Abraham N. Cuyler

Abraham N. Cuyler was born in November 1748. He was the third and last child born to the marriage of Nicholas and Maria Schuyler Cuyler. His mother died in 1750 leaving Nicholas Cuyler to raise a small family in the State Street home of a trader-turned-merchant. However, the elder Cuyler was dead by 1779 when his heirs were listed on the Albany assessment roll.

In May 1768, Abraham N. married Albany-area native Margaret Wendell. By 1782, the marriage had produced at least six children who were christened at the Albany Dutch church where he was pewholder and baptism sponsor.

Substantial community-based information exists for the name "Abraham Cuyler" from the last third of the eighteenth century. With several Abrahams living in the area at that time, we must strive to include only references to "Abraham N. Cuyler" in this profile.

As early as 1766, Nicholas Cuyler & son [Abraham was his only son] were taxed on their upper State Street property.

In November 1778, the name of Abram N. Cuyler appeared on one of the lists of those exempted from military service. Afterwards, the name of Abraham N. Cuyler was included on a list of the members of the third regiment of the Albany County militia who would be eligible for a land bounty right.

A supporter of education, in 1779, he was among those who subscribed to the Albany Academy. During the late 1780s, he was among those worthies who paid the tuition of one "English scholar" at the short-lived Dutch church Academy.

A census listing for the second ward in 1790 and a number of property assessments from that time for "Abraham Cuyler" may refer to this individual or to one of a number of like-named individuals living at that time.

Abraham N. Cuyler buried his wife in January 1794. Perhaps he had remarried as "Elizabeth" the eighty-six-year-old widow of Abraham N. Cuyler died in Albany in January 1842.

Sources: The life of Abraham N. Cuyler is CAP biography number 364. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.

The Abraham Cuylers: Fleshing out this individual's biography is complicated by the existence of substantial reference materials for simply "Abraham Cuyler." Mayor Abraham C. Cuyler was forced from Albany during the war but Abraham H. Cuyler probably was an Albany resident for the rest of his life.