Maria Lansing was born in November 1735. She was the daughter of Albany natives Robert Lansing and his first wife, Margarita Roseboom Lansing. Her mother died when she was eleven and her father re-married. She grew up on Court Street where Robert Lansing practiced the gunsmith's trade.

In June 1757, she married Albany native Hendrick J. Wendell at the Albany Dutch church. By 1775, seven children had been christened in Albany where both parents were members and pewholders.

These Wendells set up their home in Albany's first ward where Wendell was a businessman who was appointed sheriff of Albany County in 1777. For the next decade, their riverside home was an Albany landmark.

Hendrick J. Wendell died in October 1795. Maria took over as head of their modest home. However, by 1800, Maria and her daughter were identified as poor and were receiving aid from the city. Later, she ran a boardinghouse on lower Maiden Lane. Maria Lansing Wendell probably was dead by 1819.

Sources: The life of Maria Lansing Wendell is CAP biography number 3503. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.