Jacob Glen Cuyler

Jacob Glen Cuyler was an American of Dutch origin who was an important character in the settlement of the British 1820 Settlers to the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Jacob Glen Cuyler was born in 1773 to Abraham Cuyler, the son of Cornelius Cuyler and Catalynyje Schuyler, and Jannetje Glen (the sister of Henry Glen) in Albany, New York, USA.

Jacob's father was the last British-appointed mayor of Albany. Abraham Cuyler remained loyal to the crown, but was banished from New York by the revolutionaries, and lost all of his substantial land holdings in Albany.

At the start of the American War of Independence, Jacob Glen Cuyler's father was incarcerated and the family went from exile in New York City to Canada where Abraham Cuyler died in 1810. In 1789, Jacob was among several family members compensated for their American losses by the British with land in Canada. Abraham Cuyler was able to purchase commissions as officiers for his sons in the British army in 1799.

In 1806, Jacob Glen Cuyler was a captain in the 59th Regiment of Foot when it sailed from England to South Africa.

In October 1808 he married a South African, Maria Elizabeth Hartman, they had two daughters and three sons; none of the sons had issue. His granddaughter was the botanist and botanical illustrator Maria Elizabeth Holland.

He settled on a large farm and was one of the founders of Uitenhage, a town in the East Cape district of Albany. The farm museum survives today.

According to a newspaper obituary, "General Jacob Glen Cuyler died at his residence, Cuyler Manor, near Uitenhage, on Friday, the 14th April [1854]."

Cuyler together with Lord Charles Somerset persuaded the British Parliament to vote funds to finance the settlement of parties of British settlers in order to strengthen the frontier. In 1820 numbers of English and Scots arrived. The Scots were settled in the Baviaans River Mountains, on land confiscated from the Slagtersnek rebels while the English were settled in the Albany district to the south.

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