by Stefan Bielinski Manhattan-born silversmith Robert Sanders settled in Albany about 1665. He was the founder a small but important family in early Albany and Schenectady history. His only surviving son was Barent Sanders, a prominent Albany merchant of the early eighteenth century. Barent's two sons established the family in Albany and Schenectady. At the same time, Sanders daughters connected them to many pominent Albany families through marriage. Elder son Robert Sanders was appointed mayor of Albany in 1750. Without male heirs, the name passed from Albany rolls with his death in 1765. However, his daughter, Debora, married her cousin Johannes Sanders - son of John Sanders (an Albany native living in Schenectady) in 1777. Their son, Barent Sanders, returned to Albany following his marriage to Catharina Bleecker in 1810!notes
Thomas Sanders was an English or Scottish ancestry refugee in Holland who came to New Netherland and married a woman from Haarlem. He was a locksmith and/or silversmith - a trade he passed on to his son. first posted: 3/20/03; revised 1/05 |