Mayors of Albany
1686-1800

Pieter Schuyler 1686
Johannes Wendell 1690*
Johannes Abeel 1694, 1709
Evert Bancker 1695, 1707
Dirck Wessels Ten Broeck 1696
Hendrick Hansen 1698
Pieter Van Brugh 1699, 1721
Jan Janse Bleecker 1700
Johannis Bleecker 1701
Albert Ryckman 1702
Johannes Schuyler 1703
David Schuyler 1706
Robert Livingston, Jr. 1710
Myndert Schuyler 1719, 1723
Johannes Cuyler 1725
Rutger Bleecker 1726
John De Peyster 1729, 1732
Johannes (Hans) Hansen 1731, 1754
Edward Holland 1733
Johannes Schuyler, Jr. 1740
Cornelis Cuyler 1742
Dirck Ten Broeck 1746
Jacob C. Ten Eyck 1748
Robert Sanders 1750
Sybrant G. Van Schaick 1756
Volkert P. Douw 1761
Abraham C. Cuyler 1770
John Barclay 1777
Abraham Ten Broeck 1779, 1796
John Jas. Beeckman 1783
John Lansing, Jr. 1786
Abraham Yates, Jr. 1790
Philip S. Van Rensselaer 1798


Timeline


notes

The mayor's office: Thirty-three different men served as mayor of Albany before 1800. All of them were leading citizens but these exceptional civic leaders are best understood through individual study. Between 1686 and 1776, the mayor of Albany was appointed by the royal governor of New York in accordance with the provisions of the city charter. Beginning in 1777, the mayor was appointed by the Council of Appointment of New York State. The appointment was annual and usually was made in September. After 1821, the mayor was elected directly by the residents of the city.

*Johannes Wendell was appointed by Jacob Leisler. No record exists that he actually served as mayor.

Sources: City historian Cuyler Reynolds produced the pioneering work on Albany mayors in 1906. Fraught with errors of fact and judgment, it has been corrected and brought up-to-date by Virginia Bowers - the present Albany City Historian. Her Mayors of Albany is a valuable handbook of information on Albany's first seventy-four "chief executives."


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first posted: 12/20/00; last revised 6/8/11