Anna Kip Wendell

Anna Kip was born in May 1694. She was the daughter of Albany newcomers Abraham and Geesie Vanderheyden Kip. She grew up in a merchant's home on Pearl Street.

In November 1716, Anna married Albany native Johannes E. Wendell at the Albany Dutch church. By 1735, eight children had been christened at the Albany church.

These Wendells also made their home in the second ward where Johannes was an emerging businessman and Albany official. That rise ended with Wendell's death in December 1739 leaving the forty-five-year-old Anna to raise a family and maintain their assets.

Although she was named as the owner of second ward property on assessment rolls during the 1760s, she may have lived with her adult son who would have been considered as the head of the household in 1756.

In April 1763, she was named sole heir and executor of the will of her son, Evert - who died just a month later.

Anna Kip Wendell filed a will in March 1774. It named her fifty-five-year-old maiden daughter as her executor. She died in September 1779. Earlier in that year, her holdings were valued on Albany assessment rolls - making her one of the city's seventy-one women-headed households. Widow Anna had lived eighty-three years - the last forty as a widow.

Sources: The life of Anna Kip Wendell is CAP biography number 5944. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.