The original Slingerland in America was of pure Dutch stock, and so well did he found a family that two and a half centuries later they are numerous and prominent. In the county of Albany are the towns of Bethlehem and New Scotland, occupying in part the land the ancestor bought of the Indians. A monument to the family is the pretty village of Slingerlands on the Delaware and Hudson railroad. The founder married a De Norman [i.e., Bradt or Bratt], and that family is remembered by one of the principal streams of the county, Norman's Kill.
(I) Teunis Corneliuse Slingerland, born 1617, in Amsterdam, Holland, came to Beverwyck (Albany) in 1650. He took up a grant of land which is now traversed by State street, Albany, in part. He was appointed commissary by Governor Dongan. He purchased from the Indian tribes, whose sign manuals were "Bear," "Wolf" and "Turtle," nine thousand acres of land located in the town of New Scotland, now Bethlehem, Albany county. This purchase was confirmed by Governor Dongan, March 6, 1684. The sixth generation are still owners of part of this purchase. He married (first) Anjelte Albertse Bratt, daughter of Albertse Andresen Bratt De Norman, who immigrated to America in 1620 and located in the province of Beverwyck. He owned a mill and farm on Norman's Kill, now Kenwood, a suburb of Albany. The creek flowing through his property is still known as Norman's creek. This property later came into the possession of his son-in-law, Teunis C. Slingerland. He married (second) Gertie Fonday [Fonda?], April 9, 1684. Children: Arent, Albert, Cornelius and Elizabeth.
(II) Albert, son of Teunis C. and Anjelte Albertse Bratt (De Norman) Slingerland, was born 1666; died 1731. He married, August 9, 1694, Hester Brickers. Children:
- Johannes, baptized July 19, 1696, see forward;
- Angelica, July 10, 1698;
- Teunis, December 8, 1700;
- Thomas, March 5, 1704.
(III) Johannes, eldest son and child of Albert and Hester (Brickers) Slingerland, was baptized July 19, 1696. He married, January 27, 1724, his cousin, Anna, daughter of Cornelius Slingerland, of Schenectady. Children:
- Hester, born July 26, 1725;
- Egie, January 22, 1727;
- Enjeltie, April 6, 1729;
- Albert, baptized May 20, 1731;
- Albert, baptized March 7, 1733, see forward;
- Cornelius, baptized May 7, 1738;
- Maria, baptized September 26, 1742;
- Maria, baptized September 28, 1745.
(IV) Albert (2), fifth child of Johannes and Anna (Slingerland) Slingerland, was born in 1733 at Onisquatha, town of New Scotland, Albany county, New York, died 1814. He was a farmer. He served during the revolution, was a soldier of the Third Regiment, Albany county militia, under Colonel Schuyler, and received later lands under the "Land and Bounty" act. He married, December 16, 1760, Elizabeth Moak, born January 1, 1744. Children:
- Annetje Maria, born October 2, 1763;
- Hester, December 25, 1765;
- John Albert, see forward;
- Henry.
(V) John Albert, son of Albert (2) and Elizabeth (Moak) Slingerland, was born January 4, 1768, on the Onisquatha homestead, died January 15, 1850. He was a farmer. He married, February 3, 1799, Leah Britt, born July 6, 1776, died February 15, 1863. Children:
- Magdalen, married (first) John Arnold, (second) Tobias Waldron;
- Elizabeth, married Cornelius Van Der Zee;
- Hester, married James H. Loucks;
- Frederick, married Celia Winne;
- Albert I., married Katherine Slack;
- John I., married (first) Maria Van Der Zee, (second) Sally Hall;
- William Henry, see forward.
(VI) William Henry, youngest child and fourth son of John Albert and Leah (Britt) Slingerland, was born in the town of (now) Bethlehem, Albany county, New York, November 13, 1820, which is still (1909) his home. He was educated at the public and select schools of the town and at the Albany Academy. He studied surveying under Andrew Ten Eyck; he spent the active years of his life in that profession, to which he added that of civil engineer. He has been connected with many of the public and private works of the county and state, including the famed State Capitol at Albany and the United States government building. In 1881-82-87 he was appointed by the legislature to examine the beautiful stone ceiling of the assembly chamber in the Capitol, which formerly sprung from the four immense granite columns that still remain in position, and to report on its safety. In each report he clamored for its removal, and in his last report warned the assembly of their danger. It was due to his persistent effort that the present wooden ceiling was substituted. In 1890 he was appointed by the war department at Washington to obtain a site for a proving ground to, be used in conection with the United States arsenal at Watervliet, and to survey and map the tract chosen. He selected a strip one mile in width, ten miles in length, in the towns of Guilderland and Watervliet; obtained options from the farmers owning the same and reported with survey and maps. The war department recommended the purchase to congress, but nothing has yet been done, the great guns still going to the proving ground at Sandy Hook to be tested. Among the later improvements projected and carried through by Mr. Slingerland is the water system supplying four towns of Albany county with an abundant supply of the purest spring water at an adequate pressure all over the system. He has always worked for the development of his town. The village of Slingerlands, named in recognition of his own and his family's leading part in settling and developing the town, was founded in 1850, the post office and other improvements made largely through his influence and work; for over twenty years he was the postmaster. The Reformed church at Delmar is a monument to his energy and public spirit, he having been one of the founders and largest contributor to its erection. He is the only one of the founders now living, and for many years he has served as an elder. He is a Republican in politics, and in 1880 was elected to the state legislature and secured some valuable legislation for his constituents. He would never accept another nomination, though often offered him, preferring to follow his profession. He took a deep interest in the National Guard of his state, enlisted in the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment, of which he was colonel for ten years. He is interested and well posted in historical and genealogical subjects, belongs to the Holland Society of New York, and at the historical pageant during the Albany centennial in 1894 he represented in costume his ancestor, Teunis C. Slingerland, as he appeared at the installation of Albany's first mayor, Peter Schuyler. He is now living a quiet, retired life at his country home at Slingerlands with his wife and children.
He married (first) 1842, Elizabeth Wayne, daughter of George Wayne, and granddaughter of Anthony Wayne; she died in 1867. He married (second) 1868, Maria, daughter of Andrew Whitbeck. Children by first wife:
- John H., born June 13, 1844; a civil engineer; married (first) September 18, 1867, Susan Hall; she died February 20, 1868; married (second) October, 1873, Alice Preston; children of second marriage:
- William P., born February 2, 1875, married Lillian Leycraft;
- Edward J., born September 2, 1878, married Edith Austin;
- Elizabeth A., born July 24, 1882, married Marshall Latcher;
- Florence, born June 26, 1897.
- George W., born March 25, 1847; superintendent and general manager of the National Express Company, New York, for many years; married Rosalie Mattice; children:
- William H., born July 16, 1871, and
- Grace, born March 18, 1874.
- Helene, born April 5, 1853; married, November 22, 1882, Hiram Bender; died December 18, 1884.
- Elizabeth, born April 4, 1858; was educated at St. Agnes Young Ladies School, Albany; married, September 25, 1895, William H. Coughtry, who died July 28, 1909; Mrs. Coughtry is a member of the patriotic order, Daughters of the Revolution; she resides at Slingerlands with her parents.
- William H., born December 10, 1863; a civil engineer and surveyor; married, February 12, 1896, Alice Bullock; child,
- Harold B., born February 12, 1898.