Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck (December 18, 1638 – November 24, 1717), also known as Dirck Wessels, was a prominent early settler of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. He is known as "the progenitor of the Albany family of Ten Broecks."

Early life

Dirck Ten Broeck was born on December 18, 1638, the second of five children of Wessel Ten Broeck, who worked for the West India Company.

Career

In 1663, he was listed as "a free merchant in Albany", and purchased a house and lot on the corner of State and James Streets. In 1676, Governor

Thomas Dongan Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715) was an Irish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New York from 1683 to 1688. He called the first representative legislature in the Province o ...

appointed him Magistrate Commissary, and later Envoy to Canada. In 1686 he was a signatory of the "Charter of

Beverwijck Beverwijck ( ; ), often written using the pre-reform orthography Beverwyck, was a fur-trading community north of Fort Orange on the Hudson River within Rensselaerwyck in New Netherland that was renamed and developed as Albany, New York, after ...

." After the first election under the charter he was appointed Recorder, in which office he served for ten years. In 1684, he was one of the purchasers of the 150,000-acre Saratoga Patent together with Cornelis Van Dyck,

Jan Jansen Bleecker Jan Jansen Bleecker (July 9, 1641 — November 21, 1732) was a colonial era merchant and political figure who served as Mayor of Albany, New York. Early life Jan Jansen Bleecker was born in Meppel, Drenthe, Netherlands on July 9, 1641, and was th ...

Pieter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

, Johannes Wendel, David Schuyler, and

Robert Livingston the Elder Robert Livingston the Elder (13 December 1654 – 1728) was a Scottish-born merchant and government official in the Province of New York. He was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km2/ 250 sq mi) of land along the Hudson River, becomin ...

. He was one of the purchasers of the disputed ''Mohawk Patent'' in 1697, and other properties.

Political career

At the time of the

Schenectady massacre The Schenectady massacre was an attack against the colonial settlement of Schenectady in the English Province of New York on February 8, 1690. A raiding party of 114 French soldiers and militiamen, accompanied by 96 allied Mohawk and Algonqui ...

in 1690 Ten Broeck served as envoy to the

Mohawks The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the Six Nations). Mohawk are an Iroquoi ...

Oneidas The Oneida people ( ; autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding nati ...

, and

Onondagas The Onondaga people (Onontaerrhonon, Onondaga: , "People of the Hills") are one of the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical homelands are in and around present-day Ono ...

to determine their loyalties. At this time also he served as a Major in the militia under Colonel Pieter Schuyler. In 1696, he was appointed

Mayor of Albany In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

by Governor

Benjamin Fletcher Benjamin Fletcher (14 May 1640 – 28 May 1703) was colonial governor of New York from 1692 to 1697. Fletcher was known for the ''Ministry Act'' of 1693, which secured the place of Anglicans as the official religion in New York. He also built ...

. He was elected to the first Provincial Assembly of New York, and served through the Fifth Assembly. During

Leisler's Rebellion Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late-17th century colonial New York in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the southern portion of the colony and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising too ...

he refused his support to

Jacob Leisler Jacob Leisler ( – May 16, 1691) was a German-born politician and colonial administrator in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in the North American fur trade and tobacco business. In what became k ...

. Together with

Godfridius Dellius Godefridus Dellius (baptized 28 October 1654 – 1738) was a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church active in and around Albany, New York during the late 17th century and up to 1699. He also served as a missionary to the Mohawk people in what the ...

, and Evert Bancker, he was one of the four original members of the

Commissioners for Indian Affairs The Commissioners for Indian Affairs were a group of officials of colonial Albany, New York charged with regulating the fur trade and dealing with the Iroquois. History Originally the local magistrates, functioning informally, performed these tas ...

appointed by Governor Fletcher in 1696.

Personal life

Coat of Arms of Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck

In 1663, he married Christyna Van Buren (1644–1729), the daughter of Cornelis Maessen Van Buren and Catalyntje Martensen, in Albany. The couple had six sons and seven daughters: * Wessel Ten Broeck (1664–1747), who married Catherina Loockermans (1669–1729) in 1684. * Elsje Ten Broeck (d. 1752), who married

Johannes Cuyler Johannes Cuyler (1661 – July 20, 1740) was a prominent American merchant of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1725 to 1726. Early life and family Cuyler was born in 1661 in New Amsterdam in the Province of New ...

(1661–1740) in 1684. * Catalyntje Ten Broeck (1666–1725), who married Johannes Legget in 1688. * Cornelia Ten Broeck (1669–1729), who married Johannes Wynkoop, son of Cornelius Wynkoopm, in 1696. * Christina Ten Broeck (1672–1774), who married Johannes Van Alen (d. 1750), son of Pieter Van Alen, in 1701. * Geertruy Ten Broeck (1675–1728), who married Abraham Davidse Schuyler (1663–1726), a nephew of

Philip Pieterse Schuyler Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler or Philip Pieterse (1628 – 9 May 1683) was a Dutch-born landowner in New Netherlands and progenitor of the senior line of the American Schuyler family. Early life Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterda ...

, in 1691. * Elizabeth Ten Broeck (d. 1757), who married Anthony Coster (d. 1753) in 1698. * Lidia Ten Broeck (1675–1748), who married Volkert Van Vechten, son of Gerrit Teunisse Van Vechten, in 1702. * Samuel Ten Broeck (1680–1756), who married Maria Van Rensselaer (1689–1756), daughter of

Hendrick van Rensselaer Hendrick van Rensselaer (October 23, 1667 – July 4, 1740) was director of the Eastern patent of the Rensselaerswyck manor. The estate was composed of land in Columbia County, New York, and land opposite Albany, New York, on the Hudson River ...

, in 1712. * Ephraim Ten Broeck (b. 1681), twin that died young. * Manassa Ten Broeck (b. 1681), twin that died young. * Johannes Ten Broeck (b. 1683), who married Elizabeth Wendell, daughter of Johannes Wendell and Elizabeth Staats, in 1709. After her death, he married Catryna Van Rensselaer, another daughter of

, in 1714. * Tobias Ten Broeck (1689−1724), who married Maritie Van Stryen in 1714. After her death, he married Dominic Johannes Van Driessen (d. 1734), in 1727. Dirck Ten Broeck died on November 24, 1717, at his estate called "The Bouwerie" in Clermont,

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

and was buried there.

References

External links