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 capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

. 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 is 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, (pronounced "Dungan") 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for hav ...

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 in New Netherland that was renamed and developed as Albany, New York, after the English took cont ...

." 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 t ...

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 David Schuyler may refer to: * David Pieterse Schuyler (1636–1690), fur trader, alderman of Albany, captain, and merchant * David Davidse Schuyler (1669–1715), fur trader and mayor of Albany, New York {{hndis, Schuyler, David ...

, and Robert Livingston the Elder. He was also one of the purchasers of the disputed ''Mohawk Patent'' in 1697, and other property.

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 Algonquin wa ...

in 1690 Ten Broeck served as envoy to the Mohawks,

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 nat ...

, and

Onondagas The Onondaga people ( Onondaga: , ''Hill Place people'') are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois (''Haudenosaunee'') Confederacy in northeast North America. Their traditional homeland is in and around present-day Onondag ...

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 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 ...

by Governor Benjamin Fletcher. 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 to ...

he refused his support to

Jacob Leisler Jacob Leisler ( – May 16, 1691) was a German-born colonist who served as a politician in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in the fur trade and tobacco business. In what became known as Leisler ...

. 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

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 (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 colonist landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family. Early life Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterdam, Holland in the Repub ...

, 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 (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 U ...

and was buried there.

References

External links