John Peter Van Ness

Johannes Petrus “John Peter” Van Ness (November 4, 1769 – March 7, 1846) was an American politician and civic leader who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1801 to 1803 and as Mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1830 to 1834. A member of the Republican (Democratic-Republican) Party in Congress, he participated in the legislative process during a formative period in the early republic and later became a prominent figure in the political, military, financial, and social life of the nation’s capital.

Van Ness was born on November 4, 1769, in Ghent, in the Province of New York, into an old Dutch family long established in the Hudson Valley. He was the son of Judge Peter Van Ness (1734–1804), a New York politician and officer during the American Revolution, and Elbertje Hogeboom (1743–1806). His father owned extensive landholdings and a brick mansion in Columbia County, much of which was later purchased by Martin Van Buren; the mansion became Van Buren’s home, Lindenwald. The 1790 federal census records that Peter Van Ness held ten enslaved people in his household, reflecting the presence of slavery in the region and within the family. John Peter Van Ness was the elder brother of William P. Van Ness (1778–1826), who became a federal judge, and Cornelius P. Van Ness (1782–1852), who served as Governor of Vermont and later as U.S. Minister to Spain. Van Ness completed preparatory studies at Washington Seminary and then attended Columbia College in New York City. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but he never engaged in active legal practice, turning instead to public affairs and politics.

Van Ness entered national politics as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. He was elected to represent New York’s 6th congressional district in the 7th United States Congress, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Federalist Representative John Bird. He took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 6, 1801. During his single term in Congress, he served at a time of intense party competition and institutional development in the early years of the Jefferson administration, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his New York constituents. In the general election of April 1802, he was defeated for re-election by Federalist Henry W. Livingston. Subsequently, on January 17, 1803, his seat was declared vacant after President Thomas Jefferson appointed him a major in the District of Columbia militia in 1802, a federal office incompatible with congressional service under the U.S. Constitution. Following this appointment, Van Ness made Washington his permanent home and shifted the focus of his career to the capital’s civic and military institutions.

In Washington, Van Ness quickly became a leading figure in local governance and the militia. He served as president of the second council of the city in 1803, an important municipal body in the early administration of the District. His military career advanced steadily: he was promoted to lieutenant colonel commandant of the first legion of the District of Columbia militia in 1805, brigadier general in 1811, and major general in 1813. From 1811 to 1814 he served as the second Commanding General of what became the District of Columbia National Guard. During the War of 1812, he played an active role in the defense preparations for the capital. When British ships reconnoitered the Potomac River in May 1814, Van Ness activated cavalry units of the militia to observe and report on British movements. He urged that militia forces be kept on federal active duty to respond quickly to any attack, but Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr. declined this recommendation. In the period leading up to the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 and the subsequent Burning of Washington, Van Ness was prevented from taking an active field command because his senior rank would have placed him above William H. Winder, whom the administration had designated as overall commander. President James Madison directed Armstrong to assign Van Ness to another suitable position, but this was not carried out. Van Ness nevertheless took the initiative to organize volunteers to dig defensive trenches for U.S. forces prior to the engagement at Bladensburg.

Beyond his military and political roles, Van Ness was deeply involved in the civic, intellectual, and economic life of Washington. During the 1820s he was a member of the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, an organization that included prominent national figures and sought to advance scientific and cultural endeavors in the young republic. He was known to be a friend of the writer Washington Irving. Like many leading residents of the period, Van Ness was a slaveowner, and enslaved labor formed part of the social and economic foundation of his household and enterprises. In 1802, he was among the leading figures of the Washington Jockey Club who helped relocate the city’s principal racecourse. Working with John Tayloe III and Charles Carnan Ridgely, and with the support of Dr. William Thornton, George Washington Parke Custis, John Threlkeld of Georgetown, and George Calvert of Riversdale, the club moved its contests from a track behind what is now the site of Decatur House—extending from H Street and Jackson Place across Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to Twentieth Street—to a new one-mile oval track at Meridian Hill, on Holmstead Farm, south of Columbia Road between Fourteenth and Sixteenth Streets.

Van Ness’s formal municipal career culminated in his service as an elected official of the city. In 1829 he served as an alderman of Washington, reflecting his growing influence in local affairs. The following year he was elected Mayor of Washington, D.C., a position he held from 1830 to 1834. As mayor, he presided over the city during a period of gradual urban development, institutional consolidation, and the continuing transformation of Washington from a small federal town into a more established capital. His civic commitments extended to major public works and commemorative projects. In 1833 he served as second vice president of the Washington National Monument Society, which was organized to promote the construction of a monument to George Washington. In 1834 he was president of the commissioners of the Washington City Canal, an important early infrastructure project intended to improve transportation and commerce in the capital.

In addition to his public offices, Van Ness held significant positions in the financial sector of Washington. He was president of the branch bank of the United States at Washington, D.C., reflecting his prominence in the city’s banking community. From 1814 until his death in 1846, he served as president of the National Metropolitan Bank, one of the principal financial institutions in the District. His long tenure in banking paralleled his political and civic activities and contributed to the economic development of the city.

Van Ness’s personal life was closely tied to the social elite of the capital. In 1802 he married Marcia Burns (1782–1832), the daughter of David Burnes (1739–1800) and M. Anne (née Wightt) (1740–1807). The Burnes family were among the original landowners whose property formed part of the site selected for the federal city. Marcia Van Ness became a noted philanthropist in Washington and a supporter of charitable causes, particularly the city’s orphan asylum. The couple had one daughter, Ann Elbertina Van Ness (1803–1823), who married Arthur Middleton (1795–1853), the eldest son of South Carolina Governor Henry Middleton and grandson of Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Peter and Marcia Van Ness resided at the Van Ness Mansion, a large and prominent residence constructed between 1813 and 1816 at the area now bounded by Constitution Avenue and 17th and 18th Streets, N.W. The mansion later became a well-known Washington landmark before being demolished to make way for the Pan American Union Building.

John Peter Van Ness died in Washington, D.C., on March 7, 1846. He was entombed in the Van Ness Mausoleum, originally located on H Street, N.W., between Ninth and Tenth Streets, where his wife Marcia, who had died on September 9, 1832, was also interred. In 1872 the mausoleum and the Van Ness family remains were moved to Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown. Shortly before his death, although he was not a Catholic, Van Ness donated the land at the southeast corner of Fifth Street and H Street, N.W., on which the cornerstone of St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church was laid on March 25, 1846. The donation was made with the stipulation that Catholic worship begin there within one year and be regularly continued, conditions that were met with the completion of the church on October 18, 1846. The grant further provided that if Catholic worship ever ceased at the site, the land would revert to the Van Ness family. A new church building was erected on the same site in 1890, and it continues to serve as the home of St. Mary Mother of God Church, a lasting testament to Van Ness’s imprint on the religious and civic landscape of Washington.