Rachel Cuyler was born in New York in 1674. She was the daughter of New Netherland pioneers Hendrick Cuyler and his wife Anna Schempoes.

Rachel married Albany native Myndert D. Schuyler in 1693. By that time, her family had re-located to Albany. Their only child was baptized in 1697 at the Albany Dutch church where both parents were members and frequent baptism sponsors.

As the wife of a prominent Albany personage, Rachel Schuyler presided over their State Street home - particularly during the times when her husband was in New York or attending to his numerous holdings.

By the 1730s, Rachel had become ill and was "bedridden" for many years. Nevertheless, in 1739, she was named co-executor and a principal beneficiary of her husband's estate. However, she died in 1747 at age seventy-three. She was buried from the Albany Dutch church.