Frans Winne
by
Stefan Bielinski


Frans Winne was born about 1659. He was the son of New Netherland pioneers Pieter Winne and Tanneke Adams Winne.

Frans grew up in Rensselaerswyck and Albany - learning the fur trade and also the duties and potentials of landholding in support of his father's Bethlehem enterprises. In December 1674, he was apprenticed to Rutger Arentsen to learn the shoemaker's trade for a term of four years - or until he was nineteen.

As a younger son of a large family, Frans then was left to pursue his own destiny and joined a group of Albany merchants who posted a bond to trade in the Indian country in the Fall of 1686. This adventurous undertaking helped establish him in the new city of Albany.

In 1689, he married young Elsie Gansevoort. Between 1690 and 1707, their eight children were christened in the Albany Dutch church where both parents were members and regular baptism sponsors.

By the mid-1690s, these Winnes had emerged as Albany mainstays. As his older brothers no longer were living in the new city, Frans became head of the Albany Winne family - acting as family executor and as guardian for the children of deceased siblings. His third ward home was an Albany landmark.

In 1702, the now successful merchant was elected assistant alderman for the third ward. He served until 1706 when he was elected alderman - serving until 1708. After that, he maintained his ties to city hall as a contractor and firemaster.

By 1720, Frans Winne had passed on and his son, Pieter, already had succeeded him.

PAGE IN PROGRESS



notes

the people of colonial Albany The life of Frans Winne is CAP biography number 2113. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.

The terms of his apprenticeship are printed in Early Records of Albany 3:422-23. That document called him "Francoys" Pietersen Winne.

Document printed in Livingston Indian Records, 106-7.

Information on his stewardship is printed in Early Records of Albany volume 1 or 4:146.



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first posted: 01/05/02