Jacob Walton (1730-1782)
of "Belview" Merchant & Member of the New York General Assembly
He and his brother, William, were the senior partners in their family shipping firm of William & Jacob Walton & Co., and when his uncle William Walton died he received a share of his landed estate. He was a Member of the New York Chamber of Commerce and in 1769 he was elected to the New York General Assembly when he was immortalized by this piece of verse: "For worth and for truth and good nature renowned, Let the name and applauses of WALTON go round. His Prudence attracts - but his free honest Soul Gives a Grace to the Rest and enlivens the whole." He signed the address to General Gage entreating him not to send troops into New York. In 1776, he was residing at his newly completed mansion, Belview, at Horne's Hook when General Charles Lee ordered him to vacate the property in favor of American troops. Just ten days later it was reduced to a pile of rubble by British cannon fire. Walton remained loyal to the Crown and was among the addressers of General Howe in 1776. He and his wife died eight days apart from one another at Flatbush in August 1782.
