Elsie Barents Van Kleeck Sanders
by
Stefan Bielinski


Elsie Barents Van Kleeck was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands in August 1641. She probably was the daughter of Barent Baltus van der Lipstadt a Westphalian emigre to New Netherland and his wife Maika Guyter De Guiltjers of Haarlem.

By 1666, she had become the wife of Scottish-born entrepreneur Robert Sanders. By 1683, she had given birth to eleven children some of whom were baptized in the Albany Dutch church where she was a member. In April 1673, she filed a joint will with her husband. Four of her children were named in the will and the survivor was designated as the executor. In 1702, Sanders filed a will on his own but it named her as the sole beneficiary!

Elsie's family lived in Albany and New York where she supervised the household while her husband tended to his wide ranging enterprises. Their Albany house was in the first ward.

Robert Sanders was dead by May 1, 1703 when his will passed probate sending his property to his widow. Elsie then moved in with her sons and lived for another thiry-one years. Elsie Barents Van Kleeck Sanders died in Albany on December 30, 1734 at the age of ninety-three - matriarch of the Albany Sanders family.

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notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Elsie Barents Van Kleeck Sanders is CAP biography number 1048. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




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first posted: 3/25/03