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Abraham
Bloodgood
Abraham Bloodgood was born in Flushing, Long Island in 1742. He was the son of Francis and Mary Doughty Bloodgood. By the late 1760s, he had relocated to Albany - probably living with his older brother James Bloodgood.
By
1770, he was running a sloop on the Hudson River
between Albany and New York and was carrying cargoes
for Sir William Johnson and others.
In
1773, he married Albany native Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh
- the widow of Thomas Lynott. Over the next two decades,
seven of their children were baptized in the Albany
Dutch church.
These
Bloodgoods made their home along the Albany waterfront.
Abraham contributed money to the crusade for American
liberties, served as bailsman for several individuals
during the war, and later was awarded a land bounty
right in conjunction with the Albany County militia.
His first ward property began appearing on city assessment
rolls in 1779. In 1781, he was identified as an
innkeeper. By 1790, his substantial brick home along
lower State street was an Albany landmark!
After
the war, he served in Albany fire companies, stood
with other Albany residents in opposition to the
Federal constitution, and was appointed "clerk" in Albany in 1797. He owned a portion of the tract of land that later became the city of Ithaca. He was a slaveowner but began freeing them in 1794!
Abraham
Bloodgood filed a will in May 1797. It left Elizabeth
to administer his estate and provided for its partition
after her death. He died in February 1807 and was
buried from the Presbyterian church.
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Sources:
The life of is CAP biography number 7351. This profile
is derived chiefly from family and community-based
resources. He may have been married previously for
in December 1760 a New York marriage license was
granted for Abraham Bloodgood and Priscilla Ellis.
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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