Matthias Nicoll
Matthias Nicoll | |
|---|---|
| 6th and 8th Mayor of New York City | |
| In office 1674–1675 | |
| Preceded by | John Lawrence |
| Succeeded by | William Dervall |
| In office 1672–1673 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Delavall |
| Succeeded by | John Lawrence |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1630 |
| Died | 1687 (aged 56–57) |
Matthias Nicoll (1630 – December 22, 1687), a.k.a. Nicolls, was the sixth mayor of New York City from 1672 to 1673. He is the patriarch of the Nicoll family, which settled and owned much of Long Island, New York. Numerous place names on the island now bear the Nicoll name.
Early life
Nicoll was born in 1627 and was the son of a minister. He lived in Islip, Northamptonshire, and practiced law there.
Life in America
In 1664, he came to the North America with Richard Nicolls. It is not known if the two were related, although some sources say he was Richard's nephew. Matthias was Richard's secretary and was present to the first surrender of the Dutch New Amsterdam to the English. He was clerk of the court in the new English colony and served various judge roles.[1] He was a member of the Convention at Hempstead, New York, in 1664–1665 that established the laws for the new colony.
In 1670, he bought land in present Plandome Manor, New York/Plandome, New York, and he is said to have named it for the Latin 'planus domus' meaning 'plain' or 'peaceful' home.[2]
Political career
In 1672 he was appointed New York City mayor, and served for one year, until he was succeeded by John Lawrence (New York politician).
In 1674, following the English reconquest of New York from the Dutch, Nicholl was sworn in for a second term.[3][4]
He was speaker of the General Assembly under Thomas Dongan in 1684 which guaranteed religious freedom to Christians.
Personal life
He and his wife were buried in front of the manor home, although the exact spot is not now known because it was vandalized. A plaque on Plandome Road marks the general area.
One of his children, William Nicoll, would sell the Plandome Manor in 1718, then over 1000 acres, and move to his own estate of 100 square miles (260 km2) on the Great South Bay in present-day Islip, New York. The Suffolk estate Islip was named after their ancestral home in England.
The manor house itself was torn down in 1998 by its new owner.[2][5]
Legacy
The nonconsecutive terms that Nicoll served may have caused the official numbering of New York City mayors to be off by one for approximately 350 years.[6]
References
- ^ John Watts de Peyster, Volume 1 By Frank Allaben - Frank Allaben Genealogical Company - 1906
- ^ a b "Incorporated Village of Plandome Manor". Plandomemanor.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Christoph, Peter (July 1989). "Matthias Nicolls, Sixth and Eighth Mayor of New York". New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. 120 (3): 26.
- ^ Kim, Elizabeth (Dec 1, 2025). "Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as NYC's 111th mayor. But what if that number's wrong?". Gothamist.
- ^ Endangered: Historic Preservation - New York Times - June 12, 2005
- ^ Bergin, Brigid; Brown, Stephen Rex (17 December 2025). "Correcting the record: Zohran Mamdani believes he is 112th NYC mayor". Gothamist. Retrieved 22 December 2025.