Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck
Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck (December 18, 1638 – November 24, 1717), also known as Dirck Wessels, was a prominent early settler of Albany, New York. He is known as "the progenitor of the Albany family of Ten Broecks." [Emma Ten Broeck Runk, The Ten Broeck Genealogy, 1897]
Contents
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 appointed him Magistrate Commissary, and later Envoy to Canada. In 1686 he was a signatory of the "Charter of Beverwijck." 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 The People of Colonial Albany Live Here, New York State Museum Saratoga Patent together with Cornelis Van Dyck, Jan Jansen Bleecker, Pieter Schuyler, Johannes Wendel, David Schuyler, 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 in 1690 Ten Broeck served as envoy to the Mohawks, Oneidas, and Onondagas 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 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 he refused his support to Jacob Leisler. [DWTBnysm]
Together with Pieter Schuyler, Domine Godfrey Dellius, and Evert Bancker, he was one of the four original members of the Commissioners for Indian Affairs 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 [Arnold J.F. Van, Early Records of the City and County of Albany and Colony of Rensselaerswyck: Volume 4 (Mortgages 1, 1658-1660, and Wills 1-2, 1681-1765) 2009, Emma Ten Broeck Runk, Ten Broeck Genealogy, Being The Records and Annals of Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck of Albany and his Descendants, 1897, New York]
- 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, 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, in 1712. [Cuyler Reynolds, Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: A Record of Achievements of the People of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York State, 1911]
- 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 Hendrick van Rensselaer, 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.[Runk1897, Reynolds1911]
Dirck Ten Broeck died on November 24, 1717 at his estate called "The Bouwerie" in Clermont, Province of New York and was buried there.
Dirck Ten Broeck, Stefan Bielinski
Dirck Ten Broeck was born in 1686. He was the eldest son of Albany businessman Wessel Ten Broeck and his wife, Catharina Loockermans Ten Broeck. He grew up in his father's riverside home and at his grandfather's country estate located within Livingston Manor.
He married Albany native Margarita Cuyler in 1714. Over the next twenty-four years, the union produced twelve children who were baptized at the Allbany Dutch church where both parents were members, frequent baptism sponsors, and where Dirck served as a deacon.
Following a family formula for success, this Albany mainstay was known as an Indian trader. In 1715, he was named "Inspector of Skins." During the 1720s, he held a provincial appointment as "farmer of the excise" (tax collector). He also served in the Albany militia.
In 1716, he followed his father to the city council - being elected assistant alderman for the third ward. In 1722, he was elected alderman. In 1728, he was commissioned recorder of the city by the provincial governor. After serving many years as alderman, Indian commissioner, recorder, and member of the provincial Assembly from 1728 to 1737, Dirck Ten Broeck was appointed mayor of Albany in 1746. He served two terms.
Inheriting substantial real estate from his father, Dirck Ten Broeck expanded those holdings in Albany and beyond. In 1722, he sold a portion of his Pearl Street property to the Dutch church. During the three decades of peace, he was involved in the cutting and sawing of lumber on his wilderness property. During that time, he also helped oversee Albany's interests at Schaghticoke.
In November 1737, "Dirck Wesselse" witnessed the wiill of an Albany neighbor.
Calling himself an "Albany merchant," Dirck Ten Broeck filed a will in 1748. It devised his estate to Margarita during her life and then divided his substantial holdings among seven promising progeny. Dirck Ten Broeck died in January 1751 and was buried beneath the Dutch church. He had just passed his sixty-fourth birthday. His widow enjoyed the estate until her death in 1783!
Sources
Notes
- The people of colonial Albany
The life of Dirck Ten Broeck is CAP biography number 33. Several contemporaries of the same name then were living in colonial New York. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.
- Military: Although antiquarian resources have referred to him as "Colonel," we still search for his commission. In 1715, he was listed as a private in John Schuyler's Troop of the Albany County Militia.
