Melgert Wynantse was the son of New Netherland pioneers Wynant Gerritse and Tryntje Melgers Vanderpoel. Family sources state he was born in 1646. He grew up in what appears to have been a smallish family in the house of a mainline trader and regional landholder of Beverwyck/Albany.

In 1668, he married Ariaantie Verplanck with whom he had eight children. After her death, he married widow Elizabeth Teller Van Tricht in 1692. That union added two more children to an already large family. He was a member and supporter of the Albany Dutch church and an occassional baptism sponsor.

His house on the hill faced the fort and he also owned a lot on the South side of the city. In 1679, his home was included on the city assessment roll.

He was called a "gunstockmaker." Like his father, he owned a sawmill, bought and sold real estate, and also participated in the fur trade. He was fined by the Albany court for having Indians in his house. In 1686, he was appointed assistant alderman by the governor under the new city charter. He later served as a firemaster and juror.

In 1695, he was the only family member named in the will filed by his father who then was living in New York.

Although mis-identified, his large, combined family was included on the Albany census of households taken in June 1697. Two years later, he signed a loyalty oath to the king of England. Later, he was identified as a home owner in the second ward.

In September 1710, he was dead. An action of the Albany Mayor's Court regarding his estate noted his six living children, real estate, two negroes, and a sawmill on the Beaverkill. His widow was not mentioned in the proceeding but she lived for another fifteen years.

Sources: The life of Melgert Wynantse Vanderpoel is CAP biography number 6268. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. A number of Online resources are interesting but conflicting.

Mis-identification: There was no individual named "Melgert Wendell." Assuming a rough location order for the census, his State Street home would have been in that proximity - near other Wendell houses. And the seven children fits well with the combining of two households following his re-marriage in 1692.