Charles McEvers (1739-1808)

He was born at New York City. From 1759, at Meal Street and Dock Street, he imported dry goods, teas and Irish goods before succeeding to his brother's large import business in 1768. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence in 1774 and was described by a contemporary as, "one of the most amiable among us". He remained in New York during the Revolution (when his mansion was occupied by General Knyphausen) and was one of the addressors of General Howe when the British occupied the city in 1776. He and his brother, James, lived at 34 Wall Street (see images) next door to the Bank of New York, between which was a passageway that led into Pine Street. Though long since demolished, Richard Henry Dana used the house as the model for the New York Headquarters of the Society of Colonial Dames at 215 East 71st Street.

His first wife, Margaret, daughter of Simon Johnson, Recorder of the City of New York, died in childbirth. In 1763, he married his second wife, Mary, sister of Gulian Verplanck, the Speaker of the New York Assembly and President of the Bank of New York who saved the life of the future King William IV when he fell through a hole in the ice while they were skating together in New York. Charles was the father of one daughter by his first wife and five children by his second: (1) Margaret, married British Captain Thomas Bibby, of New York City (2) Charles McEvers Jr., President of the New York Insurance Company, married Mary Bache, then Margaret Cooper (3) Annette, married William Peter Van Ness, of Lindenwald; (4) Julian McEvers, married Elizabeth LeRoy, sister of his business partner, Herman LeRoy (5) Mary, married U.S. Secretary of State, Edward Livingston (6) Eliza, married Edward's elder brother, Major John R. Livingston, of Massena, New York.