Leffert Lefferts

Leffert Lefferts (April 12, 1774 – March 22, 1847)[1] was the first President of the Long Island Bank, the first bank in Brooklyn, New York.[2]

Early life

Lefferts was born at the Bedford homestead on April 12, 1774.[3] He was the son of Leffert Lefferts (1727–1804) and Dorothy (née Couwenhoven) Lefferts (1738–1816). The Lefferts family were an important family in the history of Brooklyn and were among the financiers of the State of New York.[4]

He attended Columbia College in 1794.[3]

Career

Lefferts, a Federalist, twice ran, unsuccessfully, for U.S. Congress, losing to his own cousin, John Lefferts, a Democratic-Republican, in 1813.[3] He was also the first judge of Kings County.[5] In 1824, Lefferts, along with Jehiel Jagger, Fanning C. Tucker, Jacob Hicks, Thomas Everitt Jr., founded the Long Island Bank, the first bank in Brooklyn, of which Lefferts served as president.[6]

Judge Lefferts also owned substantial land holdings, which were managed by his son-in-law, James Carson Brevoort, who served as private secretary to Washington Irving when Irving was appointed as United States Minister to Spain in 1842.[7] While members of his family owned slaves, including John Lefferts, Leffert himself did not, and instead, the 1830 census shows "three free people of color" living with members of his family.[3]

Personal life

Lefferts was married to Maria Benson (1793–1875). Maria was the daughter of Dinah (née Couwenhoven) Benson and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Benson (1739–1823),[8] Clerk of the New York State Senate.[9] She was also the sister of New York City Alderman Egbert Benson and niece of U.S. Representative, Egbert Benson.[10] Together, Maria and Leffert were the parents of:[10]

  • Elizabeth Dorothea Lefferts (1824–1896), who married James Carson Brevoort (1818–1887), a collector of rare books and coins, in 1845.[11]
  • Leffert Lefferts (1826–1827), who died young.[10]

Lefferts died on March 22, 1847. He is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Descendants

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the grandfather of Henry Lefferts Brevoort (1849–1895), who married Elizabeth Schermerhorn (1852–1928), a daughter of Alfred Schermerhorn and Elizabeth (née Barnewall) Schermerhorn (sister of Louisa Barnewall Van Rensselaer).[7]

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References
  1. Agreement between Leffert Lefferts and Cornelius and Garret Nostrand Lefferts Family Papers, Brooklyn Historical Society, 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  2. Stiles, Henry R. (1869). A History of the City of Brooklyn, Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Volume II. Brooklyn. pp. 211–4. ISBN 978-0-7884-4164-6.
  3. Wellman, Judith (2017). Brooklyn's Promised Land: The Free Black Community of Weeksville, New York. NYU Press. p. 22. ISBN 9781479874477. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  4. Ditmas, Charles Andrew. (1909) Historic Homesteads of Kings County Brooklyn, New York: Charles Andrew Ditmas, p. 112.
  5. Society, Long Island Historical (1889). Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society. The Society. p. 6. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  6. Ross, Peter (2017). A History of Long Island, Vol. 2. Jazzybee Verlag. p. 207. ISBN 9783849650063. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  7. Sink, Robert. "Guide to the Brevoort family papers 1977.285". dlib.nyu.edu. Brooklyn Historical Society. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  8. Yearbook of the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York. Sons of the Revolution New York Society. 1910. p. 69. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  9. "Robert Benson (1739-1823)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  10. Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families. Heritage Books. 2000. p. 21. ISBN 9780788419560. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  11. Wilson & Fiske 1900.
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