Among his family members was his paternal half-uncle Robert Charles Sands, a noted poet.

[2] He was a grandson of Mathias Kampfel and Comfort Sands,[3][4] the merchant, banker and Continental Congressman.

[5] His paternal aunt, Cornelia Sands, was the wife of his father's banking partner, Nathaniel Prime.

[5] Sands graduated from Columbia College in 1824 and practiced as an attorney in New York.

[6] On March 15, 1830, Sands was married to Susan Bard (1812–1838) of Hyde Park, New York.