Maria Vanderwerken probabaly was born during the 1670s. She was the daughter of Albany residents Roeloff Gerritse and Jeertruy Jacobs Vanderwerken.

In May 1698, she married a Barbados-born soldier named John Kidney at the Albany Dutch church. By 1708, four children had been baptized at the Albany church where Maria was a member.

These Kidneys lived in Albany's first ward in a neighborhood populated by soldiers and others connected to the fort.

Her husband had died by 1722, when she received letters of administration on his estate. She also received a monetary bequest in the will of Jan Rosie filed in 1737.

Maria Vanderwerken Kidney may have lived until November 1760 when her son, Roeloff Kidney, paid for a pall to bury his mother!

Sources: The life of Maria Vanderwerken Kidney is CAP biography number 6678. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.