Captain Samuel Schuyler

This towering marble monument with anchors carved on both its east and west faces stands on the brow of the Middle Ridge with a commanding view of the Hudson River and valley below.

Anchors on headstones often represent steadfast faith and are found on a number of graves in Albany Rural Cemetery.  In this case, they also symbolize the occupation of the deceased (such as the Bogart and Townsend monuments)

He was born in 1781, but very little is known of Samuel Schuyler's origins, though it has been speculated that he was a descendent of the prominent Albany family of the same name.  Sometime prior to 1805, he married Mary Martin-Morin; the couple would have eleven children.

Like many other African-Americans of his era, Samuel began his working life as a laborer on Quay Street, along Albany's thriving waterfront. Within five years of his marriage, though, he had his own boat to haul lumber, produce, and other goods. He would expand his business interest to real estate, owning a substantial number of lots along South Pearl Street.  His sons would join him in business, as partners in a flour and feed store and, later, they would establish the Schuyler Towboat Company.

Captain Schuyler died in 1842 and was buried in this lot which also holds the graves of three generations of his family.  It's interesting to note that, when his son and namesake died in 1894, the New York Times obituary made no mention of the family's African-American heritage and referred to his ancestors as "the early Dutch settlers of Albany." 

The G.A.R. Lot

The G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Lot is set near the western edge of the North Ridge and not as visible or striking as the Soldiers Lot with its even rows of headstones and bronze statue.  Almost overlooked in comparison, it contains the graves of Civil War veterans.

Among the soldiers buried here are several African-American men who served the Union Army, including Private Alfred Dana (Co. I, 31st US Colored Troops, present at Appomattox), James N. Lucas (Co. E, 38th US Colored Troops, a native of Barbados), Corporal Jacob Thompson (Co. K, 26th NYS Colored Infantry), and Sargent William M. Walters (31st US Colored Troops).

Reburial of Schuyler Slaves

The A.M.E. Lot at the Church Grounds

The Times Union has a very interesting article on the reburial of the remains of slaves found close to the Schuyler Flatts. The Flatts, once a large farm belonging to the Schuyler family, is now a park and lies just across Broadway from the main entrance to the Rural Cemetery.

Input Sought On Schuyler Slaves Reburial

One of the sites proposed in the article for the reburial of these remains is the Church Grounds section of the Albany Rural Cemetery which is, as previously posted, the focus of my latest blog. As part of Africa-American History Month, I have been featuring gravestones from the African Methodist Episcopal lot in the Church Grounds. There are at two identified slaves in the A.M.E. lot and several other known slaves or former slaves buried in other areas of the Rural Cemetery, including Nancy (a slave buried with the Quackenbush family) and Adam Blake (a former slave at the Van Rensselaer Manor whose son founded the Kenmore Hotel).

I'll definitely be following this story with interest.