Barent I. Staats

by


Barent I. Staats was born in June 1739. He was the son of Isaac and Maria Van Deusen Staats. He grew up in the first ward home of a prominent cooper. He was known as "Barent Isaac Staats." His three brothers also became Albany residents.

In 1767, he was identified as a private in an Albany militia company .

During the 1760s, his name appeared beneath that of his father on city tax lists. In 1779, his personal property was valued under the house of his widowed mother.

In January 1760, he married the much older Albany "spinster" Elizabeth Wendell at St. Peter's Anglican church. No children were christened at Albany churches although both he and his wife were pewholders at the Dutch church in Albany. A surviving daughter was noted in 1782.

In 1762 and again in 1767, he was appointed firemaster for the first ward. During the war years, he also was named inspector of bread and chimney viewer.

In his mid-thirties at the outbreak of hostilities in 1775, he served the American cause as an officer in the Albany County militia. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the third and also eighth regiment. On a number of occasions, he commanded soldiers who performed services for the Albany commissioners. He also served as a bailsman and was referred to as "Esq." Afterwards, he may have been the Barent Staats who was accorded a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment. As late as 1794, Barent I. Staats was still seeking compensation for wartime expenses. He also held bounty lands in central New York

After the war, his name seems to have been left off city rolls as he had taken up residence just beyond the city limits. In 1790, his houshold was configured on the Watervliet census.

He was a resident of Rensselaerswyck when he filed a will in February 1782. It named his wife and daughter Molly as heirs. Elizabeth and her prominent brothers were named executors. Barent I. Staats was fifty-five when died in September 1794. He was buried from the Dutch church. The will passed probate in March 1795.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Barent I. Staats is CAP biography number 4564. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.





first posted: 4/5/10