Catharine Ann (Van Guysling) Furman was a direct lineal descendant of Elias Van Gyseling from Zeeland, arrived in New Netherland in the ship "Spotted Cow," settled first at Beverwyck, and in 1670 bought land at Schenectady, that was afterwards known as "Elias's Plantasie." This land remained in the family until 1865. He married Tryntje Claese, born 1643. She survived him, and married (second) William Hall. Children:
- Jacomyntje, baptized in Albany, April 11, 1686;
- Myndert, see forward; Jacob.
(II) Myndert, son of Elias and Tryntje Claese Van Gyseling (Guysling) was baptized October 25, 1691. He made his will April 2, 1771, which was probated September 22, 1772. He lived upon and owned "Elias's Plantasie," which he devised to sons Elias and Jacob. He married, April, 1721, Suster, daughter of Cornelius Viele. Children baptized:
- Catherine, February 2, 1722; married Samuel Arentse Bratt.
- Debora, January 26, 1723, died in infancy.
- Debora (2), July 5, 1724; married Isaac Swits.
- Elias, died September 5, 1802.
- Cornelis, baptized November 13, 1726. He was a revolutionary soldier, Second Regiment, Albany County Militia, Colonel Wemple.
- Jacomyntje, 1730; married Arent Schermerhorn.
- Jacob, March 6, 1732, died young.
- Jannetje, April 8, 1733, died in infancy.
- Jannetje, July 21, 1734.
- Jacob, January 18, 1736. He was a revolutionary soldier, Second Regiment, Albany County Militia, Colonel Wemple.
- Nicolaas, July 9, 1737.
- Suster, March 4, 1739.
- Bregje, May 31, 1741; married Gerrit Van Vranken.
- Nicholas, June 26, 1743.
- Petrus, see forward.
(III) Petrus (Pieter, Peter), son of Myndert and Suster (Viele) Van Guysling, was born January 22, 1745, died in Schenectady (his birthplace) in 1824. He married (first) Maria, daughter of Ryer Schermerhorn, about 1770. She was born November 7, 1752, died May 25, 1772, a descendant of Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, born 1622 in Waterland, Holland. The home lot of Peter in Schenectady was on the north side of Front street, near Washington. He made his will January 18, 1814. In it he mentions his father Myndert, brother Elias, sons, Myndert, Caleb and Pieter, daughters Elizabeth and Anna Maria. Child of first wife:
- Myndert, baptized September 22, 1771, died in infancy, being followed by the mother about a year later.
Peter Van Guysling married (second) 1773, Annetje, daughter of Caleb Beck. She died in 1784. She was a direct lineal descendant of Henry Beck, born in Dover, England, died 1728, aged one hundred and ten years; he married Annie Frost; their son, Caleb (I), 1659 in was born in Holland, was lost at sea after settling in New Hampshire; he married Annetje Mebie, born in Holland, died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Their son, Caleb (2), born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, married Annie Harley Mol, and settled in Schenectady about 1703. He was an inn keeper, licensed "to draw or sell liquor by retail." His home lot was on the south corner of Church and Union streets, where after his death his widow continued the business, together with trade in groceries and dry goods until her death. Captain Caleb (as he was called) made his will March 8, 1728-29; probated September 29, 1733, in which he spoke of his wife Anna, to whom he left the bulk of his property, which after her death was to pass to his son Caleb. Children:
- Anna, married Jacobus Van Vorst.
- A daughter, married John Fairly.
- Caleb (2), died in infancy.
- Caleb, see forward.
- Engel, married Isaac Truax.
- Margaret, married John W. Brown.
Caleb (3), fourth child of Captain Caleb and Anna H. (Mol) Beck, was born May 24, 1714, died December 9, 1787. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and practised his profession in Schenectady. He married, November 1, 1747, Elisabeth, daughter of Abraham Truax. She died May 5, 1797. Children:
- Annatje (Anna) baptized October 6, 1748; married Peter Van Guysling.
- Abraham, December 15, 1751.
- Christina, September 3, 1754.
- Caleb (4), February 27, 1757, died young.
- Caleb (5), October 22, 1758; married Catharine Theresa, daughter of Rev. Dirck Romeyn.
- Engeltje, April 5, 1761; married Andrew Van Petten.
- Maria, April 15, 1764.
- Elizabeth, January 27, 1771.
The children of Peter and Annatje (Beck) Van Guysling (his second wife) were:
- Myndert, see forward.
- Elisabeth, born 1776; married John Prince.
- Caleb, January 7, 1781, died March 19, 1835.
- Peter, April 11, 1786, died May 5, 1856.
- Anna Maria, February 18, 1791, died July 9, 1861; married Harmanus Vedder.
(III) Myndert (2), eldest son of Peter and Annatje (Beck) Van Guysling, was baptized October 31, 1774, died September 1, 1846. He married (first) Judith Van Antwerp, born February 23, 1789, died without issue, 1834. He married (second) November 24, 1835, Eve Visscher, born January 21, 1801, daughter of Teunis and Elizabeth (Groot) Visscher, a descendant of Harmen Bastianse Visscher (De Vyselaer), (also written Visger), born in 1619 and was in New Amsterdam in 1649. The children of Myndert and Eve (Visscher) Van Guysling were:
- Dr. Myndert H., born July 22, 1839, died 1869, unmarried. He graduated from Albany Medical College. He was a surgeon in the Union army during the civil war.
- Catharine Ann, married Colonel Robert Furman.
(The Furman Line)
The Furman family of Schenectady are of English descent, and trace their descent to Russell Walker Furman, born in England, who came to the United States in August, 1784. The Walker name does not indicate a Walker connection further than that it was the married name of an aunt. He settled in the town of German Flats, Herkimer county, New York. He settled in Herkimer to be near his brother John, who had been in the country several years and had fought in the revolutionary army. Russell W. Furman removed later to Otsego county, New York, where he died in the town of Morris. He married (first) in England, Sarah Nicklen, born August 11, 1759, died in Herkimer, New York. Children:
- George W., born November 7, 1777, in Kent county, England.
- John, born January 29, 1784, in Kent county, England, died in Albany, New York; married Sophia Rice.
- William, born September 24, 1785.
- Henry, born March 19, 1788, in German Flats, New York. On arriving at man's estate he removed to the far west where all trace of him is lost.
- Russell, born 1789.
- Mary, married ———— Tunnicliff, of Richfield Springs, New York.
- Sarah, married Thomas Buchanan, and removed to Wisconsin.
- James, see forward.
Russell W. Furman married (second) in Herkimer County Hannah, daughter of Peter Wolleben, a widow with two children. She was a granddaughter of Nicholas Wolleben, head of a Palatine family on the west side of the Hudson in 1710. Four of his sons, Richard, John, Peter and Abraham, were in the battle of Oriskany; the two former were killed in the battle. Peter was wounded and Abraham escaped unharmed. Peter Wolleben (or as sometimes written, Wolleaver) had daughters,
- Elizabeth, married Frederick Shoemaker;
- Catherine, married Garret Van Slyke;
- Susan, married Jacob Edick;
- Hannah, married Russell W. Furman;
- Mary married ———— White;
- Eva, married Stanton Fox.
There is no record of children by the second marriage of Russell W. Furman.
(II) James, son of Russell Walker and Sarah (Nicklen) Furman, was born in the town of Schuyler Lake, New York, January 17, 1794, died January 29, 1874. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, serving at Sacketts Harbor, and along the northern frontier. He served for many years as justice of the peace of Herkimer county. He married, in 1815, Olive Earl, born in 1795, died December 28, 1885, and is buried at Ilion, New York. Olive Earl was of the eighth generation of the Earl family in America, descending from Ralphe Earl, of whom the earliest trace is at Newport, Rhode Island, 1638. He is of frequent mention in the Rhode Island records as a purchaser and seller of lands, juryman, commissioner and captain of a troop of horse. He died at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1678. He married Joan ———— and had five children. The line of Earl descent is through William (2), his second son, who married Mary Walker; their son Ralph married Mary Hicks, their eldest son William married Anna Howard, their son William (a Quaker) married Mary Cutting, (he was known as "Uncle Will," and died in his ninety-second year) their son Reuben married Mary Harrington. He was the first to settle in New York at Ilion, Herkimer county. He was a soldier of the revolution, and marched, April 19, 1775, on the Lexington alarm. Their son Samuel Earl, born about 1771, at Leicester, Massachusetts, married, in 1795, Betsey McKee, and lived at German Flats, now Ilion, New York. He died in 1842; his wife in 1847. Children:
- Olive, born December 22, 1795, married, 1815, James Furman.
- Harriet, died young.
- Chauncey, married Almira Laflin.
- Sophia, married (first) Joseph Chandler; (second) Benjamin Jefferson.
- Alfred, married Sarah A. Stevens.
- Ruth, baptized April 1, 1806, married ———— Granms [sic]; died April 7, 1881.
Children of James and Olive (Earl) Furman:
- Maria, died unmarried.
- Henry, of Schenectady; married Catharine Myers; children:
- John M., married Anna Rector; children: Raealcha and Helen;
- Olive, married Ernest J. Berggren; children: Hilda and Linda;
- Emily, married Howard Sargent; child, Elizabeth.
- Harvey, married and had issue.
- Elizabeth, died unmarried.
- Louisa, married John Devendorf.
- Robert, see forward.
- Rensselaer, married and had issue.
- Mattheu, married Eunice Earl; no issue.
- Adeline, died unmarried.
- Emily, married Henry Earl; children: Henry and Grace.
(III) Colonel Robert Furman, son of James and Olive (Earl) Furman, was born in Franklin, town of Kirkland, Oneida county, New York. His father was in easy circumstances and able to give him a good education in the Mohawk Academy and in Herkimer Academy. At the age of seventeen years he joined his brother Rensselaer, who was a merchant in Schenectady, and entered his brother's employ as a clerk. While there he attracted the attention of Myndert Van Guysling, a merchant of the town, who induced the lad to enter his employ. He later married his employer's daughter. He read law and was admitted to the bar, and practised in the county, state and United States courts. He continued as a merchant, and had an established position among the energetic solid business men of the town, as well as a high professional standing at the bar. But it is not as either lawyer or merchant that gave him his enviable position in the estimation of his townpeople, but his unvarying public spirit and unceasing effort to advance the interests of Schenectady; manufactories, railroads, parks and public buildings all owed to him their inception and successful development. He was a restless and irresistible promoter of new enterprises and public improvement. He was one of the organizers of the Schenectady and Ogdensburg railroad, and in connection with Colonel Campbell and Judge Potter paid for the survey. He was instrumental in having Thomas A. Edison locate his General Electric Works in Schenectady, which plant is now (1910) employing upwards of fifteen thousand people. He was an organizer of the Schenectady and Athens railroad. Crescent Park was made possible through his generosity, coupled with that of Judge Potter. He inspired the railroad promoter to come to Schenectady and built a street railroad. He was a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association, and made a generous contribution to the building fund. In the legislature, to which he was elected, he secured an appropriation of $30,000 for an armory at Schenectady, one of a like amount for a survey of a railroad to run north to Canada, one for $100,000 for an observatory for Union College (vetoed by the governor), appropriations for the Old Ladies' Home and the Home of the Sisters of Charity. In season and out of season, he was always working for the good of Schenectady. In 1863, at the request of his personal and political friend, Governor Horatio Seymour, he raised a regiment which went into the service, and was ordered to Buffalo to be equipped and sent to the front to check the northern advance of General Lee. But the great victory gained at Gettysburg rendered the regiment unnecessary, and they were not called into actual service. He was commissioned colonel of the regiment (Eighty-third New York), and would gladly have led them to the fields of action had his country called. In every department of life, Colonel Furman was eminent; a successful, thorough man of business; a lawyer of ability; a citizen, loyal and patriotic; a neighbor whose service and sympathy was always assured; a friend in whose fidelity one could always confide. He was most liberal and charitable, but his giving was unostentatious and always timely. He died January 5, 1894, at his home, corner Smith and Lafayette streets, Schenectady, aged sixty-eight years.
He married, December 2, 1857, Catharine Ann Van Guysling, born October 12, 1837, daughter of Myndert and Eve (Visscher) Van Guysling (see Van Guysling III). Children:
- Henry, died unmarried.
- Robert, born in Schenectady, May 5, 1863; educated in the public schools and Union University; graduate of Albany Medical College, M.D., class of 1889. He practised his profession in New York City, and is now located in the west. His college fraternity is Phi Sigma Kappa. He married, in 1891, Irene Dodd, of New York City, and has one child, Consuelo.
- Franklin, died unmarried.
- Van Guysling, born November 29, 1864; married Anna Mary Dillenbeck; children:
- Leonora, married, June 5, 1907, Clarence D. Stewart; child, John Knox (2), born June 1, 1910;
- Edith May;
- Marguerite;
- Anna, died young;
- Mildred, died young;
- Robert V. G.
- H. Earl, born in Schenectady, March 12, 1872; graduate of Union Classical Institute, 1890; was graduated Union University, A.B., class of 1894. He succeeded to the real estate business of Colonel Robert Furman. His fraternities are Alpha Zeta, of Union Classical, and Chi Psi, of Union College.
- Harry E.
- Catharine Ann.
The sons of the family are Democratic in their party principles, and all are connected with the Dutch Reformed church.