Dutch brewer, fur trader
Harmen Harmensz Gansevoort
c. 1630s – 1708-1710
'Harme de Brouwer', founder of Albany's longest brewing dynasty and Herman Melville's ancestor. Brewed near the Normanskill, rented or co-owned the former Bronck brewery from 1669, and bought the Broadway-Maiden Lane corner in 1677. Testimony in 1678 says he 'could support himself by brewing'. A tradition that he lost his brew kettle on a 1660 bet is not confirmed by the court minutes.
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