Simeon De Witt
| Simeon De Witt | |
|---|---|
(1804)
by Ezra Ames |
|
| Born |
December 25, 1756 Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York |
| Died | December 3, 1834 (aged 77) Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York |
| Alma mater | Queens College |
Simeon De Witt (December 25, 1756 – December 3, 1834) was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death.
De Witt was born in Ulster County, New York, one of fourteen children of physician Dr. Andries De Witt and Jannetje Vernooy De Witt, both of Dutch ancestry. He was the only graduate in the class of 1776 at Queens College – now Rutgers College of Rutgers University – in New Brunswick, New Jersey. After the capture of New Brunswick by the British during the war, De Witt fled to New York City where he joined the Revolutionary Army.
In June 1778, having been trained as a surveyor by James Clinton, the husband of De Witt's Aunt Mary, De Witt was appointed as assistant to the Geographer and Surveyor of the Army, Colonel Robert Erskine, and contributed to a number of historically significant maps. After Erskine's death in 1780, De Witt was appointed to his post.
After the American Revolutionary War, De Witt attempted, but failed, to get the Continental Congress interested in a national mapping project.
DeWitt was appointed New York State Surveyor General in 1784, New York being one of the few states which had such an office. De Witt died 50 years later still holding that position, having been re-appointed and re-elected several times. Although he was a first cousin of DeWitt Clinton – the most powerful politician in the state, and both the Mayor of New York City and a State Senator – and was a Democratic-Republican, De Witt was never removed from office. Both Federalists and Bucktails recognized his outstanding qualification for the office.
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