Pieter Schuyler, Jr. was born in January 1698. He was the son of Albany leader Pieter Schuyler and his second wife, Maria Van Rensselaer Schuyler. He was the twin brother of Jeremiah Schuyler. Several same-named contemporaries including his son dictate caution in the assignment of qualitative information on his life.

Pieter Schuyler, Jr. was involved in extending the fur trade out into the Indian country. In 1721, he was identified as the captain of a company of traders commissioned by the governor to establish a trading post on Lake Erie near Niagara and to encourage the Iroquois to trade at Albany. After that, he was active at Oswego, and passed a year at another location near Lake Ontario. In 1737, he was commissioned as "commissary at Oswego" during the trading season.

In November 1722, married young Catharina Groesbeck, the daughter of another prominent trader. By 1743, ten of their children had been christened at the Albany Dutch church.

These Schuylers set up a residence in the third ward. Pieter served as a firemaster and then was elected assistant alderman in 1736 and '37. He also owned land along Foxes Creek.

Like his brothers, he also owned a farm north of Albany on family property generally known as the Flats.

In July 1736, he was among those worthies who witnessed the will of Goose Van Schaick. In 1748, was named to share a portion of the estate of his brother, Phillipus. At this point, we opine that his son may or may not have been the "Pieter Schuyler, Jr." who was buried at "the Flats" in September 1753.

At this point, we posit that the present subject was the "Peter Schuyler" whose name was included on a list of Albany (County) freeholders in 1763. By that time, he probably was living on a farm north of the city and probably would not have been noted in city specific assessments and censuses.

In December 1758, the wife (not widow) of Peter Schuyler was buried from the Albany church. Thus, we may presume that Pieter died sometime afterwards.

Additional qualitative information is available for a contemporary "Pieter Schuyler." However, we remain very cautious in the assignment of such material.

Past diminishing returns, we move on for now from the life of this "Pieter Schuyler" still seeking information on his later life and passing.

Sources: The life of Pieter Schuyler, Jr. is CAP biography number 1736. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. A portrait of him from a private collection has been reproduced in Christoph's Schuyler Genealogy, facing page 53. We seek a useful copy of that likeness!

For his passing, see CSG 52-53.