Richard Riker (1773-1842)

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This white person has 1 related event in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
Identifier
NJS-PER-00346
Given Name
Richard
Family Name
Riker
Birth Date
September 9, 1773
Death Date
September 26, 1842
Sex
Male
Occupation
Government
Legal
Biographical Description
Richard Riker was a New York lawyer and politician. He served three non-consecutive terms as the Recorder of the City of New York between 1815 and 1838. In his role as recorder, he certified manumissions in the city, particularly the manumission of Thomas Boston by Henry Rutgers in 1817.

According to historians Leslie M. Harris and Jonathan Daniel Wells, by the 1830s Richard Riker was one of the ringleaders of the New York Kidnapping Club. This was a notorious group of New York politicians who used their power re-enslave freedom seekers who were seeking refugee from Southern slavery. They also kidnapped and enslaved free Black New Yorkers for personal gain.
Keywords
white person
government official
Places
New York City, New York
References

Harris, Leslie M. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Wells, Jonathan Daniel. The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War. New York: Bold Type Books, 2020.

This person is represented on the following page(s):
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Riker
Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7328679
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Events

Additional Participant in:
Resource class
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