Maria Bradt Lottridge

Maria Bradt was born in June 1742. She was the daughter of Albany residents Bernardus and Catharina Van Vechten Bradt. She grew up in the first ward in the home of the ferryman.

In July 1766, she married Thomas Lottridge at the Albany Dutch church. By 1786, the marriage had produced six children who were christened in Albany where she was a member and pewholder. However, her British-ancestry husband was a member of St. Peter's Anglican church.

Lottridge was a former British officer and frontier trader who settled in Albany following the Seven Years War. In 1770, he was given a share of the license for the south ferry across the Hudson. These Lottridges raised their family at the ferryhouse. Maria was left to complete the task alone after Thomas Lottridge was incarcerated during the late 1780s and died in jail in 1802.

Maria Bradt Lottridge died sometime after the birth of her last child in 1786.

Sources: The life of Maria Bradt Lottridge is CAP biography number 4268. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.