Andrew Barclay (October 1719 – June 19, 1775) was a Scottish-American merchant who served as the 4th president of the

Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York The Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York is the oldest charitable institution in the state of New York and is focused on helping Scots in the New York community. History The organization was founded in 1756 by Scottish founders in N ...

Early life

Barclay was born in Albany in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

in October 1719. He was the son of Anna Dorothea (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Drauyer) Barclay, a Dutch speaker, and the Rev. Thomas Barclay, a native of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

who became the first rector of St. Peter's Church in Albany. Among his siblings was the Rev. William Henry Barclay, rector of Trinity Church in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

who graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1734 and was the father of

Thomas Henry Barclay Thomas Henry Barclay (October 12, 1753 – April 21, 1830) was an American lawyer who became one of the United Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia and served in the colony's government. Early life Thomas Henry Barclay came from a prominent New York f ...

. Barclay, who was educated in Albany, was the maternal grandson of Gertrud (née Van Schaick) Drauyer and Capt. Andries Drauyer, a

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...

in the

Dutch navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

Career

Following the death of his father in 1726, he was sent from Albany to New York City to learn business. Barclay married into the prominent

Roosevelt family The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny ...

, which allied him to the Dutch families of the province, and he became a successful merchant. He owned a sugar house and works in conjunction with his brothers-in-law, Jacobus Roosevelt Jr. and Isaac Roosevelt. From 1759 to 1761, he served as the fourth president of the

, of which he was a founder in 1756. He had previously served as vice-president from 1758 to 1759.

Personal life

On June 14, 1737, Barclay was married to Helena Roosevelt (1719–1772), daughter of James Jacobus Roosevelt and Catharina Hardenbroek. Helena's paternal grandfather was Nicholas Roosevelt (the last common ancestor of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts and the Hyde Park Roosevelts). Together they lived at 45 Hanover Square and were the parents of eleven children: * Thomas J. Barclay, who died unmarried. * James Barclay (1750–1791), who married Maria van Beverhout. * Andrew H. Barclay, who died young. * Henry Barclay, who died unmarried. * John Barclay, who married Catherine Barclay. * Ann Dorothea Barclay (b. 1741), who married Theophylact Bache, brother of

Richard Bache Richard Bache (September 12, 1737 – April 17, 1811), born in Settle, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, immigrated to Philadelphia, in the colony of Pennsylvania, where he was a businessman, a marine insurance underwriter, and later served as ...

. * Catherine Barclay, who married

Augustus Van Cortlandt Augustus Van Cortlandt (August 3, 1728 – December 20, 1823) was an American lawyer who served as the last Clerk of the City and County of New York under British rule who hid the city records at his family's estate manor house in 1776. Early lif ...

. * Sarah Ann Barclay (1745–1806), who married Anthony Lispenard, son of

Leonard Lispenard Col. Leonard Lispenard (December 14, 1714 – February 20, 1790) was a New York City merchant, politician, and landowner. Early life Lispenard was born on December 14, 1714 in the City of New York. He was the eldest son of six children born to C ...

. * Ann Margaret Barclay, who married Frederick Jay. * Helena Barclay (d. 1775), who married Maj. Thomas Moncrieff of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. * Charlotte Amelia Barclay (1760–1778), who married Dr. Richard Bayley, the first professor of anatomy at Columbia College. His wife died in 1773, and Barclay died on June 19, 1775. In his 1763 will, he left his oldest son Thomas a special legacy of £100, in addition to the £600 he left to each living child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Andrew 1719 births 1775 deaths

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

Colonial American merchants American businesspeople in shipping Presidents of the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York