and some years later went back to Amsterdam and married and then returned with his wife to New Amsterdam in 1639. David was a wine dealer while residing at the Heerenmarkt in Amsterdam. He became commissary of provisions (1640), tobacco inspector, lawyer, and notary public in New Amsterdam; and commander at Fort Good Hope. Merchant and smuggler David ‘Money Ready’ Provoost (1691–1781). The 90 acre site, Louvre Farm, on the eastern side of Manhattan, was owned by the Provoost family and had a cave where David hid his money. It was later said that David's ghost haunted the woods. A drawing of "The smuggler's tomb: David Provoost, free trader", by A H Wyant, 1875, can be viewed at the New York Public Library Digital Collection. David Provost was the Mayor of New York City from 1699 to 1700 Reverend Samuel Provoost (1742–1815) was the third Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA, as well as the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York Famous relatives of William Provost It has been suggested that two of William's brothers fled to Switzerland. However, that William was a brother of the two has not been confirmed. Descendants of this side of the family are: Major General Augustine Prévost (1723–1786) who was a Swiss-born British soldier who served in the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence; and his son Sir George Prévost (1767–1816) who was Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (1808-1811), Governor-in-Chief of British North America (1811-1814), and Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America. He served in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Open questions Two references suggest that William's descendants also emigrated to Scotland. However, this has not been confirmed. References Businesspeople from Antwerp 16th-century Protestants Dutch emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies