translator of English documents. Shortly
after, he gained an appointment as an officer
of troops being sent to New Netherlands
(New York) and arrived with a company of
men in 1660.
Young Leisler, originally a poor soldier,
took full advantage of the opportunities con-
fronting him in the New World economy and
society. He entered the fur and tobacco trade,
made a small fortune, then cemented his al-
liance with the city’s elite by marrying Elsie
Tymens van der Veen, a rich widow, in 1663.
This placed him at the very center of the city’s
power elite, and he used his influence to be-
come one of New York’s largest landowners.
In August 1664, he signed a declaration that
urged Governor Peter Stuyvesant to surren-
der the city to the English and openly swore
allegiance to the new regime. He was re-
warded by allowing to serve as a juror and ar-
bitrator within the English legal system.
Leisler, given his military background, was
also active in militia affairs, and by 1680 he
was the most senior officer present in the city.
In 1685, he parleyed his wealth and political
influence into helping found the settlement of
New Rochelle for Huguenot refugees who had
fled France after King Louis XIV revoked the
Edict of Nantes and effectively ended reli-
gious toleration there. Being generous and
kindhearted toward the poor, he proved espe-
cially endearing to the lower classes, most of
whom were of Dutch extraction.
At this time the English colonies were
being convulsed by the religious and political
turmoil then sweeping England. The Catholic
monarch, James II, was on the verge of being
overthrown by the Protestant William of Or-
ange and his wife, Mary. In July 1688, the king
formally annexed New York into the Domin-
ion of New England, thereby centralizing gov-
ernment control over the region. This move
was widely resented by the inhabitants of
New York and further intensified antipathy to-
ward this openly Catholic monarch. When
word of James’s overthrow (in the so-called
Glorious Revolution) was received, the Do-
minion of New England collapsed and Gover-
nor-General Sir Edmund Andros was arrested
and deported in April 1689. In New York City,
Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson, a
Catholic sympathizer, refused to acknowl-
edge the new king, and he called upon Leisler
to ready the militia to thwart any domestic
unrest. Nevertheless, the New York militia re-
volted, declared Leisler their leader by accla-
mation, and Nicholson beat a hasty retreat
from the province. Now leaderless, a provin-
cial committee of safety was summoned in
June 1689, which appointed Leisler captain of
the fort, a ranking position within the city
militia. Two months later he was elevated to
commander in chief of the province of New
York. By default this former soldier had be-
come head of the most prosperous settlement
of North America.
Leisler was no dictator, for he called for
new local elections, improved the city’s de-
fenses, and also codified New York’s laws for
the first time. However, many of his former
friends within the elite viewed these and
other reforms as pandering to the lower
classes. In December 1689, royal letters ar-
rived that were addressed to Nicholson “or in
his absence, to such as for the time being
takes care for preserving the peace and ad-
ministering the laws.” Leisler conveniently
seized this correspondence as further proof
of his political legitimacy and assumed the
new title of lieutenant governor. In this capac-
ity he dismissed many political enemies from
the government and, seeking to shore up rela-
tions with the multitudes, called for a provin-
cial assembly. This move further alienated
many of the city’s wealthy, who had previ-
ously enjoyed greater power and influence
under Nicholson. Critics of the regime, how-
ever, more often than not found themselves
arbitrarily jailed.
The threat of Catholic military menace oc-
curred in February 1690, when French and In-
dian forces massacred the inhabitants of Sche-
nectady, New York. Leisler responded by
calling the first convention of colonial govern-
ments in American history. His avowed pur-
pose was to devise a plan to eliminate theLEISLER, JACOB