Tobias Van Schaick

by

Tobias Van Schaick was born in December 1779. He was the son of Goose and Jersey native Maria Ten Broeck Van Schaick. This middle child grew up in the Market Street home of a prominent Revolutionary war officer.

He was named among the heirs in the will filed by his father in 1788. He would receive personal items and custody of a "negro boy named Tom" when he reached the age of twenty. He also was slated to share in the balance of his father's estate. Goose Van Schaick died in 1789 but mother Maria lived on in the family home until 1829.

In 1790, he was one of the five boys living in widow Maria's Albany home. A decade later, he probably was still under his mother's roof. The assessment roll for 1809 identified Tobias as the holder of a house and lot on Market Street and assessed his real and personal holdings substantially. Beginning with the first edition in 1813, Tobias was listed in the city directory as a merchant at 131, 377, and then 416 North Market Street with another property on South Pearl.

In November 1811, he married Jane Staats, daughter of a prominent Albany businessman. The marriage produced several children prior to her death in 1823. But only two daughters were alive in 1855.

Tobias Van Schaick was a businessman * merchant. In January 1823, the newspaper advertised his stock of dry goods for sale. He is said to have left business and to have spent the remainder of his life managing family properties.

The New York State Census for 1855 describes the demographic parameters of his Albany household. He was identified as a "gentleman."

Tobias Van Schaick died in April 1868 at the age of 89. His stone is at the Albany Rural Cemetery. His will left the bulk of his estate to his daughter Jane. It passed probate later that year.

biography in-progress - 2017


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Tobias Van Schaick is CAP biography number 3989. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




first posted 4/20/18