Nanning H. Visscher was born in December 1739. He was the son of Harmen and Rachel Vanderheyden Visscher. He was known as "Nanning H. Visscher" to prevent confusion with an older cousin.

In April 1785, he was in his forties when he married Alida Fonda. The marriage produced but one daughter born in 1786. She was baptized at the Albany Dutch church where her father was a member and pewholder.

In 1763, he entered public life when he was appointed firemaster for the third ward. At that time, he was living with his widowed mother. Nanning H. Visscher was a businessman who joined with other Albany merchants to petition the Royal government in 1764. In 1766, he was elected assistant alderman for the second ward and served for several years. He was an active member of the city council and may have drawn a land map of Schaghticoke in 1770.

During he 1760s, he belonged to an Albany militia company. In 1766, he joined with other Albany notables to register a protest against the Stamp Act.

During the next decade, he supported the crusade for American liberties - lending support to the supply side of the war effort. In May 1778, he joined in a community-based petition to the governor for the release of an adolescent horse thief. Later, he received a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany regiment of the Albany militia.

In January 1769, he witnessed the will of a Visscher family member.

In 1790, he was living in a house on the east side of Market Street. However, before the end of the decade, he had left Albany to live out his days north of the Mohawk.

Nanning H. Visscher filed a will in September 1808. It stated that he was a resident of Waterford in Saratoga County. His real estate located in Albany, Watervliet, and Waterford was left to his wife, daughter, and grandchildren. He died on November 10 and was buried in the Van Schoonhoven family cemetery in Waterford.

Sources: The life of Nanning H. Visscher is CAP biography number 4162. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.