Joseph-Francois Mangin
| Joseph-François Mangin | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 10, 1758 Dompaire, France |
| Nationality | French-american citizen |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Practice | Architect |
| Buildings | St. Patrick's Old Cathedral |
| Projects | 1803 Plan for New York (with Casimir Goerck), rejected |
| Design | New York City Hall (1801-1802, with John McComb Jr.) |
Joseph-François Mangin was born on June 10, 1758 in Dompaire, in the Vosges region of France. He was a French-American architect who is noted for designing New York City Hall and St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City.
There is no information regarding his date or place of death.
Joseph François Mangin was born in 1758 in the Vosges region of France, the son of Jean-Baptiste François Mangin, the king's surgeon, and Marie Anne Milot, both from Dompaire. He left Dompaire around 1773 to study at a high school in Nancy, where he graduated in 1777. He then studied law at the University of Nancy, where he graduated in 1781. After spending a few years near Nancy as a lawyer, he decided to move to St Domingue (today Haiti) to make a fortune. He left France from Nantes on Oct, 25th 1784 and arrived in St Domingue on Dec, 7th 1784. Joseph François Mangin and his brother Charles had to flee Saint Domingue in 1793 as a consequence of the slave revolt which started in 1792. They arrived in New York City in December 1793. He became a surveyor for NYC, followed by becoming the architect of NYC Hall, St Patrick's original Cathedral, his business partner John McComb was the builder of city hall. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1796.
In New York, Mangin became a protegé of Alexander Hamilton, and, due to Hamilton's influence, Mangin was hired by the federal government to design fortifications for New York harbor. He also designed the city's first theatre in 1795, and the first prison for New York state, in the village of Greenwich on the Hudson River, which would, when subsumed by the growth of the city, become Greenwich Village.
Mangin was appointed to be one of the handful of official recognized "city surveyors", he was a Military Engineer during the war of 1812 the United States. Mangin was at pains to point out to Hamilton his love for and allegiance to his adopted country: "I am an American, and the last drop of my blood will be shed in the service of my country."
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