Rachel Vanderheyden Stringer
by
Stefan Bielinski


Rachel Vanderheyden was the wife of early Albany's foremost physician. Rachel was born in July 1740. She was the youngest child of Albany mainstays David and Geertruy Visscher Vanderheyden. Her father was a prominent Albany businessman and civic leader.

She had just passed her eighteenth birthday in November 1758 when she married newcomer Dr. Samuel Stringer. Although her husband was an Anglican, she was a member and pewholder at the Albany Dutch church. Their marriage produced only one son and two daughters.

As a physician's wife, she came into daily contact with a large number of people who visited her home and Dr. Stringer's office in the third ward. By the 1780s, she was living in a large double house on Market Street which the Stringers shared with their daughter, the wife of attorney and New York State officier Stephen Lush.

Rachel Vanderheyden Stringer died in 1797 and was buried from the Dutch church.

PAGE IN PROGRESS



notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Rachel Vanderheyden Stringer is CAP biography number 5712. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




Home | Site Index | Navigation | Email | New York State Museum


first posted: 1/10/03