Comfort Sands

Comfort Sands (February 26, 1748 – September 22, 1834) was an American merchant, banker and politician.

Comfort Sands
Member of the New York State Assembly from New York County
In office 1784-85, 1788 and 1788-89
New York State Auditor General
In office 1776–1782
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Peter T. Curtenius
Personal details
Born	February 26, 1748 Cow Neck, Long Island, British America
Died	September 22, 1834 (aged 86) Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Sarah Dodge ​ ​ (m. 1769; died 1795)​ Cornelia Lott ​ ​ (his death 1834)​
Relations	Joshua Sands (brother)
Children	18, including Robert
Parents	John Sands Elizabeth Cornwell Sands

Life

Comfort Sands was born in Cow Neck, Long Island on February 26, 1748. He was one of eight children born to John Sands (1708–1760) and Elizabeth (née Cornwell) Sands (1711–1782), who also descended from one of the three original families who owned Cow Neck.[1] Sands and his siblings received limited schooling. His older brothers included John Sands (1737-1811), who served as a colonel during the Revolutionary War and was also a member of the New York State Assembly for Queens County,[1] and Joshua Sands, a U.S. Representative.[2]

Family

The Sands family was one of the original three families that settled in and owned what is now Sands Point, New York. Born in Reading, Berkshire, England, James Sands (d. 1695) immigrated to Plymouth, MA with his wife Sarah and their children, circa 1658.[1] Along with several other men, James Sands obtained what is now Block Island, Rhode Island from the original inhabitants of the island, the Narragansetts, in 1660. In 1661, Sands sailed from Taunton, MA and moved his family to Block Island and had six children.[1]

Career

While still in his teens, Comfort left Long Island for Manhattan to work as a clerk.[3] Sands worked at several positions including at Joseph Decker's store that was located on Peck Slip in lower Manhattan. Around 1769, Comfort opened his own store and by 1776, he had become a wealthy merchant.[4]

During the American Revolutionary War, Comfort was a member of the New York Provincial Congress[5] and was appointed as the first New York State Auditor-General (now known as the New York State Comptroller) in 1776. He served in this position until his resignation in 1782.[1]

In 1783, Sands and his brother Joshua formed a business partnership dealing in foreign trade and land speculation.[6][7] Their partnership included real estate ventures and a rope making manufacturing business in Brooklyn. In 1784, the Sands brothers purchased 160 acres of land along the Brooklyn waterfront for $12,000.[6] They acquired the land, originally owned by the Rapelje family (also spelled Rapelye), early Dutch settlers of Brooklyn, under the 1779 New York State "Act for the Forfeiture and Sale of the Estates of Persons who Have Adhered to the Enemies of this State."[6] The land acquired in the purchase included what is now the location of the Brooklyn Navy Yard (previously the New York Naval Shipyard), as well as the DUMBO and Vinegar Hill neighborhoods bordering the East River in Brooklyn. The waterfront area was to be the site of a new, planned community, called Olympia.[6] It was to be divided into both commercial and residential properties and would be connected to Manhattan via the nearby ferry service. Though the land was surveyed, Olympia was never completed.[6]

In 1784, he was one of the founders and became one of the first directors of the Bank of New York at its incorporation, the oldest bank in the United States.[8] He was a member of the New York State Assembly from New York County in 1784-85, 1788 and 1788-89.[9] He was President of the New York Chamber of Commerce from 1794 to 1798.[1]

Personal life

Comfort Sands married twice and had 18 children, 15 of whom were born to his first wife Sarah and three born to his second wife Cornelia.[3] In 1769, he married Sarah Dodge (1749-1795) of Hunts Point in Westchester County, N.Y. (now part of the Bronx).[3]

• Joseph Sands (1772–1825), a banker with Prime, Ward & King who married Maria Theresa Kampfel (1782–1846)
• Cornelia Sands (1773–1852), who married Nathaniel Prime (1768–1840), the banker.

After the death of Sarah, Comfort married Cornelia Lott (1761-1856), daughter of Abraham Lott of Brooklyn. Their children included:

• Robert Charles Sands (1799–1832), a noted poet.

In 1825, Comfort and Cornelia Sands moved to Hoboken, N.J. where he died on September 22, 1834.[3]

Descendants

Through his daughter Cornelia, he was the great-grandfather of Cornelia Ray (1829–1867), who married Gen. Schuyler Hamilton (1822–1903), a grandson of Alexander Hamilton; Robert Ray (1832–1860), and Nathalie Elizabeth Ray (1837–1912), who married Edmund Lincoln Baylies (1829–1869), the parents of Edmund L. Baylies Jr.[10]

References

1. Reynolds, Emily (January 14, 2011). "Guide to the Sands family papers ARC.096". dlib.nyu.edu. Brooklyn Historical Society. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
2. Brooklyn Past and Present Col. Joshua Sands, candidate for New York State Senator, March 10, 1791. The Brooklyn Historical Society Library. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-18. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
3. "HISTORICAL DISTRICTS." Real Property Probate and Trust Journal.Vol. 1, No. 3 (1966): 204-11. HISTORICAL DISTRICTS." Real Property Probate and Trust Journal.Vol. 1, No. 3 (1966): 204-211. Donald G. Presa, 14 Jan. 1997. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
4. "DUMBO Historical Project" (PDF). nyc.gov. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
5. "Minutes of the NY Provincial Congress". www.stanklos.net. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
6. "HISTORICAL DISTRICTS." Real Property Probate and Trust Journal.Vol. 1, No. 3 (1966): 204-11. HISTORICAL DISTRICTS." Real Property Probate and Trust Journal.Vol. 1, No. 3 (1966): 204-211. Donald G. Presa, 14 Jan. 1997. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
7. Morris, Robert; Ferguson, Elmer James (1977). The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781-1784: October 1, 1781-January 10, 1782. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 318. ISBN 9780822933243. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
8. "THE BANK OF NEW-YORK.; AN INSTITUTION FOUNDED BY ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ITS LONG LINE OF HONORABLE OFFICERS--DE TALLEYRAND AND AARON BURR AMONG ITS PATRONS--A PROPOSITION TO REDUCE ITS CAPITAL" (PDF). The New York Times. August 8, 1878. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
9. Hough, Benjamin Franklin (1858). The New York Civil List: Containing the names and origin of the civil divisions, and the names and dates of election or appointment of the principal state and county officers from the Revolution to the present time. Weed, Parsons and Co. p. 34. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
10. "E.L. BAYLIES IS DEAD; WAS LEADER IN BAR; Socially Prominent Attorney Helped to Create Cathedral of St. John the Divine. SEAMEN'S INSTITUTE HEAD Was Its President for 19 Years | Handled Many Large Estates Member of Old Family". The New York Times. 30 April 1932. Retrieved 5 October 2017.

External links

• Political Graveyard
• Comfort Sands at Find a Grave