Abraham Ten Broeck

Rensselaerswyck series
Dutch West India Company
The Patroon System
Map of Rensselaerswyck
Patroons of Rensselaerswyck: Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1630–40s) Various (1640s–52) Jan Baptist van Rensselaer (1652–58) Jeremias van Rensselaer (1658–74) Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1674–87) Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1687–1719)[1] Jeremias van Rensselaer (1719–45) Stephen van Rensselaer I (1745–47) Stephen van Rensselaer II (1747–69) Abraham Ten Broeck (1769–84, de facto) Stephen van Rensselaer III (1784–1839)

Abraham Ten Broeck (May 13, 1734 – January 19, 1810^[2]) was a New York politician, businessman, and militia Brigadier General of Dutch descent. He was twice Mayor of Albany, New York and built one of the largest mansions in the area that still stands more than 200 years later.

Early life

Abraham Ten Broeck was the son of Dirck Ten Broeck and Margarita Cuyler. His great-grandfathers included former Albany mayors Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck and Jan Jansen Bleecker. His father was a politician and also served as Albany's mayor beginning in 1746. Abraham was sent to New York City to learn business with his sister Christina's husband, Philip Livingston. He was then sent to Europe to learn international business after his father's death in 1751, returning to Albany in 1752.

Career

Ten Broeck increased his wealth via trade while in Albany. During the 1750s, he was involved in the provincial militia. In 1759, he was elected to the city council and in 1760, he was elected to the Province of New York Assembly while continuing to serve Albany. In November^[3]

American Revolution

Ten Broeck continued his military involvement and was named colonel of the Albany County militia in 1775. On June 25, 1778, he was named Brigadier General of the Tryon and Albany Counties of Militia and then Albany County only. He resigned March 26, 1781.

He was a member of the New York Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1777 and was its chairman of its Committee of Safety in 1777.

After war years

After the death of Mayor John Barclay, Ten Broeck was appointed Mayor of Albany in 1779, remaining in office until 1783. In March 1789, he ran for Congress but was defeated by Jeremiah Van Rensselaer. In 1796, Mayor Abraham Yates died and Ten Broeck was again appointed Mayor of Albany, remaining in office until 1798. Ten Broeck was a Federalist presidential elector in 1796, and cast his votes for John Adams and Thomas Pinckney.

Personal life

In 1763, he married Elizabeth Van Rensselaer, a sister of patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer II and great-granddaughter of the first native-born mayor of New York City, Stephanus Van Cortlandt. By the mid-1760s, Ten Broeck was one of Albany's wealthiest men. In 1769, his brother-in-law died at age 27 and Ten Broeck was named co-administrator of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, a position he held until 1784 when his nephew, Stephen Van Rensselaer III, came of age.

The Ten Broecks lived in a house that was assessed equally with the Schuyler Mansion and Yates Mansion in 1788. In 1797, it was burned in a fire that destroyed several city blocks.^[4] Construction was started on the new Ten Broeck Mansion soon after and the family resided there beginning in 1798. The historic mansion still stands in Arbor Hill more than 200 years later.

See also

• Ten Broeck Mansion
• Manor of Rensselaerswyck

References

1. Spooner 1907, p.17
2. Abraham Ten Broeck at the New York State Museum web site.
3. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Ten Broeck at the New York State Museum web site.
4. Fire at the New York State Museum web site.