Isaac De Foreest was born in September 1728. He was the son of Jesse and Cornelia Quackenbush De Foreest. He grew up in a large family in the North End home of Albany mainstays.

In April 1753, he married Alida Fonda at the Albany Dutch church. By 1769, five children had been baptized at the Albany Dutch church.

Isaac De Foreest was a tailor who also was known as a pilot who guided ships past the treacherous sandbars and snags on their voyages up and down the Hudson. In 1763, his name appeared on a list of Albany freeholders. During the 1760s, he also was referred to as a merchant. In 1766, he stood with his neighbors in opposition to the Stamp Act.

During the 1760s, he belonged to an Albany militia company. In 1775, he was identified as a lieutenant in the Patriot militia for Albany's third ward. He supported the Revolutionary cause and, in December 1776, was identified as making clothes for the New York troops. After the war, he received a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia company.

These De Foreests lived in the third ward. His property was enumerated on Albany assessment rolls over the last half of the eighteenth century. In 1756, he served as a fireman. For a number of years, beginning in 1771, he was elected assistant alderman for the third ward. His household was configured on the Albany census in 1790.

Isaac De Foreest's name dropped from Albany rolls before 1800. His will passed probate in 1815.

Sources: The life of Isaac De Foreest is CAP biography number 4726. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.