Albert Janse Ryckman (c. 1642 – 1737) was an 18th-century
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
businessman and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as the 9th
Mayor of Albany
From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan.
From 1779 until 1839, may ...
from 1702 to 1703.
Early life
Ryckman was born in 1642 to
Beverwyck
Beverwijck ( ; ), often written using the pre-reform orthography Beverwyck, was a fur-trading community north of Fort Orange on the Hudson River in New Netherland that was renamed and developed as Albany, New York, after the English took cont ...
pioneers Jan and Catharina Janse. After his father's death, his mother Tryntje Janse, married Eldert Gerbertse Cryff.
Career
In a court document dated Albany, June 2, 1675, he signed as Albert Janse Ryckman, he declared that he had made a contract with
Stephanus Van Cortlandt
Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor' ...
, the director of
Renesellaerswyck, with the consent of Jans Hendrickse Bruyn, for two mortgages which Bruyn holds against Eldert Gerbertse Cruyff, his step-father. Albert promises to pay the mortgages in good beaver skin in installments, in 1676 and 1677, the mortgages amounting to 399 guilders and 4 stivers with interest at 10%. A footnote by Pearson states that Captain Albert Janse Ryckman was a brewer and indicated that his house was on the south corner of Hudson St. and Broadway. Ryckman was considered one of the most prominent
Albany brewers of his time and became quite adept at business and polticking. In 1686, he was appointed to the first
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
of Albany as an
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
. Ryckman made connections and increased his family notoriety until his appointment as Mayor in 1702. He was a Captain in the
Albany Militia
Albany, derived from the Gaelic for Scotland, most commonly refers to:
*Albany, New York, the capital of the State of New York and largest city of this name
*Albany, Western Australia, port city in the Great Southern
Albany may also refer to: ...
. Living until his nineties, Captain Ryckman always considered himself an "Albany county brewer."
In 1690, he assisted in taking of an inventory of the estate of Jan Cock, a young man killed by a cannon at
Fort Albany on the February 9, 1690 after 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 Algonquin wa ...
. Ryckman and Jan Lansing, also an alderman of Albany, made the inventory."
In 1703, Marten Cornelissen Van Buren writes his will and makes Albert Ryckman and
Dirck Wessels the guardians of his sons Peter and Marte, which was written on April 10, 1703.
Personal life
In the mid-1660s, he was married to Neeltje "Cornelia" Quackenbush, with whom he eventually had twelve children, of whom nine were living and spoken of in his will made in 1736, including:
* Johannes Ryckman
* Pieter Ryckman,
who married Cornelia Keteltas
* Albert Ryckman, Jr.
Ryckman was also known to have purchased a few properties with the payment to be received in the form of beaverskin.
He was buried January 12, 1737, and his wife on October 17 the following year.
[ arly records of the City and Colony of Albany and the Colony of Renesellaerswyck, 1656 - 1675, translated by Jonathan Pearson. Vol. 1:115/ref>
]
Legacy
Ryckman Hall on the University at Albany
The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...
campus is named after Albert Janse Ryckman. "Campus Buildings Historical Tour - Ryckman Hall
/ref>
See also
* History of Albany, New York
The history of Albany, New York began long before the first interaction of Europeans with the native Indian tribes, as they had long inhabited the area. The area was originally inhabited by an Algonquian Indian tribe, the Mohican, as well as the ...
* Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a Mainline Protestant, mainline Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 unti ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryckman, Albert
1642 births
1737 deaths
American people of Dutch descent
Mayors of Albany, New York