Charles B. Lansing

Charles Bridgen Lansing was a native Albanian. He was born on July 3, 1809, the son of Garrit Y. Lansing.

During his lifetime he amassed a large fortune. He was the largest landowner in Albany. He also had large land holdings in Syracuse. He was a Director of the Albany Insurance Company, Albany Savings Bank, Commercial Insurance Company and the New York State Bank.

His first marriage was to Catherine Clinton Townsend the daughter of John Townsend. They had two children, John Townsend Lansing and Charles Abraham Lansing. His second marriage was to Abbie Townsend, another daughter of John Townsend. They had three children, Abbie Lansing, Garrit T. Lansing and Edward Y. Lansing.

He supported and provided capital for business in the city of Albany and was a neighbor of Robert H. Pruyn. They had many interconnected business deals.

Mr. Lansing died, December I, 1890, at his home at 146 State Street, of pneumonia.

John Townsend Lansing

John Townsend Lansing was born in Sachem Head, Connecticut the son of Charles B. Lansing and Catherine Clinton Townsend. He received his education at the Albany Boys Academy; Luther's Classical Academy and the Sedgwick Institute in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

In 1863 he worked as a clerk in the office of Pruyn and Lansing Albany Iron and Saw Works. He became a partner in the Albany Saw Works and later became a stockholder in the Embossing Company. He was actively involved with his half brother Garrit Y. Lansing in the family real-estate business. He was president of the Public Market Company of Albany, the Lansing Syracuse Reality Company and vice-president of the Wheller Rent and Power Company and the Albany Insurance Company.

His first wife Helen Franchot and he wed October 27, 1870. She died in 1889. He then married Leontine de Kay Townsend in October of 1900 in Paris, France.

He held interest in many community activities. He was the president of the Albany Institute of History and Art at the time of his death. He served on the boards of the Albany Hospital, Young Men's Christian Association, Dudley Observatory, Albany Medical College, Albany Girls Academy, New York State National Bank, Albany City Mission, Madison Avenue Reformed Church and a member of the Holland Society and the Fort Orange Club.

He died, August 12, 1919, while summering in Didby, Nova Scotia. 88