Rev. John McVickar (1787-1868)

He was born at New York and graduated from Columbia College (1805). He travelled in Europe until 1806 and entered into Holy Orders the following year (1807). In 1811, he was appointed Rector of St. James' Church at Hyde Park, New York. In 1818, he was elected Professor of of Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres at Columbia. There, he delivered the first course of lectures on Political Economy ever given in America. From 1844 to 1862, he was Chaplain to the U.S. Forces at Fort Columbus, Governor's Island. In 1809, he married Eliza, daughter of the distinguished Dr Samuel Bard, of Hyde Park. They lived at Inwood and were the parents of nine children.