John Langdon of Hempstead and Boston--Revolutionary Service--My 4G Grandfather

Revolutionary Soldier John Langdon of Hempstead, My 4G Grandfather

John Langdon was born about seven in the morning on 30 Sep 1754 in Hempstead on Long Island in NY. John was baptized at St. George's Episcopal Church in Hempstead on 30 Sep 1754. His father, also John Langdon, predeceased him sometime around 27 Feb 1754. His mother was Catherine Langdon nee Clowes; she had been baptized 8 Jan 1720 at Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica, NY. She married second Samuel Rowland of Dutchess County, NY, [not the contemporary Samuel Rowland of Hempstead] in late November or early Dec 1761 at St. George's Episcopal Church in Hempstead.

John Langdon married Phebe Seaman sometime during the summer of 1778 in the Nine Partners Patent in Dutchess County, NY. Phebe had been born in North Castle, Westchester, NY, on 18 Nov 1760 to Charles and Esther Seaman. Since John and Phebe in some cases buried their children in Friends Burying Grounds, it is probable that Phebe was Quaker and possible that she may have been related to the large, predominantly Quaker, family of Captain John Seaman of Long Island.

John and Phebe had ten children, five girls and five boys, the first five before Phebe was 25. John and Phebe had their first three children while residing in the Ninepartners Patent; the family then moved to Long Island in 1783 where they had their next three children; and then they moved to New York [probably & more specifically Brooklyn] where they resided when they had the remainder of their children, although they were out of the city when their last child, William, was born due to illness abroad in the city.

According to his Revolutionary War pension application, during the American Revolutionary War, John Langdon, aged 22, volunteered, in Jun 1775, for a company from North Hempstead under the command of Captain Thomas Mitchill in the battalion commanded by Colonel Malcolm for a five month enlistment.

He served as a sergeant and was in New York City with the troops when a British force commanded by General Howe landed on Long Island. He served as a sergeant of the guard at DeLancy's old mansion in the Bowery guarding the “desperadoes” who had murdered General Parsons. He was ill with yellow fever in Aug 1776. He was aboard a sloop in September of that year that was captured and he was taken prisoner by the British, only to finally escape in Jun 1777.

In early July of 1777 he had reenlisted and was at Fort Howard to bring supplies from Lake George to General Schuyler who was under retreat from the forces of General Burgoyne. When he arrived at Saratoga, General Gates had taken command and John was there for the Battle of Bemis Heights and the surrender of the forces of General Burgoyne.

In 1778 while he was residing with his “father-in-law” [meaning his “step-father” in this case] Colonel Samuel Rowland, Rowland's regiment was called together and John was designated a second lieutenant under Captain Benjamin Hicks. This company was subsequently attached to Colonel Wood's regiment. John Langdon continued in service until sometime in 1780 while under the command of Captain Samuel Smith at Camp Highlands opposite West Point—being called out on alarms on several occasions. John never received any written confirmation of his commission and was subsequently deactivated and made supernumerary when his unit was reorganized.

Evert Pels, My 8G Grandfather

 

Evert Pels, my 8G grandfather, from Stettin, Pomerania, his wife, and a servant came from Amsterdam, Holland, to the colony of Rensselaerswyck in 1642. While still in Amsterdam, on June 5,1642, he was engaged as a brewer for the term of six years. He was to travel to the Colony of Rensselaerswyck to work for the Patroon, KiliaenVan Rensselaer, [who remained in Holland, but had engaged others to administer the Colony for him and his partners who formed a Board of Directors for the Colony.] Evert Pels and his wife came on the ship Den Houten. and landed in New Amsterdam, now New York City. They then went up the Hudson River to Beverwijck, now Albany, New York. 

Evert Pels was a freeman. He paid his own way to the Colony and was, therefore, not indentured to the patroon for a number of years as were those who bound themselves as servants to the patroon for a number of years in exchange for passage to the Colony. The document, dated June 3, 1642, that gives the details of Evert Pel's emigration does not give the name of his wife, Jannetje Symons., but we now know that she is the wife who came with him from Amsterdam. Nor does the memo give the name of the servant who came with them.

Evert Pels was a very enterprising man. After his six year contract as a brewer was finished on February 28, 1648, he leased a farm on Papscanee Island for six years, at f560 a year, but after building a new house and barns, he transferred the lease Jan 14, 1649, to Juriaen Bestvall and Jochem Kettelheym. [Both of whom had come to the New Netherlands on the same ship as Evert. These were two men who had come to the colony by contracting with the patroon to work for six years as laborers. Their time was now served and they were able to lease a farm and work for themselves.] Evert Pels turned the farm over to them on March 25, 1649. 

November 18,1649, he leased jointly with Willem Fredericksz (Bout), a farm in Greenbush, for which he is charged in the accounts with an annual rent of f400, from May 1, 1649 until 1661 when he moved to  Esopus; the same day he also leased the saw-and grist-mill in Greenbush, for which he is charged with an annual rent of f125, from May 1, 1649, till May 1, 1658. He also owned a sloop on the river and a lot on Broadway in Manhattan which he sold in 1656. In 1657 he sent down to New Amsterdam 2100 beaver skins. He advised the Director of the colony on horses and other farm animals.

In the Colony of Rensselaerswyck, they were living on a frontier. The village of Beaverwyck was adjacent to Fort Orange, which was established to conduct the fur trade with the Indians. Even the name Beaverwijck reflects that the fur trade with the Indians was the main purpose for the settlement at Albany. There were fewer than 1000 settlers living from New Amsterdam to Fort Orange. The settlement went as far north as Albany for two reasons, 1) because the level of the Hudson River, raises one foot there at high tide, and that is as far as the sailing ships could travel up the river to bring trade goods and supplies from Holland and to transport the fur pelts down the river to New Amsterdam; and 2) the Mohawk River flows into the Hudson River near Albany which allowed Indians from western New York to bring furs more easily. Traders did not travel about the Indian nations to trade for furs. Instead, the Indians brought their furs to Beaverwijck and the trading was conducted there. Goods coming from Europe were unloaded from the ocean-
going ships at New Amsterdam (now New York) and reloaded on a river yacht for transport up the river to Beaverwijck. (The trip up river took several days.) The colonists were living in the midst of several Indian nations. The settlements did not go very far inland from the river. Their surroundings were really primitive. They lived in log houses and the town was surrounded by palisades.

In 1661 Evert Pels, his family, and a number of friends bought land in the Esopus [the region around the Esopus river where Kingston, New York, now is].

It appears that Ever Pels and his family moved to the Esopus in April, May, or June of 1661. At the time of the move, Evert Pels and Jannetje Symons had seven children. Their names and approximate birth dates are given as follows:
Hendrick, born about 1643-44;
Jannetje, born about 1646;
Evert Evertse, born about 1648;
Clara, christened 10 Sept. 1651;
Marie, born about 1653-55;
Elizabeth, born about 1657; and
Sara, christened, 3 July 1659.
Two more children were born in the Esopus:

Rebecca, baptized 13 Nov. 1661 and
Symon baptized 29 March 1665.

The following History of the Esopus region is from Peter R. Christoph’s Introduction in “The Kingston papers”, published by the Holland Society of New York, together with quotes from the Kingston Papers:

The earliest known sale of land in the region of the Esopus involved a parcel sold by the Esopus Indians to Thomas Chambers, a carpenter and farmer residing at that time in Rensselaerswyck. The patent was confirmed on June 5, 1652.  Throughout the early history of the settlement, the presence of the Indians cast an ominous pall over the whole community. They were particularly vulnerable in their scattered houses and were often at fault for the bad relations with the natives. Director-General Peter Stuyvesant [my half 9th great grand uncle],  recognized the danger to them, and, at his urging, the settlers signed a bond on May 31, 1658, agreeing to erect a palisaded village and demolish their separate dwellings. Then on the night of September 20, 1659, a group of settlers and soldiers senselessly shot three Indians, killing one of them. The result was the First Esopus War, which did not end until the signing of a peace treaty on July 15, 1660.

Despite the war and the uneasiness of the ensuing peace, the population of the community continued to grow. By May 2, 1661, the hamlet had been named Wildwyck by Stuyvesant. About May of 1662 a second community was established nearby, called Nieuw Dorp (New Town) [now Hurley] which was settled by former residents of Beaverwyck and Wildwyck. The farmland bought by Evert Pels was between Wildwyck and Nieuw Dorp.

The fragile peace ended on June 7, 1663, when the Indians burned Nieuw Dorp and attacked Wildwyck. On that morning a number of Esopus Indians entered Wildwyck [now Kingston] to sell their produce, corn, and beans to the settlers. Between 11:00 and 12:00 in the forenoon, some people on horseback, rushed thru the Mill gate, from the village, crying out “the Indians have destroyed the village.” Upon hearing this, the Indians fired a shot and attacked the settlers at every house with axes, tomahawks, rifles, and pistols. Sixteen settlers were killed and a number were carried off as prisoners. Everts Pels’ son Hendrick was one of those who were carried off. He was not found until a year and a half later. By that time he had married an Indian girl and had a child. He lived among the Indians for the rest of his life. The resulting loss of life, concern for settlers taken hostage, and heavy loss of property had a long-lasting effect upon the community. A peace treaty was concluded on May 15, 1664. This was the Second Esopus war. 

Next new trouble came to Esopus from a new source. English forces sent by the Duke of York seized New Amsterdam on September 8, 1664; on the 25th Wildwyck was placed under the authority of the Duke. New Netherlands and New Amsterdam were renamed New York and Beaverwijck became Albany. The name Wildwyck fell into disuse, the new community was generally referred to as the Town of Esopus. Peter Stuyvesant retired to the life of a private citizen and the residents of Esopus struggled to adjust to the change in rule. It was not easy. All the problems of life under an occupation force faced the settlers. They were compelled to board soldiers in their homes and to suffer insults and abuse from the armed troops. Reaction against such treatment culminated in the Esopus Mutiny of February 4, 1667. This armed threat to English rule subsided after a few hours . Governor Richard Nicholls wisely chose to mete out punishment to soldiers as well as civilians, but incidents continued to occur.

The court of Esopus assigned that original settler, Thomas Chambers, and Evert Pels meet with the British to try to settle the matter as follows: “Thomas Chambers, Captain and overseer, and Evert Pels overseer, are hereby authorised, by the Court to acquaint Captain Broadhead, the answer of the Inhabitants, that Cornelis Barentsen Sleight by him Imprisoned, might be Relaxed, out of his Imprisonment, for to prevent further trouble and danger; and in Case the afore said Cornelis Barentsen Sleight, hath offended the said Captain Broadhead, that the said Broadhead (according to the Governor's Order:) Should sue him to the Court, for to be Examined and Corrected, dated in Wiltwyck this 4/14 of Feb. 1667. Wm Beeckman, Jan Joosten, Roelof Swartwout.”

“In answer to this above standing, Captain Broadhead Replyes, that he will keepe Cornelis Sleight in apprehension, as Longe he thincks good, and in Case the Inhabitants will fetsh him by force, that he Would Waight uppon them, dated in Wiltwyck this 4/14 off Feb. 1667"

On September 17, 1669, Nieuw Dorp was renamed Hurley. On April 6, 1668, Governor Nicolls granted land in a new patent at the Esopus to a number of his soldiers. A village was established there, which, under his successor, Francis Lovelace, was named Marbletown on September 17, 1669. On the same day Nieuw Dorp was renamed Hurley, and on September 25, Esopus became Kingston. The official pronouncement was made on April 25, 1670. Thomas Chambers, the original settler in the region, was rewarded by Governor Lovelace by having his house and land enfranchised as the manor of Fox Hall on October 16, 1672.

The war in Europe between England and the Netherlands reached New York when a Dutch force under Anthony Colve recaptured New York City around July 30-August 9, 1673. Esopus was reduced by the Dutch around August 15. Colve became Governor General on September 19 and re-established Dutch rule. Among other changes Kingston was renamed Swaenenburgh. However, under the Treaty of Westminster, the colony was returned to English control on November 10, 1674. Edmund Andros became Governor on that day and Swaenenburch became Kingston once again.

On this August 5, 1672, it was resolved to dispatch Evert Pels and Robbert Gouldsberry to New York for the purpose of receiving information about the state of affairs at New York. And each of them shall receive a schooner of wheat per day for their trouble. It was also resolved that Capt. Chambers, at the least report, shall call the burghers here to arms in the village, and then to send delegates to the troops, and in the meantime to act in accordance with the reply we shall expect from them.

Instructions of Evert Pels, A. Jansen, court messenger, and R. Gouldsberry: 1) They shall immediately depart for the purpose of learning the condition of affairs at New York, because we have been informed that there are some Holland vessels there for the purpose of taking the country; 2) They shall sail in a boat until they shall meet some yacht or Christians whom they shall ask how things are in New York, and having received trustworthy information shall return immediately and report to us. August 5, 1672, at Kingston, by the honorable court at Kingston, (Signed) W. LaMontagne, secretary.

Egbert Van Borsum My 9G Grandfather excerpt from article

excerpted from

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volumes 25-26 article by William Gordon Ver Planck

Catalyntje Trico, My 10G Grandmother, Wife of Joris Rapalje

 

Catalyntje Trico was the daughter of Jeronimus Jan Tricot and Michele Sauvagie. Catalyntje Trico was born in 1606 at Pris, Hainault, Belgium. She married Joris Janssen Rapalje, son of Jean de Rapalje and, possibly Elizabeth Baudoin, on 21-Jan-1624 at the Walloon Church, Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands. She died on 11-Sep-1689 at Wallabout, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.

She was also known as Catalyntje Jeronomus Tricot. On 17-Oct-1688 she stated in a deposition that she was 83 years of age, born in Paris France [sic*], came to this country in the ship Unity in 1623 which was commanded by Adrian Jorise, and that she arrived in Albany New York and after two years moved to New Amsterdam.

Catalyntje Tricot was a remarkable woman! We encounter her first when she carefully placed her mark on a marriage intention document and then we follow her as an 18 yr. old French-speaking bride on a Dutch ship headed for New Netherland. She bore 11 children and helped her husband with his business affairs as we learn from a successful suit at law in which a considerable debt was recovered. The evidence depended upon the books which she kept and which she was required to exhibit before the court.

An interesting reference to Catalyntje is found in a journal kept by two Labadist travelers who came to New York in 1679 and visited the aging Catalina at her home on the Wallabout. From their account we find that they traveled by boat.to Wale-bocht. a place situated on Long Island. almost an hour’s distance below the city and reached the bay in about two hours. This was a bay tolerably wide where the water rises and falls much and is at low water very shallow and much of it dry. 'The aunt of De la Grange [i.e., Catalyntje Trico Rapalje] is an old Walloon from Valenciennes, seventy-four years old. She is wordly-minded, living with her whole heart as well as body, among her progeny which now number 145 and will soon reach 150. Nevertheless she lived alone by herself, a little apart from the others, having her little garden and other conveniences, with which she helped herself."

In 1685 and again in 1688, Catalyntje was asked to give depositions concerning her arrival in America, one of which was to assist William Penn in a dispute over the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, later known as the Mason-Dixon line. For many years the information she gave was rejected as the babblings of a senile old lady. It is now agreed among historians that the details that she remembered after more than sixty years and when she was over eighty years old, are remarkably accurate.

In the  deposition taken at her home on Long Island on October 17, 1688 2, she states:

"Catelyn Trico doth Testify and Declare that in ye year 1623, she came into this country with a Ship called ye Unity, whereof was commander Arien Jorise belonging to ye West India Company, being ye first ship yt came here for ye sd. Company. As soon as they came to Mannatans, now called N. Yorke, they sent Two families and six men to Hartford River, and Two Families and Eight men to Delaware River, and eight men they left at N. Yorke to take Possession, and ye Rest of ye Passengers went with ye Ship as farr as Albany which they then called fort Orange.--

"Ye sd Deponent lived in Albany three years, all which time ye Indians were all as quiet as Lambs and came and Traded with all ye Freedom Imaginable; in ye year 1626, ye Deponent came from Albany and settled at N. Yorke where she lived afterwards for many years and then came to Long Island."

 Catalyntje Rapalje died September 11, 1689. She was 84 years old. 

* From an article by George E. McCracken in The American Genealogist, Vol. 48, page 118:

For long it was believed that Catelyntje was born in Paris, France, and, indeed, this old error was restated as recently as April 1971 in a letter to the editor of The Colonial Genealogist (Vol. 3, No. 4, New Series, p. 258) . . . The origin of the error is to be found in a  deposition made by Catelyntje on 17 Oct. 1688 (printed in E. B. O'Callaghan, Documentary History of New York [1850] 3:32; also in Frank Allaben, Ancestry of Leander Howard Crall (New York 1908), p. 391; the deposition is from New York Colonial Manuscripts, vol. 35. This begins "Catelyn Trico aged about 83 years born in Paris."

In March 1961 when the distinguished genealogist, John Insley Coddington, was in Amsterdam, he was informed by Dr. Simon Hart of the Gemeinte Archief that Catelyntje was actually born in the tiny hamlet of Pry, 50/215/17' North latitude, 4/215/26' East longitude, on the Herve River directly south of Charleroi in Hainault. It is obvious that when Catelyntje said "Pry," the English-speaking clerk who took down the  deposition misunderstood her to be pronouncing "Paris" as the French pronounce it, an easy error if she rolled the "r" very strongly. This important information was printed soon after in the News-Letter of the American Society of Genealogists, but as that periodical is not available outside the Society, the information did not become generally known.

http://langdonnotables.blogspot.com/2012/11/joris-janssen-rapalje-my-10g-grandfather.html

Joris Janssen Rapalje, my 10G Grandfather

Joris [George] Janssen Rapalje, my 10G Grandfather, was born April 28, 1604, in Valenciennes, Spanish Netherlands [now France]. His name may have been 'Jean' in French. [See note on Dutch given names] He was baptized in the St. Nicholas Church of Valciennes.

In 1623, at age 19, Joris was married in Amsterdam. His wife was Catalyntje [Catalina] Jeronymus Trico [this note on Dutch patronymics might be useful]. Joris Jansen Rapalje and his wife, Catalyntje, a Huguenot, was the common ancestor of all the American families of this name [with an estimated 1,000,000 descendants in the New World]==the practice which afterwards obtained of writing the final syllable of the name with a 'j' was the Dutch version of the original French orthography.

In January of 1624, Joris and Catalina were recruited along with a number of other families by the Dutch West India Company to go to work in the the company's holdings in America. They were assigned to the ship called Eendracht [Unity]. Those families joining them were mostly Walloons.

Joris and Catalina made it a condition before leaving Amsterdam that they could be married before their ship sailed. Common practice at that time was for couples to notify the civil authorities of their intent to wed so that their proclamation of banns could be called for three Sundays in their respective churches. Joris and Catalina registered their intention on Saturday, January 13, 1624, and were married in the Walloon Church in Amsterdam on Sunday, January 21, 1624, only eight days later. The marriage-intention registry reads, with abbreviations and deletions, in Dutch: “Joris Raparlie van Valenchie..../boratwercker out 19 jaerenwoon...op't Waele/padt and Catharina triko van [word “parijs” crossed out] pris in/ [word “Vranckrijck” crossed out] Walslant geasst...met mary Fla[m]egh/haar suster woon...in de Vles out 18 yae.”...Translated: “Joris Raparlie, born in Valencie...borat worker, age 19 years, living at the Waele padt, and Catharina Trico, born [“Paris, Kingdom of France” crossed out] Pris in Walslant, assisted by Mary Flamergh, her sister, living in de Vles, age 18 years.”

Omitted from this record are several items of information customarily included to indicate, for example, duration of residence, and present marital status. Since both were minors, the omission of parental approval suggests that neither had parents residing in Amsterdam or, for that matter, living. And, as Joris was not assisted by anyone, he may not have had a male relative in Amsterdam. From the patronymic used by Joris in New Netherland, we know that his father was Jan (Dutch) or Jean (French) Raparlie, or some similar spelling.

Joris was baptized as Georges Rapareillet on April 28, 1604, in the Church of St. Nicholas at Valciennes as the natural son of Jean Rapareillet. His mother's name was not listed. The registration of the baptism of a Protestant child in a Catholic Church was not unusual at that time.

Joris and Catalina settled in Fort Orange, now Albany. They resided there for three years until the Dutch authorities resettled them and a number of families from Fort Orange to the southern end of Manhattan in 1626. They had resided in Fort Orange until the birth of their youngest child. After the 1626 harvest, the Rapalje's left Fort Orange and returned to Manhattan with eight other families. Ft. Orange ceased to be a settlement and reverted to its former status of fortified trading post.

Their children are recorded on original records now kept at the library of the New York Historical Society. Their daughter, Sarah, married first Hans Hansen Bergen and later Teunis Gysberts Bogart. She was recorded as the first Christian daughter born in the New Netherlands. In honor of this, the Dutch authorities presented her a tract of land at the Wallabout. [Sarah Rapalje's chair is in the collection of the Museum of the City of NY, and is thought to have been brought to New Netherland by the family.]

On June 16, 1637, Joris bought a tract of land called Renneganock from the Lenape Indians , computed at 335 acres, now included in the town of Brooklyn and comprehending the lands occupied by the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The land was renamed Waal Boght, from the dutch meaning either “Bend in the River” or “Bay of Walloons”. This later became Wallabout Bay.

The Rapaljes established a residence near the East River, and were among the earliest purchasers of land in Manhattan, later building two houses on Pearl Street near the Fort. During at least a portion of his time there, Joris kept a tavern or tap-house, his name appearing among the inn keepers and tapsters, inhabitants who promised to observe the proclamation of Governor Stuyvesant [my half 9G grand uncle] of March 10th, 1648, in relation to the regulation of such houses, as late as March 16, 1648, on the records in the book of the Burgomasters Court New Amsterdam. Rapalje's son-in-law, Hans Hansen Bergen, acquired a large tract adjoining Rapalje's. Today the land where the Rapalje’s farm stood is an industrial park under the direction of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Joris probably removed to his Long Island farm, which he probably had cultivated a portion of previously, as early as 1655 for, on April 13, 1655, he was appointed one of the magistrates of Brooklyn in the place of Pieter Cornellisse.

Rapalje figured frequently in law suits. He sold his house and lot June 22, 1654, to Hendrick Henderson, drummer [a commercial traveler or traveling sales representative ], for 800 Guilders. Pieter Cornellisse, a house carpenter, in New Amsterdam as early as 1640, was appointed one of the magistrates of Brooklyn, April 9, 1654. In 1646, he obtained a patent for over 27 morgens [a unit of land measure equal to about two acres (0.8 hectare), formerly in use in Holland and the Dutch colonies and still used in South Africa] in Brooklyn adjoining lands of Cornelius Dircksen, ferryman.

In the records of the Burgomaster's and Schepen's court of New Amsterdam, up to 1656, on the 28th of April, of which year a return was made in a suit of Cornelia Schellinger against "Joresy Rapalje," of Rapalje's having departed beyond the jurisdiction of the court, and the same return was made on the 25th of the following November, in a suit of Jacob Schellinger against "Catalyn Joresy," Rapalje's wife. 

On the 16th of June, 1637, Rapalje bought a tract of land of the Indians, "Kakapeyno and Pewichaas," called "Rinnegakonck”, situate on Long Island, south of the Island of the Manhattans, extending from a certain Kil into the woods south and eastward to a certain Kripplebush (swamp), to a place where the water runs over the stones." On the 17th of June, 1643, his Indian purchase was patented to him by the governor, and is described as "a piece of land called Rinnegakonck, formerly purchased by him of the Indians, as will appear by reference to the transport, lying on Long Island, in the bend of Mereckkawick (now Brooklyn), east of the land of Jan Monfoort, extending along the said land in a southerly direction, towards and into the woods."

In August, 1641, Rapalje was one of the twelve men representing Manhattan, Breukelen and Pavonia, elected to suggest means to punish the Indians for a murder they had committed. In 1655,'56, '57, and again in 1660, he was one of the magistrates of Brooklyn.  

Joris Jansen Rapalje and Catalina Trico were the parents of 11 children, including Sarah Rapalje, the first child of European parentage born in New Netherland. Sarah Rapalje's chair is in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York, and is thought to have been brought to New Netherland by the family. Annetje, who married Martin Ryerson and had many children one of which was Cathalyntie who married Paulus Vanderbeek, Grandson of Master Paulus Vanderbeeck, a Dutch West India Company ship surgeon and Brooklyn's first resident doctor. Jannetje, another of Joris Jansen Rapalje's daughters, married another Vanderbeek; Rem Jansen Vanderbeek, whose descendants took the name Remsen and who became a leading New York mercantile family. Rapalie died soon after the close of the Dutch administration, having had eleven children. 

 Catalyntje Trico's Gold Clasp

Because of the number of their descendants, author Russell Shorto has called Joris Jansen and his wife Catalina "the Adam and Eve" of New Netherland as the number of their descendants has been estimated at about a million.
Brooklyn's Rapelye Street is named for the family. The spelling of the Rapalje family name varied over the years to include Rapelye, Rapalje, Rapareilliet, Raparlié, Rapalyea, Raplee, Rapelyea, Rapeleye, Rappleyea as well as others.

 Rapelje, Montana is named for a descendant, and an early descendant, Capt. Daniel Rapelje, founded the settlement which became St. Thomas, Ontario.

John Concklyne, My 8G Grandfather

 

John Conklyne was born in England, probably in Nottinghamshire, around the year 1598. His father, possibly William, was a glass-maker ("glasseman") and probably a Lorrainer, that is, an immigrant Huguenot from the French province of Lorraine. John Conklin, too, was a glass-maker and had a younger brother, and partner in glass making, named Ananias. " Conklin Mann, in “The Family of Conckelyne, Conklin and Conkling in America, and The Line of John Conckelyne of Southold and Huntington,” published in The American Genealogist, Volume 21 (1944): pp. 48-51 and pp. 210-215 states: “After considerable reading on the story of the Italian, Lorraine, and Norman glass-makers who came in a steady stream to England for several years following 1560, I venture a few opinions, which at best are mere guesses. My guess is that Conckelyne or Concklyne [or Concklayne and Conculyn] is an English corruption of a Continental name; that Ananias and John Conckelyne were of the second generation in England; that their forebears came from Italy, Lorraine, or Normandy, perhaps by way of Antwerp. The ending -elyne or -lyne does not establish the name as Norman, Flemish, or Scotch, as has been said. If, for instance, the great Venetian glass maker Verzelini, could quickly become Verselyne in English parish records, there is no reason why a Florentine-Norman family such as Concini should not become Concelyne, Conckelyne, or Concklyne.” Conklin Mann's guess was, apparently, quite correct. Brian J.M. Hardyman, a noted English historian of the early glass-makers of England in 1995 believed that John Conklin was a descendant of Conculyns or Concklaynes. These two spelling variants of the Conklin name of a total of nineteen recorded so far do, indeed, seem to be French.

My immigrant ancestor was likely part of that large number of skilled glass-makers, mostly Huguenots, who, escaping Roman Catholic France, arrived in England after 1572, the year of the St. Bartholomewmassacre." This mass immigration was vigorously encouraged by the reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth I. Mr. Hardyman recorded a glassmaker of certain Lorraine origins, one Francis Conklyn, who was working in Old Swinford, Worcestershire, around 1613. Cornelius Conklyn, a son of Ananias Conklyn, was christened in St. Mary, Old Swinford, Worcestershire on August 6th, 1637. One can reasonably assume that there were connections between Francis, John, and Ananias Conklyn.

Jason Ellis, another glass-historian of England,stated that his research places a John Conklaine working as a glass-maker in Bagots Park, England in 1609. Conklin Mann also stated that John and Ananias Concklyne are now (1944) accepted as brothers There is little room for doubt of the relationship, though there is no absolute proof. Should Jacob Concklyne be added? Perhaps. In the Nottingham marriage records appears the following: “12 April 1637, Jacob Conklyne of Awlsworth Parish Nuthall, glasemaker and Elizabeth Hickton of Watnall parish.” We know that John Concklyne named a son Jacob although he never named one Ananias [not so unusual for one to pass up honoring a younger brother in such a manner] nor, for that matter, did Ananias name one John.

" On January 24th, 1625, John Conckelyne married Elizabeth Mylner Allseabrook at St. Peter's Parish, Nottingham, England. Elizabeth's parents are recorded as John Mylner and Winifred Ludlam, so perhaps Allseabrook was a married name and she was a widow when she married. Elizabeth died around, but probably before, 26 Mar 1671 at Southold, New York. Between the years 1628 and 1635 John and Elizabeth appear to have lived in Nutthall, a few miles northwest of the city of Nottingham. Around the year 1638 Ananias Conckelyne journeyed to Salem, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His brother John and John's wife Elizabeth followed him and arrived before the 30th of May, 1639.The brothers probably came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony under contract as glassmakers, and together, in 1640, they began what was the very first glass works in New England. Indeed, Grenville McKenzie, and others, say that it was the first in America! According to Salem records of 14 Sept 1640 cited by Mann, John Concline [was officially] receaved an inhabitant of Salem. Also, Granted to John Concline five acres of ground neere the glasse howse [and] Granted half an acre more of land for the said John Concline neer the Glass howse. " The surviving records of glass making in Salem lead to the conclusion that Obediah Holmes, Lawrence Southwick, Ananias Conckelyne and, perhaps, other undertakers [stockholders] formed a company in 1638 and later were joined by John Conckelyne. Evidently the Conckelynes were the master craftsmen while the others advanced the capital. Evidently, too, Holmes, Southwick, and the other investors soon lost interest in the venture, which did not thrive, and the Conckelynes assumed the entire burden. Apparently nothing more elaborate than window glass and bottles were made.

As late as 1879 the scori or slag which is still plowed up, seem to indicate that the glass was much lighter in color than the common bottle glass of early times. The proof of the importance of this glass making venture can be found in the following: “The General Court in Boston on 10 Dec 1641 voted that if the towne of Salem lend the Glassemen 30 pounds, they [the town] shall be allowed it againe out of their next rate; and the glasse men to repay it againe if the worke succeed, when they are able.” In plain words, Salem could deduct the loan/advance from its town taxes payable to Boston even if the glass makers defaulted! Salem, on 27 Feb 1643, voted “its promise by the towne that the 8 pounds that hath been lent by the Court by the request of the towne to Ananias Concklyne and other poore people shall be repayed by the Court, at the next Indian Corne Harvest.” Things got worse for the glass makers and A Humble petition of John and Ananias Conkcloyne [of 1 Oct 1645] “sheweth that your Petitioners have been imployed Divers yeares about the glasse work, and the undertakers now this three yeares neglected the same, so that your petitioners are not able to subsist and shall be necessitated either wholely to leave it off, or to remove elsewhere for better accomodations of themselves; wherefore theere humble request first is unto this Honoured Court, that they might be freed from theire ingagment unto the former undertakers and left free to joyne with such as will carry on the work effectually except the former undertakers forthwith doe the same, that So the Worke which they Conceive to be a public good use for the country may not fall to the ground.”

No further connection of the Conckelyne brothers with glass-making at Salem has been found in the records and it seems probable that they turned to other fields. Apparently, Salem officials still were optimistic about the Conckelynes' future in the town and, on 30 May 1649, they granted each of them four acres of meadow land.

John visited several towns along the Long Island Sound during the autumn and winter of 1649 with a view to settling in one of them, and, in late April 1650, he, Ananias, and members of other Salem families, including Thomas Scudder, removed to Southold, New York. John was recorded as a property owner at Southold by January1653, but probably owned land there as early as 1651. It is not easy to follow the record of John Conckelyne in Southold as many of the entries in the town records fail to specify senior or junior. His oldest son Capt. John Conckelyne (Jr.) was, by far, the more aggressive and active man. John may have gone to Hashamomack (that narrow neck that joins the town spot on the northeast) about 1657 when Capt. John married Sarah, widow of William Salmon, proprietor of Hashamomack. Some time prior to1660, due probably to John Jr.'s claim to the important HorseNeck (Lloyds Neck) lands, John, Sr. and his youngest son Timothy Conckelyne removed to Huntington, Long Island. On 4 Feb 1660, Huntington townsmen voted that “Timothy Conklin shall keepe both his own home lots and his father's and to lay down all comoning [commonage] and medow belonging to his own hous.” Each of these home lots carried a 100-pound right in all divisions of commonage, and transactions by Timothy Conklin 40 years later show that he maintained title to the two home lots and their accompanying rights. These rights were of considerable value.

The General Assembly at Hartford, Connecticut, on 9 Oct 1662 made Goodman [John] Conclin and [Capt.] John Conclin Junr. of Southold, freemen of Connecticut. There was much commerce conducted back and forth across the Long Island Sound and the two Johns undoubtedly had their share. John Conckelyne Senior was, unquestionably, the John Conckelyne who paid 15 shillings for a share among the Monmouth, New Jersey, Associates in 1667. Two of the associates had been affiliated with him in Salem's glass works. He was, however, apparently, never in residence at Monmouth. The John Conckelyne from Southold who served on a New York jury at the trial of a suit between the towns of Gravesend and Flatbush on 27 Sep 1666 was, probably, Captain John Conckelyne (his son), for there are indications that by that date he had a ship in Long Island waters and was serving as a civil representative of Southold in its relations with towns to the westward. On a tombstone in the Presbyterian churchyard, Southold, New York, is the following inscription: “Here lyeth the body of Captain John Conkelyne, born in Nottinghamshire in Englande, who departed this life in the sixth day of April att South Hold, Long Island, in the sixty fourth year of his age. Anno Domini 1694.”

Captain John outlived his father, John, Senior, by only 10 years. On 26 Mar 1671, John Conckelyne Sr. conveyed to his son Jacob Conckelyne “all that my housings, whom [home?] lot, with the yards, orchards, and gardens and all the rest of the accomodations thereunto belonging lying and being in Hashamomuck that is to say, All the upland both arable and woodland with the meadow and commonage thereon belonging.” This conveyance made Jacob an important landowner in Hashamomuck. It was John Conckelyne Senior's last significant land transfer and, although he continued to hold certain lands until shortly before his death, there is nothing to indicate that he ever again maintained a household in either Southold or Huntington. It seems probable that the conveyance to Jacob took place shortly after the death of Elizabeth, John's wife. Thereafter, he divided his time between the two towns, probably living for short periods, with his various children—a rich man and his money are welcome everywhere.

John Conckelyne Sr. was residing in Huntington in 1673, when on 6 Oct, after the Dutch had recaptured New York, the so-called restitutio, the town officials named him and three others as a committee to negotiate with the new Dutch Governor and to petition him to put Huntington on good behavior for one year and not to exact an oath of allegiance from the town.

John Conckelyne Sr. of Southold, on 9 Jun 1683, sold to Richard Browne Jr. “for 70 pounds, my second lot of land lying in the lower Oyster Pond neck [Greenport.]” On 6 Jul 1683 he granted unto John Concklyne Junr., “my eldest son, all lands, etc., given and granted unto me when I was an inhabitant of Salem in New England.” John Sr. had held these latter lands for more than 40 years! John Conckelyne died 23 Feb 1684. His undated will was offered to the Court at Southampton, 18, 19 and 20 Mar 1684. Its contents are quoted from the Old Sessions Book of Suffolk County:” I John Conklin being in my right understanding and perfect memory do bequeath my soul to God and my body to ye earth and my goods as followeth: viz to my son John I doo give ten shillings and to my son Timothy I doo give fifteen pounds, out of that which I was to receive for my land which my son John sold for me at Oyster Ponds. Also I doo further by these presents convey all my meadow lying in ye Oyster Ponds neck unto my son Jacob Conklin, to him and his heirs forever, he paying Mr. Sylvester four pounds and ten shillings. Also I do give to Walter Noakes three pounds and all my wearing cloathes except my best coat. Also I do give unto my grandchild Rebecca Hubert [Hubbard] one horse or mare. Also I doo give unto Mr. Eliphalet Jones twenty shillings and I doo make my daughter Elizabeth Wood my whole and sole executor. (Signed.) John Conklin.”

It is difficult to be certain to which class of society John and Ananias Conckelyne belonged, but it would seem to be that of solid burgher (burgess) or freeman class. The Allseabrook and Launder families of England, into which they married, were leading burgher families of Nottingham. When the time came for their children to marry, they did well. John's two oldest sons married, respectively, Southold's richest widow and the daughter of that town's richest man. Ananias' oldest son, Jeremiah, married, around 1658, the daughter of Lion Gardiner the most important man of eastern Long Island in his day.

There is, apparently, an amusing story in the book The Island by Robert Payne about that marriage. It says that Lion Gardiner was not happy about his daughter's choosing Jeremiah Conklin, and Payne quotes him as saying that the Conklins were bottlers from Nottinghamshire and that they were farmers and handymen without large estates. Of course if he had really been unhappy, the marriage probably would never have taken place. Recently, Honor Conklin of Albany gave me the correct quotation from the book: The quote from Robert Payne's The Island: ... p. 83, “These were tragic years for Lion, who had lost Elizabeth and was soon to lose his daughter Mary. In the summer of 1658 Mary married Jeremiah Conkling, and this was another marriage he disapproved of. The Conklings were settlers from Nottinghamshire. They were farmers and handymen, without large estates. He built Mary and her husband a dwelling house, but withheld the dowry of ten head of cattle he had given to Elizabeth. Then he sat down to write his will. Ananias Conckelyne's line of descendants on Long Island, sometime around the year 1700, employed the affectation of adding the letter =g to the end of their name and to this day there are more Conklings than Conklins in that area. The only other variant spelling currently known to be in use is Concklin, which can be observed mostly in Westchester County, New York. 

 

Gerret Dircksen Croesen, My 9G Grandfather

Gerret Dircksen Croesen, my 9G grandfather, was born in the year 1637 or 1638 in a village in the northern region of the Netherlands known as Winschoten in the providence of Groningen. It lies very near the present day border with Germany. There are several variations of the name Croesen including Krusen, Kroesen, Kruzen, Kruser, Crusen, etc., many of which were used by or applied to the same family, or, sometimes, even the same individual. English and Dutch versions of the same given name were often used interchangeably by the same individual.

The 1600's were the Golden Age of the Netherlands. The country became the leading sea power in the World. Its merchant fleet tripled in size between 1600 and 1650 and Dutch ships supplied about half the world's shipping. Expanding trade made Amsterdam the world's major commercial city and gave the Dutch the highest standard of living of any nation on earth.

The Dutch West India Company was founded in 1621. The purpose of the company was to carry on trade with the new world and western Africa. In 1624 the Dutch West India Company colonized New Netherland which consisted of parts of present day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware. In 1626 the famous purchase of Manhattan Island was made. Enterprising Dutch bought the island from the Indians for a small amount of trade goods.

Sometime before Gerret turned 23, he emigrated to the newly established Dutch colonies in America. Gerret was hired at a very young age by the West India Company or one of its subsidiaries to go to New York and work. It is not known what his occupation was.

In what was to become the Borough of Brooklyn, Gerret met and married a woman two years younger than himself, who had been born in this country. Her name was Neeltje Jans Staats. At age 23 Gerret married the 21 year old Neeltje in the Dutch Church in Brooklyn, New York.They settled down together in Brooklyn and nine months after their marriage, on July 16, 1662, they had a son, Dirck Gerretse Kroesen. A year latter they had their second child, a girl whom they named Elsje. Their next child wouldn't be born for five years.

Perhaps Gerret had been a seaman and was on a voyage. We may never know for sure, but by 1667 he was in Brooklyn for a time as his third son, Cornelius, was born in1668. Then a daughter, Catherine [Tryntje], was born in 1670 and Jan, another boy, was born in 1672, indicating that Gerret was often in or near Brooklyn during those years.

When Gerret was 34 years old, with four children, there was another pause in his family growth. Five more years would pass before more children would be born. The couple had their next little girl, whom they named Annetje, in September of 1677. Two years later Hendrick was born in 1679, and the last child to be born, who would carry his father's name, was Gerret, born in 1680.

Gerret senior, at the age of 42, had nine children in his family, the oldest of whom was 18 years old and the youngest, a baby. On March 7, 1680, shortly after his new daughter was born, Gerret died. His death undoubtedly changed matters drastically for the Croesen family. His wife, it is believed, never remarried but, instead continued to raise the little family probably with the assistance of her oldest son Dirck. Neeltje lived until her youngest daughter was 15 years old before she herself passed away at the age of 55.