Searching for the Hollanders Introduction Why search for your ancestors?
Well, first it is just a hobby—the second largest hobby in the United
States. Gardening is number one. It is a big puzzle you can collect to keep
your mind active—just like the crossword in the daily paper. You can leave what you find as a legacy for
others. I have been interested in
genealogy since I was 12 years old.
Instead of lessening with age, my desire to find ancestors increases as
I grow older. Our last name is Renfroe because Larry's mother was not married to Eugene
Garrison, his father. He was raised with
the help of his grandparents, Finis and Ada Renfroe. He took
their surname. In 2008, Roger Garrison
and Larry Renfroe participated in the Family Tree
Maker DNA study. These results proved
they had the same father as their Y DNA is exactly the same. The study also revealed that their Garrison
DNA is associated with another donor who descended from the Gravesend Garritsons of Long Island, New York. Armed with new information I began to search all the Gravesend Garritsons hoping to find Jacob J. Garritson's
father. I had several clues. I knew Jacob was born in New Jersey about
1817. I knew his name was originally Garritson/Gerritson not
Garrison. I knew he was in Woodford,
Illinois by 1843. I knew his wife was
Catherine Genoway.
I knew that she had lived in Brown County, Ohio. I knew that Jacob had been a Riverman working on boats .
I had the names of his children and thought these same family names
would be used by his family. After
almost a year of searching with no conclusions, I put the Garritson
data on Rootsweb with a plea for help. I told about the DNA evidence to the
Gravesend Garritsons, Jacob's birthplace, and his
wife's residence in Brown County, Ohio.
A man that knew a lot more than I did about the Garritson/Gerritson family of
Long Island contacted me. With his help,
I feel I have found Jacob's family.
There is no will or census proof.
So the evidence is circumstantial.
I would like to share this data as I know other Garrisons have been
searching for Jacob's family, too! I hope you will be forgiving of my spellings of Garrison in this
genealogy. It is usually spelled
Garrison today, but can be spelled many ways—Garritsen,
Garritson, Gerritson, Gerritse, Gerritze, Gerritsen, Garretsen, Garretson, Garrisson, Garrettson, and many
more. I know I have used more than one
spelling. When I am using a reference, I
often spell the name as it appears in the work. At first, I tried to use only
one spelling, but I finally gave up and used varied spellings. The many
spellings of Garrison make the research of the name very difficult. Jacob J. Garretson used this spelling. Charles Alexander Garrison used this spelled. Jonathan Lewis Garrison (Charles' father) I
think used both spellings. In the old
farm book owned by Pat McCormack I learned of the spellings. Before seeing the old book, I thought the
name was Garrison all along. This
hindered my research. Pat gave me the
first hint that helped me find our family. I would like to dedicate this genealogy to Leon Garrison, Roger
Garrison, Dustin Garrison, Cecil Garrison, Dollan
Garrison, Glendon Garrison, Glen Garrison, Fred
Garrison, and Larry Garrison Renfroe. These are the Garrison men I know the
best. But perhaps the biggest dedication should go to Donald Jackson Garretson,
my key clue in finding our Garrisons! New Amsterdam Jan Snedeker Jan Snedeker (Jan is Dutch for the English
name John) came to this country before 1642. His birth was probably about 1605.
He was a shoemaker by trade. He married
first Annetje Ruys of Rys or Ryssen, a town in the
province of Overyssel. His second marriage was to Egbertje or Lybertje Jans widow of Herman Hendrickse. He first resided in New Amsterdam from 1642
to 1654. In the "Colonial History of New
York" his name is listed as one of the first settlers sent by Governor
Stuyvesant to form a new town. He was one
of the signers of the town's patent. He
was called one of the Director's Selectmen.
Here in New Amsterdam, Jan kept a taphouse or
tavern. In December of 1642, a formal
complaint was lodged against him for selling beer of short measure. His patent, dated July 1645, was for a double
lot south of the Fort on Manhattan Island. He was one of the Vlakkebo's (Flatbush) first settlers. He was on the patent of Flatbush in 1652, as
per page 13 of Strong's Flatbush and on the patent of New Lotts
in 1667. He was a magistrate of Flatbush
from 1654 to 1664. Flatbush is a community of Brooklyn, a part of New
York City. The
name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ("flat
woodland" or "wooded plain").
Jan Snedyker was a member of the Dutch
Reformed Church in 1677. The present town of Flatbush was originally known as Midwout
or Midwoud, from Midwoud, a
village in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. New Lotts was also
known as Oostwoud from a village of that name near Midwoud. The other
towns in Kings County (except Bushwick) were named by
the first settlers after localities in the fatherland from which many of them
came. After the time of the
Revolutionary War, the name Midwout was dropped and
the town has since been known as Flatbush.
The name means flat woods or level woods in Dutch. Jan Snedeker made his will dated December 12,
1670, in which he devised his lands to his son, Gerret. His known issue includes: 1--Anna, who supposedly died single; 2—Jannetje, who married first Reynier Wizzlepenning and second,
Pieter Cornelise Luyster;
3—Gerret Janse; 4—Styntje; and 5—Tryntje. He signed his name Jan Snedeker;
however, this surname can be spelled several different ways (found in records
as Stijaker, Snediker, Sneidcor). Jan died
in May of 1679. Many Dutchmen take their
surname from their father's first name, but some choose place or town and add sen. Jan Snedeker was from Rys or Ryssen. Gerrit Remmersen may have taken
his last name from this place in the
Netherlands. Frederick Van Wyck in his book, "Keskachauge", or First White Settlement on Long Island
speaks of the old Gerritsen Mill and its
surroundings. This Mill is spoken of in
many books about Long Island. Pictures
of the Mill survive. Van Wyck states that the Gerritson's
who owned the Mill were descendents of Jan Snedyker
because he owned this property as early as 1645 and he willed it to his son, Gerret. One of the most valuable tools for a researcher looking for Dutch
ancestors in America are the Reformed Dutch Church Records. In its infancy,
this Church was referred to as the Reformed Dutch Church, but in recent times,
this Church has sometimes come to be known as the Dutch Reformed Church. When the Dutch came to America, the first
Church organized in New Netherlands was the Reformed Dutch Church of New
Amsterdam (New York City). Keep in mind that the English took over New
Amsterdam in 1664 and then the Dutch took it back again for one year (1673),
thus calling it New Orange. It then reverted back to English control the
following year, and was named New York. All of the aforementioned records are
fortunately kept in one record book. The Church was formed in 1628, but
baptismal and marriage records start in 1639. As the Dutch spread out in their
settlements, new churches sprang up on Long Island, Staten Island, and along
areas of the Hudson River Valley. Another church that formed was the Brooklyn
Reformed Dutch Church and also the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church on Long
Island. Peter Luyster was a carpenter. He came to New Amsterdam in 1656 per
Riker. He married first Aeltje Tyssen and second Jannetje, daughter of Jan Snediker,
about 1670. Jannetje
was married first to Reynier Wizzelpennenk. Peter's children were: Matthias Pieterse; Gertien Pieterse (she is supposed
to have married Jan Monfoort); Martien
or Marretje Pieterse
(married Pieter Monfoort); John Pieterse;
Cornelis Pieterse and Wilmien Pieterse. Matthias was by the first wife. Peter Luyster resided first in Flatlands and then in Flatbush and
then afterwards in Newtown. He was a
Magistrate of Flatlands in 1660, 61, 62 and 64.
He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Flatbush in 1677 and on
the Assembly Roll of Flatbush in 1683.
His Flatbush farm lies now in the town known as New Lotts. I have more descendents of Jannetje Snediker, but will not
include them here. Early historians of Kings County, New York thought Jan Snedyker was the father of Garret Remmerson. Two of the historians are Teunis
G. Bergen and Frederick Van Wyck. Bergen wrote several books including "The
Bergen Family" and "Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, New
York". I have the Settler's book and the
pages about Jan Snedyker from the Bergen book. Van Wyck wrote "Keskachauge" about Kings County in the 1930s. I have the pertinent pages from his
book. Marie Garritson
of Cape May referred to the early writings of the New York historians and
adopted their view. Later county researchers disagree. Rosalie Fellows Bailey wrote a paper for the
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society in 1969. It was titled "Garritsen,
Williamson, and Ryder families". The
article touted the belief that Garret Remmerson came
to New Amsterdam from East Friesland, Netherlands in about 1658. This
information came from the Samuel Gerritsen's
Bible. Both accounts may be true. Remmersen could
have been the son of Snedeker and came in 1658 as his
son recorded. Snedeker's
married first in Holland and Remmersen was born
there. He could have came at the time
his father did or later. Early Dutch families are almost impossible for a
novice like me to figure out. Each
generation takes the first name of their father and add se or sen to the end of the name and they take a new
surname. Females add se and males add sen. Some Dutch go
against the practice and take a surname of the place they resided. Some
researchers think the two husbands of Rem Garritson's mother, Mary,
were brothers—one using the surname Williamson and the other Remmerson. I
disagree with this idea as the DNA results from the Garritson
study and the Williamson study do not show the same Y DNA. Gerrit Remmersen
may be the son of Jan Snedyker or he may be an
colonist who came to America from East Friesland, Netherlands in 1658. Regardless of his background, we know he is
the father of Rem Garritson/Gerritsen. Gerrit Remmersen
and Willem Gerritsen Mary is the common ancestor of the Williamson and Garretson families of
New York. She first married Willem and
their children used the surname Willemsen/Williamson. Her second husband was Gerrit
Remmersen and their children used the surname, Garritsen/Garretson.
Members of both families later were found in other Kings County Towns ,
as well as in the New Jersey counties of Cape May, Monmouth, Somerset, and
Middlesex. The origin of these two
families is partly revealed in a family bible record written in by Samuel Gerritsen, the son of Mary and Gerrit
Remmersen.
While the record was written in Dutch, there are two know unpublished
translations, one made in 1884 by Judge Ricord and
held by the Brooklyn Historical Society, and a second by Rosalie Fellows Bailey
now at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Bailey translated the record using Hexham's Netherduytch Dictionarie, 1658 and 1675 editions, that was appropriate
for the language of the time and probably led to a more accurate translation. The Bailey translation of Samuel's record: In the year of our Lord 1634 my honorable father Gerrit
Remmersen was born in Oostvrieslandt
in a village named Pilsum. In the year of our lor 1658 my honorable
father Gerrit Remmersen
arrived in this land of Amersfoort. In the year of our Lord 1636 my honorable mother was born on Bermodus. In the year of our Lord 1650 my honorable mother married Willem Gerritsen in Bermodus. In the year of our Lord 1651 a son was born to her named Willem. In the year of our Lord 1656 a son was born to her named Cornelius. In the year of our Lord 1659 my honorable mother and her husband Willem Gerristsen arrived in this land at Amersfoort. In the year of our Lord 1660 a daughter was born to her named Sarah. In the year of our Lord 1662 a daughter was born to her named Hannah. In the year of our Lord 1662 my honorable mother's first husband the
honorable Willem Gerritsen fell asleep in the Lord. In the year of our Lord 1663 my honorable father married my honorable
mother, my father aged 28 years and my mother aged 26 years. In the year of our Lord 1664 a daughter was born to her named Anna. In the year of our Lord 1667 a son was born to her named Rem. In the year of our Lord 1671 on the first day of October o. s. (meaning
old style calendar) a Sunday a son was born named Samuel. In the year of our Lord 1673 a daughter was born to her named Maria. In the year of our Lord 1673 a daughter was born to her named Rachel. (new page in Bible) In the year of our Lord 1678 the first of may
my father and my mother with her family moved out of the Bay to New York Island
to a hamlet named Sapochkanika. In the year of the Lord 1678 the 27 December my honorable father fell
asleep in the Lord on a Tuesday in the Morning and was buried in Stuyvesant's
Church, aged 44 years. In the year of our Lord 1685 the first of May my mother removed her
family to Gravesant (Gravesend). In the year of our Lord 1715 the 4th day of May my brother Rem Gerritsen fell asleep in the
Lord at Cape May, aged 48 years. In the year of our Lord 1721 the 24th day of May my honorable mother
fell asleep in the Lord on a Wednesday just before midnight and was brought to
the grave on that Saturday in Gravesants Churchyard
aged around 85 years. In the year of our Lord 1722 the 2nd day of February my brother Willem Willemsen fell asleep in the Lord on a Friday evening
around seven o'clock and was brought to the grave that Tuesday aged 70 years. In the year of our Lord 1729 the 15th of March my sister Anna fell
asleep in the Lord on a Saturday evening and was brought to the grave that
Tuesday aged 64 years. In the year of our Lord 1730 the 25th day of February my sister Hannah
fell asleep in the Lord on a Wednesday morning about six o'clock and was
brought to the earth that Friday aged about 68 years. In the year of the Lord 1738 the 10th day of May my brother Conelius Willemsen fell asleep in
the Lord on a Wednesday morning and was brought to the earth that Friday aged
about 82 years. (The next pages in the Bible are concerning Samuel's own family. I hope to have enough stamina to type those
pages in with his family record.) Willem Gerritsen as the Bible record of Samuel
Gerritsen reveals is the progenitor of the Williamson
family of Gravesend, Flatlands, and Flatbush in Kings County, NewYork and Somerset and Middlesex Counties in New
Jersey. The record shows he married Mary
in Bermuda (Bermudos in the Bible) in 1650, and
emigrated from Bermuda to Amersfoort (Flatlands) in 1659 with their two sons,
eight year old Willem and three year old Cornelius. Early accounts by Teunis
G. Bergen, James A. Williamson, and Henry Whittemore
said Willem Willemse immigrated in 1657, as in 1687 Willem stated that he had
been in the country for 30 years (probably just a rough guess on his
part). Williamson and Whittemore claimed that Willem Willensen
was born in Amsterdam in 1637 and came over on the Concorde. These statements seem to products of
someone's imagination. Willem Gerritsen must have been in Bermuda in 1650 when he married
Mary, but none of the surviving records of that county mentions him. Although Bermuda was an English colony, the
nationality of Willem probably was Dutch or Frisian as his children are called Willemsen in accordance with the Dutch patronymic system
and as noted above his son Willem took the oath of allegiance to the English
government at Gravesend in 1687 (saying he had been there 30 years), English
settlers of that town were not required to sign this act. Samuel's Bible indicates that Willem Gerritsen was in Amersfoort (Flatlands) from 1659 until his
death in 1662, but with one possible exception no record of him had been found
there. In the Stoothoof
Papers at the Brooklyn Historical Society, Rosalie Fellows Bailey discovered a
deed which might relate to this Willem Gerritsen and
reveal his place of origin. On Oct 19,
1659 at Breuckelen (Brooklyn) in New Netherland,
Willem Gerritse Van Uytrecht
acknowledged that he had sold to Elbert Elbersen a
parcel of land there. This would
indicate that this Willem was from the province of Utrecht. Rosalie Bailey thought this was another
man. Aline Garretson
thinks it might be Willem Gerritsen. If Mary was born in 1636 in Bermuda, her parents were among the early
settlers there, but neither she nor her family can be indentified in surviving
Bermuda sources, Her maiden name even
her nationality remain unknown. Rosalie
Fellows Bailey conjectured that her ancestry might have been Walloon, as she
was listed as Marie, the French form of Mary, on the Dutch church records. Walloon is a Romance language spoken in
Belgium and a small part of France. Bermuda is the oldest and most populous remaining British overseas
territory, settled by England a century before the Acts of
Union created the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Bermuda's first
capital, St George's, was settled in 1612 and is the oldest continuously
inhabited English town in the Americas.
Previously it was part of the Spanish Empire from 1505,
when it was discovered by Spanish navigator Juan de Bermudez, after whom
the islands are named. The island is
believed to have been visited frequently but not permanently settled. The first
two English colonies in Virginia had failed, and a more determined effort was
initiated by King James I of England (James VI of Scotland), who
granted a Royal Charter to the Virginia Company. In 1609, a flotilla of
ships left England under the Company's Admiral, Sir George Somers, and the
new Governor of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates, to relieve the colony
of Jamestown, settled two years before. Somers had previous experience
sailing with both Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. The
flotilla was broken up by a storm, and the flagship, the Sea Venture, was
wrecked off Bermuda, leaving the survivors in possession of a new territory.
(William Shakespeare's play The Tempest is thought to have been
inspired by William Strachey's account of this shipwreck.) The
island was claimed for the English Crown, and the charter of the Virginia
Company was extended to include it. St George's was settled in 1612 and made
Bermuda's first capital. It is the oldest continually inhabited English town in
the New World. Since Mary was born here
in 1636, her parents may have been one of these first English settlers that
survived the shipwreck In 1615, the colony was passed to a new company, the Somers Isles
Company (The Somers Isles remains an official name for the colony,
named after Admiral Somers, just as Gate's Bay and Fort Gates are named after
Sir Thomas Gates), formed by the same shareholders. The close ties with
Virginia were commemorated even after Bermuda's separation by reference to the
archipelago in many Virginian place names, such as Bermuda City,
and Bermuda Hundred. The first British coins in America were struck here. Most of the survivors of the Sea Venture were carried on to
Jamestown in 1610 aboard two Bermuda-built ships. Among them was John
Rolfe, who left a wife and child buried in Bermuda, but in Jamestown would
marry Pocahontas, a daughter of Powhatan. Intentional settlement of
Bermuda began with the arrival of the Plough, in 1612. Samuel Gerritsen states in his Bible that in this land his
honorable mother, Mary, was born in 1636.
Since Mary was born here in 1636, her parents may have been one of these
first English settlers that survived the shipwreck or her parents could have
came there from the English colony of
Jamestown, Virginia. Willem Gerritsen and Mary had four
children. They took the last name of Willemsen (Williamson) in the Dutch tradition. Willem was born in 1651 in Bermuda; Cornelius
in 1656. Willem and Mary Gerritsen came to New Amsterdam in 1659. They had two daughters after their arrival to
New Amsterdam: Sarah and Hannah born in
1660 and 1662 in Amersfoort, (Flatlands), Kings County, New York. Tragedy struck the Gerritsen
family in 1662. Willem Gerritsen died in New Amsterdam. Children of Willem Gerritsen and Mary Willem born 1651 Bermuda, married Mayken Pieters Wyckoff Cornelius born 1656 Bermuda, married Magtel
unknown last name Sarah born 1661 Amersfoort, married Johannes Brouwer Hannah born 1662 Amersfoort married Marten Pieterse
Wyckoff. Gerrit Remmersen
was born about 1634 in Pilsum, East Friesland,
Netherlands. He came to Amersfoort, New
Amsterdam in 1658 (Rosalea Fellows Bailey, 1969
Manuscript in NYG & BS). He may
have came at this date with his father Jan Snedyker. Gerrit married Mary
unknown last name in about 1663. Some
sources say Gerrit Remmersen
and Willem Gerritsen were brothers, but DNA evidence
does not support this fact. If Gerrit is the son of Jan Snedyker,
he was still born in Holland as Jan was not in America at that early date. Mary probably already knew Gerrit Remmersen before her first husband's death, and it is also
likely that Gerrit and Willem were related. Mary Remmersen had been in America only three years when her
first husband died. She had four
children to rear. The year following
Willem's death, Mary married again. Gerrit Remmersen and she were
members of Reformed Dutch Church in Flatlands, New Amsterdam in 1677. They owned land in Flatlands. Mary and Gerrit had
five children: Anna
Garretson born 1664 Amersfoort, (Flatlands), Kings County; Rem Garretson born 1667 in Amersfoort, (Flatlands),
Kings County; Samuel Garretson born
1 Oct 1671 in Gravesend, Brooklyn, Kings County; Maria Garretson born 1673 in New
York; and Rachel Garretson born 1675 in New York. By 1678 the Remmersen/Gerritsen/Gerritson family were
living Sapochkanika (Greenwich) New Amsterdam, when
on December 26, 1678 Gerrit Remmersen
died. He was buried in Stuyvesant
Vault. Mary Remmersen
had nine children. Rachel, Maria and Samuel
were just small children when Garrit Remmersen died. Rem Gerritson was only eleven.
Surely, Mary's eldest son, Willem Willemsen and his
brother Cornelius helped their mother survive.
She did not marry again. Gerrit Remmersen (Aline Garretson, Unpublished Article) is the progenitor of
the Garretson family that traces its roots to Gravesend, New York. It is from the bible records of Samuel Gerritsen that we learn of the origin of his father, Gerrit Remmersen, who was born in
1634 in the village of Pilsum in Ostfriesland
(East Frieslandt) and who arrived in 1658 at
Amersfoort. Pilsum
today is located on the North Sea close to Holland about 7 km to the southwest
of Greetsieland and about 20 km northwest of Emden,
in the northern part of the Krummhoern area of West Germany.
The first record of Gerrit, as Gerrit Remmerts, appears with five others including Govert Loockerman petitioning
the Council of New Netherlands each for a bowery (farm) on the Canaresse [Canarsie]. In the year following the death of Willem Gerritsen, 1663, his widow Mary married Gerrit
on or before July 14, 1663 when Flatbush
church masters recorded receiving six
guilders for marrying "Garreyt Ramacken. In a postscript to a 1671 letter sent from Theunes Hillebrants and Swaentien Hendrick in Holland to Roelof M. Schenckt it was written
"Tell Barent and Gerret Remmers, please, that I have delivered their letters and
added the new address, but I have not yet heard anything." Theunis who was
also from Flatlands was on a visit to Holland.
Gerrit and Mary were both members of the
Reformed Dutch church of Flatlands in 1677 and presumably lived on the land in
Flatlands that was mentioned as a boundary (to the land of Gerrit
Stijnaker) in March 1666 and recorded later on a deed
of 1684. His land was recorded as 23 morgens (46 acres) of land and valley which was located
south of the village toward the Strom Kill (present day Gerritsen
Creek). Gerrit, as Gerrit Rienniers, was listed on the assessment Roll of Amsfortt, made up in September 1676, as having 2 polls, 4
horses, 7 cows, 2 cows of 1 jrs.,and 1 hog.[6] On the
first of May 1678 the Remmersen family moved to Yorks Island to a hamlet named Sapochkanika. Sapochkanika was
originally an Indian village located in what is now known as Greenwich Village
on Manhattan. The Dutch adopted the name Nortwyck for
the area along the Hudson River and farther north, now called Chelsea. Gerrit applied for
vacant land for a bowery and moved there immediately as his name is on the
subsequent regional survey. After Gerrit's death 27 December 1678, the land grant was issued
in December 1680 to his widow. The
bowery which bordered the land of Johannes Couwenhoven
consisted of two separate parcels totaling nearly 140 acres and extended from
about West 19th to 29th Streets and from the river East ward to beyond 7th
Avenue. Gerrit was buried in Stuyvesant's chapel where the
family most likely worshiped along with other plantation owners as they did not
join the church in the city. Stuyvesants's chapel was located on his bowery along the
East River, the present site of St. Mark's Church in the Bowery. Today, the grave sites of the Stuyvesant's
family remain at St. Mark's church in a locked vault. It is unknown if the
remains of Gerrit have remained undisturbed. Mary remained on New York Island for seven years after the death of Gerrit, then on May 1, 1685 with the younger children, and
probably Cornelis Willemse
she moved to Gravesend. Her son Willem Willemse had returned to Amersfoort before 1675 and her
daughters Sarah and Hanna Willemse had both been
married in 1683. Previously on January 6,1684, then residing on New York
Island, Mary Remmersen bought from John Tilton
plantation- lot No. 30 with the buildings thereon in Gravesend per town record. This bowery (farm) on Manhattan Island was
deeded to Egbert Heerman 13 October 1692 and bore
both Mary's and son Rem's signature or mark. Mary's name appears on a number of deeds of
purchase and transfer of Gravesend properties recorded in town and county
records. In the property transactions,
she appears to have been acquiring property to pass on to her heirs. January 17, 1698-99, Mary of Gravesend receipts for 5 pounds to R.
Van Siclen on an agreement made by her two sons: Rem and Samuel Gerretse. In 1698,
Mary widow of Gerrit Remmersen
of Gravesend conveys to Samuel Gerritse, her son, a
house and garden spot in Gravesend and also land on Gisbert's
Island bounded on one side by the sea, as per Gravesend Record. Gerrit Remmersen means Gerrit son of
Rem. Rem Gerritsen means Rem son of Gerrit. Mary died 24
May 1721 at age 85 and was buried in the Gravesend Churchyard. Unlike her two husbands, she lived to see her
children grown. Since she named her
daughters—Sarah, Anna, and Rachel—I do not think she was from Holland! Children of Gerrit Remmersen
and Mary, widow of Willem Willemsen: Anna Remmers, b.1664, m. Jacob Van Couwenhoven 7 July 1685,
d. 15 Mar. 1729. Rem Gerritsen, b.1667, m.
Rebekah Hubbard d.4 May 1714. Samuel Gerritsen, b. 1671, m. Ida Reyder d. 4 Sept. 1763. Maria Remmers, b. 1673, d. 16 July 1755 at or
near Philadelphia. Rachel Remmers, b. 1675, d. 27 Mar. 1757 on
the Raritan. Mary Gerritsen Remmersen's
Children Willem Willemsen Mary's eldest son, Willem Willemsen, born in
Bermuda in 1650, came to New Amsterdam in 1659, and settled at Gravesend, Long
Island, where his name appears on the tax list of 1683 and on the census of
Gravesend in 1698. He took the oath of allegiance to England in 1687. In the allotment of lands, 1670, he drew lot
32, and received another portion in 1700.
In his will dated December 1, 1721, recorded in the surrogate's office,
New York (p. 288, liber 9), and in other
contemporaneous documents he signs his name Willem Willemsen.
In 1715 he and his son Nicholas were subscribers to a fund for the support of Dominies Freeman and Antonides,
who presided over the churches of Brooklyn, Flatlands, Jamaica, Gravesend and
New Utrecht, New York. He married probably in 1678, Mayken
Pieters Wyckoff, of Gravesend, born October 17, 1653,
daughter of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, who emigrated to
this country in 1636, and married Greitze, daughter
of Hendrick Van Ness. Children of Willem and Mayken Willemson (Dr. Aline Garretson,
"The Gerritsen-Willemsen Family Record, and the
Williamson Family of Gravesend," The Record [July 2002]) are: 1--William, born 1678-80; married (1) Catelyntje Gulick, daughter of Jochem Gulick and Jacomyntje Teunisse Van Pelt.
They resided on Six-Mile Run, North Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey
as early as 1710. William may have had more than wife and the maternity of his
younger children is unknown. 2—Margaret
(Gretie) married
Abraham Emans.
3—Pieter (Peter), baptized 16 April 1682; married Gravesend about 1715
to Cornelia Johnson. Marretje (Mary), baptized 12 April
1685; married Bartholomew Marsh. 5--Cornelius, born Gravesend about 1687;
married Grietje Gulick,
daughter of Jochem Gulick
and Jacomyntje Van Pelt. They resided at Six-Mile Run
[Franklin Park], Somerset County, New Jersey by 1710. 6--Nicholas of Gravesend, born about 1689
(GMNJ, Vol. 21) and died 10 Sep 1779 (GMNJ, Vol. 21). He married in 1715 Lucretia Van Vorrhess, (William H. Benedick,
New Brunswick, New Jersery History, 1925). She was
the daughter of Stephen Van Voorhees and his second wife, Eva. Nicholas' second
wife was Ida Remsen. He was a successful
farmer. In 1715 Willem and his son Nicholas were subscribers to a fund for the support of
Dominies Freeman and Antonides,
who presided over the churches of Breuckelen,
Flatlands, Jamaica, Gravesend and New Utrecht.
The Williamsons of Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend and New Utrecht are
descendants of Nicholas by his second wife.
7—Jacobus was born 1690-94. He
married Marya of unknown last name. 8—Annetje was
baptized 29 May 1695 and married John Griggs, Jr. (NYHSC. He was the son of John Griggs of Gravesend,
New York. Cornelius Willemsen Mary's second child by Willem Gerritsen was
Cornelius Willemsen. He was born about 1656 in
Bermuda. He died 10 May 1738 in Gravesend,
Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York. 1 He
married Magtel of unknown last name before 30 October
1695. They had four known children, all daughters: Jannetje born about
1695, Maria born about 1697, Antje born about 1708, and Elizabeth born 28 Jul
1717 in Jamaica, Queens County, Long Island, New York. His daughter Maria married Carel Dorlandt about 1715. Sarah and Hannah Willemsen Mary and Willem Gerritsen had two
daughters: Sarah and Hannah. They were born in 1660 and 1662 in
Amersfoort, (Flatlands), Kings County, New York. Sarah married Johannes Brouwer
(Brewer). She died 8 Jan 1748/49 in Gravesend, Brooklyn,
Kings County, Long Island, New York.
Hannah married Martin Pieters Wyckoff on 27 May 1683 in Flatlands, Brooklyn,
Kings County, Long Island, New York. He
was a brother Willem's wife. Hannah had one daughter Margaret Wyckoff 20
Mar 1683/84 in Flatlands, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York. Margaret married Samuel Polling in 1702.
Hannah married second Samuel Hubbard some sources report. This Samuel was a
brother to Rebekah Hubbard who married Rem Gerritsen. Hannah Willemsen
Wyckoff Hubbard died on 25 Feb 1729/30 in
Gravesend, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York. Mary's Children by Gerrit Remmersen Not long after Willem Gerritsen died, Mary
married Gerrit Remmersen. They had five children: Anna (April 11, 1664, Rem
(1667), Samuel (October 1, 1671), Maria (1674), and Rachel (1675). Anna Gerritsen Anna was born in 1664, probably in Amersfoort. In records her surname is Remmers. On July 7, 1685, she married at Gravesend by
Justice James Hubbard to Jacob Covenhoven (modern
name is usually Conover), son of Johannes and Sarrtje
Frans. Jacob
was baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church of New York November 30, 1664. Jacob and the estate of his mother (Sarah Van
Cowenhoven) appear separately on the tax list of the
Bowery Ward in the city for 1695-1698.
In 1699 he alone is listed in the Bowery Precinct. The will of his father Johannes Van Cowenhoven mentions giving his eldest son Jacob a lot in
the pasture land for ten years beginning in May 1685 upon which Jacob built a
house and barn. In 1695, the land was to
revert to his father's estate. Anna
(listed as Antje Remmers wife of Jacob Van Couwenhoven) witnessed the baptism of Jacob and Pieter,
twin sons of Abraham Mesier and Elizabeth Van Couwenhoven on June 19, 1698. There are disagreements as to the children of
Anna and Jacob. They appear in Van Kouwenhoven-Conover Family by Lincoln C. Cocheu. This
publications states they had at least three daughters: Jannetje, Neeltje, and Saartje (Janet, Eleanor, and Sarah), with no birth or
baptismal dates. Later the three
daughters were attributed to two other Van Kouwenhoven
families. These three children have
these recorded marriages. Janet married
Henrick Bennett,
Eleanor married Abraham Vanderwater, and Sarah
married Isaac Vanderwater. Aline Garretson
names two children for Anna and Jacob.
Both were name Johannes. The
first was baptized August 16, 1685 and he probably died young. The second son with the same name was
baptized March 8, 1686 and sponsored by
Samuel Gerritszen and Elizabeth V. Couwenhoven. This Johnnes married
Lucretia Luyster. Some sources report that Jacob died and Anna
married second, John Gerretsen Dorlandt. Aline Garretson did
not comment on this marriage. She said
she found no other record of Anna or Jacob. Maria and Rachel Gerritsen First, it seems these two daughters of Gerrit Remmersen used the surname Remmers. Maria was born in 1673 and Rachel in
1675. Their brother Samuel recorded
their births (years only) and deaths in his Bible. He wrote--The
16 July (new style calendar) 1755 my beloved sister Maria fell asleep in the
Lord in Philadelphia on Wednesday aged in her two and eightieth year. The next entry says--The 27th March (new style calendar)
1757 my beloved sister Rachel fell asleep in the Lord on a Sunday on the
Raritans aged eight-two years. Why were they in Philadelphia and
Raritan? Raritan Bay is
a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York
Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New
Jersey. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island,
on the west by Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on the south by the Raritan Bayshore communities of Monmouth County, New
Jersey, and on the east by Sandy Hook Bay. The bay is named after the
Native American Raratan tribe, a
branch of the Lenape tribe who lived
in the vicinity of the bay for thousands of years prior to the arrival
of Dutch colonists in the 17th century. He may have been referring to somewhere on
the Raritan River. What was Maria doing
in Philadelphia? No evidence has surfaced
to show either ever married. I can't
help but wonder if they were not involved with the Dutch Reformed Church in
these locations or were with some of Samuel's children. I have no further information on either
sister. Samuel Gerritsen Samuel was born probably in Amersfoort October 1, 1671. After his mother moved the family to
Gravesend in 1685, he remained there the rest of his long life. He married June 14, 1695 Yda
(Ida) Barends, born August 15, 1676, daughter of Barent Juriansen Ryder and Aaltje Van Voorhees.
Other than in Samuel's Bible and in Bergen's Early Settlers of Kings
County, New York, Ida has not been recognized as Ryder or Van Voorhees
descendent. She is believed to be the
daughter of Barent Ryder of Gravesend as evidenced by
the fact that Barent Juriaance
and Aaltje Stevens his wife were witnesses at the
baptism of Samuel's first born son, Bernardus,
misnamed Ferdinandus in the church record, who was
named after this maternal grandfather. Ida died September 12, 1751. Samuel died at Gravesend September 4, 1763 at
age 91. (Aline Garretson is my reference for this
information.) Samuel played an active role in the local and county government and in the Gravesend Dutch
church until he reached the age of 79.
He was commissioned as a lieutenant in Captain Jochem
Gulick's Gravesend company in 1705 and served as an
adjutant to the Kings County militia regiment in 1715. He was a Supervisor representing Gravesend on
the Kings County Board of Supervisors in 1714-1716, and served as Clerk of the
Board 1714-16 and again in 1719-26. As a
representative of Kings County he served in the Provincial Assembly from
1716-1737. He was a senior judge of the Cort of Common Pleas for Kings County in1 1729, 1749, and
1751. He also represented the Gravesend Dutch Church in 1742 and 1748. The derivation of the name Gravesend is unclear. Some speculate that it
was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it
was named by Willem Kieft for the Dutch
settlement of "'s- Gravesande", which means
"Count's Beach" or "Count's Sand". There is also a
town in the Netherlands called 's-Gravenzande. Gravesend was one of the
original towns in the Dutch colony of New Netherland and
became one of the six original towns of Kings County in
colonial New York. It was the only English chartered town in what became
Kings County and was designated the "Shire Town" when the English
assumed control, as it was the only one where records could be kept in English.
Courts were removed to Flatbush in 1685. The former name survives,
and is now associated with a neighborhood in Brooklyn. Gravesend is notable for
being founded by a woman, Lady Deborah Moody; a land patent was
granted to the English settlers by Governor Willem Kieft,
December 19, 1645. Gravesend Town
encompassed 7,000 acres (28 km²) in southern Kings County, including the
entire island of Coney Island, which was originally the town's
common lands on the Atlantic Ocean, divided up, as was the town itself,
into 41 parcels for the original patentees. When the town was first laid out,
almost half were salt marsh wetlands and sandhill dunes along
the shore of Gravesend Bay. Samuel appears on the assessment roll of Gravesend of 1693 and the
census of 1694. He is also on the list
of inhabitants of the township of Gravesend for 1738 where he is recorded with
5 white males above the age of 10 years, two females above the age of 10 years
and one female under the age of 10. At
this time he owned no blacks, but by May 1, 1755 he is listed as having 1 black
male. Samuel was a miller (my opinion)
and operated the tide mill here where he lived.
On 21 June 1698, Mary Remmersen deeded her son
Samuel house etc. in Gravesend, bounded by property of Capt. Stillwell and
Martin Peterse, another piece of land bounded by
lands of Capt. Stillwell and Reyneer Vansycklyn, and another lot bounded by property of William Williamse, Jonathan Griggs, Jr., and widow Strycker. Mary deeded Samuel on 7 September 1698 additional property described as bounded by
that of John Emans, John Griggs, Jr., a parcel by Reyneer Van Sycklyn and heirs of
Obadiah Wilkins "now in possession of John Griggs, Jr"., another parcel by Rutt
Joosten, Kryne Janse and William Williamse, and
yet another parcel on Gysbert Island bounded by lands
of John Griggs, Jr., and Jeremiah Stillwell. Samuel then deeded his mother Mary on 21
September 1698 one half of his house and land, for life, bounded by property of
John Emans and John Griggs, Jr. Several additional parcels of land were conveyed to Samuel and his
mother on 25 October 1698 by Andrew
Bowne, all formerly of his deceased father William Bowne. The parcels conveyed
were land bounded by that of Nicholas
Stillwell and Martin Peterse, a parcel in "Cellarneck in Gravesend" bounded by property of Nicholas
Stillwell, Reyneer Vansycklyn
and Mary Remmerson, and a parcel bounded by lands of
William Williamse, John Griggs, Jr. and widow Strycker. There
appears to have been a pattern to the last purchase as all parcels bounded
property either owned by herself, her son William Williamse,
or son-in-law Martin Peterse,
husband of Hannah Willemse. Samuel then acquired in 1700 lot No.12 in the
penny lots of salt meadows in Gravesend laid out in the "Long Fly and the Cedar
Neck, Hugh Gerretsen's and Hog Point" by Peter Cortelyou into 30 lots. I believe this is the location of the Gerritsen tide mill.
Samuel built it here or it was already located at this site. Children of Samuel and Ida
(Ryder) Gerritsen: Bernardus Gerritsen
(Verbryck), b.4 June 1696, m. Jannetje
Schenck abt. 1717,
d. 2(?) Jan. 1765 Gerrit Gerritsen,
b. 27 Aug. 1698, m. Marytje Wyckoff, d. 17 Sept. 1752 Samuel Gerritsen, b. 3 Jan. 1701, m. Mettie Suydam, b. 4 Sept. 1727 . Rem Gerritsen, b. 9 Mar.
1703 Aeltie Gerritsen,
b. 24 Oct. 1705, m. Gerrit G. Wyckoff of Flatlands,son of Garret Pieterse
and Catharine Nevius, b. 1704, d. 2 Nov. 1770. Jacobus Gerritsen,
b. 25 Mar. 1708, d. 20 Jan. 1746 Marie Gerritsen, b. 28 Jan. 1711, m. Jacobus Debevoise. Wilhelmus Gerritsen,
b. 22 May 1713, d. 23 Feb. 1746 Johannes, b. 20 Aug. 1716, m. 1st Elizabeth Vandervoort,
m. 2nd Jannetje Williamson, d. 27 Feb. 1766. Bernardus Gerritsen
(Verbryck) is the eldest son of Samuel Gerritsen and Ida Ryder. He was born June 4,1696 at
Gravesend. He was named after his
maternal grandfather Barends Juransen
Ryder. Bernardus changed his surname to Verbryck for an unknown reason. The origin of this surname
is equally obscure and there are no known records of anyone other than his
descendants having perpetuated this surname.
The first record found for the use of the name Verbryck
appears on The Kings County Militia list of 1715. His brother Gerret
is also listed with the surname Verbryck, Gerrit dropped this
surname and resumed the Gerritsen surname while living at Middletown, New Jersey. Bernardus married Jannet Je Schenck, daughter of
Jan Roelofse (Schenck) and
Sara Kouwenhoven, daughter of William, before 13
April 1718 when he and his wife were listed as witnesses to the baptism of
Willem, son of Jan Schenck at the Reformed Church of
Freehold. When he moved to
Freehold, Monmouth County is unknown, but it could have been at the time of his
marriage. He was listed as a church
member at Freehold on a list of 23 August 1731.
Bernardus
has been said to be of Neshaminy, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania by Bergen at the time of his marriage, but Aline
Garretson has found no evidence to support this. His identity as sheriff of
Monmouth County at Freehold was confirmed by a notice he placed in The York Gazette of May 12, 1735
offering a reward pertaining to an
Eleanor White under sentence of Death.
His residence appears to have been at Freehold as listed in the
membership list of the Freehold and Middletown Reformed Church for 1731. Bernardus may
have moved to Somerset County after 23 Apr. 1738 when his son, William. was
baptized at Freehold and before 24 Aug.
1752 where he was listed as a founder with his wife and as an elder at of the
Neshanic Reformed Dutch Church. His name
appears as a freeholder of Somerset County in 1753. Children of Bernardus and Jannetje
(Schenck) Verbryck: Ida Verbyck, bap. 2 Nov. 1718 at New Utrecht
sponsors Samuel Gerritsen and his wife Ida. Samuel Verbyck, b. 18 April 1721. Samuel was a member of the First Reformed Dutch Church in New
Brunswick when he was licensed in 1749 in the ministry of the
Dutch Reformed Church under Rev. John H. Goetchius,
minister at Schraalenburgh (Bergenfield). The
following year he was on the census list
for Hackensack. He served as the
minister to Tappan and New Hempstead (Clarkstown)
from 1750 until his death on 31 Jan.
1784. Samuel married April 7, 1750 at Hackensack Susanna Van De Linde, daugher of Hendrick Van der Linde and Ariaentje Westervelt, granddaughte of Roeloff Vander Linde and Ariaentje (Hendrick) Blinkerhof early
settlers of Hackensack, Bergen
County, New York, born 19 Apr. 1723,
bap. 10 May 1724, d. 16 Aug. 1807. He played a role in securing from the
Governor of New Jersey the original charter for Queens College, later Rutgers
College, and then became a trustee. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (aka Rutgers
University) is an institution of higher learning with campuses across
the State of New Jersey its main flagship campus
in New Brunswick and Piscataway, and two other campuses in the cities
of Newark and Camden, New Jersey. The eighth of nine colleges established
during the American colonial period, Rutgers was chartered as Queen's College on 10 November
1766. It was renamed Rutgers College in
1825 after Colonel Henry Rutgers(1745–1830) and American
Revolutionary War hero and philanthropist and early benefactor
of the school. With the development of graduated education, Rutgers College was
renamed Rutgers University in
1924. Originally established as a private institution affiliated with
the Dutch Reformed Church, it is now a secular institution and became New
Jersey's leading state university of New Jersey under legislation
passed in 1945 and 1956. At present, Rutgers is unique as the only university
in the United States that is a colonial chartered college (1766),
a land-grant institution (1864), and a state university
(1945/1956). Shortly after the creation
of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) by Presbyterians
in 1746, ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church sought to establish autonomy in
ecclesiastical affairs. At that time, those who wanted to become ministers
within the church had to travel to the Netherlands to be trained and ordained,
and many of the affairs of churches in the American colonies were
managed from Europe. Thus, the ministers sought to create a governing body
to give local autonomy to the church in the colonies, and offer opportunities
for the education of ministers. Throughout the 1750s, Dutch ministers joined the effort to
create a college in the colonies, including Theodorus
Jacobus Frelinghuysen who traveled on horseback
in winter of 1755 to several congregations throughout the northeast to rally
ministers and congregations to the cause. Soon after, Frelinghuysen traveled
to the Netherlands to appeal to the General Synod, the Dutch Reformed
Church's governing council, for the creation of the classis. In 1761, the
effort having failed, Frelinghuysen set sail for the colonies, but as his
vessel approached New York City he mysteriously perished at sea. After Frelinghuysen's death, Jacob Rutsen
Hardenbergh (later Rutgers' first president)
established himself as spokesperson for the cause, and a strong supporter of
establishing a college in New Jersey. Hardenbergh
travelled to Europe, renewing Frelinghuysen's efforts to gain the Synod's
approval, but was also rejected. Much to the Synod's chagrin, however, Hardenburgh returned to the colonies with money
for the establishment of a college. The
original purpose of Queen's College was to "educate the youth in language, liberal, the divinity, and useful arts
and sciences" and for the training of future ministers for the Dutch
Reformed Church. The Samuel Verbyck family lived first in Tappan
but when the Revolution broke out they moved to Clarksburg. At the time of his
death, Samuel owned 300 acres of land in Hackensack where he was living and 50
acres at Tappan. Both Samuel and Susanna
are buried in the Tappan Churchyard.
Children (baptized at Tappan Dutch Reformed Church): Ariaetje, Bernardus, Hendrick,
Jannetje, Samuel Gerritson, and Roelof. Bernardus Verbryck
is probably the unnamed son bap. 17 June 1723.
Bernardus was listed as Junior along with his
brothers John and William in the account book of Peter Van Dike for the
construction of the Neshanic Church.
Baptismal records at Neshanic Church give Catleyntie
as his wife but nothing is known of her parents. Bernardus appears
on the tax lists for Hillsborough Township for 1779, 1784-86, and 1788. Along with his brothers John and William his
name appears in the settlement of the Adrian Schomp
estate. Children (baptized at
Neshanic church): Jannite, Eleisabet, Barnardus, Catleyna, and Maria.
Johannes Verbryck was baptized January
17,1724. John's name appears on the
census list for Hillsborough Township, Somerset County, New Jersey for 1779-80,
1784-86, and 1788-89. He
resided at Hillsborough prior to 1772 when he was listed as giving a cash
contribution to Dirck Low to the building fund for
the Neshanic Dutch Reformed Church and witnessed the approval of the accounting
of the managers of money they had received for the construction of the church.
He also was involved in 1780 in the settlement of the estate of Adrian Schomp having given money to Dirck
Low for goods and chattels of the deceased and in the arbitration with the
executors. John apparently
never married as no marriage or church baptismal records have been found. An unidentified child was baptized December 19, 1725. Jannetje Verbryck
was baptized August 27, 1732. She married Abraham Haring of Tappan, Orange
County, N.Y. son of Abraham Abrahamse and Maria
Haring. Children (baptized Tappan
Dutch Reformed Church): David and Abraham.. ... Wilhelmus Verbryck was baptized
April 23, 1738. He is listed along with
his brothers John and Bernardus Wilhelmus
as donors in the building of the church at Neshanic both in money and
supplies. He also was listed
on the tax lists for Hillsborough for
the years 1779-80, 1784-1789. William in 1772 was referred to as Captain
William Ver Bryck one of
three persons chosen by the congregation of the church to audit the accounting
of the managers of the building funds. He served as a Justice of the Peace from
1773-1799 in Somerset County. He lived
at Neshanic as indicated by advertisements placed in various newspapers for a
young lad to work in a "country merchant shop" and for a Brewing-Kettle, most
likely for his tavern. William
served as a major in the New Jersey Militia in 1777 and was assigned to the
Fifteenth Virginia of the Continental Army.
He married first Dortie before May 15,
1768. She is believed to be the daughter
of Laurance Demott. He married second,Rebecca, daughter of
Derrick Low and Rebecca Emmons before 22 Feb. 1778. Children: (by 1st wife) Jannitje, Louwerens; (by 2nd wife) Dortie, Rebecka, Barnardus, Dirick, Sara, Wylhelmus, Jan, Jeudick,
Nellie. This concludes the Verbryck family information
I have gathered. Gerrit Gerritsen
son of Samuel and Ida Ryder was born August 27, 1698 at Gravesend. He is named after his paternal grandfather Gerrit Remmersen. He was a resident of Gravesend when he
witnessed the will of John Emans dated 7 August 1715
and in 1715 when he was listed, as Gerrit Verbrick, as a
soldier in the Regiment of Militia in Kings County. This same list bore the name of Bernardus Verbrick as soldier who actually changed his name to Verbryck. Gerrit used the surname
of Verbryck for the baptisisms
of children in 1722, 1725, but in 1731 he was listed as Gerrit
Gerritson on the church member list at the Freehold
Dutch Reformed Church. Gerrit's will of 1752 confirms his place in the Garretson
lineage as he names his brothers, Samuel Jr., Johannes, Jacobus,
and Rem. He married his half cousin Marytje (Maria)
Wyckoff, daughter of Martin Pieterse Wyckoff and
Hanna Willemse
baptized at Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church 12 April 1685. Garret moved
to Freehold, New Jersey sometime after 1717 and before 1722 when his unnamed
child was baptized 14 October 1722 at the Freehold Church. He relocated to
Franklin Township and was listed as a church member at the First Reformed Dutch
Church of New Brunswick for 1732-35. He served as an elder at the New Brunswick
church in 1740, 1742, 1750 and his son Rem was
baptized there on 22 June 1740. His name
appears on the Tax List for Franklin Township for 1745, but not for 1735. Garret died 17 September 1752 at Middlebush. Marytje was living in 1755 when she was listed as widow of
Garret Garretsen in the church records at New
Brunswick. The burial site of Garret
and Marytje has not been confirmed but the
possibility exists that they were both buried at the South Middlebush
Graveyard between the farms of Simeon Wyckoff and Samuel Garretson. Most of his son Bernardus's
family were buried there and a marker that was very old did exist with only
initials M G. A map of the graveyard shows only M.
Garretson in the same area with the family of Bernardus.
Also, in the same area the name
Garretson alone shows on the map which could have been Gerrit's
burial site. Since other Garretson
families were buried in plots far removed from this site, it is probable that
these two graves are those of Garret and Marytje. Children of Gerrit and Maria (Wyckoff) Gerritson: Samuel, Petrus, Gerrit,
Bernardus, Rem, 1740-1786 Samuel Gerritsen Jr., son of Samuel Gerritsen and Ida Ryder, was born January 3, 1701 at Gravesend. He spent all of his life at Gravesend and was
active in county and local government serving as a County Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas in Kings County from 1752 to 1770.
In 1763 he was made Justice of the Peace. Samuel married Mette, born 4 Sept 1727, daughter of Hendrick
(Jacobse) Suydam and Geertje Van Wickelen of New Lotts. As a resident
of Gravesend during the Revolutionary war he loaned money to three prisoners of
the British who were held on parole in Kings County Children: Rem, Rem, Nellje,
Elizabeth, John. Rem (sometimes listed as Ram) Gerritsen,
son of Samuel Gerritsen and Ida Ryder, was born March
9, 1703 at Gravesend. He signed the oath of allegiance at Gravesend
26 September 1687 as a native. Sometime
before 1743 he moved to Somerset County, New Jersey as his son Rem was
baptized 15 April 1743 at Harlingen Reformed Dutch Church. Rem as Ram was
listed as a freeholder in the Western Precinct of Somerset County in 1753(2).
He is referred to as having a lot
in Middlebush, near Jacob Sudam's
lot. In 1767 he witnessed the will of
William Williamson his half uncle and in 1770 he was listed at Hillsborough on
the strayed or lost cattle list. He and his son Rem
are both listed on the Rateables for Hillsborough
Township for 1779 and 1780. Rem, Sr. is listed
with 194 Acres in 1779 but only 100 acres in 1780 while Rem
Jr. listed as single in 1779 was omitted in 1780. On the tax list of 1784 for Hillsborough
neither Rem was listed. Rem married as his
first wife Aulie (?) who died August 24, 1746 and
probably was the Antie mother of his son Rem baptized in 1743 at the Harlingen Church. Antie could have
been the daughter of Steven Koerte and one of five sisters who inherited from
their father land on the Millstone. Bergen concluded that Antie
married Garret Hansen (Noorstrandt) but neither he
nor any records searched in New York or New Jersey have been found to confirm
this. It was Aline Gerretson's
opinion that the Rem Garritse
Bergen cited was the son of Samuel Gerritsen and not Gerret Hansen. The fact that two other daughters of Steven Koerte moved with their husbands Jacobus
Gerritsen and Nickolas Williamson from Gravesend to
Hillsborough adds credibility to this theory.
His second wife Catryntje (?) probably was the
mother of all of his children except the first born Rem. Rem's children
were: Rem, Barbara, Gerrit
R, Barbara, Stephen. Samuel, Ida, Anna, Mary. Jacobus Gerritsen
was born 25 March 1708 at Gravesend. Jacobus was residing in New Jersey prior to 24 June 1733
when his son Samuel was baptized at the Raritan Reformed Dutch Church. On 20 September 1736 he was recorded as a member of the First
Reformed Dutch Church of New Brunswick.
He married Sara Voorhees, daughter of Steven Koerten
Van Voorhees and Agatha (Eva) Janse Van Dyck of Gravesend. Jacobus Garretson died c 1745 at Bridgewater, Somerset
County, New Jersey. It is probable that
Jacobus and Sara lived on a portion of the tract of
land "upon Rarytan in New County, and the most deel equal along the west syed of
the Mill Stone river" that her father described and left to his five daughters
in his will dated 5 February 1724. Jacobus died when
his children were all underage on 20 January 1746 and his youngest son Jacobus inherited the home-plantation. . I wonder if his Aunt Rachel lived with his
family because according to her brother Samuel's Bible record she died in Raritan.His children were: Samuel, Sara, Jacobus. I want to carry out Jacobus's
genealogy to show the other donor of the DNA sample to Family Treemaker. Jacobus Jr. was born about 1745 in
Raritan, Somerset County, New Jersey. Jacobus married Helen Ditmars about 1767. She was the daughter of Rem
Ditmars and Helena Van Lieuw (born 1721). Jacobus died
January 20, January 1812 in
Hillsborough, Somerset County, New Jersey.
He and Helen had a large family.
Children of Jacob Garretson and Helen Ditmars are: Jacobus Garretson (12.
Dec. 1768 - 1802) The donor of the DNA sample descends from Johannes (also called John J,
but I think his name was John Iverson) Garretson. John was born during the Revolutionary
War. He married Jane Hageman, daughter
of Richard Hegeman and Anna Smock on February 20,
1800. John died December 4, 1857 in
Somerville, Somerset County, New Jersey.
I am listing his children here from the Conover site on the internet. Jacobus Garretson (19.
Apr. 1801 - 27. Sep. 1863) From the list above, John I. Garretson born May 9, 1804 is the ancestor
of the DNA donor. I believe the middle
name is Iverson. He was baptized on 10.
Jun. 1804 at Dutch Reformed Church, Raritan, Somerset County, New Jersey. He
married Aletta Christopher on December 19,
1829. John I. Garretson died on April
18, 1852 at Somerville, Somerset County, New Jersey at the age of 47. Aletta
Christopher was the daughter of Joseph Christopher. She was born July 22, 1805 and died on 19.
Oct. 1876 at Somerville, Somerset County, New Jersey, at age 71. I gathered the information on John I.'s family according to the 1850
Somerset County census. John was 46
years old, born in New Jersey. The index
shows him as John J., but when one looks at the original record his name is
John I. He is living near Bridgewater
and is a farmer. John I. and Aletta Garretson had the following family: Jane, 19; Thomas, 18; Ellen, 16; James R., 14; Amelia C., 12; John,
10; Peter, 9; Magdalene, 8; Garret, 6; William, 5; and Else, 3, totaling eleven
children. By 1860, John is dead and Aletta is listed as a farm owner. Her son Thomas, 28, is living with her and
working as a carpenter. Children still
living at home are: Amelia C., 23;
Garret, 16; William, 15, and Eliza M., 13.
I suppose the 1850 census had Eliza's name wrong as she is listed as
Else; however, Peter S. named a daughter Elsie.
I do not know if this youngest daughter's name is Eliza or Elsie. Aletta's real
estate is valued at $3,000.00 and her personal property, $800.00. Peter S. (the ancestor of the DNA donor) is
not living with Alleta Garretson in 1860. I have not located him but he is probably
living in Somerset County where he found employment as he was already 20 years
of age, old enough to be out on his own, especially with no father living. By 1870, Peter S is in Illinois, Henry County. He is 29 years old and his occupation is
listed as minister. His middle name is
Stryker and he is our next link to the Garretson family. He was born August 6, 1840 and married Mary
M. Pratt. I found Mary Pratt on the 1870,
Illinois census in Knox County. She is
living with her father William Pratt (born in Vermont) and her mother Margaret,
born in Ohio. Her father is taking in
boarders. Mary is 25 years old and is
listed a school teacher. She had 3
sisters: Caroline, 39; Julie, 35; and
Susan, 21 (still attending school). In
1880, Peter and Mary are in Terre Haute, Indiana, Henderson County. They have these children: Garret, 8; Eddy, 6, Allie, 5; and Elsie (or Eliza), 2
months. Peter is still listed as a minister.
All the children were born in Illinois so the family have not been in Indiana
long. By 1900, Peter Stryker Garretson
has moved to Kansas and is listed as a farmer.
I would suppose he went there to homestead land. His farm is on Elm Creek in Morris County,
Kansas. He and Mary have these
children: Aletta,
26; Frank, 11, and George (this is actually Garret Ray), 18. Peter and Mary
have been married 30 years. They have had 6 children, but only 4 are
living. Daughter Aletta
is doing as her mother has in the past, teaching school. By the 1910 census, Aletta
is living with her son Frank and he is farming his mother's land. Garret Ray (born December 28, 1871 in Port
Byron, Illinois) is in Illinois again and married to Elizabeth Salinda Dorsey. He
is working as a draftsman in an automobile factory. They have been married 10 years and have two
children: Forrest, 9, (he was born in
Kansas) and Margaret, 5, born In Illinois.
By 1920, Garret Ray is a mechanical engineer in an automobile factory in
Indianapolis, Indiana. He and Elizabeth
still only have two children and are living on Ashland Avenue. By 1930, Garret
Ray has moved again to Peru, Indiana. He
is still working as a mechanical engineer in an automobile factory. Elizabeth and he are taking in lodgers and
both, Forrest and Margaret are not living at home. Forrest Dorsey Garretson married Marguerite
Jackson before 1930. On the 1930 census
he is living in Pennsylvania (says he was born in Kansas) working as a road
inspector. According to the Social
Security Death index, Forrest died in February, 1960. I found the children of Forrest, Sr. through
this obituary for his son, Dr. Forrest D. Garretson, Jr. Dr. Forrest D. Garretson, Jr., Col. (ret.). age 77 of Lakeway, TX died February 16, 2008. He was born in Ft.
Pierce, FL on March 27, 1930 to Forrest D. Garretson and Marguerite (Jackson)
Garretson. Forrest graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School
in 1957. He interned at Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA. In 1959,
Forrest entered the US Army at Ft. Campbell, KY and became a paratrooper with
the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles. He obtained his residency at Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio. After being stationed at Ft. Bragg from 1963 to
1965, he was assigned to Walter Reed Army Institute of Research for his
hematology and oncology training. From there, he had an unaccompanied year long
tour of South Korea, from 1968 to 1972; he was assigned to Tripler Army Medical
Center in Honolulu, HI. Returning from HI, he was assigned to Ft. Jackson, SC.
After one year and now having seven children, he and his wife decided to leave
the army after fifteen years and settled in Tulsa, OK. He was a
Hematologist/Oncologist at Springer Clinic in Tulsa, OK for twenty years. As a
national guardsman, he commanded a forward based medical unit in Saudi Arabia
during the Gulf War. Returning from the Gulf War, he and his wife re-entered
the military and were stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC for five years, retiring a
full colonel with twenty years of service. Among his numerous medals were
Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Nation Defense Service
Medal (2nd Award), Southwest Asia Service Medal with three bronze service star
(BSSO Army service ribbon, overseas service ribbon, army reserve components
overseas training ribbon, Kuwait Liberation medal, Kuwait liberation medal (K)
Parachutist badge. He retired a second time and he and Bernadette moved to Lakeway in 1996. Forrest found late in life his love for
fly fishing and tying flies. He also had a passion for landscaping and plants
and had a tremendous knowledge of the names of trees, shrubs, and plants. He
was a linguist and, at some point, was fluent in Korean, French, German,
Gaelic, Spanish, Arabic and Russian. Forrest enjoyed traveling with his wife,
Bernadette of 54 years and together they traveled to Thailand, China, Eastern
Europe and Ireland. Forrest, along with his wife, enjoyed fly fishing, canoeing
and winter sports, such as cross-country skiing and snow shoeing near
Plattsburgh, NY. They enjoyed working at Caritas in Austin and the soup kitchen
in Plattsburgh, NY. They were Eucharistic Ministers at Emmaus Church in Lakeway and St. Peter' Church in Plattsburgh. Survivors
include his wife, Bernadette of Lakeway; daughter,
Linda and son-in-law Floyd Stanley of Grifton, NC, and her three children,
Adam, Joshua, Nicholas; son, Jeffrey and daughter-in-law MaryAnne
of Huntington, NY along with their three daughters, Ashleigh, Lauryn and Caroline, Karyn and
son-in-law Douglas Eimer of Austin, TX along with
their three children, Sean, David and Kristina, Barbara Garretson of Corvallis,
OR, Jennifer and son-in-law Mark Blocher of Broken
Arrow, OK together with their two daughters, Meghan and Jorden,
Sean Garretson of Austin and daughter Emma. Forrest has four living brothers
and sisters, Kathi and brother-in-law Ernie Whitcomb
of Cape Coral, FL, Shirley Martin of Birmingham, AL, Don and sister-in-law Lois
Garretson of Cape Coral, FL and John Garretson also of Cape Coral. In addition,
Forrest has numerous nieces and nephews, relatives and friends. Besides his
parents and brother Ray; Forrest is predeceased by his daughter, Diana. There
will be a celebration of life with mass at Emmaus Catholic Church in Lakeway, TX on Saturday, March 1, at 1:30 pm. Interment and
reception follows. In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to Hospice
Austin or Emmaus Catholic Church of Lakeway. The obituary lists his brothers and sister as: Kathi Whitcomb,
Shirley Martin, Don Garretson, and John
Garretson. The DNA for Donald matched Larry and Roger
Garrison's Y DNA with two mutations. I contacted him and Larry and Donald participated in
a farther DNA study. All markers matched exactly showing their Y DNA came from the same
source! Thanks, Mr. Garretson for helping us locate Garrit Remmersen! Donald Ray Garretson R1b1b2--13 24 14 10 11 16 12 12 12 13 13 29 17 8 10 11 11 25 15 19 32 15 15 17 18 11 11 19 23 15 14 18 16 36 40 12 12 Larry Garrison Renfroe and Roger Eugene
Garrison R1b1b2--13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 12 13 13 29 17 8 10 11 11 25 15 19 32 15 15 17 18 11 11 19 23 15 14 18 16 36 40 12 12 I will now return to the children Samuel and Ida Ryder Garretson. The next child in birth order is Maria Gerritsen. She was
born January 28, 1711 at Gravesend. She
married in 1736 Jacobus Debeavous
of the Wallabout, son of Joost
(Carlsz) and Mary (Remsen) Debevoise. On 7 February 1761 when Jacobus
made his will they were living in the Township of Brooklyn where he was a
yeoman. Maria died before her husband's
will was proved 19 March 1784. Children of Maria (Gerritsen) and Jacobus Debevoise are Joost (George), who married Elizabeth Vanderbilt, died
before 31 March, 1784 when letters of Administration for his father's estate
were given to his widow Elizabeth, Fernandus Suydam, and John Van der Bilt. His
brothers-in-law Johannis E. Lott and John VanderBilt served as executors for his estate. The next
child is Samuel, unmarried, died after November 7, 1780 and before March 20,
1784, the dates his will was drawn and proved. He names his mother Marietie and his brothers and sisters, Jost,
Marietie and Eida in his
will, his mother to receive his whole estate. Maria's next child is Ida. No further information. Maria's youngest daughter is Marritie, who married Garret Van Duyn
after 7 Feb. 1761. Wilhemus Gerritsen
was born 22 May 1713 at Gravesend. He
followed his brothers Gerrit, Rem
and Jacobus to Somerset County, New Jersey where he
died at age 32 on 23 February 1746 leaving his wife MARY and four young
children. Wilhelmus
appears on the Tax List in 1745 for Franklin Township where he owned 150 acres
and 14 cattle. Children were baptized at
the Reformed Church of New Brunswick. in 1745.
Children (from will): John,
Samuel, Eyda, Ann. Johannes Gerritsen, the youngest of Samuel and Ida Gerritsen's children, was born 20 August 1716 and
baptized 30 September 1716 at the Dutch Church of Gravesend. He remained at Gravesend where he operated
the Gerritsen tide mill until his death on February
27, 1766. Johannes served as town clerk
from 1752-1765. He first married
September 16, 1749 Elizabeth Vandervoort, born
September 7, 1726 widow of George Rapelje. Her identity as his wife was confirmed
through the will of her father Peter Van Dervoort of
Brooklyn and a transcription of a Bible
record of Johannes. Elizabeth died 14 May 1762. He married second Jannetje
(Jenny) Williamson, on 25 March 1764, license 17 March 1764, daughter of
Nicholas and Ida (Remsen) Williamson.
Johannes died 27 February 1766 and his will dated 20 December 1765 and
proved 7 June 1766 named his wife Janittie and his
two children. His brother-in-law, Rem Willemsen and cousin Jacobus
Ryder both of Gravesend were named executors. After Johannes death, his son
Samuel continued making entries in the bible record. In the transcription, it was noted that his
stepmother (Jannetje) married Peter Vanderveer or Vanderbilt. Other records show that she
married 2 Nov. 1769 Peter Vanderbilt and had a daughter, Hilletje
baptised at New Utrecht 1 Oct.1780. Children of Johannes and Elizabeth (Vandervoort)
Gerritsen are Samuel, born 10 August, 1750, baptized
at Gravesend Church, sponsored by Samuel and Eyde Gerritsen, his paternal grandparents. Samuel married September 16, 1770, by license September 6,1770, Altie
Ryder, born March 13, 1751. The record
of his and his wife's deaths comes from their tombstones in the Gravesend
Churchyard. Samuel died November 7, 1822
and Altie died September 12, 1807. Children:, John
S., b. 19 July 1771; Jane, b. 9 July
1776; Elizabeth, b. 5 Dec. 1778; Jacobus, born 16
Feb. 1781, d. 30 May 1782. One child was born to Johannes Gerritsen and Jannetje Williamson Ida, born 30 Dec. 1764, baptized 31
March 1765. CONTRARY to what one would think, the Dutch colonists on Long
Island did not build windmills but they
harnessed their mill wheels to some of the many tidal creeks that indented the
shores of their property. The last of these tidal grist mills stood on the west
side of the Storm Kill, or Gerritsen's Creek, until
1935 when it was burned, supposedly by arson.
This mill is the one Johannes Gerritsen passed
to his son Samuel in his will. Samuel Gerritsen ground wheat and corn mainly
in his tide mill. It was on the edge of
the basin into which poured the sea when the rising tide opened the flood gate
of the dam that crossed the narrowest part of the creek. When the water reached
the top of the dam, the gates closed with a full pond behind them. A gate in
the sluiceway in back of the mill could be raised by hand by means of a ratchet
wheel and thus allowing the water to flow over the mill wheel as it was needed. You entered the mill from the landing
platform on the west side. Inside the
machinery was clumsy and primitive made largely of wood and leather. Pulleys and belts set the machinery in
motion. With a little imagination we can
see the ruddy faced Dutch miller busily engaged in watching the various parts
of the machinery and at the same time humming one of the old hymns of the
Fatherland that in translated form may still be heard in the Dutch Reformed
Churches. As the wood and leather
creaked and hummed you would not have
failed to have been impressed as bags of grain passed between the stones of
this ancient structure. Prior to 1645, Hugh Gerritsen owned the land
bordering on the west side of the Strom Kill which was later called Gerritsen's Creek. In 1685, the tide mill was mentioned in Dongan's Patent. On 17 January 1687, Mary, widow of Gerrit Remmersen, conveyed to her
sons Rem and Samuel this land in Gravesend. It is
from our Samuel Gerritsen that the future millers of
Gravesend were descended. Researchers assume that Samuel descended from Hugh Gerritsen, but we know that Samuel was the son of Gerrit Remmersen and that sons at
that time did not use the same surname as their father. Hugh Gerritsen may
have been related to our Gerritsen family but I
cannot find any connection between the families. No old Mill could exist with a long past without having a story of
importance. From an almost forgotten
legend we learn that when the startling and unwelcome report reached Miller
Samuel Gerritsen that the British troops had landed
at at Gravesend Bay and were marching down the Kings
Highway in an easterly direction, he immediately removed the huge grinding
stones and buried them in the mill pond. He replaced them with a pair that had
been discarded and worn away. In due
time an attachment of Hessians arrived and promptly took possession of the mill
with the intention of grinding grain for their men and horses. Discovering the condition of the stones and
probably with information derived from some Royalist spy, a corporal and squad
of soldiers were ordered to seize Miller Gerritsen
and advise him to find the working stones.
Gerritsen must have had a sincere respect for
the gruff Hessians and their sharply pointed bayonets for he lost no time in
retrieving the missing grinders and installing them in their proper place. From thence to the end of the war, the mill
continued to grind for the invaders. It is fair to state however that the
British paid a fair price for this service and when the troops were finally
withdrawn, Gerritsen was left with a very comfortable
fortune even if it were in foreign coin.
When Samuel died on November 7, 1822, in Flatbush at the home of John
Lott, husband of his daughter Elizabeth (born 6 January 1779), he left the tide
mill to his son John S. Gerritson (born 19 July 1771
died 1864). John married Mary, commonly
called Polly, who was the daughter of Peter Cortelyou, 20 December 1798. After
her death he married Catharine Van Brunt. He had three children. He left the mill to his son, Samuel I. Gerritsen. On 2
October 1821, Samuel married Jane Van
Brunt (born 14 May 1803 - d. 21 November 1861) and, they had two children: Mary Cortelyou (born 27 July 1822) who married Abraham Ditmas Polhemus on 13 May 1864
and Helen Van Brunt (born 15 November 1824) who married Stephen H. Herriman on 27 April 1853.
Samuel deeded part of this property to his son-in-law, Abraham Polhemus After Samuel I. Gerritsen
died September 20, 1876, his executors deeded the mill with the land on which
it stood to his daughter, Helen Van Brunt Herriman. Polhemus died in
1879, his executors sold the premises which he had purchased from Samuel Gerritsen to Helen V. B. Herriman.
Her husband willed it to their children :
Maria Bell (baptized 29 July 1856), Helen (baptized 14 November 1858)
and William S. Herriman. William S. Herriman
was the last to run the tide mill. On
his death, he left his part of the Gravesend property to his sister, Maria Bell
Hazen. Thus the title was now held by sisters, Hazen and Herriman. In 1899, they sold the property to Honorable
William C. Whitney, who rebuilt, laid out , refitted and restored the premises
making one of the most magnificent country estates in New York. He left it to his son Harry Payne Whitney.
Harry Payne Whitney used the old farm as a training place for his famous race
horses. After the mill stopped working around 1890, a wooden bridge was built over the creek at
Avenue U. In 1925, the mill was purchased by the city, and in 1935 the Parks
Department restored it, again. A few months later in 1935 it was destroyed by fire. The pilings of the dock
where the barges carrying the grain loaded were still visible in Gerritsen Creek in the late twentieth century, and a round
stone that may have been the millstone could be seen on the shore of
Barren Island. Gerritsen's farmhouse was about 150
yards from the creek. Around 1830, Samuel I. Gerritsen
built a mansion in the Georgian style. When Whitney bought the property in the
1890, he renovated the manison to live in during the
racing season. He also built stables, barns, and servants' quarters. The
mansion was demolished around 1936 owing to the development of Marine Park, but
the carriage house was converted to a private residence. The Gravesend Brighton Beach, and Sheepshead
Bay racetracks flourished in the 1890s but declined during a New York ban on
gambling. The Gravesend track was demolished in the 1920s. The Sheepshead Bay track was later used for auto racing and
eventually converted to building lots in the early 1920s. Concrete blocks that
supported the grandstand could be seen around Nostrand
Avenue until around 1960. Today if
we visited this area, our family's name would be seen on Gerritsen
Avenue, Gerristsen Creek, Gerritsen
Bay, Gerritsen Beach! Rem Gerritsen The DNA link between Roger Garrison and Larry Renfroe
and Rem Gerritsen was
discovered and a descendent of Rem's brother Samuel
had submitted DNA to the same study.
Roger and Larry and this descendent's common
ancestor is Gerrit Remmersen. Family Tree Maker protects the identity of
its donors unless the donor chooses to give an email address. I contacted Donald Jackson Garretson through
the email address he gave and he and Larry Renfroe did a farther dna study. All
markers matcher exactly. I want to thank Mr. Garretson for his help in finding
our Garrison family! Without his dna sample matching our samples this search would
only rely on circumstanial evidence, but with matching dna we know we are descended
from same man--Garrit Remmerson! The descent from Donald to Remmersen came through Samuel to Jacobus
to Jacobus Jr. to John I. to John I. Jr. to Peter
Stryker to Garret Ray to Forrest Dorsey Garretson. Forrest Dorsey Garretson was born in February
1901 in Dublin, Kansas and he died in 1960 in Indiana. Gerrit Remmersen
b. 1634 in Pilsum, East Friesland, m. Marie (?) Donald Jackson Garretson is the next generation. He is the son of Forrest Dorsey Garretson,
Sr. who is in Pine, Allegheny,
Pennsylvania in 1930. The census shows
Forrest was married at 25 and is a road inspector, perhaps an engineer. He said he was born in 1901 Kansas, his father was born in Illinois and
his mother in Ohio. His son Donald
Jackson was the key that opened the door to the
ancestors of the Larry and Roger Garrison. We want to say thanks you so much!
UpDate--Donald Garretson and I have been in contact and both have participated in deeper
dna analysis. All markers match! I can not say thank you enough to D. Garretson for
his assistance in finding our Garrison family!! During my quest in finding how our Garrisons
descended from Gerrit Remmersen
I made several posts on the internet and created a site with the Garrison
ancestors we knew at Rootsweb. At the top of the page I posted a query
stating I was trying to find how Jacob descended from Gerrit
Remmersen.
Another Garretson researcher Mark Parsons found my query and offered
assistance. Mark is a descendent of
Jacob J. Garrison/Garretson's cousin Elijah Garretson. I also received a huge package of genealogical
data concerning Rem Gerritsen from the Cape May New Jersey Historical and
Genealogical Society. I have obtained the articles by Aline
Garretson and found references to the work of Rosalie Bailey Fellows. I have purchased all the books I can locate
concerning the early settlers of Kings County, New York and Cape May, New
Jersey. I will now show data I have found concerning our line of this old Gerritsen family of Gravesend. Rem Gerritsen was born in 1667 probably at Amersfoort. He died May 4, 1715 at Cape May, Cape May
County, New Jersey. His will was drawn
April 29, 1715 with his wife, Rebekah as the executix. Rem married Rebekah Hubbard,
daughter of James and Elizabeth Baylis Hubbard of
Gravesend. Rebekah's
brother Samuel was married to Hannah Willemsen, Rem's half sister. Rebekah Hubbard was born April 28, 1667. Her father, James Hubbard, was a sergeant
with Lady Deborah Moody and his name appears on a patent of Gravesend December
10, 1645. Lady Moody and her followers
were members of The Society of Friends.
In 1687, Rem took the oath of allegiance as a
native at Gravesend. He was not included
in the census of Gravesend of 1698 as he was already living at Cape May
County. On February 6, 1695 Rem, his mother Mary Remmerse and
his brother Samuel Gerretson deeded Lot No. 39 on
Hugh Gerritsen Neck to Nicholas Stillwell. This land sale probably was the grub stake
for Rem and Rebekah to move
to Cape May. Rem Gerritsen was not a
miller like his brother, Samuel of Gravesend.
He was a man of the sea, a whaler and yoeman
planter. Rem
may have been a ship builder or a cooper.
The whalers of this early period had more than one profession. They could not support their families by
whaling alone. As whaling off Long
Island waned, the whalers there looked for a new location.
Rem purchased 400 acres in Egg Harbor, Cape
May County in 1693 and probably moved there shortly thereafter. This 400 acres was purchased jointly as part
of 1016 acres with William Golding/Golden.
It lay on the south side of Egg Harbor River. They purchased the land March 25, 1693 from
the West Jersey Society. William Golding
described himself as a whaler. He was of
Irish descent. Dr. Maurice Beesley in his "Sketch of the Early History of Cape
May" (1857) say Golding/Golden came to the Cape in 1691. His and Rem
Garretson's land was located he said on what is now called Beesley's
Point. Golding died in 1715, leaving a
few descendants. Rem
served (June 21 1698) as a juror on the
"Petey Jurey" for
the Court of Quarter and Common Pleas of Cape May County. He surely was an off-shore whaler on Long
Island and moved to Cape May to follow this trade. Offshore whaling, as the name suggests,
is done from 20-foot whale boats launched from the beach. When a whale was spotted in the bay, the
boats would be launched and the sails raised. When the crew neared the whale,
the sail was lowered and a crew of eight rowed close to the
whale. Offshore whaling now becomes similar to blue-water
whaling. The captain harpooned the whale and the whale boat was towed by
the whale until it tired. The crew would move the boat close to the whale, and
the captain would drive a lance into the whale, trying to strike a vital organ.
The angered whale would make another run until it tired
again, spouted blood—pillars of fire—and died. The whale would be towed back to
the beach where the blubber and baleen were processed. The primary whale Long Islanders sought was
the right whale, so named because it floated after it died. Offshore whalers, when there were no local
whales, held two other jobs: farming and whatever craft or skill they
had. Many were ship builders and
coopers, others farmed. Rem purchased 200 more acres of land on March 9,
1713. This being described as part of
William Golding's grant. Other men
including Cornelious Miller had owned the land after
Golding. This new plantation was
described and land and marsh and is mentioned in Rem's
will. After his death, another
conveyance is made to Rem's oldest son Jacob in the
presence of James Hathorn, Rebekah
Gerritsen, with Jacob Spicer as Judge of the court of
common pleas. Jacob, according to hisparents wishes, deeds this plantation to his younger
brothers, Joab and Danield
February 10, 1726 (liber G-H P. 138 Cape May). At one time, Rem owned
600 acres on Cape May, part of it bordered the land of John Hubbard mentioned
as Rebekah's brother. Rem Gerritsen's will was
drawn by Robert Townsend and Witnessed by Henry Leonard and Abraham Baner. He clearly
defines his living children and his signature gives us the original spelling
used here. The will is dated April 29,
1715 and with Rebekah's inventory is filed as Cape
May County Will NO. 13-E, in the State House at Trenton, N. J. He left his homestead and plantation to his
oldest son, Jacob, after Rebekah's decease. He mentions sums of money to go his two
youngest sons, Daniel and Noah (when of age).
Two other sons, Garret and Joab/Job to receive
the plantation recently bought (200 acres of land). Rem mentions three
daughters by name: Mary, my second
daughter; Elizabeth; and Rachel, my third daughter. He bequeathed another sum "to my
youngest daughter" who is not named but this was probably Deborah who
married John Taylor as his second wife.
After Taylor died she married Cornelius Hand. Two of Rem's sons, James and Samuel, died in
the epicdemic of 1713-1714, according to Thomas Leamings manuscript.
Leamings said the County was nearly
depopulated " by a grievous sickness, which carried off between 40 and 50
of the inhabitants. The disease came on
with pain in the side, breast, and sometimes in the back….amongst the victims
were Nicholas Stillwell, Arthur Cresses, Sr. and Jr., …..Samuel Garretson,
Cornelius Hand, Joseph Hewit, William Shaw, ….James Garretson." Rem's children married and raised
families in Cape May County. Jacob
married Martha her last name is unknown.
Their children included: Rachel,
Jacob Jr., Mary, Phoebe, Rem, Gerrit
and Martha. Mary married Benjamin Holden
on September 11, 1715. She was under age
and her brother, Jacob; her sister, Elizabeth; her mother's brother, John L.
Hubbard, along with many others witnessed the ceremony. Andrew Godfrey's will indicates that he was
Elizabeth's husband. Rachel married
Peter Corson. I can find no record of
who Joab/Job married.
He was alive in 1726 when his brother, Jacob deeded land to him as his
parents' wished. Dates of birth of Rem's younger sons, Daniel
and Noah, are recorded in the Friend's Records at 302 Arch St. in Philadelphia,
Pa. Noah, the youngest, was born 1712. Noah married Mary Golden and had three sons
mentioned in his will as James, Samuel and Elijah. Daniel (our ancestor), born in 1706, married
Hannah of unknown surname. Two of their
sons birthdates are recorded in the Friends records: Daniel (our ancestor) was born February 27,
1738 and Joshua, September 28, 1739.
Jacob Garretson deeded Daniel and his brother, Job, land as was his
parents' wish on February 10, 1726. This
was land purchased in 1713 and lay on the south side of Egg Harbor. Gabriel Thomas, in his history of West Jersey
in 1698, gives a description of this area.
"Prince Maurice River is where the Swedes used to kill the geese in
great numbers for their feathers, leaving their carcasses behind. Cohansey River (was
the waterway), by which they send great store of cedar to
Philadelphia. Great Egg Harbor
runs by the back part of the country into the main sea. Little Egg Harbor Creek (and Egg Harbor)…..
take their names from the great abundance of eggs which the swans, geese,
clucks, and other wild fowls of those rivers lay thereabouts." Daniel was Sheriff of Cape May County in 1782 and 1783. He probably participated in the Revolutionary
War there at Cape May. I have not found
a record, but maybe some day I will find the record
of his service. I think that shortly
after the War Daniel Sr. died. His wife
may have already passed away for records show the birth of only two children
for the couple, Joshua and Daniel Jr. Daniel (Daniel Jr.) married Mary Osborn(e), daughter of Ananias Osborn
and Lydia Buck. Mary was the
granddaughter of Jonathan Osborne.
Daniel and Mary Garretson had a large family: Jonathan married Mary Crawford; Mary married
Hugh Holmes; Rebekah married John Moore; Daniel (our
ancestor) married Sarah Johnson; Osborn married Rhoda Towser and a Loriana
unknown surname; and Samuel who married Abigail Smith, daughter of Christopher
Smith. Samuel was born in 1764 and
married in 1789.
In 2008, Roger Garrison and Larry Garrison Renfroe participated in the Family Tree Maker DNA study. These results proved they had the same father as their Y DNA is exactly the same. The study also revealed that their Garrison DNA is associated to another donor who descended from the Gravesend Garritsons of Long Island, New York.
Garrison Standridge connections
Pete Garrison married Sarah Standridge, daughter of Lem and Peggy Standridge
Dan Garrison married Elizabeth Standridge, daughter of Mill Alex Standridge
Charley Garrison married Bess Standridge, daughter of James K. Polk Standridge
Jack Garrison married Maggie Horn, daughter of Angelina Horn Standridge
George Garrison married Mary Vina Standridge, daughter of Mill Alex Standridge
Leon Garrison married Syble Standridge, daughter of Joe Howard Standridge
Eugene Garrison and Ethel Renfroe, granddaughter of Howard Standridge
Rem J. Garretson (13.
Jan. 1770 - 5. Sep. 1801)
Sarah Garretson (4.
Feb. 1773 - 18. Oct. 1844)
Helena Garretson (3.
Mar. 1774 - 4. Mar. 1804)
Samuel Garretson (11.
Mar. 1776 - 14. Oct. 1847)
Johannes Garretson (30.
May. 1778 - 4. Dec. 1857)
Stephanus Garretson (30.
Apr. 1781 - 7. Sep. 1845)
Peter Garretson (3.
Aug. 1783 - 9. Oct. 1840)
Garret Garretson (1786
- 1829)
Dinah Garrison (10.
May. 1791 - 17. Feb. 1824)
Ida Garretson (1. Sep.
1793 - 6. Jul. 1824)
Dirck Hegeman Garretson (26.
Dec. 1802 - 14. Nov. 1878)
John I. Garretson (9.
May. 1804 - 18. Apr. 1852)
Ann Smock Garretson (11.
May. 1806 - 1813)
Rev. Garret I. Gerretsen (31.
Jul. 1807 - 14. Aug. 1854)
Henry Hegeman Garretson (24.
Jun. 1810 - 21. Oct. 1883)
Magdalena Garretson (10.
Mar. 1812 - 21. Oct. 1883)
Margaret Van Deventer Garretson (3.
Mar. 1816 - 1853)
Peter Garretson (16.
Oct. 1818 - 19. Oct. 1818)
Peter Stryker Garretson (16.
Apr. 1820 - 1822)
Samuel Gerritsen b. 1 Oct 1671 in Gravesend, NY., m. Yda Reyder
Jacobus Gerritsen b. 25 Mar
1708 in Gravesend, NY., m. Sara Coerte
Jacobus Gerritsen b. 22 Oct
1745 in Raritan, NJ., m. Helena Ditmars
John I. Gerritsen b. 30 May 1778 in Hillsborough,
NJ., m. Jane Hegemen
John I. Garretson b. 9 May 1804 in Somerville, NJ., m. Aletta
Christopher
Peter Stryker Garretson b. 6 Aug 1840 in Bridgewater, NJ., m. Mary M. Pratt
Garret Ray Garretson b. 28 Dec 1871 in Port Byron, IL., m. Elizabeth Salinda Dorsey
Forrest Dorsey Garretson b. 10 Feb 1901 in Dunlap, KS., m. Marguerite Annette
Jackson