Leisler's Rebellion

Rising tensions

By late April, Lieutenant Governor Nicholson had heard about the uprising in Boston but kept quiet about it and the political chaos in England, worried it might spark a revolt in New York. Once word of Boston reached Long Island, local politicians and militia leaders grew bolder, and by mid-May several communities had kicked out dominion officials. Around the same time, Nicholson learned that France had declared war on England, putting New York’s northern frontier at risk from Franco-Indian attacks.

He was low on troops because most of the New York garrison had been sent to Maine by Andros to handle Indian troubles, and his remaining regulars had been convinced by populists that he was trying to force Catholic rule. To calm fears about rumored Indian raids, he asked the militia to join the regulars at Fort James on Manhattan. The colony’s defenses were in bad shape, so Nicholson’s council voted to raise money through import duties. Merchants immediately pushed back, refusing to pay.

One of them was Jacob Leisler, a German-born Calvinist merchant and militia captain who loudly opposed the dominion government, seeing it as a plot to impose popery, and may have helped turn Nicholson’s regulars against him. On May 22, the militia petitioned the council, asking for faster defense improvements and access to the fort’s powder magazine. The council denied the powder request, which made people even more worried that the city didn’t have enough gunpowder. City leaders then started scouring the city for extra supplies.

Rebellion

On May 30, 1689, a militia officer heard Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson say he would rather see the town on fire than be commanded by him. Nicholson was known for his quick temper, and that remark sparked a rebellion. Word spread that Nicholson might burn the settlement. He called the officer in and demanded his commission.

Abraham de Peyster, the officer's commander and one of the city's richest men, argued fiercely with Nicholson. Then de Peyster and his brother Johannis, also a militia captain, walked out of the council chamber. The militia gathered and marched to Fort James, taking it over. An officer went to the council to ask for the keys to the powder magazine.

Nicholson gave them up to avoid bloodshed and further trouble. The next day, a group of militia officers asked Jacob Leisler to lead the city's militia. He accepted, and the rebels announced they would hold the fort for the new monarchs until a properly authorized governor arrived. Leisler's part in the uprising is unclear, but several clues suggest he was involved.

He and Captain Charles Lodwik had presented a petition on May 22. Jost Stoll, one of his officers, led the militia to the fort's gates, and another of his men demanded the powder magazine keys. Still, none of the statements Nicholson collected before leaving directly name Leisler as the leader. With the fort under their control, the rebels also controlled the harbor.

Ships arriving brought passengers and captains straight to the fort, cutting off Nicholson and his council from outside news. On June 6, Nicholson decided to return to England and started gathering depositions. He left the city on June 10 for the Jersey shore, hoping to meet Thomas Dongan and sail with him.

Execution

Sloughter set up a special court to try Leisler and others. Some figures, like Abraham De Peyster and Charles Lodwik, were never charged. The judges were mostly anti-Leisler, including Richard Ingoldesby, and the court was led by Joseph Dudley, a former dominion official. Leisler faced charges on March 31, mainly for violently resisting Ingoldesby’s takeover.

Leisler and his son-in-law Jacob Milborne refused to recognize the court and would not enter pleas. Leisler asked for a lawyer and got one, even though English law didn’t require it. Most other defendants pleaded not guilty. The next day, Leisler was also charged with murder for something that happened while he was in charge.

On April 9, Sloughter called a new colonial assembly. It passed a law on April 17 that condemned Leisler’s rule and activities, even blaming him for the 1690 Schenectady massacre. That same day, after the court kept trying to get pleas from Leisler and Milborne, they were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, with their property taken. No execution date was set.

By early May, the court had handled 32 cases, sentencing eight men to death, including Leisler and Milborne, while the rest were acquitted or pardoned. Anti-Leisler forces pushed for the executions, and riots broke out on Staten Island in late April, supposedly started by Leisler’s supporters.

Sloughter thought the executions should wait until the king decided. On May 7, he sent reports to the king and the Lords of Trade, describing events and including trial records. The letter to the king painted Leisler very badly, and neither report mentioned the death sentences.

Aftermath

The execution turned Leisler and Milborne into martyrs and failed to heal the bitter rift between their supporters and opponents. Backers sent representatives to London, later joined by Leisler’s son Jacob, to seek justice from the crown. In January 1692, the king heard their plea, and in April the Lords of Trade advised pardoning the convicted. Queen Mary then ordered the incoming governor, Benjamin Fletcher, to grant pardons to the six prisoners still alive.

Governor Sloughter’s sudden death on July 23, 1691, sparked rumors of poisoning, though an autopsy found pneumonia. He left a letter claiming he had been “constrained” by those around him to order the execution. After Sloughter died, Ingoldesby took over and accused him of pocketing £1,100 meant for troop pay and of seizing a captured prize ship, selling it at auction, then selling it a second time.

While traveling to England, one of Leisler’s supporters stopped in Boston and received backing from Sir William Phips, the new governor of Massachusetts Bay. Agents from Massachusetts then worked in London for Leisler’s heirs to overturn the attainder and recover family property.

In 1695, a bill to do so was introduced in Parliament with help from Massachusetts allies Sir Henry Ashurts and Sir Constantine Henry Phipps. It passed the House of Lords quickly, but anti-Leislerian agents managed to send it to committee in the lower house. After lengthy hearings, during which Joseph Dudley defended his actions by claiming Leisler had wrongly seized power because he was a foreigner, the bill finally passed and received royal assent the next day.

Still, Leisler’s heirs did not get their due until 1698, when the Earl of Bellomont arrived as New York’s governor. Bellomont, an outspoken Leisler supporter who had been appointed in 1695, placed pro-Leislerians in key government roles, restored the family estate, and had the bodies of Leisler and Milborne properly reburied in the yard of the Dutch Reform Church. He died in office in 1701.