Hendrickie Lansing Fonda

Hendrickie Lansing was born in October 1748. She was the oldest daughter in the family of Isaac and Anna Van Woert Lansing. She appears also to have been referenced as "Hendrickje Van Woert Lansing." Her father was a shoemaker who owned a house in the third ward.

In August 1771, she married the somewhat older Abraham D. Fonda at the Albany Dutch church. At that time, the partners were identified as unmarried residents of the colony. By 1781, six children had been christened in Albany where the parents were occasional baptism sponsors. By 1786, two additional children were baptized by the parents in the Dutch church at the Boght.

During the War for Independence, Abraham D. Fonda was an officer in the Albany militia. His family does not seem to have lived separately in Albany during the war years. We seek information on her wartime situation. Subsequently, these Fondas raised their family in Watervliet.

Abraham D. Fonda died in 1799. From then onward, the aging Hendrickie was not identified as a head of household and probably resided in a home of one of her three surviving children or with other kin.

However, this Watervliet widow was particularly long-lived. In March 1837, Hendrickie deposed that she was eighty-eight years old and a resident of Watervliet when she filed a pension application based on her husband's wartime service. Although not able to recall many of the details of his service, she was awarded a monthly stipend and a large payment of pension money due in arrears.

Hendrickie Lansing Fonda is said to have died in February 1840.

Sources: The life of Hendrickie Lansing Fonda is CAP biography number 3396. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.