Hendrick Coster
Hendrick A. Coster was born in September 1699. He was the first child born to the marriage of Anthony and Elizabeth Ten Broeck Coster. He grew up in a small family in the State Street home of a prominent businessman/baker. Named for his pioneer grandfather, this sole surviving son also was referred to as "Hendrick Koster."
This individual does appear to have married (at least in the Albany-based records) and to only have witnessed only one christening at the Albany Dutch church.
In September 1733, he was elected alderman for the first ward. He was re-elected for two more annual terms. However, after 1736, his name seems to have dropped from the Albany-based record.
In March 1736, he was appointed commissary at Oswego during the trading season. The following October, his salary as commissary was ordered to be paid from the provincial treasury.
In May 1741, he was among a group of New Yorkers who unsuccessfully petitioned for a license to purchase Indian lands.
In October 1744, he was mentioned in the will filed by an Oswego-based physician. It referenced a beaver hat at Coster's house in Albany.
Hendrick Coster died in September 1745 and was buried from the Dutch church in Albany.
Both of his parents survived into the 1750s. With their passing, the "Coster" family name dropped from the Albany record. In June 1748, letters of administration on Coster's estate were granted to Martin G. Van Bergen.
Sources: The life of Hendrick Coster is CAP biography number 5975. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.