James Riker

author

James Riker

1822–1889

A patient chronicler of old New York, this 19th-century historian and genealogist devoted years to tracing the people, places, and land records that shaped Harlem and Newtown. His books remain valuable for readers interested in the city’s early Dutch roots and family histories.

1 Audiobook

"Evacuation Day", 1783, Its Many Stirring Events With Recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale, of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, by Whose Efforts on That Day the Enemy Were Circumvented, and the American Flag Successfully Raised on the Battery

"Evacuation Day", 1783, Its Many Stirring Events With Recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale, of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, by Whose Efforts on That Day the Enemy Were Circumvented, and the American Flag Successfully Raised on the Battery

by James Riker

About the author

Born in New York City on May 11, 1822, he left school at sixteen and spent part of his early adulthood working in business, including a period in Goshen, New York. Over time, his strongest interest became the history of old New York and the genealogy of its early settler families.

He is best known for works such as Revised History of Harlem (City of New York) and Annals of Newtown, detailed studies that drew on land records, family papers, and local traditions. His writing focused especially on colonial-era communities and the descendants of Dutch and English settlers, helping preserve material that might otherwise have been lost.

Archival collections of his papers show how seriously he gathered documents, transcripts, correspondence, and notes. He died in 1889, but his careful, local approach to history has kept his name alive among genealogists, historians, and anyone curious about early New York.