battles.

Following service to Congress, Robert Troup returned to New Jersey to resume his legal education. In November 1781, Troup and Aaron Burr re-located to Albany. He helped tutor Hamilton for the Bar when both were living at Schuyler Mansion in 1782. Burr was admitted to practice in April but Troup was not licensed until a year later in April 1783. He tried his first case before the Albany Mayor's Court in September. Thus, he became part of the post-war Albany legal community and his practice began to grow. He returned to New York almost immediately after the British evacuation.

His wife was Jennet Goelet. Between 1787 and 1795, the marriage produced six children - four of whom survived. We must account for his Albany-based activities during the 1780s and 90s. By 1790, he was living in New York City where his household consisted of eight members and two slaves.

Troup's Manhattan-based career in public service included the New York State Assembly and the Judicial system. By 1801, he had returned to his legal practice. In that year, he was named managing agent of the Pultney Estate.

In the Spring of 1805, he moved his family to Albany and into a house on Montgomery Street rented from Leonard Gansevoort to be in a better position to manage the Pultney property and for his general health. Disillusioned with the practice of law, it took him two years to completely shed his legal practice.

In 1806, Troup was characterized as of Albany when he erected a stately mansion on a large plot he owned in Geneva, New York. During those years, he was an agent for land sales in central and western New York. He seems to have been a resident of both Albany and Geneva. Later, his wife related of some anecdotes of their time in Albany in 1806. By 1809, he owned the house, lot, and office on Montgomery Street where his property and holdings were assessed substantially.

At some time after 1809, he left Albany and returned to New York. In 1822, an Albany publisher issued Troup's often-cited "Letter" on canal policy in New York State.

Robert Troup died in New York City in January 1832. This American patriot and one-time resident of Albany had lived seventy-six years.

Legacy and honors

Troup was a co-founder in 1785 of the New York Manumission Society, which promoted the gradual abolition of slavery in New York, and protection of the rights of free black people. Despite being a slaveholder himself, Troup presided at the first meeting of the Society. Together with Hamilton, who joined the Society at its second meeting, Troup led an unsuccessful effort to adopt a rule requiring members of the Society to free any slaves that they themselves owned. In the absence of such a resolution, Troup himself waited to manumit his slaves, freeing four between 1802 and 1814.

The town of Troupsburg, New York was named after Troup.[citation needed] The town of Charlotte, north of the city of Rochester, New York was named by Troup in honor of his daughter.

Sources

• Bielinski, Stefan (2010). Robert Troup. Exhibition of the New York State Museum.
• Robert Troup at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Blunt, Joseph (1833). American Annual Register of Public Events for the Year 1831–32. Fressenden and Company. pp. 389–390. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
• Columbia University (1888). Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Columbia College (originally King's College) in the City of New York, 1754–1888. p. 64.
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5006141/robert-troup
• Linn, John B.; Egle, Wm. H. (eds.). "Papers Relating to the British Prisoners in Pennsylvania". Pennsylvania Archives. Series 2. Vol. I. p. 427.
• Schuyler, John (1886). "Robert Troup". Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati: Formed by the Officers of the American Army of the Revolution, 1783. pp. 313–314.
• "Surrender of General Burgoyne". Washington, D.C.: Architect of the Capitol. 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-06-16.
• Milliken, Charles F. (1911). A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People. Lewis Historical Publishing Co. p. 351. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
• Lodge, Henry Cabot (1904). The Works of Alexander Hamilton. G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 107–113. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
• "Robert Troup Papers: 1771–1870". Archives & Manuscripts. The New York Public Library.
• Tripp, Wendell E. (1982). Robert Troup: A Quest for Security in a Turbulent New Nation. Ayer Publishing. p. 307. ISBN 0-405-14074-6. Retrieved 2008-02-20. Online excerpt available at Parr, Philip, ed. (2012). "Charles Williamson & Robert Troup: Land Agents for the Pulteney Estate" (PDF). Caledonia, N.Y.: Big Springs Museum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-23.
• Draper, George B.; Dayton, Miln P. (2013) [c. 1890]. Kempton, Wayne (ed.). "History of St. Andrew's Church (Harlem) in Two Chapters: A.D. 1829–1889". Project Canterbury. Diocese of New York (Anglican). Archived from the original on 2017-09-26.
• Foner, Eric (2016). "Columbia and Slavery: A Preliminary Report" (PDF). Columbia and Slavery. Columbia University. pp. 22–25. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-06-20.
• Campbell, William W. (1849). The Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton. New York: Baker and Scribner. p. 113. Retrieved 2008-01-18.