Huguenots were French speaking Protestants who came to America during the seventeenth century to escape religious persecution and civil oppression in France. Many Huguenot families settled in New York colony. A number of them established branches in Albany. Generally speaking, early Albany's Huguenots were not numerous - but they were prominent!

In eighteenth century early American History, "Huguenot" has come to mean French Protestant. In New Rochelle and New Paltz, the Huguenots maintained their ethnic identity. In New York and Albany, most Huguenots seem to have sought to become part of the community mainstream.

We have encountered a number of attempts to further define "The Huguenots." For our purposes, the term has some cultural definition (French), but, at present, we are unmoved to further categorize them. But we are keenly interested in how they functioned within the larger early Albany community!

Now in its infancy, this page will provide basic access to Huguenot history links and general information on Albany's Huguenots. Please remember that we are concerned ONLY with people who actually lived in the city of Albany before 1800.

We begin with a partial list of early Albany's Huguenot families: De Foreest, De Peyster, De Lancey, De Wandelaer, Truax.

A number of Huguenot-ancestry women became the brides of early Albany residents. These include, for openers, Susanna Truax Wendell, Catharina De Wandelaer Gansevoort and Susanna Bayeux Schuyler.

Also, traditional (antiquarian) resources refer to a number of people as Huguenots. Thomas S. Diamond was one early Albany resident with an unsubstantiated Huguenot heritage.

The term "Walloon" (the legendary farmers who were sent to feed the soldiers and traders at Fort Orange) is similarly perplexing! For convenience, we define them as French speaking Protestants from the Spanish Netherlands. But that would make them Huguenots also!

Sources: This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources - both of which contain material of puzzling quality. Online resources: The National Huguenot Society; link to Cyndi's List; link to Huguenot books; more to come!