The name Bleecker is derived from the Dutch, signifying one who bleaches or a bleacher by trade, in those days conducting the washing as a wholesale business in Holland by the side of a stream. The Bleecker arms: Per blue azure and argent; on the first two chevronels embattled counter, embattled or; on the second an oak branch proper, fruited or; motto: Fide et constantia.
(I) Jan Janse Bleecker, a native of Meppel, province of Overyssel, Holland, was born July 9, 1641, son of Jan Bleecker. He came to this country in 1658, and settled in New Amsterdam, now New York City. Later on he removed to Albany. He was not only a trader who was widely known, but was a man of considerable prominence, as is certified by the number of public offices he held beginning with the year in which Albany received its charter as a city, 1686. In that year he was appointed the first city chamberlain; captain of militia, Indian War, 1689; was Indian commissioner, 1691-94; recorder, 1696-1700; justice of the peace, 1697, and member of the provincial assembly, 1698-1701. More important than any of these high positions, he was made the seventh mayor of Albany, by appointment from the representative of the Crown, the Earl of Bellomont, and held that office 1700-01. He belonged to the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in America, and, dying in Albany, November 21, 1732, he was buried in that church edifice, as was the custom of his day. He married Margariet (or Grietjen) Rutse, daughter of Rutger Jacobsen Van Schoenderwoert, January 2, 1667. She was born in 1647, died in 1733. Children:
- Johannes, born 1668;
- Rutger, see forward;
- Nicolaas;
- Catharine;
- Jane;
- Margaret;
- Hendrick, baptized April, 1686;
- Rachel, baptized November 14, 1688;
- Maria, baptized February 7, 1692.
(II) Rutger (Jansen), son of Jan Janse, and Margariet Rutse (Van Schoenderwoert) Bleecker, was born in Albany, May 13, 1675, and resided at the northwest corner of North Pearl and Steuben streets. He was a merchant of considerable means, and a member of the Reformed Protestant Dutch church. He was city recorder, 1725, and his older brother, Johannes, was the eighth mayor, serving 1701-02, receiving his appointment from Lieutenant-Governor John Nanfan. He was appointed the fifteenth mayor of Albany by Colonial Governor William Burnet, and held office from November 8, 1726, to November 10, 129. He died in Albany, August 4, 1756. He married Catalyna (or Catalina) Schuyler, daughter of David I. Schuyler, and widow of Johannes Abeel, the second mayor of Albany, May 26, 1712. She was baptized October 10, 1686, and was buried in the Dutch church, October 25, 1747. Children:
- Johannes, baptized February 8, 1713, see forward;
- Margarita, baptized October 8, 1714, married Edward Collins;
- Jacobus, baptized December 9, 1716;
- Myndert, baptized July 3, 1720.
(III) Johannes (Rutgerse), son of Rutger (Jansen) and Catalyna (Schuyler) Bleecker, was baptized in Albany, February 8, 1713. He was a surveyor and made one of the most useful of the city maps. He died in 1800. He married, August 5, 1743, Elizabeth Staats, born October 3, 1725, daughter of Barent Staats. Children:
- Rutger, baptized July 5, 1745, married Catharine Elmendorf;
- Barent, baptized June 5, 1748;
- Barent, baptized November 18, 1750;
- Barent, baptized November 12, 1752, buried November 5, 1756;
- Jacobus, baptized October 23, 1755, see forward;
- Catalina, baptized October 15, 1758;
- Barent, baptized June 9, 1760, married Sarah Lansing, daughter of Gerrit Lansing, no children;
- Johannes, born October 4, 1763, died December 29, 1833.
(IV) Jacobus (or James) Johannsen, son of Johannes and Elizabeth (Staats) Bleecker, was born in Albany, October 14, 1755, died there February 18, 1825. He married, November 18, 1782, Rachel Van Sant, born 1759, died March 22, 1837. Children:
- Katalyna, married Barent Sanders;
- Sally, married Charles Platt, died 1832;
- Garrett Van Sant, see forward.
(V) Garrett Van Sant, son of Jacobus (or James) and Rachel (Van Sant) Bleecker, was born in the fine mansion of his grandfather, Garrett Van Sant, on South Pearl street, Albany, August 2, 1790, died January 12, 1856. He had no profession, but spent his entire time in looking after his interests. He was an active member of the South Second Reformed Church. He was a good citizen, liberal to the poor, visiting the alms house every week. He married (first), February 6, 1811, Margaret Van der Voort, died October 10, 1827; married (second), February 8, 1829, Jane Shepard, born June 12, 1801, daughter of Thomas Shepard, of Albany, and was of English descent. For a lengthy period he was an alderman of the third ward. Children:
- Rachel, born September 25, 181—; married, February 25, 1829, Dr. Visscher Winne;
- Elizabeth Staats, born December 3, 1814; married James Bleecker Sanders, of Albany;
- James Van der Voort, born April 25, 1817; married Ann Kinnear;
- Margaret Louise, born June 22, 1819; married, June 10, 1840, Henry A. Allen;
- Garrett Van Sant, Jr., born October 12, 1821; married Mary McCullock;
- Anna, born April 17, 1824; married Stephen Wakeman Clark;
- Charles Edward, born July 15, 1826; married Grace Strobel, he being the fifty-first mayor of Albany and serving from May 6, 1868, to May 5, 1870, and died in Albany, January 31, 1873.
Children, by second wife:
- Sarah Jane, born February 7, 1831; married, March 15, 1855, Robert Reed;
- Thomas Shepard, born February 23, 1833; married, November 4, 1863, Kate McCullock;
- William Rutger, born June 11, 1839, died unmarried;
- Matilda Eliza, born July 12, 1835; married, April 11, 1867, Jacob Henrick Ten Eyck (see Ten Eyck family).
Jacob H. Ten Eyck, son of Herman and Eliza (Bogart) Ten Eyck), was born in Albany, August 17, 1833, died there March 24, 1898. He was educated at the Albany Academy, and started as a clerk in a bank. In 1856 he went to Cuba and devoted three years to railroading. He returned to Albany, and in 1861 he raised Company G, Third New York Volunteers; was commissioned a captain of state militia, and shortly after was mustered into the United States service. He served nearly two years, was promoted major of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth New York Volunteers, and was stationed in Virginia with the Eleventh Army Corps. He resigned in 1864 on account of ill health, and returned to Albany, where he resided until his death. He held many important positions of trust; was trustee of the Albany Savings Bank; director of the Albany Insurance Company for about twenty years; president of the Great Western Turnpike Company, and was connected with a number of manufacturing enterprises both in his own city and in Troy. He was alderman of the old seventh ward for two years; one of the founders of the Fort Orange Club, the leading social institution in his city, and was its president at the time of his death; for ten years he was a member of the Volunteer Fire Department; was for a long period an officer of the Albany Burgesses' Corps, and also commissary of the Tenth Regiment. He was a member of the New York Commandery, Loyal Legion of America; Jacob H. Ten Eyck Post, No. 154, Grand Army of the Republic, of Albany, was named in his honor. He was president of the board of trustees of the North Dutch First Reformed Church, of Albany, for twenty years, and was the oldest member of the board of managers of the Homeopathic Hospital. Mrs. Ten Eyck furnished a room in the hospital as a memorial to her husband.