Jacob J. Pruyn

Jacob J. Pruyn was born in January 1749. He was the son of Johannes and Jannetie Van Alstyne Pruyn. He seems to have been known as "Jacob J. Pruyn."

In March 1786, he would have been in his mid-thirties when he married Neeltie (Cornelia or Eleanor) De Foreest at the Albany Dutch church. By 1796, five children had been christened at the Albany church where he was a member.

We believe that Jacob J. Pruyn was an Albany resident - possibly the individual identified as a "mariner" in 1784. Perhaps he lived in the third ward near the waterfront and owned a house and storehouse on lower Maiden Lane. He is said to have owned a blacksmith shop on or near the middle dock during the mid-1780s. In 1788, his budding family was living in the household of his father-inlaw.

Although not on any wartime rolls, Jacob J. Pruyn was accorded a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment.

His wife, "Eleanor," freed a number of slaves during the early 1800s. That would have been consistent with his household configuration on the third ward census in 1800 - which identified four slaves.

Perhaps this Jacob J. Pruyn died after 1810!

Sources: The life of Jacob J. Pruyn is CAP biography number 3550. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.