Amazon.com description: Product Description: Born in 1753 to a prominent Dutch-American family in Hackensack NJ, Richard Varick became a lawyer, then a Patriot officer in the American Revolutionary War. Colonel Varick served with distinction as aide to generals Philip Schuyler and Benedict Arnold. Later, George Washington entrusted him with the editing of his wartime papers - forty-four volumes now housed in the Library of Congress. In peacetime Varick helped initiate the new Federalist-oriented government of New York City, becoming its mayor from 1789-1801. Next, he turned his energies to the accumlation of lucrative real estate, all the while furthering the development of Columbia University and the Society of the Cincinnati, and starting the entity that became Jersey City. His personal passion was to help promulgate the Christian message, especially through the founding of the American Bible Society and the New York Sunday School Union. A highly respected, multi-talented businessman and national hero, he was returned to Hackensack, NJ, for burial in 1831. This is the first biography of a man who can be characterized as a Forgotten Founding Father.