States Dyckman

States Dyckman was an American Loyalist during the American Revolution who lived in New York state. A descendant of early Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, he proved to be a man of both questionable ethics and allegiances. He somehow was able to retain his family fortune despite being an active Loyalist and working in the British Army's Quartermaster Corps for most of the war, keeping the accounts of various quartermasters. Later, as an investigator of war profiteering among quartermasters he received a lifetime pension and other gifts from those whom he cleared, apparently by manipulating evidence.

Biography When Sir William Erskine, Quartermaster General, returned to England in 1779 to face an audit and investigation for war profiteering, he asked Dyckman to accompany him. Bribed off by Erskine with a life annuity, he remained in England ten years, profiting upon other investigations of quartermasters and only returned to the newly independent United States in 1789. According to one biographer, he saw himself as a "conspicuously well-fixed farmer, surrounded with objects of taste...who did not farm too seriously". The architect is not known, although surviving records show that a William Vermilye was heavily involved as construction manager. Dyckman died in 1806, before it was finished. His widow completed it, and she and their surviving son moved into it in 1808. In the mid-20th century it faced demolition, but was saved as a historic site. Relocated from Cortlandt to Garrison, New York, it is a popular tourist destination on the Hudson River.