Captain Samuel Schuyler (1781-1841) [Section 59 Lot 66]
Owner of successful black company, Schuyler Towboat Company
Samuel Schuyler was born on October 20, 1781. Known as “the black Schuylers,” his origins are unknown, though given his surname it is speculated that he may have once been enslaved by General Philip Schuyler, “the white Schuylers,” who had the largest amount of slaves in Albany. By 1800 slavery became unfashionable in Albany County and began to decline. An 1804 record from Albany County mentions that a slave named Sam purchased his freedom from Derek Schuyler. In 1805 another record indicates that there was a marriage between a Samuel and Mary Martin, and is speculated this is Schuyler. He and Mary had at least eight children, one of them were baptized in Albany Dutch Church. His family lived at 204 South Pearl Street in the South End, Albany’s first post-American Revolution black settlement.
Schuyler worked on the docks of the Hudson River, eventually becoming as a towboat operator. An 1809 Albany tax roll mentions him as a “Blackman” and “skipper.” Becoming known through this trade was able to purchase a sloop and establish the Schuyler Towboat Company, which ran from Albany to New York City on America’s first superhighway. His sons eventually entered into the family business and renamed it to Samuel Schuyler & Company. Captain Schuyler’s family was seen as a figure of black society in Albany as they eventually owned a coal yard and a flour and feed store. When he died in 1842, his location within the cemetery significant as he, and eventually his family, was not buried in the section designed for blacks. Additionally, the granite monument signifies his family’s wealth. The memorial is engraved with three chain links, which is significant with the Odd Fellows as well as an anchor to acknowledge his career on the water.
His sons Samuel Jr. and Thomas took over the company and was able to expand the business incorporating steamboats to their fleet. Both were civically-minded in Albany where they served as “officers of bank, stock and insurance companies, trade organizations and charitable endeavors.” Samuel purchased a home at the corner of Trinity Place and Ashgrove, which still stands. He made several changes, one of them being a “round and bracketed cupola on the roof.” Thomas assisted in financing the Methodist-Episcopal Church at Trinity Place and Westerlo Street as well as the Albany Hospital and Groesbeckville Mission.
Though not confirmed, the Schuylers may have aided runaway slaves transporting them up the Hudson River to Albany on their sloops and steamboats during the years of the Underground Railroad. Albany was said to have the best-organized section within the state thanks to noted abolitionists, Stephen and Harriet Myers, and Lydia and Abigal Mott.
Thomas Schuyler is buried with his father though Samuel Jr. is not. He is buried in Section 32 near Erastus Corning and Philip Schuyler which was a premiere location during the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is speculated that Captain Schuyler is the great-grandfather of George Samuel Schuyler, an African American author, journalist, and social commentator.