Samuel Verplanck (1739-1820)

He was born in New York City and in 1758 was a member of the first class to graduate from King's (Columbia) College. He then went to Amsterdam to work for his maternal uncle, Daniel Crommelin, who was the senior partner of one of Holland's most important banking and commercial houses, Daniel Crommelin & Sons. While there in 1761, he married one of Daniel's daughters, Judith Crommelin. They travelled extensively in Europe before returning to New York in 1763 where Samuel established himself as a wholesale importer and banker. Aided by his wife's handsome dowry, they built a large yellow-brick mansion at 3 Wall Street (see images), later replaced by the U.S. Assay Building. They were well-known for their hospitality both before and during the Revolution. Frequent guests included General Howe; John Singleton Copley who painted his portrait (see images) in 1771; and, the Franco-American writer, Jean de Crèvecœur. The furniture, paintings, and ceramics on display today at the Verplanck Room in the Met Museum (Gallery 718) were originally found at No. 3 Wall Street.

In 1768, he was one of the twenty-four founders of the New York Chamber of Commerce and he was a Governor of King's College. He was appointed to the General Committee of Safety in 1775 and was a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New York. Not long after signing the Declaration of Association & Union against Great Britain he retired from taking any active role in the war and chose to remain neutral. His position was a precarious one as while he was friends with General Howe in New York, he allowed Baron von Steuben of the Continental Army to use his country estate at Fishkill further up the Hudson. In 1804, he retired permanently to Fishkill in Dutchess County where he was a large landowner having been one of the three original patentees of the Rumbout Patent. Having first lived at Fishkill Plains, he moved to "Mount Gulian" on the banks of the Hudson that had belonged to his father. Only one of his children reached adulthood, Daniel Crommelin Verplanck, who married the only daughter of William Walton.