Comfort Sands (1748-1834)

He was born at Cow Neck (now Sands Point), Long Island. By the time of the outbreak of Revolution, he had become a wealthy merchant. In 1776, he was appointed a Member of the New York Provincial Congress and the first Auditor-General of the State of New York. He resigned the latter position in 1782 and in 1784 co-founded and served as a director of the Bank of New York - the oldest bank in the U.S. He was also a Member of the New York State Assembly and the first President of the New York Chamber of Commerce (1794-1798). After the war, he went into business with his brother, Joshua, Collector of the Port of New York. They furthered their fortunes through real estate and manufacturing rope at what is now the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He was married twice: (1) In 1769, he married Sarah Dodge and they had 15-children (2) In 1797, he married Cornelia Lott and they had 3-children. He was the father-in-law of Nathaniel Prime who founded “one of the great banking houses of the United States". The Sands' lived at 26 Pine Street in New York City before retiring to Hoboken, New Jersey.