Cornelia Bogardus Williams

Cornelia Bogardus was born in October 1719. She was the daughter of Anthony and the young widow Jannetie Knickerbacker Lansing Williams. She grew up with a number of siblings in a woodworker's home in the first ward.

In January 1744, she married Albany native John Williams at the Albany Dutch church. By 1757, four children had been christened in the Albany church where she was a pewholder and baptism sponsor.

These Williamses were not particularly distinguished but mainline residents of the first ward for several decades. John was a barber who also kept boarders and performed services for the community.

John Williams probably died during the early 1780s. In May 1784, the deed to a lot was to be awarded to his widow. In April, the mayor signed the deed for the lot her husband had held on Gallows Hill. Widow Cornelia Bogardus Williams died in 1787 and was buried on July 7.

Sources: The life of Cornelia Bogardus Williams is CAP biography number 6360. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.