BackGround: The Hague Temple, The Hague, Netherlands.
Up Dated 14 February 2007
Tjerck was born about 1619 in Grootgolt, Westphalia, Zunderland, Netherlands, and married 24 March 1656 in New Amsterdam, New Netherlands, Barbara ANDRIESSEN, the daughter of Andries LUYCASZEN and Jannetje SEBYNS. She was born about 1630 Amsterdam,Moord Holland, Netherlands and died 6 July 1714 in Kingston, Ulster, New York. She was buried 8 July 1714 Kingston, Ulster, New York. Tjerck died 17 February 1700 in Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Name: Tjerck Classen Dewitt Gender: male Birth Year: 1620 Spouse Name: Barbara Andriessen Spouse Birth Place: Holland Marriage Year: 1656 Marriage State: New York
Note: Barbara ANDRIESSEN's father was listed as Andries L Veasen and mother as Jannetje Sebyns
.Emigration: From Holland to New Amsterdan NY, abt 1653; to Albany, 1657; settled at Kingston, 1661 . Occupation: Magistrate, 1661-1662; sgt. Ulster Co. Militia
Tjerck Claessen DE WITT b. abt 1619/1620, Saterland, Hesephalia, Netherlands, m. 24-Apr-1656, in Ref. Collegiate Dut. Ch., New Amsterdam, Barbara ANDRIESZEN, b. abt 1630, Amsterdam, Noord Holland, Netherlands, (daughter of Andries LUYCAZSEN and Jannetje SEBYNS) d. 6-Jul-1714, Kingston, Ulster Co., NY. Tjerck died 17-Feb-1700, Kingston, Ulster Co., NY.
Tjerck Claessen DeWitt was born at "Groatholdt" in Zunderland, Westphalia, about 1620. He was probably the son of Claes or Nicholas DeWitt and his mother's name was probably Taatje. He had two sisters, Taatje and Emmeretie and a brother, Jan Claessen DeWitt. Pronounciation of the name is as if written Cherrick; The form "Claeszen" used in the Dutch Record was the formal spelling. That as well as Classen, signifies that Tierck was the son of Claes or Nicholas. "Groatholdt" signifies Great Wood; Zunderland is probably Saterland, a district of Westphalia on the southern border of East Friesland. Tierck is a Frisian form of Theodoric. In the New York Dutch record of the baptism of at least two of his children, the form Tierck is used. In Dutch, the letters i and j, at least when preceding a vowel, are interchangeable. Tierck Classen himself wrote id Tierck as appears from signatures in Albany County Clerk's Office; the parties themselves signed the early records of conveyance and other instruments. A signature of Tierck Claessen, in a firm hand, in which some of the characters resemble German script, appears in Book of Deeds No. 2, Page 263, Albany County Clerk's OfficeThe first mention in this country of Tjerck Claessen DeWitt is found in the "Trouw Boeck" or Register of Marriages of the Reformed (Collegiate) Dutch Church, of New York City, where it is recorded that on the 24th day of April, 1656, "Tjerck Classen van Grootholdt' en Zunderlandt," married "Barbara Andriessen van Amsterdam." Zunderlandt has not been definitely located, but is possibly Saterland, a district of Westphalia, on the southern border of East Friesland. There is also a possibility that it is Emderlandt, in West Friesland. For a short time after his marriage he lived in New York City (his first child, Andries, was born there), but in the spring of 1657 he moved to Albany, where he had purchased a house and lot. In accordance with Dutch custom, the first son was named Andries, for Barbara's father; the second son was Klaes (Claes), for Tjerck's father; a younger son, Lucas, for her brother.
In September, 1660, he exchanged his Albany property with Madame de Hutter for land in Wiltwyck (now Kingston), "possession to be given May 1, 1661." He probably took possession at that time, as in September, 1661, he appears as plaintiff in an action at law before the Schepens Court of Wiltwyck, and on October 11th the same court ordered the Sheriff (Roeleff Swartwout) to pay him three and a half schepels of wheat in eight days and seven more in one month. From this time until death, he resided in Kingston and Hurley, and some of the land which he purchased is still in the hands of his descendants.
In 1667, when the British sent Captain Broadhead and 13 soldiers to take possession of Kingston, he was one of those who opposed British occupation and among the complaints made afterward by the burghers was the following: "Captain Broadhead has beaten Tjerck Claezen DeWitt without reason and brought him to prison. Ye reason why Capt. Broadhead abused Tjerck DeWitt was because he would keep Christmas day on ye day according to the Dutch and not on ye day according to ye English observation." He refused to take the Oath of Allegiance required of heads of families by the English in 1668.
He appears to have been well to do; he brought servants to Kingston. The records of Ulster County, New York, show that he owned Negro slaves and possessed two sloops which sailed the Hudson and along the Atlantic coast, carrying on trade at various places, and that he left $8,000 in personal property. On 8 April 1669 he was given permission to build a house, barn, an stables on land between Kingston and Hurley. June 25, 1672, Governor Lovelace deeded him "a parcel of bush-land, together with a house, lot, orchard, and calves' pasture, lying near Kingston in Esopus."
October 8, 1677, Governor Andros deeded him a piece of woodland containing about fifty acres, at Kingston in Esopus, "to y' west of y' towne." February 11, 1679, he was one of the signers of a renewal of the Nichols treaty with the Esopus Indians. In 1684 he signed "the humble petition of the inhabitants of Esopus in the County of Ulster," praying that there might be "liberty by charter to this country to choose our owne officers to every towne court by the major vote of the freeholders." This petition was addressed to Colonel Thomas Dongan, Governor-General. It greatly offended the authorities, and the signers were arrested and fined.
February 13, 1685, one hundred and eighty-nine acres of land were conveyed to DeWitt by the Trustees of Kingston. June 6, 1685, he claimed two hundred and ninety acres of land lying upon the north side of Roundout Kill, and known by the name of "Momboccus" (in the town of Rochester) in Ulster County. This was laid out for him by Phillip Welles, a surveyor, and was granted to him by patent, May 14, 1694. March 4, 1689, he was chosen one of the magistrates of Ulster County, having previously held other offices. Tjerck Classen DeWitt died at Kingston, February 17, 1700.
By his will, which bears date the 4th day of March, 1698, and which is written in the Dutch language, he leaves his property to his wife for life; at her death one-half to go to his oldest son, Andries, and one-half to his youngest son, Tjerck, in trust, "provided that the same shall be appraised by impartial persons on oath," and divided into twelve equal shares, one share to be given to each of his children, their heirs or assigns. In addition to the equal share he gave to Andries some lands at Koksinck and Kleine Esopus, to Jan (and) Jacob each five hundred bushels of wheat, and to Lucas the one-half of a sloop which he had built the year previous. The legacy to his daughter Rachel is subject to the condition "that my said daughter's share shall be decreased one hundred pounds for the benefit of my heirs, which is what my daughter's husband, Cornelious Bogardus, owes me for the one-eighth of a brigantine, desiring, however, that the child of the said Bogardus, named Barbara shall receive, out of the foresaid hundred pounds, fifty pieces of eight." The legacy to his daughter Jannetje, the wife of Cornelius Swits, is "with these conditions, that if my aforesaid daughter shall die without leaving any children, then all the said part shall be the property of my heirs, to be equally divided between them." A copy of his will appears in Volume 8 (1912), pg 18 of "Olde Ulster" (10 Volumes) in library of Holland Society, 90 Wall Street, New York, NY. Also Ulster County Wills, Bk AA of Deeds p. 252 Kingston - Lib 7, p 60, NY Wills. According to Chambers' "Early Germans of NH", Tjerck has a sister Emmerentje who was the 2nd wife of Martin Hoffman of South Jersey (m, 1664). According to Perry's "DeWitt Family", Tjerck had a brother Jan Claessen who died unmarried.
There is much to write about Tjerck Claessen DeWitt, progenitor of most DeWitts in North America. I haven’t had time to put together as much as I’d like, but for now, here’s a very quick rundown:
He probably emigrated from near Esens in Ostfriesland (northern coast of Germany) in the early or mid-1650s. (See related page
We know that as early as February 1656 Tjerck was in court in Albany (Fort Orange) for fighting and for keeping company with Lutherans; we also know he lived there after he was married. (On June 25, 1657, he declares in court there that he’s made a payment in relation to the sale of a stallion.) It seems likely that Tjerck and Barbara baptized their first children in Albany. Marriage and baptism records from Albany before 1683 have been lost.
On November 20, 1658, Tjerck arranged to lease his house in Beverwyck (Albany) to Arent Isacksz from May 1, 1659, to May 1, 1660. In September 1660 he traded his Albany property with a Madame de Hutter (or Madame Johanna De Laldt and her husband, Hon. Jeronimus Ebbink?), in exchange for land in Wiltwyck (Kingston), “possession to be given May 1, 1661” (or for two pieces of land in the Esopus?).
In 1661 Tjerck was taxed for the erection of a church in Hurley, not far from Kingston. By September 1661 Tjerck had already appeared in court in Wiltwyck (this time as a plaintiff; he won his case). On February 12, 1662, Tjerck and Barbara baptized a daughter, Jannetjen, in the Kingston Dutch Reform Church (they already had Andries and another daughter, Taatje, born in 1659). By 1662 they owned No. 28 of the “New Lots” at Kingston. On May 28, 1663, Tjerck also bought a lot in Beverwyck from Harman Tomassen , though he doesn’t seem to have moved there (it sounds like it was very near the property he’d traded away in 1660). On June 7, 1663, Kingston and Hurley were almost entirely destroyed by the Indians; Tjerck fought valiantly in their defense, and his daughter Taatje was kidnapped, along with three other children. She was soon rescued.
Between then and 1668, Tjerck and Barbara baptized three more children in Kingston, where they apparently continued to live in town. In September 1664 the British took control of New Amsterdam and renamed it after the Duke of York; Colonel Richard Nicolls took over as Governor. In 1667 Tjerck opposed the British occupation of Kingston and “refused to keep Christmas on the day according to the English observation, but according to the Dutch.” (The Dutch used the old Julian calendar, which was about two weeks off from the modern Gregorian calendar used by the British.) For his recalcitrance he was beaten. In 1668 (?) Tjerck refused to sign the oath of allegiance administered by the British, though a “John” DeWitt (perhaps his brother Jan?) and Andries DeWitt (probably Tjerck’s 10-year-old son) did sign it.
On January 24, 1669-70 (or on April 8, 1669?), the new British Governor, Colonel Francis Lovelace, issued a permit to Tjerck to let him “erect a house and barne with convenient outhouses for his cattle upon his own land at Esopus, lying betwixt Hurley and Kingston,” noting that Tjerck previously had permission from Governor Nicolls to do this and on that promise had provided all the materials to get started. This land was on the Kingston-Hurley road; the house still stands today, with a beautiful view of the valley of the Esopus Creek.
On June 25, 1672, Governor Lovelace officially deeded Tjerck the “parcel of bush land, together with a house, lot, orchard and calves’ pasture, lying near Kingston in Esopus.” The deed was a confirmation of Tjerck’s title to the land, now that he had built on it. New Amsterdam was recaptured by the Dutch on August 7, 1673, but in February 1674 the Dutch agreed to give the colony back, and on October 11, 1674, Captain Antony Colve officially handed over control to the new English Governor, Major Edmond Andros. On October 8, 1677, Governor Andros deeded Tjerck a piece of woodland, containing about fifty acres, at Kingston in Esopus, “to the west of the towne.” He had other property too.
Tjerck and Barbara had six other children whose baptisms were not recorded in Manhattan or Kingston. It seems likely they were baptized in Hurley, in the church he had helped pay to build—not too far from the house and farm he built around 1670. Their last daughter, Aefje, was baptized in Kingston on January 14, 1684.
This account has been pieced together from several sources, which are not listed here yet, though I hope to post an exhaustive list soon. All that will have to wait until there's more time to write it (do watch this space). For a closer look at where Tjerck came from, have a look at my 1998 trip to Ostfriesland, Germany, in search of his Old World roots. (This set of pages includes a page with links to lots of other sites for research into Tjerck, Ostfriesland and other Dutch ancestors.)
For a closer discussion of some of Tjerck’s family relations, have a look at my excerpts from the record of baptisms in early Manhattan (the page will take a few moments to load; it's big) and at my very cursory excerpt of public records from Albany, NY, regarding Tjerck Claessen DeWitt and possible relatives.
Meantime, a few notes from more recent relatives:
E-mail excerpt, June 28, 1999, from Mary Sarah Bradley to Doug Bradley:
I've really got to stop opening big envelopes with lots of letters inside. I went into a plastic box in my closet, which at one time was the only repository of family information that I had. I was looking for the story about Marcus' demise and came across an envelope marked, "Oradell". It was late at night, but I still could not resist looking inside and reading some of the letters from Aunt Dot, Aunt Mae, my mother, Aunt Mary, etc. In a letter that Aunt Mary wrote from Kingston on August 29, 1967 she said,
"Tjerck Claessen was a contemporary of John and Cornelius DeWitt of Dordrecht. He was born in Friesland and came to Dordrecht later so does not appear in the Dordrecht archives. I've found a distant cousin of ours here in Kingston who has been working on this problem on her own. . . . I've asked her to do the research to really prove exactly the relationship of Tjerck Claessen to the Dordrecht. He was a cousin but I think we should get his lineage as far as it is possible to do so. . . . I've compiled records of eleven generations in this country . . . and I have a folder on file for each of the families on the fan-chart . . ."
She did not tell me the last name of the distant cousin, only that she was a writer and had an apartment in NYC.
The house that Tjerck built:
The corner nearest the camera is the oldest part of the house, dating from the late 1600s. The original house was one story high and went only as far as the first bench next to what's now the front door. You can see where the front wall caved in at some point and was rebuilt using a different color of stone. If you walk around the house, you can see seams in the stonework where it was extended at various points in its history.
“Myn Neef Evart Bogardus en Myn Nicht Tialie Bogardus Sal hebben en genieten Alles wat Ick hier in America heb” (my nephew, E. B., and my niece, T. B., shall have all that I have here in America) on condition that they “Sal geven en Leveren Aen Nicholas Hofman myn neef Vyfen twentigh Stuck van Achten (give and deliver to N. H., my nephew, 25 pieces of eight (an old Dutch coin).”—“De kinderen van myn Suster Tialie Heerekeus Sal hebben Myn gehull Staet die Ick In’ Hollandt heb, Roerende en onroerende (the children of my sister, T. H., shall have all my real estate and personal property in Holland). Signed by the testator, and witnessed by
Stephen GacherieJacob Aertse, Justice of the peace, Stephen Gacherie & Mallyse Vlecht appeared before Arie Gerritse & Roeloff Swartwout, Justice of the peace, June 26, 1699, proving the will.
(Jan Claessen De Witt was a brother of Tjerck Claasen De Witt (q.v.), and died unmarried.)
Jan and Tjerck’s sister, Emmerentje Claessen DeWitt, married Martin Hoffman (see notes above and elsewhere). Her daughter Taatie (probably named after the mother of all three DeWitts) married Evert Bogardus in Kingston. This would appear to be the nephew and niece to whom Jan refers. Nicholas Hoffman here would be another of Emmerentje’s children. Jan was also godfather to at least one of Tjerck’s children.
CHILDREN of Tjerck Claessen DEWITT and Barbara ANDRIESSEN:
1. ANDRIES b: Abt 1657; New York City, New York, New York.
md: 7 Mar 1681; Albany, Albany, New York.
Jannetje EGBERTSEN MYNDERTSZEN
d: 22 Jul 1710; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Note: For some years he lived at Marbletown, Ulster
Co, on a farm given him by his father, but
removed to Kingston previous to 1708.
+ 2. TJAATJE b: 1659; Albany, Albany, New York.
md: 1677; . Ulster, New York.
Mathys, Matthyssen, VAN KEUREN
md: ; , , .
Thomas CHAMBERS
d: Bef 1724; , , Ulster, New York.
Note: She was carried off by the Indians at the
burning of Kingston in 1663, but was soon
rescued.
3. JANNETJE chr: 12 Feb 1661; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 1686; , Ulster, New York.
Cornelius SWITS
md: 1690; , , New York.
Dirck STORM
d: 1744; Rochester, Ulster, New York.
4. NICHALOS CLAES chr: 17 Feb 1663; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
d: Bef 1698; , , New York.
5. JAN chr: 11 Feb 1665; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: ; , Ulster, New York.
Wyntje Sabina KIERSTEDE
d: 12 Apr 1713; Rochester, Ulster, New York.
Note: Will dated 29 Oct 1700, proved 12 Apr 1715
7. GEERTRUY chr: 15 Oct 1668; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 24 Mar 1687; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Hendrick Hendricksen SCHOONMAKER
6. JACOB b: 1669; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 1 Mar 1695; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Grietje VERNOOY
d: 1754; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
8. RACHEL b: Abt 1672; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 1691; , Ulster, New York.
Cornelius, BOGARDUS
d: 7 Jan 1744; , Ulster, New York.
9. LUCAS b: Abt 1674; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 22 Dec 1695; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Anhatie DELVA
d: 5 Oct 1702; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Note: Ship captain. Lucas was commander, and joint
owner with his father, of a sloop called the
St. Barbara, "of about 50 Dutch feet by the
keele," which in 1698 they sold to Capt. Daniel
Hobart, of the island of Barbados, for 200
pounds.
Lucas's will is dated 15 Feb 1702/3.
10. PEECK b: Abt 1676; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 2 Jan 1697; New York City, New York, New York.
Maritje Jansen VAN DEN BERG
d: Aft 1730; , , .
Note: After he married, he went to Dutchess Co, where
he settled on land purchased by his father from
Col. Petrus Schuyler, of Albany, 6 Sep 1698.
This land was conveyed to him by deed, dated 7
Feb 1700, and in 1715 he exchanged it, with Col.
Henry Beekman, for land in Ulster Co, where he
then settled.
11. TJERCK b: Abt 1678; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Note: Named in his father's will as the youngest son.
No other record.
12. MARRITJE b: Abt 1680, Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 3 Nov 1700; , Ulster, New York.
Hendrick Hendricksen KORTREGHT
md: 6 Sep 1702; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Jan MACKLIN
13. AAGIE/AEFJE chr: 4 Jan 1683; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
md: 22 Aug 1712; Kingston, Ulster, New York.
Jan PAULING
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