Family Histories and Genealogies

The works listed below are basic to the study of the people of colonial Albany and their world. They are referenced throughout The People of Colonial Albany Live Here Website. This listing identifies and describes published and less formally printed family histories and genealogies. Descriptive annotations follow the formal citation.
    This skeletal list is an open-ended work-in-progress and will be revised and augmented as new features are added to the website!



General Works and Series

AANC     Albany Ancestry, giving the name and descent, in the male line of Americans whose ancestors settled in the United States previous to the Declaration of Independence, A.D. 1776, by Thomas P. J. Hughes (volume I, The City of Albany New York) Albany, 1887, 170 total pages. Includes sometimes puzzling information on early Albany families. Arranged alphabetically. Presented online.

DHM   -   De Halve Maen is the quarterly magazine of the Holland Society. It contains articles and items on the New Netherland Dutch and their descendants. First published in 1922.

DSSA   -   Yearbook of the Dutch Settlers Society of Albany. An article about New Netherland families and the Colonial Albany Project appeared in the 1997 volume. An article on Captain Samuel Schuyler was published in 2001. See Henry B. Hoff's overview description of this valuable resource.

NYGBR   -   New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Published by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

An indispensible quaterly published since 1870.

HMGFM   -   Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, compiled by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). Available online as part of the Schenectady Digital History Archive.

A four-volume compendium of family-based material on most of the major families of early Albany. A landmark in its day, many additions and corrections have been made by subsequent family historians - some of whom are listed below!

NEA   -   New England in Albany, compiled by Jonathan Tenney (Boston, 1883).

An alphabetical compilation of sketches of those of New England origins who settled in Albany. The veracity of the entries varies widely! Now available from online vendors.

PFS   -   ("Pearson's First Settlers"), or more formally Contributions for the Genealogies of the First Settlers of the Ancient County of Albany, From 1630 to 1800, compiled by Jonathan Pearson and originally published in volume four of Joel Munsell's Collections. In 1978, it was republished as cited above by Genealogical Publishing Company. Part of this resource work is now online.

"Pearson" is the most basic of genealogical resources for the people of colonial Albany. It is full of leads to more fundamental primary source material. It was "processed" and "exhausted" of information and leads early on in our research. It is a textbook example of what we call Traditional Sources. It is a remarkable resource! However, it is not perfectly accurate to the point that it should send the serious scholar to the core source of any of Professor Pearson's statements and judgments.

SPFS   -   ("Pearson's First Settlers of Schenectady"), or more formally Contributions to the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady, from 1662 to 1800, compiled by Jonathan Pearson and originally published in 1873. This companion to Pearson's volume on Albany is available online.



Individual Families

[Bradt]   -   Cynthia Brott Biasca, Descendants of Albert and Arent Andriessen Bradt (Wolfe City, TX, 1990), 776 total pages, indexes.
       Published for the Bradt family Society [ need a valid link ], this work provides basic data and information on all family members over four centuries.

[Cuyler]   -   Maud, C. Nicoll, Earliest Cuylers in Holland & America & Some of Their Descendants (New York, 1912), 69, pages, reprinted 1997 by Higginson Book Company.
       The basic genealogical compilation for the descendants of Hendrick and Anna Schepmoes Cuyler. Includes material on the first 286 members of the family in America. It has become available online.Three Cuyler sons became mayors of Albany.

[De Foreest]   -   Emily Johnston de Forest (Mrs. Robert W. De Forest), A Walloon Family in America: Lockwood de Forest and his Forbears, 1500-1848, together with A Voyage to Guiana, being the Journal of Jesse de Forest and his Colonists, 1623-1625, (New York 1914), 860 total pages.

[Douw]   -   Morris Douw Ferris and Dorothy van Breestede Douw Mc Neilly, The Douws of Albany (privately printed, 1972).

[Groesbeck]   -   Barrington S. Havens, Some Descendants of Nicolas Groesbeck: a study of Groesbecks in the capital district of New York State (Scotia, NY, 1979), privately printed.

The author donated a copy of this work and some of his research cards to the project during the 1980s. We were unable to follow up on the connection before his death. It may be the most comprehensive work on the family!

[Quackenbush]   -   Gail Richard Quackenbush, The Quackenbush Family in America (Wolfe City, TX, 1987), privately printed, 200 pages.

The most comprehensive family resource. Narrative passages accompany many genealogical entries and illustrate historical themes. The extensive and personalized treatment of the military career of Colonel Hendrick Quackenbush is particularly interesting!

[Schuyler]   -   "Christoph's Schuyler Genealogy" published as the Schuyler Genealogy: A Compendium of Sources Pertaining to the Schuyler Families in America Prior to 1800, compiled by Florence Christoph and published by the Friends of Schuyler Mansion in 1987. In 1992, the "Friends" sponsored publication of a second volume of the Schuyler Genealogy - which brought the family genealogy up to 1900.

This exhaustively researched, documented, and well-indexed set is strictly genealogical but is basic to any understanding of early Albany's most prominent family. It presents transcriptions of very useful family bible recordings. Overall, no praise is too strong for this magnificant effort!

[Ten Broeck]   -   The Ten Broeck Genealogy: Being the Records and Annals of Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck of Albany and his Descendants, compiled by Emma Ten Broeck Runk (New York, 1897), 277 pages, illustrations, index.

A solid and indispensible work on one of Albany's first families. It includes substantial narratives on the most important family members and also printings of some family-related documents.

[Van Rensselaer]   -   The Van Rensselaers in Holland and America, compiled by Florence Van Rensselaer (New York, 1856).
        A basic genealogy with some narrative on important family members.

[Van Vechten]   -   The Van Vechten Genealogy, compiled by James Brown Van Vechten, Sr. (Detroit: MI, privately printed, 1954).
        A basic genealogy.



More Focused Biographies

Humphreys, Mary Gay, Catherine Schuyler ( New York, `1897), 251 tp. including index.

A sentimental portrait of Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler published in the "Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times" series. A source of much qualitative information on Catherine and other family members!


Timeline



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first posted: 12/10/01; last revised 3/10/04