EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Andrew Riker (1771-1817) was born in Newtown, Long Island, New York into the family for which Riker's Island was named. Married to Margaret Moore on February 6, 1802, Riker was a China trader who commanded at least one ship, the General Hamilton out of New York in 1809. Cf. K.S. Latourette, Voyages of American Ships to China 1784-1844, Yale University Press, 1927, p. 246, and J. Riker, Jr., A Brief History of the Riker Family, 1851