Henry Beasley

by


Henry Beasley was born in June 1724. He was the son of schoolteacher John Beasley and his wife, the widow Lydia Dealy Van Benthuysen Beasley. He grew up in the midst of an Anglo-ancestry enclave located on Albany's Southside.

Probably in his late twenties, he married Mary Noble. Between, 1753 and 1761, the marriage produced five children who were christened at the Albany Dutch church and at St. Peter's where he was a member and church warden.

He was a shoemaker and cordwainer whose home was in the second ward. Subsequent assessment rolls valued his holdings modestly.

He was identified with an English-ancestry part of the community that revolved around the tavern of his brother-in-law, Richard Cartwright. He was a member of the "Masters" Masonic lodge and of the Albany militia.

His father apparently left Albany during the 1750s. Henry was granted Letters of Administration on John Beasley's estate in 1768.

By the 1770s, he appeared to be a mainline Albany resident. In 1770, he served on the Albany watch. In 1774 and 1775, he was identified as city tax collector.

Fifty years old at the outbreak of hostilities, he managed to avoid the action and his holdings appeared to have survived intact. He also was granted a land bounty right for service in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment.

In March 1783, still known as a cordwainer, he witnessed the will of an Albany neighbor.

An assessment roll for 1788, noted his personal property.

At some time prior to 1790, he appears to have left Albany. Henry Beasley died in Upper Canada in 1793. His children raised families at Niagara and in Canada.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Henry Beasley is CAP biography number 7206. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




first posted: 10/30/06