Joshua Sands (October 12, 1757 – September 13, 1835) was an American merchant and politician. He was a U.S. representative from New York.
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Early life
Sands was born on October 12, 1757, in Cow Neck which is now in the Village of Sands Point, located then in Queens County but since 1899 in Nassau County, New York. He was one of eight children born to John Sands (1708–1760) and Elizabeth Cornwell Sands (1711–1782), who also descended from one of the three original families who owned Cow Neck. Sands and his siblings received limited schooling. His eldest brother, John Sands (1737-1811), served as a colonel during the Revolutionary War and was also a member of the New York State Assembly for Queens County, 1784 to 1785. His younger brother, Comfort Sands (1748-1834), also served on the side of the colonists during the Revolutionary War.
Family
The Sands family was one of the original three families that settled in and owned what is now Sands Point, New York. Born in Reading, Berkshire, England, James Sands (d. 1695) immigrated to Plymouth, MA with his wife Sarah and their children, c. 1658. Along with several other men, James Sands obtained what is now Block Island, Rhode Island, from the original inhabitants of the island, the Narragansetts, in 1660. In 1661, Sands sailed from Taunton, MA and moved his family to Block Island and had six children.