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Joseph
Yates
Joseph Yates was the first member of the Yates family in Albany. Tradition holds that he came to America to serve with the English invasion force after 1664. He was of English background and probably was born in Yorkshire.
By
the early 1680s, he had married New Netherland native
Huybertje Marselis. By 1704, she had given birth
to seven children Yates children - who then established
the family in Albany, Schenectady, and New York.
While
serving as a soldier in the Albany garrison, Joseph
Yates practiced the blacksmith's trade - the occupation
of a number of his descendants. He supplemented those
incomes by supplying firewood to the fort and also
held a municipal appointment as city carter. In 1714,
he was certified as an invalided soldier and as one
of those who had served in the Independent Company
for upwards of twenty years.
He
first purchased a lot on the south side of lower
State Street but later lived on the east corner of
Green and Beaver Streets. His modest home and smithy
would be family landmarks for many years. He also
held a garden lot on the plain near the Marselis
homestead. In 1720, the name of Joseph Yates, Sr.
appeared on a list of eligible voters in the first
ward.
Joseph
and Huybertie Yates lived out their days in the southside
home. With children and grandchildren taking their
places in Albany society, Joseph Yates died in May
1730 and Huybertie two months later. They were buried
in the Dutch church cemetery a stone's throw from
their home.
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Notes: The
life of Joseph Yates is CAP biography number 4419.
This profile is derived chiefly from family and
community-based resources. The most useful of the
printed genealogical resources on his life is "Joseph
Yates of Albany, 1664-1730, The Search for Roots
in England," by "Mrs. Victor Johnson," in
NYGBR volume 114:4,(October 1983), 228-35.
Certificate of service: SH volume1:458.
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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