Jannetie Van Ness Waldron

According to one family-based resource, this Jannetie Van Ness was born in May 1711. She is said to have been born in New Jersey. However, perhaps more plausible is that she was christened in April 1713 at the Albany Dutch church as the daughter of Halfmoon residents Evert and Geertje Vandenbergh Van Ness. Perplexed if not bewildered, we still seek defining information on her precise origins.

In September 1732, she married Albany native Cornelis Waldron at the Albany Dutch church. By 1749, the marriage had produced eight children whose names honored the grandparents. Her husband may have been married previously but a first union does not seem to have yielded surviving children.

For more than two decades, these Waldrons raised their family in the Albany area. However, their public life has scarcely surfaced as a result of our latest sweep of our family and community-based resources. Thus, we surmise that they may have been more identified with the Albany countryside.

Cornelis Waldron died in May 1756 and was buried from the Albany church. In June of that year, perhaps a newly widowed Jannetie Van Ness Waldron was the "Mrs. Waldrum" who was identified as a "Mantuamaker" on a census of Albany householders made by the British army.

It appears that the widow Jannetie Van Ness Waldron lived for several more decades. During the mid-1760s, her property at the Halfmoon was valued moderately and in close proximity to that of her sons.

Perhaps she died in Monmouth, New Jersey in January 1792. Thus, she would have lived into her eighties. However, this is not a conclusive scenario and we seek more definitive information on her widowhood and passing.

Sources: The life of Jannetie Van Ness Waldron is CAP biography number 964. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.