Isaac I. Fryer was born about 1734. He was the son of Southside weavers Isaac and Elizabeth Fryer.

He followed his father in the weaver's craft. In 1753, he was bequeathed Isaac Fryer's loom. However, his mother still was considered the head of their household after Isaac's death in 1755.

In 1760, he married his nextdoor neighbor Elizabeth Hilton at St. Peter's Anglican church where he was a long-time member and vestryman. Over the next sixteen years, their children were baptized in Albany churches.

At the time of his marriage, Isaac was identified as a weaver of the city of Albany. In 1757, he was appointed replacement firemaster for the first ward. The next year, he was named constable and then high constable. He also was compensated by the city government for services. By 1763, his name began to appear on city rolls. His first ward home was next to that of his widowed mother. In 1767, he was a sergeant in an Albany militia company.

In May 1776, he was elected to represent the first ward on the Albany Committee of Correspondence. However, he declined to serve and a replacement was elected. In 1778, his name was on a list of Albany men exempted from military service by virtue of their age. However, later he was accorded a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment.

After the war, he appears to have operated a brickyard on land leased from the city government. In May 1787, he was ordered to pay more rent for the "extra acre he has." In 1790, his Pearl Street home was an Albany landmark with eight family members living in the house he and his sister had inherited from his parents.

Isaac I. Fryer lost his wife in 1794. He lived on attended only by his children until his death in June 1802 at the age of sixty-eight. He was buried in the Episcopal cemetery!

Sources: The life of Isaac I. Fryer is CAP biography number 8037. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.