_Richard SKINNER _
_William SKINNER _________|
| |_Susanna POULAIN _
|
|--Cortlandt SKINNER
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| __________________
|_Elizabeth VAN_CORTLANDT _|
|__________________
!.....E91.0527.03 SKU 8(2):25 Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. p 1012. Skinner, Cortlandt. 1728-1799. Tory officer. N.J. Related to prominent families of N.J. and N.Y., he received a good education and showed great ability and integrity as Att. Gen. of N.J. in 1775. As a Maj. of Loyalist troops he was captured and in Sept. 1776 he and Gov. Montfort Browne were exchanged for Gen. William Alexander ("Lord Sterling"). He then was authorized to raise a body of Loyalists. These were organized into the several battalions of Skinner's Brig. (one commanded by Col. Abram Van Buskirk), and Skinner was appointed B.G. of Provincials. After the war he was put on half pay as B.G. for life. One of his daughters married Sir. Wm. Robinson, Cmmm. Gen., and another married Field Marshal Sir Geo. Nugent. His son, Philip Kearny Skinner, was a British Lt. Gen. in 1825, the year before his death.
!.....E 95.0417.05 SKU 12(2):32 Jones, E Alfred, M.A., F.R. Hist. Soc. The Loyalists of New Jersey / Their Memorials, Petitions, Claims, Etc. From English Records Newark, NJ New Jersey Historical Society 1927: He is described in his memorial as Attorney-General of New Jersey from 1754 and Speaker of the House of Assembly from 1765, and the father of twelve children, who early in the War Òwere turned out of Perth Amboy, with their mother, by General Mercer.Ó In his letter of February 10, 1786, he says that Philip Kearny and his own wife were entitled each to one-fourth of their fatherÕs property at Six-Mile Run, New Jersey. Their father, after making his will, had disposed of this tract, except 150 acres. This statement is confirmed by a certificate, dated December 7, 1785, of their brother, Ravaud Kearny. With this letter and certificate is a copy of an order, dated Perth Amboy, July 29, 1776, that the following persons were suspected of being disaffected to the American cause and were ordered by the Convention of New Jersey to be removed into the country, at a distance from all communication with the enemy: Mrs. Cortlandt Skinner and family; Mrs. Antill and family; Mrs. Derbage; Mrs. Homfray and family; Mrs. Kearny and family; Mrs. Holland and family; Peache and wife; Hunter and wife; and Thomas Stevens and wife. In the same bundle (A.O. 13:111) are: A letter from Cortlandt Skinner, dated March 9, 1786, giving the date of his birth as December 16, 1727, Old Style, and adding that he has three daughters grown up and four sons who call for his assistance; particulars of the estate inherited by his wife from her father; also a schedule of his own property. Sir William Howe, in a letter dated March 26, 1784, stated that Cortlandt Skinner from his consequence was by him granted a commission to raise a Corps [the New Jersey Volunteers] of four Battalions, which, though not entirely completed, was in great measure effected to HoweÕs satisfaction. (A.O. 13:79). The Commissioners in reporting upon his claim declared that he was one of the most respectable men from the Continent of America and had done material services in the War. He was now in want of assistance, and no man was better entitled to ask for it from the British Government. His very modest application, with a large family of twelve, add to their respect for his character. If the Government at any time have any high legal office vacant in the British dependencies they recommend him as one who would fill it with great honor to himself, and they are very sure that he deserves every reward from England. (A.O. 12:100, f. 31). In his letter to Lord Sidney he refers to his petition for relief and complains that some Provincial Corps, junior to his, had already been put on the establishment [entitling the officers to half-pay]. He sets forth his military and civil services, and concludes with a gloomy account of his prospects, with nothing left to support his wife and family. (F.O. 4:1)). Cortlandt Skinner was awarded £5,169 from his claim of £10,382, and at the rate of £500 a year during the War for the loss of his official income of £576. (A.O. 12:109). The above accounts of his career may be supplemented from another official source. In September, 1775, he was called upon before the Town Committee at Morristown and was found guilty of being inimical to the liberties of America, but, on declaring himself generally a friend to liberty, his friends on that Committee Òtook advantage of these general expressions and obtained his discharge for him.Ó In August, 1775, he was offered the command of the Provincial troops, by Mr. Carter, Secretary to the Provincial Congress, and by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Stewart, acting for the Provincial Congress, with whatever rank in New Jersey he might choose, but he refused the offer. He was obliged to quit in January, 1776, and his wife and family were forced later to leave the Province. The date of his commission as Brigadier-General of the New Jersey Volunteers is September 4, 1776. His library contained 482 volumes. (LoyalistsÕ Claims,Ó pp. 113-5). Cortlandt Skinner, in evidence in behalf of Philip Kearny in London on February 4, 1785, admitted that he approved of Kearny and other Loyalists signing an ÒAssociation paperÓ drawn up by Skinner himself that they were friends of Liberty and the Constitution. (Ibid., p. 300). The Brigadier-General, who was a lawyer of marked ability and strict integrity, was the son of Rev. William Skinner, first Rector of St. PeterÕs Church, Perth Amboy (originally a Mac Gregor) and his wife, Elizabeth Van Cortlandt, and was the brother of Major John Skinner (q.v.). His mother was a daughter of Colonel Stephen Van Cortlandt, and his wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Philip Kearny, lawyer, of Perth Amboy. A son-in-law was William Terrill (q.v.) He died, March 15, 1799, at Bristol in England, to which country he went after the Peace, and his widow died in 1810 at Belvoir Park, near Belfast, Ireland, His daughter, Catherine, married Sir William Henry Robinson (1765-1836), Commissary-General in the British army, fifth son of Colonel Beverley Robinson, the distinguished New York Loyalist. (T. 50:11; A/O. 461:16; Ind.: 5605-6; A.O. 13:85; A.O. 12:13, ff. 27-60; A.O. 12:74, ff. 83-6; A.O. 12:89, f. 10; Force, ÒAmerican Archives,Ó Ser. IV, Vol. IV, pp. 363, 1607; ÒOntario Archives,Ó pp. 1232-9; Stryker; Sabine. A long account of Rev. William and Gen. Skinner is in WhiteheadÕs ÒHist. of Perth AmboyÓ). His son, Cortlandt, was appointed Ensign in the 70th Foot, on November 11, 1780, and was promoted Lieutenant on December 26, 1787. His name appears in the army lists until 1795. Another son was Lieutenant-General Philip Kearny Skinner (q.v.).
!.....E95.0808.87-88 SKU 12(4)96 HobbiesÐThe Magazine for Collectors. September, 1958. Cortland, his oldest, was educated for the bar. He served as attorney-general of New Jersey from 1754 until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. During the period of mounting tension between England and the colonies he sent repeated warning to England Ð not only in private letters, but also in a formal manner Ð t repeal the Stamp Act, the duties, the Meeting Bill, etc. He sided with the colonists in all their grievances, and until the Battle of Lexington he hoped for remedial measures. However, he did not believe the solution should come through a break with England. The idea appalled him and he could foresee only destruction for the colonies. In 1761 he was elected to the Provincial Assembly as a representative from Perth Amboy and he continued to be a prominent member of that body while it existed, being elected speaker in 1765. During the days preceding the Revolutionary War he exerted all his influence, which was considerable, to being about a restoration of harmonious relations which had previously existed. When his efforts failed he left the province and identified himself with the royal cause. He was immediately appointed Brigadier General with authority to raise five battalions in New Jersey. He succeeded in getting only about five hundred men. During the struggle he lived with his family on Staten Island where the ÒNew Jersey Volunteers ... under the command of General Cortlandt Skinner. After the Revolution he returned to England where he received compensation for his forfeited estate and the half pay of Brigadier General during his life. He died March 10, 1799, aged 71. On November 30, 1751, he married Elizabeth Kearney, the daughter of Philip Kearney and his first wife, Lady Barney Dexter.