Peter Schermerhorn

Peter Schermerhorn (October 1, 1749 – January 28, 1826) He was the father of Abraham Schermerhorn and the paternal grandfather of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor.

Early life Schermerhorn was born in New York City in what was then the Province of New York on October 1, 1749. He descended from Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, who settled in New York from the Netherlands in 1636. His maternal grandfather, John Cannon, was a Huguenot refugee from La Rochelle in France. From 1776 to 1783, during the American Revolutionary War, Schermerhorn and his family lived in Hyde Park, New York to protect their vessels from British seizure. After the war ended, the family returned to New York City, the Schermerhorn family resided at 68 Broadway.

In 1808, Schermerhorn admitted his sons Abraham and Peter to his ship-chandlery firm, which was renamed "Peter Schermerhorn & Sons." today known as the Schermerhorn Row Block.

Personal life On September 11, 1771, Schemerhorn was married to Elizabeth Bussing (1752–1809), a daughter of Abraham Bussing, a dry goods merchant, and Elizabeth (née Mesier) Bussing. Together, they were the parents of:

John Peter Schermerhorn (1775–1831), who married to Rebecca Hodgson Stevens (1780–1815), the daughter of Gen. Ebenezer Stevens. George Schermerhorn (b. 1785). who married General James I. Jones; who married Charles Suydam; who married John Treat Irving Jr., a nephew of Washington Irving; the middle son of William Backhouse Astor Sr. (totaling $102,000)