Jacobus Van Cortlandt

Jacobus van Cortlandt (1658–1739) was a wealthy New Amsterdam-born American merchant, slave owner, and politician who served as the 30th and 33rd Mayor of New York City from 1710 to 1711 and again from 1719 to 1720.

Jacobus Van Cortlandt was born in 1658 in New Amsterdam, a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in what was then New Netherland.

His father was originally a soldier and bookkeeper that rose to high colonial ranks through his work with the Dutch West India Company, eventually serving many terms as burgomaster and alderman.

[4] Van Cortlandt was married to Eva de Vries (born 1660-year of death unknown), the daughter of Margaret Hardenbroeck and Peter Rudolphus de Vries, and the adopted daughter of Frederick Philipse, the 1st Lord of the Philipsburg Manor.

Through his grandson Dr. James Jay, Van Cortlandt is the 3x great-grandfather of the 19th century strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840–1914).