Who was Teunis G. Bergen, Anyway?

A subway stop on the 2 and 3 line bears his name, as does a popular local bagel shop; and of course a Prospect Heights elementary school is named after him. But who exactly is Teunis G. Bergen and what exactly did he do to deserve all this posthumous attention?

A descendent of Dutch patroon Hans Hansen Bergen (1610-1654) who settled the area, Teunis Garret Bergen (1806-1881) was a Unites States Representative from New York and a native son of Brooklyn whose life spanned much of the 19^th century. He attended Erasmus Hall Academy (1787-1895) in Flatbush which became Erasmus Hall High School for most of the 20th century (1895-1994) and in the 21^st has been broken into several smaller Erasmus related high schools.

Besides politics, (he was the Kings County supervisor, a member of the New York constitutional conventions, and a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions; and a Congressman) Teunis was a farmer, surveyor, writer of genealogies, soldier, historian, and part owner of the forerunner of The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper. He died in Brooklyn in 1881 and is buried in nearby Greenwood Cemetery.

Bergen was an accomplished man and a proud son of Brooklyn. Hopefully some of his knowledge, talents, patriotism, and contributions will rub off on the neighborhood children.

This is a reprint of an article I wrote for News at 9, the PS 9 PTA newsletter.