Boscobel

     Boscobel, as it appears today.

States Dyckman was born in 1755, the son of a humble Harlem innkeeper, Jacob Dyckman.  He died in 1806 as perhaps the only Loyalist to make a fortune in England during the war and return to America to live in comfort. The mansion that was to be the culmination of his life’s work, Boscobel, still stands as a beautiful example of Federal architecture and luxury.

States Dyckman. Artist Unknown

States first brush with the turmoil of the American Revolution came on the night of June 4, 1776. On that night, States and several Albany loyalists (including the Royal Mayor of Albany, Abraham Cuyler) gathered at Cartright’s Inn to celebrate the birthday of King George III. However, their toast wishing “Damnation to the enemies of the King” did not sit well with the rebellious populace of the city.  A mob gathered around the inn, and the party goers were promptly arrested. After spending several days in captivity, he was brought before Albany’s Committee of Safety. Though he refused to sign an Association that pledged his support to the rebel cause, Dyckman was eventually freed under the promise that he would not flee the city or take up arms against the rebellion.

While he never violated the later term of his parole, States did eventually flee Albany. He met with his friend Abraham Cuyler in Fishkill in January of 1777, and together the men fled to British-held New York City. There, States found work as a clerk in the quartermaster department of the British Army, starting a career that spanned over two decades and won him two fortunes.

Specifically, Dyckman was tasked with monitoring the hiring of wagons by the army. This was a section of the Quartermasters Department long known for its corruption, and its conduct during the Revolution would prove no different. It was common practice for officers in the Quartermasters to purchase wagon companies upon assuming command, which they then contracted with to transport supplies. Free on any form of supervision, this system lent itself to corruption, as the quartermasters would falsify pay rates and the number of wagons being hired. States and other accounts were tasked with preparing a clean set of books for official scrutiny, while keeping another set that more accurately tracked where the money was going. In this capacity, he entered into association with Quartermaster General Sir William Erskine and his successors, Lord Cathcart and General John Dalrymple, as well as several other officers in the department, His accountant’s salary was supplemented by generous financial gifts from these men, allowing him to live in comfort in the occupied city.

            In the summer of 1779, General Erskine invited States to travel with him to England to help him prepare his accounts for audit. Here, States enjoyed several things that proved to be rarities to other American exiles: access, success, and employment. While many other Americans (including several from much higher station than he) spent their exile relying on government handouts and seeking a way to gain the ear of the government, States was able to enjoy British high society (as much as a class distinctions allowed) and meet face-to-face with members of the British Army’s command staff.

While in London, States became friends with several other exiled New Yorkers, most prominent amongst them Peter Van Schaack. The letters that survive between these men offer a fascinating look into the oft-ignored American exile community in London. Like many of Dyckman’s papers, they are preserved at the reconstructed Boscobel in Garrison, NY.

After spending three years in London, States returned to New York in July of 1781.  Ever the businessman, States brought back over six hundred pounds worth of cloth and garments with him to sell in the occupied city. This was only the beginning of States’ career as a small time trafficker in luxuries. He would carry back a small fortune in clothing and other luxuries every time he returned to America from a stay in London. His fine tastes would continue to supplement (and, at times, drain) his income and eventually made Boscobel one of the most beautifully furnished homes in America.  

Though Dyckman had lead a long and successful defense of the Quartermasters during his stay in London, Parliament was far from through investigating the wasteful department. During States’ trip to New York, Parliament created the Commission to Examine, Take, and State the Public Accounts of the Kingdom and charged it with investigating in detail the activities of the quartermasters. States was quickly recalled to London to face this new threat, and arrived in July of 1782, a month after the Commission published their Seventh Report. It accused the quartermasters of committing “numberless…frauds and impositions” against the government, and dismissed the findings of previous, less forceful investigations. Frighteningly, the Commission was the first to strike at the heart of the corruption in the Department, and thus at States’ livelihood: the ownership of the wagon trains by the quartermasters’ themselves.

It took Dyckman and the other lawyers and accountants employed by the Quartermasters another six years to defeat the latest charges. Ultimately, he was successful, and several of States’ grateful employers granted him lifetime annuities for securing their ill-gotten fortunes. In 1788, he returned to America a wealthy man. Surprisingly, he was the last of his émigré friends to return to America. Many of States’ closest friends returned to America in the years immediately following the Revolution. From there, they, along with States’ family, kept up a steady writing campaign aimed at luring Dyckman home. His other loyalist friends described in generally positive terms their experiences in the new nation, and very quickly re-established themselves (though not as opulently as Dyckman himself). States’ relatives were able to purchase a small farm for him by King’s Ferry, near one of his brothers and far away from Albany, where he had been arrested as a known Loyalist.  

States lived for several years in the quietude of his new home. In 1794, he married Elizabeth Corne Kennedy, the granddaughter of one of his neighbors, Peter Corne. Peter had also been a Loyalist during the war, as were Elizabeth’s parents, though the historic record is very unclear as to their fates. Elizabeth was many years Dyckman’s junior, and her propertied family seem to take exception to her marriage to a particularly well-to-do accountant. In an effort to prove his worth, States began a series of improvements to his house and property. The improvements proved costly, so much that States was forced to sell many of his prized possessions, most notably his 1,400 book library (now restored, in part to Boscobel’s collections and on display to the public). Crisis came when one of States’ main benefactors, General Erskine, died, and his heirs stopped their payments.  Faced with bankruptcy, States was obligated to return to England in 1799.

Elizabeth Kennedy Dyckman, States’ young bride.

     States’ stay in England proved to be longer than expected. While there, a new round of investigations were opened into the quartermasters’ accounts, and Dyckman was once again pressed into service to defend them. The proceedings played out over the next four years, earning States another fortune and renewed annuity payments. In 1803, once again a wealthy man, States sailed for home.

The snuff box, with the face of Charles II visible.

      States Dyckman died from gout, a disease that plagued him for much of his adult life, on August 11, 1806. Two years later, Boscobel was completed. States may be unique among the Loyalists of the Hudson Valley. No one else that I have come across seems to have been a confirmed opponent of the Revolution, worked for the British army, lived in exile, and returned home to live in prosperity with few if any words said of his political leanings.  Despite his troubles, States Dyckman stands as an impressive and resilient success, finding some measure of happiness throughout a turbulent life.

      To learn more about Boscobel and the amazing story of its salvation and reconstruction, please visit their website, www.boscobel.org. As mentioned, Boscobel’s collections contain numerous original documents to and from States, and offer an insightful look into the life of a Loyalist exile both during and after the Revolutionary war. Those with an interest in 18^th century clothing will take an interest in the carefully preserved receipts and bills from William Butler (another Loyalist), who supplied both States’ wardrobe while in London and many of the fineries he transported with him to America. These papers are largely untouched by historians, and could serve as an exciting jumping-off point for future research.