Pieter Van Brugh was the Mayor of Albany, New York from 1699 to 1700 and from 1721 to 1723.
Background
Pieter Van Brugh was the oldest son of Johannes Pieterse Van Brugh and Catharina Roeloffs (sometimes shown as Trijntje Roeloffs). Roelof Janse (1602–1637) was born in Marstrandsön, a small island situated in Bohuslän province in Norway, today a part of Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden.
Career
Van Brugh was also the father-in-law of Philip Livingston, the second lord of Livingston Manor. Pieter"s mother"s parents were from Norway. Anneke Jans (later Anneke Jantz Bogardus) (1605–1663) was born on Flekkerøy, an island situated outside the town of Kristiansand, Vest-Agder county, Norway.
Pieter Van Brugh married Sara Cuyler in November 1688.
Uncharacteristic for the era, the couple had only one child, Catharina, who was born in 1689. After serving time as a militia lieutenant in New York City, Van Brugh entered the family business and lived with his wife"s family in Albany.
He became a constable in 1692 followed by several other public duties in the following years. In 1697, he inherited the Cuyler"s home.
In 1699, Van Brugh"s prominence led to his appointment as Mayor of Albany which he held until the following year.
In September of 1700, he was part of an expedition that traveled west into the Iroquois country in an attempt to establish a fort among the Onondaga. In the following decades, he became one of the wealthiest businessmen in Albany and was named mayor for a second time from 1721 to 1723. Bowers, Virginia (1997) Mayors of Albany, 1686-1997: biographical sketches (Albany, New York: City Club of Albany) Zabriskie, George Olin, The Founding Families of New Netherland—The Roelofs and Bogardus Families (de Halve Maen, volume 48, no 2, July, 1973, Participant IV, p 9).
Membership
Pieter Van Brugh was a member of the Dutch aristocracy of Albany.