The Albany Staats family is descended from surgeon Abraham Staats who emigrated to New Netherland in 1642. By that time, he had married Tryntie Wessels. Their seven children established the Staats family in the city of Albany and in greater Albany County.

By 1679, three Staats family households existed within the Albany stockade. In 1697, Albany had two Staats named households including that of surgeon Jacob Staats - as well as the State Street home of Elsie Staats Wendell Schuyler.

By 1756, the family had spread across the upriver region and only the home of cooper Isaac Staats was left in the colonial city. In 1790, however, six Staats households were counted on the first Federal Census. Most prominent among them was the landmark complex anchored by the old Schuyler house which included the homes of businessmen brothers William and Henry Staats!

In 1815, nine Staats named addresses were listed in the city directory.

The family farm on Staats Island near Castleton and the Dutchess County hamlet of Staatsburg recall the family today. A number of early Albany residents spent at least a part of their lives on Staats Island.

Sources: Our expositions on the Albany Staats family are based on research in community-based resources. Chief among the printed resources on the family is Josephine Staats Ellsworth, The Staats Family: A History of the Dutch Settlements in New York and Delaware, 1642-1992 (Wilmington, DE, 1992), which comprehends earlier works. Also notable is Harold Staats, Genealogy of the Staats Family (printed by the family in 1921). The New York State Library holds considerable manuscript material on the family - numbering some 1,100 items. A different Abraham Staats appears to have established his family on Long Island and in New Jersey at the same time.