Maria Van Vechten

Maria Van Vechten was born in November 1730. She was the daughter of Reuben and Geertruy Witbeck Van Vechten. She was a younger daughter of a large third ward family but lost her father when Reuben died in 1735. Her mother would survive for another decade. We have not yet learned how or where Maria spent her adolescence and young womanhood.

Perhaps, she went to live with family beyond the city. In June of 1748, she was mentioned in the will of her apparently childless uncle (the brother of her recently deceased mother) Johannes Witbeck of Rensselaerswyck manor. With her six living siblings, she was to share in Witbeck's "negroes" and in the sum of fifty pounds.

This Maria Van Vechten does not seem to have married. Although she appears to have lived to adulthood, except for owning a seat (probably during mid-century) in pew fourteen at the Albany Dutch church, her name has not yet been encountered in the community-based record.

We seek defining information on the later life and passing of Albany native Maria Van Vechten.

Sources: The life of Maria Van Vechten is CAP biography number 2553. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.