Nicholas Gouverneur

Nicholas Gouverneur (1753 – July 12, 1802) was an American merchant with Gouverneur & Kemble and banker who served as the president of the Bank of New York.

Early life

Gouverneur was born in 1753. He was the son of Samuel Gouverneur (1720–1778), a merchant, and Experience ( Johnson) Gouverneur (1720–1788). Among his siblings were Gertrude Gouverneur (the wife of Peter Kemble Jr.), Among his extended family was uncle Nicolas Gouverneur, (His uncle, Nicolas Gouverneur (1713–1787), was married to Maria Maytilda Winkler and Sarah Cruger (a sister of Mayor John Cruger Jr.) and daughter of Mayor John Cruger).

Career Like his father and grandfather before him, Gouverneur was a prominent merchant. Their firm, Gouverneur & Kemble, conducted trade in the West Indies, Europe and China. It had been founded by his grandfather, Isaac Gouverneur and Peter Kemble, who "were among the foremost merchants in New York".

After the death of Gulian Verplanck in 1799, he was elected to succeed Verplanck as the president of the Bank of New York (which had been founded by Alexander Hamilton and of which Verplanck had been president for eight years). Gouverneur served as president until his own death in July 1802.

Personal life On February 25, 1790, Gouverneur was married to Hester Kortright (1770–1842), a daughter of wealthy merchant Lawrence Kortright and Hannah ( Aspinwall) Kortright. Among her siblings was the future First Lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe. Together, they were the parents of three sons and three daughters:

Nicholas Gouverneur II (1792–1854), who died without issue. Louisa Augusta Gouverneur (1795–1860), who married David Johnston Verplanck, editor of the New York American who was the son of Gulian Verplanck, Speaker of the New York Assembly. Emily Caroline Gouverneur (1798–1833), who married Robert Livingston Tillotson, New York's secretary of state who was the son of Dr. Thomas Tillotson and Margaret ( Livingston) Tillotson. Samuel Laurence Gouverneur (1798–1865), a member of the New York State Assembly who married Maria Hester Monroe, youngest daughter of U.S. president James Monroe. Maria Charlotte Gouverneur (1801–1867), who married Gen. Thomas McCall Cadwalader, a son of U.S. representative Lambert Cadwalader.

Gouverneur died on July 12, 1802, in New York. His estate was divided amongst his living children.