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Barent T. E. Bronk was born in the town of Coeymans, Albany county, N. Y., June 1, 1834. He is a son of John Bronk and Gerritie Vanderzee, and comes from two of the oldest families in Albany county, the Ten Eycks and the Coeymans, after whom the place Coeymans is named. Mr. Bronk's paternal grandmother and great-grandmother were Ten Eycks, and his great-great-grandmother was a Coeymans. On the maternal side the line of descent is also through the families of Ten Eyck and Coeymans. The records of the town show that Andres Ten Eyck married Ann Margreta Coeymans, whose daughter Charlotte married Conrad Ten Eyck, whose daughter Maria married Jonas Bronk, grandfather of the subject of this sketch. In 1636 Barent Pieterse Koyemans (Coeymans) entered the service of the first patroon and from this Koyemans Mr. Bronk is descended in the way above shown. The founders of this republic always strove to perfect methods for educating the young and when practicable every son was sent to the best school that could be found. Inasmuch as the facilities were so meagre at the place of his birth, young Bronk was sent away to school. He attended the academies at Westfield and Lenox, Mass., and there obtained a magnificent preliminary education that was to fit him to acquire the position he later attained in the business and social world. After leaving school he returned to his fathers farm opposite where the Pulver House is now located at Ravena, N. Y., and here he conducted the farm with his brothers Jonas, Noble H., and Eugene. Eugene, filled with an ardent desire to serve his country, enlisted in the Northern army during the Rebellion and his life paid the penalty. There is now a G. A. R. Post in Coeymans named after him. In 1860 Mr. B. T. E. Bronk moved to his present farm about one mile north of Coeymans. This farm, consisting of four hundred and seventy-five acres, he subsequently inherited from his great-uncle Barent Ten Eyck. Since 1860 Mr. Bronk has lived on this farm enjoying a true simple life. He is a home-loving man and divides his time between his home and his church, the Reformed church of Coeymans, of which he is an elder. January 18, 1865, he married Sarah Ann Mull, who died leaving one daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. Powell of Coeymans. February 13, 1880, Mr. Bronk married his present wife, Melissa Van Vliet.
