Abraham Ten Broeck

  General Notes:

Brigadier General, present at the most critical moment in the battle of BemisHeights. Additional military history: Helped draft the Militia Law. Brigadier General, first of Albany and Tryon County Militias, then of the Albany County Militia. Resigned in 1781 due to health problems. Other: he was born 1734in Albany NY and died there in 1810. Was the tenthchild of Dirk and Grietjs(Cuyler) Ten Broeck. Married 1 Nov 1763 (1753?), Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (1734-1813), daughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer. They had five children; one, ason, Dirck (d. 1832), m. 1785, Cornelia Stuyvesant (1768-1825) . The generalwas the first judge of the Albany County court of common pleas and was mayorof Albany. source: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nysarato/sarapkt.htm - Lineage Books of the Charter Members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Daughters of the American Revolution: (Washington, DC, various years) - Sanderson, Howard Kendall, compiler; "Lynn in the Revolution;" W. B. Clarke; (Boston, 1909) ======================================================================== The History of the Mansion The Ten Broeck Mansion was built in 1797 - 98 for Abraham Ten Broeck and his wife, Elizabeth Van Rensselaer after a fire destroyed their Albany city home. On five acres in the township of Watervliet leased from his brother-in-law, the patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer, General Ten Broeck built a Federal-style house with sloping lawnsand formal gardens. Named "Prospect," the mansion commanded a sweeping view of the Hudson River and the daily traffic of barges and schooners along the busy trade route. The Ten Broecks were already five generations into new world residence by the time Abraham came of age and had become prosperous and prominent in public affairs. Ten Broeck served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1775. In 1777, as Brigadier General, he commanded the New York militia at the famous battle of Saratoga. From 1779-1783 he served as both mayor of the city of Albany and as a member of the New York State Senate. Governor George Clinton appointed Ten Broeck first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1781. Among his other accomplishments were serving as the first president of the Bank of Albany, the first president of the Albany Public Library, and a trustee of Union College. Ten Broeck enjoyed Prospect for a scant twelve years before his death in 1810. His widow, Elizabeth, lived there another three years until her death in 1813. Over the next thirty years the character of the house changed as it was refurbished and renovated in the then-fashionable Greek Revival style. Theodore Olcott purchased the residence in 1848 and renamed it Arbor Hill after the surrounding area. The Olcott family, one of the most prominent of Albany families in banking and civic improvements,was responsible for the addition of the first floor butler's pantry and the second floor bathrooms, both of which reflect the Victorian style of the late19th century. The Mansion's dominance spurred new development in Arbor Hill, with a new wealthy merchant class building homes near their businesses in thelate Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, and other styles from the late 1840's to 1890. After one hundred years of Olcott family ownership, the heirs of Robert Olcott presented the house to the Albany County Historical Association in 1948. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Ten Broeck Mansion - 9 Ten Broeck Place - Albany - Albany County - Federal brick residence built 1797-98 for Abraham Ten Broeck, prominent Albanian, delegate to Continental Congress, mayor of Albany, and brigadier general in American Revolution; design attributed to Philip Hooker. Operated as house museum by Albany County Historical Association. source: http://www.hvnet.com/tou

Abraham married Elizabeth Van Rensselaer.