Pieter Van Brugh

Pieter Van Brugh (1666 – July 1740) was the Mayor of Albany, New York from 1699 to 1700 and from 1721 to 1723. [1]

Pieter Van Brugh
Mayor of Albany
In office
1721 – 1723
Preceded byMyndert Schuyler
Succeeded byMyndert Schuyler
In office
1699 – 1700
Preceded byHendrick Hansen
Succeeded byJan Jansen Bleecker
Personal details
Born1666
New Netherland
DiedJuly 1740
Province of New York
NationalityDutch
Spouse(s)
Sara Cuyler
(m. 1688)
Children1
ParentsJohannes Pieterse van Brugh
Catharine Roeloffe Jans
RelativesRoeliff Jansen (grandfather)
Hendrick van Rensselaer (brother-in-law)
Philip Livingston (son-in-law)

Early life and family

Pieter Van Brugh was a member of the Dutch aristocracy of Albany. Pieter Van Brugh was the oldest son of Johannes Pieterse Van Brugh and Catharina Roeloffs (sometimes shown as Trijntje Roeloffs). His father, Johannes Pieterse van Brugh, had made a fortune by migrating from the Netherlands to New Netherland and exporting furs and other natural resources from Manhattan. Pieter's maternal grandparents were from Norway. Roeliff Jansen (1602–1637) was born in Marstrandsön, a small island situated in Bohuslän province in Norway, today a part of Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden.[2] Anneke Jans (later Anneke Jantz Bogardus) (1605–1663) was born on Flekkerøy,[3] an island situated outside the town of Kristiansand, Vest-Agder county, Norway.[4][5]

His sister, Catharina, married Hendrick van Rensselaer, the son of Rensselaerswyck patroon, Jeremias van Rensselaer.

Career

After serving time as a militia lieutenant in New York City, Van Brugh entered the family business and lived with his wife's family in Albany. He became a constable in 1692 followed by several other public duties in the following years. In 1697, he inherited the Cuyler's home.

In 1699, Van Brugh's prominence led to his appointment as Mayor of Albany which he held until the following year. In September 1700, he was part of an expedition that traveled west into the Iroquois country in an attempt to establish a fort among the Onondaga.[6] In the following decades, he became one of the wealthiest businessmen in Albany and was named mayor for a second time from 1721 to 1723.

Personal life

In November 1688, Van Brugh married Sara Cuyler. Uncharacteristic for the era, the couple had only one child:

By the time he died in 1740, Van Brugh and his wife had twelve grandchildren and had raised several orphaned nieces but had no sons thereby ending the Van Brugh family name in Albany. Van Brugh was one of the last people to be interred beneath Albany Dutch Reformed Church.

Descendants

Pieter was the great-granduncle of American Revolutionary War soldier, Peter Gansevoort.

See also

References

Notes
  1. "Peter Van Brugh". The History of the County of Albany, by George Howell, (c)1886, p 658. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  2. Roelof Janse and Anneke Jans
  3. The history of Marstrand, 1200-1658 (Marstrand)
  4. "Anneke Jans". Family Card - Person Sheet. 26 May 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  5. "Anneke Jantz Bogardus". Times Union. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  6. O'Callaghan, E.B., ed. (1854). Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York. 4. Albany, NY: Weed, Parson and Company. pp. 802–07.
  7. "Catharina Van Brugh". A Portrait of Livingston Manor, 1686-1850 by Ruth Piwonka (Clermont, NY, 1986), p. 33. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
Sources
  • Bowers, Virginia (1997) Mayors of Albany, 1686-1997 : biographical sketches (Albany, NY: City Club of Albany)
  • Zabriskie, George Olin, The Founding Families of New Netherland—The Roelofs and Bogardus Families (de Halve Maen, vol. 48, no. 2, July, 1973, Part IV, p. 9.)
Political offices
Preceded by
Myndert Schuyler
Mayor of Albany, New York
1721–1723
Succeeded by
Myndert Schuyler
Preceded by
Hendrick Hansen
Mayor of Albany, New York
1699–1700
Succeeded by
Jan Jansen Bleecker
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