Matthias Nicolls (Nicoll), Mayor 1671-1672 and 1674-1675: Nicoll (1626? – 1687) was the founder of the Nicoll family and many of his descendants were prominent in New York politics. He lived on an estate on Long Island, called Plandome Manor. He was secretary to Richard Nicolls, the first governor of New York. They were not related. As secretary, Nicolls drafted the Duke’s Laws, which combined English and Dutch law and recognized slavery, which was a more informal practice in New Netherland. Records of servitude were to be entered in the Court of Sessions for each jurisdiction.[1]

Nicolls came to New York City sometime in 1664 and was one of the most powerful officials in the province. While mayor, Nicolls held three important positions: a member of the governor’s council, provincial secretary, and mayor of New York City. Nicolls first term as mayor was from 1671 to 1672 and his second appointment was from 1674 to 1675. Nicolls served as provincial secretary to the colonial governor from the founding of the English colony in 1664 until 1680. Nicolls also sat on the colonial governor’s council—the supreme governing body of the colony—from 1667 to 1680. He also worked in private practice as an attorney.

One of Nicolls most notable achievements was compiling the Duke’s Laws, the legal code of the Province of New York. The laws were unevenly enforced, but they did codify slavery for the first time. In his recent book Taking Manhattan, historian Russell Shorto states that in 1665 Nicolls “took on the task of creating a legal code for the colony that mixed features of the English and Dutch systems.” Shorto writes that the code turned slavery from “what had been an informal practice in New Netherland into a legalized institution.”

In September 1676, Nicolls sold an enslaved man in a transaction with Nicholas Blake. The sale is listed in a letter Blake sent to Nicolls about their accounts. [2]

[1] Taking Manhattan, p.295

[2] Andros Papers, 1677-78, p.62-63; Nicoll was mayor in 1674 and 1675, Select cases of the Mayor’s court of New York City, 1674-1784, p.45-46, FamilySearch; NY Genealogical Society, July 1989: Volume 120, issue 3, Peter Cristoph, link

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