Pieter Quackenbush - the founder

Spelled and referred to variously, this Pieter Quackenbush (aka "Pieter Bont") was the patriarch of the Albany Quackenbush family.

He is said to have been born in Holland in 1614 and to have emigrated to New Netherland by the early 1650s.

Existing resources on his life have been well-chronicled in substantial yet not always consistent family-based resources.

At this point, we are uncertain about much of the life of this Pieter Quackenbush. The Quackenbush patriarch left a large family in Albany and its environs. However, there is little agreement regarding the identity of his wife(s) and their mother. However, her name seems to have been Maria. Between 1640 and 1663, perhaps eight and maybe even ten children had been born in Europe and America.

His name is missing from the lists of fur traders of 1660 and from the census of Albany householders taken in 1679. Nor does he seem to have been invited to the funeral of Jeremias Van Rensselaer in 1674.

In July 1668, he purchased a brickyard in Albany. In 1683, his name appeared on a church subscription list and noted that he lived "outside the North Gate."

In January 1687, he exchanged his house, pantile shed, and land in Rensselaerswyck with Jacob Van Vorst for Jacob's house and lot in Albany and "twenty beavers." At that time Pieter Quackenbush noted that he was residing near Albany in Rensselaerswyck.

Just about all the family-based information encountered so far is mostly derivative and not necessarily correct.

We seek information on his life in Albany and his passing.

"The founder" was the first of several generations of individuals named Pieter Quackenbush to live in early Albany and its environs. This profile hopes to organize and present valid and focused information on their lives.

Sources: The life of the first Albany Pieter Quackenbush is CAP biography number 2219. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.