Henry Bostwick

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Henry Bostwick probably was born about 1735. According to traditional sources, he was the son of David and Sarah Nichols Bostwick of Stratford, Connecticut. Perhaps he was the brother or otherwise related to Albany resident Augustus Bostwick.

Henry was a frontier trader who was living in Albany in 1757 when he was appointed constable for the second ward. About that time, he was witnessing baptisms at St. Peter's Anglican church. In 1759, he was among the founding members of the Albany Masonic lodge

In 1761, he was granted the right to trade in the Great Lakes region by General Thomas Gage. In 1763, he was called an "English trader" and was captured by the Ottawas. He was taken by them to Quebec where he was ransomed. In 1768, he was in London, then Montreal, and on his way to Michilimakinac where he kept a trading house .

In 1770, he formed a company with William Johnson and others to mine copper in the Lake Superior region. That venture failed in 1774.

From the 1750s into the 1770s, Henry Bostwick's name appeared in business correspondence in New York and beyond. We seek defining information on his later life, passing, and marital situation.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Henry Bostwick has not been assigned a CAP biography number. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




first posted: 6/25/07