Pair of Portraits of Colonel and Mrs. Richard Varick

Colonel Richard Varick (1753-1831) was a distinguished leader of the Revolutionary War and a prominent politician of the city of New York. He established a successful law practice before enlisting as a soldier in the Revolutionary War in 1775. Varick became Military Secretary to General Philip Schuyler and earned the distinguished rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Northern Army (The Biographical Encyclopedia of New Jersey of the Nineteenth Century (Philadelphia, 1877), p. 304). In 1780, Varick served as Inspector General to Benedict Arnold at West Point until the disclosure of Arnold's treason and then was appointed George Washington's private Recording Secretary, a title he retained until the end of the war. (History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1884), p. 1094). After the war, Varick served several political offices before he was elected Mayor of New York City in 1789, where he served for a period of eleven years. (The Biographical Encyclopedia of New Jersey, p. 44).