William Crannel

William Crannel appears to have been born in New York about 1702 or 1703. He was the son of English emigre´ Robert Crannel and his wife Mary Winslow Crannel. During the early 1700s, his father appears to have been a soldier in one of the Independent Companies on duty in New York and possibly stationed in Albany. His mother was the daughter of a prominent New England fammily. This individual also has been referred to as "William Winslow Crannell."

In June 1726, he married Albany native Margarita Bennewe at the Albany Dutch church. Their first child was christened the following month. By 1739, three more of their children were baptized in Albany where he was an occasional baptism sponsor. He was the father of at least eight children.

In 1725, he was appointed constable for the first ward. Aside from that, he seems to have made no impact on the extant community record. Perhaps he was absorbed under the holdins of his in-laws, the Bennewes.

William Crannel died early in 1757 and was buried in the churchyard on January 7. A number of his descendants became residents of the Upper Hudson region.

Sources: The life of William Crannel is CAP biography number 7721. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.