Maria Van Rensselaer, we can conclude that her husband has died, therefore leaving her to become patroon of the land (colony). The letter is addressed to her husband’s brother Rygart Van Rensselaer. Maria was a patroon of Rensselaer, hence her last name.
Rensselaer is located along the Hudson River in Albany, New York.
In the text, it demonstrates that she lived on a farm, and the crops produced are what they traded with and how they survived. This is seen through her letter when she goes in detail of the tasks she needs to continue after her husband has past. Making her living through farm rentals and estate, Maria undoubtedly is in charge of the tenant farmers who work the field working the grist­mill and sawmill to produce wheat and this