Ancestry of W. H. Merklee
9G Grandparents (Continued)

2349 Margriet HENDRICKSE. Born abt 1618. Died abt 1678 in NY.

2350 Tjerck Claessen DEWITT.  Born abt 1634 in probably Grootholum in Emderlant. Died on 17 Feb 1700 in Kingston, Ulster, NY. Buried in Kingston, Ulster, NY.

Tjerck probably emigrated from near Esens in Ostfriesland (northern coast of Germany) in the early or mid-1650s. Though he and Barbara Andriessen were married in Manhattan, they apparently never baptized any children there. (Some say Tjerck and Barbara baptized their first son, Andries, in New York, and lived there until spring 1657, but no record exists of Andries' baptism in Manhattan. When Andries posts wedding banns in Kingston, on 4 Mar 1682/3, he's listed as born in New York.) As early as Feb 1656 Tjerck was in court in Albany (Fort Orange) for fighting and for keeping company with Lutherans; we also know he lived there after he was married. It seems likely that Tjerck and Barbara baptized their first children in Albany. Marriage and baptism records from Albany before 1683 have been lost.

On 12 Feb 1662/3, Tjerck and Barbara baptized a daughter, Jannetjen, in the Kingston Dutch Reform Church (they already had Andries and another daughter, Taatje, born in 1659). By 1662 they owned No. 28 of the "New Lots" at Kingston. On 7 Jun 1663, Kingston and Hurley were almost entirely destroyed by the Indians; Tjerck fought valiantly in their defense, and his daughter Taatje was kidnapped, along with three other children. She was soon rescued.

Between then and 1668, Tjerck and Barbara baptized three more children in Kingston, where they apparently continued to live in town. In September 1664 the British took control of New Amsterdam and renamed it after the Duke of York; Colonel Richard Nicolls took over as Governor. In 1667 Tjerck opposed the British occupation of Kingston and "refused to keep Christmas on the day according to the English observation, but according to the Dutch." (The Dutch used the old Julian calendar, which was about two weeks off from the modern Gregorian calendar used by the British.) For his recalcitrance he was beaten. In 1668 (?) Tjerck refused to sign the oath of allegiance administered by the British, though a "John" DeWitt (perhaps his brother Jan?) and Andries DeWitt (probably Tjerck's 10-year-old son) did sign it.

On 24 Jan 1669-70 (or on 8 Apr 1669?), the new British Governor, Colonel Francis Lovelace, issued a permit to Tjerck to let him "erect a house and barne with convenient outhouses for his cattle upon his own land at Esopus, lying betwixt Hurley and Kingston," noting that Tjerck previously had permission from Governor Nicolls to do this and on that promise had provided all the materials to get started. This land was on the Kingston-Hurley road; the house still stands today, with a beautiful view of the valley of the Esopus Creek.

On 25 Jun 1672, Governor Lovelace officially deeded Tjerck the "parcel of bush land, together with a house, lot, orchard and calves' pasture, lying near Kingston in Esopus." The deed was a confirmation of Tjerck's title to the land, now that he had built on it. The Dutch recaptured New Amsterdam on August 7, 1673, but in February 1674 the Dutch agreed to give the colony back, and on 11 Oct 1674, Captain Antony Colve officially handed over control to the new English Governor, Major Edmond Andros. On 8 Oct 1677, Governor Andros deeded Tjerck a piece of woodland, containing about fifty acres, at Kingston in Esopus, "to the west of the towne." He had other property too.

Tjerck and Barbara had six other children whose baptisms were not recorded in Manhattan or Kingston. It seems likely they were baptized in Hurley, in the church he had helped pay to build—not too far from the house and farm he built around 1670. Their last daughter, Aefje, was baptized in Kingston on 14 Jan 1684.

Tjerck owned the river sloop St. Barbara.

He married Barbara ANDRIESSEN, on 24 Apr 1656 in New Amsterdam.

They had the following children:
i. Andries (~1657-1710)
1175 ii. Tjaatje (~1659-~1724)
iii. Jannetjen (~1662-ca1744)
iv. Klaes (Claes) (~1664-ca1698)
v. Tjerck
vi. Jan (~1666-1715)
vii. Geertruyd (~1668-ca1718)
viii. Jacob (~1670-ca1753)
ix. Rachel (~1670-1746)
x. Leucas (Lucas) (~1674-ca1703)
xi. Peek
xii. Marytje (~1683-)
xiii. Aefje (~1684-~1724)

2351 Barbara ANDRIESSEN.  Born abt 1630 in Vytrecht, Holland. Died on 6 Jul 1714 in Kingston, Ulster, NY.

2354 Jan Janszen LANGEDYCK. Born abt 1608.

He married Geertje JANSEN.

They had the following children:
1177 i. Maria Janse (~1635-~1679)
ii. Dievertje Jans

2355 Geertje JANSEN.

2356 Wessel TEN BROECK.

There are many blanks in early Colonial records especially relating to the names of those coming to New Netherland. The records in Holland of the West India Trading Company were sold as waste paper in 1821. This wanton destruction combined with the silence of family records on the subject leaves only the tradition that Wessel Ten Broeck, the American ancestor of the Ten Broecks of America, came to the colony of New Netherland with Peter Minuit, the first director-general, in 1626. The name of his wife, where he married and where his children were born, is not known.

The descendants of the eldest son, Wesselse, known as the "Kingston Ten Broecks," erected the house known as the "Senate house of the State of New York," in which the first constitution of the state was adopted and proclaimed in April 1777. The house stands in the heart of Kingston, and being now owned by the state [in 1911], serves as a museum for an interesting and valuable collection of portraits, relics and curios. Hendrick W., the third son, married and resided in New York, and left many descendants. Cornelia W. seems to have left no descendants.

Children:
i. Wesselse (1636-1704)
1178 ii. Dirck Wesselse (1638-1717)
iii. Hendrick Wesselse
iv. Cornelia Wesselse

2358 Cornelis Maessen VAN BUREN. Born abt 1616 in Burrmalsen ( Buren ), Holland. Died in Apr 1648 in Papsknee, Rensaeller, NY.

The original settler of the Van Buren family did not bear the name Van Buren. It was not the custom when he came to America, 1631, for Netherlanders to have a family name, except in rare cases. The Dutch of New Netherland, after the succession of the English in 1664, began to adopt family surnames, generally taking the name of the place from which they or their parents emigrated in Holland, using the prefix "Van," which is Dutch for of or from. Thus it was, no doubt, with the second generation of the Van Buren family in America, the father of whom was Cornelis Maessen, Maes or Maas, being the christian name of his father, the suffix "sen" or "se" signifying son. This was the custom then in vogue among the Dutch and some other European nationalities. To illustrate this custom: Marten, the eldest son of Cornelis Maessen, made his will in 1703, written in Dutch, in which his name is signed "Marten Cornelissen Van Buren," meaning Marten son of Cornelis from Buren. (Frank J. Conkling in New York Gen. and Biog. Record, vol. xxviii, p. 121.)

Cornelis Maessen, either emigrated from Buren, a village of the Province of Gelderland, Holland, or was a native of that place. During the summer of 1631 he sailed for America in the ship Rensselaerwyck, having with him his young wife, Catalyntje Martense, (daughter of a man named Marten) and at least one son named Marten. A second son Hendrick is said to have been born on the voyage. They settled on a farm a little below Greenbush, at a place called Papsknee, leasing a farm from the patroon, Killian Van Rensselaer, who had been granted large tracts comprising large portions of the present counties of Albany and Rensselaer, then called Rensselaerwyck. The rental paid in 1644 by Cornelis Maessen to Van Renssaelaer was one hundred bushels wheat, oats, rye, and a few peas. This was supposed to be one-tenth of his crop for that year. Little more is known of Cornelis. He and his wife died in 1648, and the records show they were buried the same day. He died intestate, and the children were placed under guardians. His estate consisted in part of property in New York City, where is now between Fourteenth and Christopher streets. Children mentioned in legal papers: Marten, Hendrick, Maes, Styntje.

He married Catalyntje MARTENSE.

They had the following children:
i. Hendrick Cornelissen (1637-1703)
ii. Marten Corneliessen (~1637-1703)
iii. Maas Cornelissen (1643-1704)
1179 iv. Christina Cornelisze (1644-1729)
v. Tobias (1647-)

2359 Catalyntje MARTENSE.  Died in 1648 in Papsknee, Rensaeller, NY.

2360 Domine Everardus BOGARDUS.  Born in 1607 in probably Veenendaal, Utrecht, Holland. Died on 27 Sep 1647 in at sea. Buried in at sea. Occupation: Minister.

Everardus Bogardus was the second domine of the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam, arriving in 1633. He was born in 1607, probably in Veenendaal, Utrecht, as Evert Bogaert, the son of Willem Jansz. Bogaert and his second wife Susanna Adriaensdr. van Ruyteveld. He studied at the University of Leyden, and after serving as a voorleser in Guinea in West Africa, was ordained and sent to New Amsterdam. Mr. P. A. Bogaard of De Meen, Utrecht, in his recent excellent article, "Dutch Ancestry of Domine Everardus Bogardus" (de Halve Maen July and October 1971, January 1972), wrote in conclusion: "A man of complicated character, Domine Bogardus experienced many difficulties during his ministry in New Amsterdam, especially in his relationship with Director General Wouter van Twiller and the latter's successor, William Kieft. His relations with Director General Kieft were such that they agreed to have their charges and countercharges heard and judged by the Classis of Amsterdam. They went aboard the ship De Princesse which sailed from New Amsterdam on August 17, 1647. They did not reach their fatherland, however, since the ship was wrecked in Bristol Channel and both were drowned [on 27 September 1647]."

He married Anneke JANS, in 1638 in probably New York, NY.

They had the following children:
i. Willem (~1639-1711)
ii. Cornelis (~1640-<1666)
iii. Jonas (<1643->1670)
1180 iv. Pieter (<1645-1703)


2361 Anneke JANS.  Born abt 1605 in Flekkeroy, Vest Agder, Norway. Died bef 23 Feb 1663 in Fort Orange, NY. Buried abt 23 Feb 1663.

Anneke Janse, her husband Roelof, their two small daughters, and Anneke's sister and their mother, a midwife, all apparently from Norway, were among the first settlers of Rensselaerswyck in 1630. But Roelof, a seaman, did not prosper as a farmer, and his women folk disposed of quantities of household goods—quite possibly in the Indian trade—so the family left the Patroon's service in 1634 before the completion of their contract. But Roelof died in 1636, soon after they settled on a farm in Manhattan, and in 1638 Anneke married Domine Everardus Bogardus.

Soon after this marriage she became involved in a colorful incident in which some of her husband's political opponents caused her to be arrested for indecent exposure in the streets of New Amsterdam. Anneke's defense was that while passing the blacksmith shop—the seventeenth century equivalent of a gas station as a male gathering place—she merely tidily lifted her skirts to keep them out of the filth that had accumulated in the street. This defense was accepted, and the incident illustrates one use to which sensation-starved frontier colonists put their courts and also the earthy humor and broad practical joking that was often a feature of Dutch civic controversy.

Thereafter Anneke became the mother of four Bogardus children, in addition to her five by Roelof Janse. After her second husband's death at sea, she went to Fort Orange to live with her married daughter and "make a living"—presumably at the fur trade, since this was the principal occupation of the town. At her death in 1663 she left a modest estate, of which part, which descended to her four surviving children by Roelof Janse, was the 62-acre farm on Manhattan Island that she had inherited from him. It was this farm that, over two centuries later, made Anneke famous.

After a number of transfers, the land became the property of Trinity Church, and, with the rise in property values on lower Manhattan, immensely valuable. But in one of these transfers, one of Anneke's minor grandchildren had inadvertently been omitted from the deed. His descendants discovered this fact about 1750, and between then and 1847 sued repeatedly and unsuccessfully to break the church's title to the land. In spite of these legal defeats, the myth would not die; another suit was instituted in 1909, and in the next quarter century the cause attracted much publicity. Lawyers, genealogists, and promoters who scented an opportunity to make a fast buck thereupon started searching for all the living descendants of Anneke Janse, who turned out to be more numerous even than descendants of the passengers on the Mayflower. Finally, the Legislature passed a special act quieting the title and forbidding any further suits, on the grounds that similar irregularities would have called most titles dating from the seventeenth century into question. It also became clear that if the heirs had won, there would be so many of them that the share of each, even in the vast wealth in dispute, would have been less than the contributions many of them were induced to make toward the expenses of litigation.

In the course of this litigation, there grew up an even more astonishing legend about Anneke's origins. All the evidence now available indicates that she and her husband were both ordinary people, born in Norway (though perhaps descended from Dutchmen in the Baltic trade). The legend, however, made Anneke out to be the granddaughter of William the Silent who had displeased that prince by her insistence on marrying a commoner; nevertheless, he placed her share of his fortune in trust for her descendants in the seventh generation. This fortune was reputed to have accumulated to the sum of 100 million dollars in the early twentieth century. It is difficult to see how this story gained credence in the face of its glaring inconsistencies, but this mythic fortune was as glittering as the other, and only very recently has a patient genealogist finally dispelled the last shreds of it. According to this myth, Anneke's father, a son of William the Silent by a secret marriage, was named Wolfert Webber, and a New Netherlander of this name (from whom Irving doubtless derived his character) was her brother. It has now been proven, however that this Wolfert Webber and his father of the same name, a respectable Amsterdam wine merchant, had no connection with either William the Silent or Anneke Janse.


2362 Cornelis Teunise BOSCH. Born abt 1609.

He married Maritie Thomas MINGAEL.

They had one child:
1181 i. Wyntje Cornelise (~1644-~1712)

2363 Maritie Thomas MINGAEL. Born abt 1613.

2364 Herman HOFFMAN. Born abt 1600 in probably Revel/Sweden (Russia).

Child:
1182 i. Martin Hermanzen (~1625->1689)

2366 Dr. Nicolaes DEWITT.  Born abt 1594.

Also known as Claes. In 1609 aboard the Halve Moen, he visited what would later become New Amsterdam (New York). He emigrated there in 1639.

He married Tjaatje VAN LUEVEN.

They had the following children:
i. Taatje Claessen
1183 ii. Emmerentje Claessen (~1624->1688)
iii. Jan Claessen (-1699)
iv. Pieter Nicholaesen
v. Ida Claessen
vi. Tialie Claessen
2350 vii. Tjerck Claessen (~1634-1700)

2367 Tjaatje VAN LUEVEN. Born abt 1596.

2384 Cornelisse SWART.

Child:
1192 i. Teunisse Cornelisse (~1625->1677)

2386 Esaias TOSIAS. Born abt 1592. Died abt 1641 in Holland.

He married Maeijcke VISSENBURG, on 26 Jun 1622 in Rotterdam, Zuid, Holland.

They had one child:
1193 i. Leysebeth (<1629-1692)

2387 Maeijcke VISSENBURG. Born abt 1595.

2388 Pieter VAN SLIJKE.

Child:
1194 i. William Pieterse (1635-)

2418 Mattys Jansen VAN KEUREN. (Same as ahnentafel number 2348.)

2419 Margriet HENDRICKSE. (Same as ahnentafel number 2349.)

2816 Joseph ROOT.  Born abt 1640 in Hartford, Hartford, CT. Died on 19 Apr 1711 in Northampton, Hampshire, MA.

Joseph removed with his father to Northampton, MA, where he lived. His record of land is dated 29 Feb 1659.

He married Hannah HAYNES, on 30 Dec 1660.

They had the following children:
i. Hannah (1662-)
1408 ii. Joseph (1664-1690)
iii. Thomas (1667-1726)
iv. John (1669-1710)
v. Sarah (1671-1671)
vi. Sarah (1672-)
vii. Hope (1675-1750)
viii. Hezekiah (1677-1766)

2817 Hannah HAYNES.  Born abt 1641 in Springfield, Hampshire, MA. Died on 28 Jan 1691 in Northampton, Hampshire, MA.


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