Representative Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck

Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck served as a Representative from New York in the United States Congress from 1913 to 1923. A member of the Democratic Party, Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck contributed to the legislative process during 2 terms in office.

Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Peter G. Ten Eyck (November 7, 1873 – September 2, 1944) was an American businessman and politician from Albany, New York. A Democrat, he served as a U.S. representative from 1913 to 1915 and again from 1921 to 1923. A native of Bethlehem, New York, Ten Eyck was a descendant of several Dutch American families long prominent in New York, including the Ten Eycks and Gansevoorts. He attended the district school in the Normansville hamlet of Bethlehem and graduated from The Albany Academy. He then studied civil engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, after which he embarked on a railroad career with the New York Central. He advanced from batteryman to signal engineer, and also served in the New York National Guard’s 3rd Signal Corps, a unit of the 3rd Brigade. He remained with the New York Central until 1903, when he joined the Federal Railway Signal Company. He rose through Federal Railway’s ranks to become the company’s vice president and general manager. Active in local politics and government as a Democrat, in 1912 Ten Eyck won election to the United States House of Representatives, and he served one term, 1913 to 1915. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914, but ran again in 1920 and won. He served one term, 1921 to 1923, and declined to run again in 1922. In 1928, Democratic Party leaders attempted to recruit Ten Eyck as a candidate for governor, but he declined to make the race. A longtime booster of the Hudson River-Erie Canal shipping route over the proposed St. Lawrence Seaway, Ten Eyck served on the Port of Albany District Commission. From 1935 to 1937, he was New York’s Commissioner of Agriculture. He died in Altamont, New York and was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.