Richard Varick (March 15, 1753 – July 30, 1831) was an American lawyer, military officer, and politician who has been referred to as "The Forgotten Founding Father." A major figure in the development of post-Independence New York City and the state of New York, Varick became the 46th mayor of New York City in 1789 and served eleven consecutive one-year terms until 1801.
Previous to his terms as mayor, Varick served as the 14th Recorder of New York City from 1784 to 1789. An office that no longer exists, it equates to 'Chief Legal Officer'. Along with Samuel Jones, Varick codified New York State's first statutes after the American Revolution in the Laws of New York (2 vols., 1789). This body of work laid the legal groundwork for Varick to institute the Law of New York, the New York City Administrative Code, and the Rules of New York City during his terms as mayor. Additionally, under his leadership, the progenitors of the New York City Department of Health, the New York Stock Exchange, and many other organizations would be created. These organizations established the foundation of modern New York City.
During the American Revolutionary War, Varick served as George Washington's aide-de-camp and private secretary. Varick's body of work from this era would lead to the Varick Transcripts, which now live in the Library of Congress. The value of these documents has been noted throughout their lifetime as invaluable to the understanding of the formation of the United States.
Varick was a founder of the Society of the Cincinnati and the American Bible Society, and was a slaveholder. He was also a longtime trustee of Columbia University, where he was chairman of the board from 1810 to 1816.
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Early life and family
He was born on March 15, 1753, at Hackensack in Bergen County, New Jersey, to John Varick and Jane (née Dey) Varick. Both Varick's parents ancestors had emigrated with the Dutch West India Company in the early to mid 17th century and remained in the greater New York City area. Amongst Varick's ancestors are Joris Jansen Rapelje, a member of the Council of Twelve Men which was the first democratic body in the history of the United States (1641). Varick's maternal grandfather was a colonel in the Continental Army whose house, the Dey Mansion, which would go on to play a pivotal role in the American Revolution.
Varick was one of seven children, his siblings being: Abraham Varick (the great-grandfather of Anna Maria Romeyn Varick, who married George Lauder of the Lauder Greenway Family.); Dr. John Varick Jr.; Anne Elting; Sarah Froeligh; Jane De Witt (wife of Simeon De Witt); and Maria Gilbert.
Education
Little is known about the specifics of Varick's education before university, though surviving letters indicate that he was educated by private tutors and studied Latin, French, and other subjects. He enrolled in King's College (the original name of Columbia University) in New York City in 1771 where he studied under John Morin Scott. Varick clerked for Scott during his education and after being admitted into the New York Bar in October 1774, Scott made him an offer to be a partner in his firm. Unusually, Varick had not yet graduated from King's College despite having passed the bar and never formally graduated. Later in his career, Varick would become a trustee of King's College for over thirty years.
Military career
American Revolutionary War
Eight months into his career in private practice, the American Revolutionary War began. Under the influence of his employer, John Morin Scott, Varick suspended his studies and enlisted in the militia. On June 28, 1775, he was appointed captain of the 1st New York Regiment, and after only three days as field officer was appointed military secretary under General Philip Schuyler who was in command of the Northern Army. It was thought that Scott, understanding the administrative and intellectual value of his young partner, secured the appointment. Varick departed New York City with Schuyler on July 4, 1775, to head north to Fort Ticonderoga and launch the campaign to drive the British out of Canada. En route, the traveling party stopped in Albany briefly where Varick would first meet General Benedict Arnold, who would become a good friend and play a significant role in Varick's life until Arnold's treason in 1780.
By the summer of 1776, Schuyler had been felled by multiple illnesses and was reeling from a series of losses on the battlefield. Varick, by this juncture, in part out of necessity, and in part by appointment, was performing three jobs at once: private secretary to Schuyler, quartermaster for all the northern forts held by the Continental Army, and the Northern Army's deputy muster master general. Laterally, actual battlefield commands had been outsourced to Arnold and to General Horatio Gates. Schuyler, recognizing the burden Varick was carrying, promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel. Varick's almost total control of the administration for the Northern Army led to an even closer friendship between Arnold and Varick.
That same summer, Arnold was planning his attack effort to stop the British advance down Lake Champlain in what would be one of the first battles in the history of the U.S. Navy. With a dearth of available ships, the armada was largely built from scratch by Varick who solved the crisis by contacting his wide network in New York City and the surrounding area to send materials and coastal men who were qualified for such work. While the Battle of Valcour Island ended in defeat for the navy, it succeeded in slowing the British advance for the winter as they retreated to their Canadian bases.
Varick also faced run-ins with fellow officers who were not part of Schuyler's faction. General Anthony Walton White, who had briefly served as Washington's aide-de-camp, was accused by Schuyler of looting a private home on the frontier. After denying the charges, White barged into Varick's offices and challenged him to a duel, under the impression that Varick had spoken negatively to his character. Varick, unarmed, narrowly escaped White's attempt to murder him after Varick declined the challenge.
Society of the Cincinnati
In 1783 the Society of the Cincinnati was founded of which Varick was an original member and president of the New York chapter from 1783 until his death in 1831. Membership was generally limited to officers who had served at least three years in the Continental Army or Navy. The first meeting of the Society was held in May at a dinner at Mount Gulian (Verplanck House) in Fishkill, New York, before the British evacuation from New York City. The meeting was chaired by Varick's friend Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton. The Society has three goals: "To preserve the rights so dearly won; to promote the continuing union of the states; and to assist members in need, their widows, and their orphans."
Varick would also be responsible for maintaining the legacy of George Washington. From 1790 to 1836, celebrations of Washington's birthday in the City included Tammany Hall dinners, Washington Benevolent Society parades, and an intimate open house held each February 22 by Mary Simpson (c. 1752 - March 18, 1836), at her John Street grocery.
Political career
Recorder and Attorney General of New York (1784–1789)
Varick was the Recorder of New York City from 1784 to 1789. An office that no longer exists, it is equatable to 'Chief Legal Officer.' In this office, along with Samuel Jones, he codified New York State's first statutes after the Revolution in the Laws of New York (2 vols., 1789). This body of work laid the foundation for the Law of New York, the New York City Administrative Code, and the Rules of New York City.
Concurrently to the above, he was a member of the New York State Assembly from New York County from 1786 to 1788. During his term as a member of the New York State Assembly, he was Speaker during the sessions of 1787 and 1788. Varick was appointed the New York State Attorney General from 1788 to 1789.
Remarkably, due to the elitist nature of the New York State Constitution of 1777, almost all government positions in the city and state of New York were appointed by the Council of Appointment. Few, if any, general elections or other democratic functions would exist until 1802. Thus, in the year 1788, Varick was simultaneously the Recorder of New York City, a State Assemblyman representing New York City, the Speaker of the House of the State of New York, and the Attorney General of the State of New York. Though Varick is on record protesting the egregious nature of his occupying multiple offices, it was rationalized at the time that as both an expert administrator and lawyer, he was an ideal choice to fill these myriad offices and to build swiftly the various mechanisms of government. And, that the subsequent laws were codified quickly in the nascent days of an independent New York City and State to ensure the function, and growth, of both entities.
Mayor of New York City (1789–1801)
Varick would peak politically as the Mayor of New York City for twelve years during the formative post-Independence era from 1789 to 1801. While Mayor, he would continue his establishment of the technocratic structure that would ensure New York City's place as the commercial capital of the United States, despite the political capital moving to Philadelphia, then Washington D.C. At this time in history, there was no precedent of commercial and political leadership split between two cities.
In 1791, the major financial crisis would hit the United States in New York due to a scheme to manipulate the financial markets, which had no formal structure of any kind. Varick would have to increase officers to protect the guilty parties from mobs gathering outside the prison. This would lead to a group of merchants making the "Buttonwood Agreement” in 1792 which was the seed of the New York Stock Exchange.
In the summer of 1793 a yellow fever epidemic sent New Yorkers "fleeing north" to nearby healthful Greenwich Village. This epidemic would lead to the creation of what would become the New York City Department of Health. This was timely as there were further epidemics in 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799, and 1800.
In 1794, public anger at Federalist political ideals spilled into the streets with Varick's support of the Jay Treaty. An angry mob would almost physically run him out of the city.
Varick ran into more trouble when he tried to pressure the city's 1,000 or so licensed workers — tavern keepers, grocers, butchers and cartmen, all of whom had licenses to work for the city — to vote for Federalist candidates. “This went completely contrary to the egalitarian sentiment of the time,” Dr. Hodges said.
Varick's heavy-handed ways, Dr. Hodges said, pushed many of the workers away from the Federalists, represented by Alexander Hamilton, and into the opposing Democratic-Republican faction, represented by Thomas Jefferson. In 1797, after losing his seat representing New York State in the U.S. Senate, Aaron Burr took control of Tammany Hall and used it to assail Varick for his use of marketing and tax-licensing fees. Burr would win the state's electoral vote in the 1800 presidential election leading to a wide sweeping rout of Federalist politicians across New York, including Varick in 1801.
Post-Political Life
Founding of Jersey City
In 1804, Varick, who was out of office and politically unpopular in New York City, joined his friend Alexander Hamilton to create the Associates of the Jersey Company which would lay the groundwork for modern Jersey City through private development. The consortium behind the company were predominantly Federalists who, like Varick and Hamilton, had been swept out of power in the election of 1800 by Thomas Jefferson and other Democratic-Republicans. Large tracts of land in Paulus Hook were purchased by the company with the titles owned by Varick and his two cousins, Anthony Dey, a prominent attorney and major land owner, and Jacob Radcliff, a Justice of the New York Supreme Court who would later become mayor of New York City (twice) from 1810 to 1811 and again from 1815 to 1818. They laid out the city squares and streets that still characterize the neighborhood, giving them names also seen in Lower Manhattan or after war heroes (Grove, Varick, Mercer, Wayne, Monmouth and Montgomery among them).
In 1816, Colonel Varick purchased lots on the north side of Essex Street and built Prospect Hall overlooking the Hudson River. The property was landscaped with lawns and gardens to the waterfront. Varick would become the figurehead of the continuing development of Jersey City, inviting luminary friends such as Major General Marquis de Lafayette to visit while touring America in 1824 for special Fourth of July celebrations. Varick would live at Prospect Hall until he died on July 30, 1831.
Founding of the American Bible Society
Varick was a founder of the American Bible Society in 1816. He would later become president (succeeding John Jay) in 1828 until his death in 1831.
Personal life
He and his wife Maria Roosevelt, daughter of Isaac Roosevelt, were married on May 8, 1786, in New York City. His father-in-law was the patrilineal great-great-grandfather of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
On February 15, 2022, the Washington Post reported that Richard Varick was on the list of New York City mayors who owned slaves, a list compiled Sarah Cate Wolfson, a New York City high school student. According to the 1790 US census, Varick's New York City household included one enslaved person. According to the US census of 1800, it included three. The US census of 1810 indicated that the Varick household included four enslaved persons. An 1816 city jury ward census indicated that Varick's household had one enslaved person, and two black residents who were not slaves. The US census for 1820 showed Varick as a resident of Jersey, New Jersey, where one enslaved person resided with him. According to the 1830 US census, Varick resided in Jersey City, and his home included no enslaved persons.
Varick and his wife initially resided at 52 Wall Street, then moved to a larger home on lower Broadway. They also owned a home at 11 Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan. Their final home was Prospect Hall on Essex Street in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Death and burial
Varick died on July 30, 1831, at Prospect Hall and is interred at the First Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Eponyms
Varick Street (where he once owned property) in Manhattan in the City of New York, Varick Street in Jersey City, and the Town of Varick, New York, all bear his name.