Robert Sanders (July 11, 1705 – May 24, 1765) was a

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

businessman and government official. He served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

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 ...

from 1750 to 1754.

Early life

Robert Sanders was born in

, then part of

, on July 11, 1705. Sanders was the eldest son of Albany merchant and fur trader Barent Sanders and Maria (Wendell) Sanders. He was raised and educated in Albany, then joined his father's mercantile and fur business. During the early-to-mid 1700s, Barent Sanders and then Robert Sanders ranged into what are now Western New York and Canada, where they established connections with American Indians that enabled the Sanders family's fur business to grow and prosper. Trade between the British colonies and the French in Canada was illegal, but many British colonists who lived in upstate New York profited from business dealings with the French, including the Sanders family. In 1740, Robert Sanders married Maria Lansing, the daughter of an Albany merchant and member of the prominent

Lansing family Lansing is a Dutch language, Dutch patronymic surname from the personal name ''Lans'' (Germanic Lanzo). The "-ing" or "-ink" suffix originally was patronymic, but later also became indicative of a place. ''Lansing'' is now a rare name in the Nether ...

. At 35, Sanders was 12 years older than his wife. Their marriage ended in 1743, when Maria died following the birth of their first child. In 1747, he married 22 year old Elizabeth Schuyler, a member of Albany's prominent

Schuyler family The Schuyler family (Help:IPA/English, /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: Help:IPA/Dutch, xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the forma ...

. Sanders and Schuyler had nine children between 1747 and 1761; they were pewholders at the First Church in Albany, where their children were baptized.

Continued career

As the heir to his father's estate and a prominent businessman in his own right, Sanders took part in Albany's governance, including terms as constable and fire master of the city's second ward. In 1748, he was appointed Albany's recorder, in effect the deputy mayor. In 1749, he was named judge of the county court of common pleas. In 1750, Governor George Clinton appointed Sanders to succeed Jacob Coenraedt Ten Eyck as mayor. During his administration, the city hosted the

Albany Congress The Albany Congress (June 19 – July 11, 1754), also known as the Albany Convention of 1754, was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the British colonies in British America: Connecticut Colony, Connecticut, Prov ...

, at which the British colonies planned coordinated actions in advance of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. In 1754, he was succeeded as mayor by Johannes Hansen.

Later life

Following his term as mayor, Sanders resumed active management of the Sanders family businesses and estate, and resided in a home on Albany's Pearl Street. His wife died in 1763, and Sanders died in Albany on May 24, 1765. He was buried beneath the floor of the First Reformed Church; in 1805, Sanders family members disinterred the remains of ancestors from the church, including Robert Sanders, and reinterred them at the Sanders Family Cemetery in

Scotia, New York Scotia is a village in Schenectady County, New York, United States, incorporated in 1904. The population was 7,272 at the 2020 census. Scotia is part of the town of Glenville, and is connected with the city of Schenectady by the Western Gatewa ...

. After Sanders died, management of his business interests fell to his son-in-law Philip Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the husband of his daughter Maria. Sanders's granddaughter Ariaantje, known as Harriet, was the wife of Solomon Van Rensselaer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Robert 1705 births 1765 deaths 18th-century mayors of places in New York (state) Mayors of Albany, New York New York state court judges People from the Province of New York Lansing family Schuyler family