John J. Bleeckerby
John J. Bleecker was born in October 1763. He was the son of Albany mainstays John R. and Elizabeth Staats Bleecker. He grew up in a "rich man's home" on Pearl Street. This lifelong Albany resident would be known as "John J. Bleecker." In October 1786, he married Jane Gilliland - daughter of a one time Albany resident and then a Champlain Valley developer, at the Albany Presbyterian church. Jane died after bearing three children. In November 1799, he then married the widfow Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Schuyler at the Albany Dutch church. These Bleeckers lived on Pearl Street near the home of his father and other family members. In time, his residence at 56 North Pearl Street would become an Albany landmark. In March 1792, he was named as an heir in the will filed by his aged father. John J. Bleecker died in December 1833 at the age of seventy. His second wife and widow survived until 1841.
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first posted: 3/20/08 |