Descendants of Founders of New Jersey

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Giles Slocum was baptized 28 Sep. 1623 at Somerset, England, and came to America prior to 1638. He married Joan Cook around 1640. The couple had nine children, probably all born in Portsmouth, RI: Joanna (m. Jacob Mott), John, Giles (m. Anne Lawton), Ebenezer (m. Mary Thurston), Nathaniel, Peleg (m. Mary Holder), Samuel, Mary (m. Abraham Tucker), Eliezer (m. Elephel Fitzgerald).

Giles Slocum was allotted thirty acres of land in Portsmouth, RI in 1648. In the same year he purchased from William Benton his homestead farm, which adjoined his brother-in-law John Cook’s land. In 1655 Giles was on the roll of freeman. In 1668 his “ear mark” was recorded as a crop in the right eare, with a slitt in the left eare and a hapeny under, of thirty years standing. He acquired considerable land in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He also purchased land near the northern part of what is now Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey in 1697 and again in 1670. He gave his sons large tracts of land in Rhode Island, New Plymouth and New Jersey.

Giles Slocum and his wife were early members of the Society of Friends, and Giles remembered them with a bequest in his will. Giles died in Portsmouth, RI in 1681.

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John Smalley, a tailor by trade, sailed with Edward Winslow and others on the William and Francis in 1632; departing London, March 9 and arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, June 5. By 1637/38, John is recorded through land grants as having settled in the Plymouth Colony, where he continued to acquire and trade small parcels. In 1638, he married Ann Walden; they had four children who grew to adulthood: Hannah, John Jr., and twins Isaac and Mary. John was admitted as a freeman to the Plymouth Colony in 1641.

In 1644, John joined with seven other Plymouth families in negotiating a land purchase from the Native Americans on Cape Cod; where they founded the town of Nauset (later Eastham). He served in various public capacities, including as Constable in 1647, Surveyor of Highways in 1649, and Juror of the “Grand Inquest” several times between 1654 and 1667. Yet John chafed under the Plymouth authorities, whether due to his ownership of a tavern or their disapproval of his newly-discovered Baptist faith. Around 1669, John joined with neighbor Richard Higgins and others in moving to the Saconnet settlement (now Little Compton, Rhode Island); and then to Piscataway, New Jersey, approximately four years after its first settlers had arrived. He was accompanied by wife Ann and sons John Jr. and Isaac (Hannah and Mary remained in Eastham.)

Several years after obtaining his first land grant in Piscataway, John had it surveyed in 1677. In 1685, he took up another land grant―by 1690, owning 118-1/2 acres. John Jr. owned an additional 215 acres adjacent; Isaac would accumulate sizable holdings nearby. Their land was proximate to the Raritan Landing inland port, site of present-day Johnson Park. John was appointed Magistrate by the Dutch in 1673-74; commissioned Justice of the Peace in 1675; and appointed Justice of the Court of Sessions, serving for several years. John died in Piscataway in 1692; Ann’s death followed in 1693/94. In 1689, John Jr. had helped to found the First Baptist Church of Piscataway, the second-oldest Baptist church in New Jersey and the 10th- oldest Baptist church in America. Ann is buried in its cemetery; John’s gravesite is unknown.

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John Somers was born 1623/24 in Worchester, England. He left the birthplace of his forefathers for conscience sake as he was fully persuaded of the principles of George Fox. Much has been written about John’s ancestors, among which were several knights with fascinating stores surrounding their lives. One such tale is about Sir George Somers, born 1554, whose ship the “Sea Venture” bound for Jamestown, Virginia, with supplies for the famishing Colony, sprang a leak, forcing them to land on the “Isles of Devils.” Shakespeare’s “Tempest” is believed to have been about this adventure of the Somer’s family.

John Somers emigrated from England, with his first wife (who died on the voyage), in 1681/82 and settled in Upper Dublin, now Somerton, Pennsylvania. He married for a second time, Hannah Hodgkin. The marriage is recorded in the Abington Friends Meeting records “ye 2nd of 1st mo. 1684.” Hannah was born in Worchester, England in 1667. John and Hannah were both ministers, so their house was used as a Meeting House for the Friends. In 1691/93 the family moved to Greater Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Records indicate that John purchased 3000 acres in New Jersey, in what became known as Somers Point, on 11 Mar 1695. As shown by the Journal and Votes of the House of Representatives of New Jersey he was appointed supervisor of roads at the first court held in Cape May County, Justice of the Peace 1698, assessor for Egg Harbor 1708, and a member of the fourth Assembly of the Province Assembly of 1709.

John and Hannah Somers had eight children, all of whom led productive lives in Somers Point. John died October 1723, and Hannah died in October 1738 at the Somers Plantation, Somers Point, New Jersey; both were buried in the family cemetery on the estate.

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James Mansson (Steelman) was the son of Hans Mansson, a Swedish cavalryman from Skara, Sweden. In 1641, Hans Mansson was arrested for damaging several apple and cherry trees in the Royal Garden in Varnhem, and was given the option of being sentenced to death or emigrating to New Sweden. Upon arrival to the New Sweden colony in November 1641, Hnas served as an indentured laborer cultivating tobacco at the “Plantation at Upland” till 1648. Finally he was able to settle on the west side of the Schuykill at Aronameck, now West Philadelphia, PA. In 1654 he married Ella Stille, affectionately known as “Mrs. Ella” within the Swedish community. In 1667 Hans Mansson settled his family in present day Cinnaminson Twp., Burlington County, New Jersey, on 100 acres on the east side of Pennsauken Creek, where he was buried in 1691. Captain Hans Mansson is listed in the Burlington County Records of freeholders and inhabitants in the “ye Cort of Burlington” on 3 August 1680. Upon the death of Captain Hans Mansson, his children and “Mrs. Ella” took the last name Steelman (Stilleman), anglicizing their name while establishing their family lineage from Hans Mansson and Ella Stille.

James Mansson Steelman (a.k.a. Jons Hansson), the son of Captain Hans and “Ella” Mansson was born in Aronameck PA, between 1660-1670. He married Susannah Toy in 1690 in Gloucester, New Jersey and was recorded living in Sinamensing (Cinnaminson Twp.), Burlington County, New Jersey in 1693. On 12 June 1700, at the consecration of the Gloria Day Church at Wicaco (present day Philadelphia), James Steelmen and his wife along with several other church members represented the Sinammensing District (Pennsauken Creek area that included the Great & Little Egg Harbor. On 10 November 1695, James purchased several land parcels totaling 500 acres near Great Egg Harbor from Thomas Budd and moved his wife and family, along with his brother Peter and his wife Gertrude Keen, to this area. During James Steelman’s lifetime in what is now the present day Absecon Beach, Somers Point area, he and his wife had six sons and two daughters. James became a prominent citizen and held various positions within the County of Gloucester. On 1 June 1696 he was elected “Overseer” of highway from Egg Harbor towards Gloucester, and again on 2 September 1700 “Overseer” of the road from Township Weymouth to a place called Penny Post.” In 1718 James was appointed as one of the Trustees of Egg Harbor. From 1694 to 1734, James purchased and traded many large parcels of property around the Somers Point area, and upon his death he held over 600 acres and had an inventoried wealth of approximately 328£ listed in his will.

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Robert Stiles was born about 1655 in Staffordshire, England and came to Philadelphia in 1680 with his sister Lucy Stiles. He married Priscilla Howell, daughter of Thomas and Catherine Howell, also of Staffordshire, England and another early settler of New Jersey. Robert Stiles soon moved from Philadelphia to Gloucester, New Jersey where he practiced the trade of rosin maker. Gabriel Thomas one of the first historians of New Jersey, he said of Robert Stiles, The trade of Gloucester County consists chiefly of Pitch, Tar and Rosin, the latter of which is made by Robert Styles, an excellent Artisan in that sort of work, for he delivers it as clear as any Gum Arabick.

In 1695 Robert Stiles bought 425 acres on Pennsauken Creek near Moorestown, Burlington County. His son Robert Stiles Jr. later lived on this land. Other children included Johns, who died young, and Martha, who married Thomas Cole. Robert Stiles’ sister Lucy married John Rudderow, Crown Surveyor who helped William Penn plan early Philadelphia and who later served as Judge of the Court of Commons Pleas Quarterly of Burlington County, New Jersey.

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Richard Stout came to New Netherlands from Nottinghamshire England, after seven years in the British Navy, which he joined reputedly after friction with his father over love affairs.

Richard married Penelope Van Princis in 1644, who had been shipwrecked on Sandy Hook, New Jersey with her first husband who was killed. Her life has been written about many times because of her “constitution” and will to live after being mutilated and left for dead by local Indians. Eventually she was rescued and nursed to health by other local Indians and ultimately ransomed to the Dutch in New Netherlands, where she met and married Richard Stout. They became the parents of a very large family which included at least ten children: John , Richard, James , Mary , Alice , Peter , Sarah Jonathan , David , Benjamin .

Richard Stout became one of the first settlers of Gravesend, (New York) New Netherlands in 1643 and was allotted plantation-lot No. 18, in 1646. In 1661 he bought the adjoining farm, plantation-lot No.26. After spending almost 20 years in Gravesend, he and his family, with a number of his neighbors, left Gravesend and settled Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey as one of the original Monmouth Patentees. In 1667 he held lot No.6 in Middletown. In 1675 he deeded 1800 acres to his heirs, and in 1677 received 745 additional acres by patent.

Richard Stout’s public life shows him as a member of the first New Jersey General Assembly composed of deputies and patentees in 1671, as an overseer in 1669 and 1675, and as Indian Commissioner.

The Stout’s were Baptists and in 1668 Richard and others met to organize the first Baptist Church in New Jersey. Richard and his son John were among the eighteen male charter members and for twenty years they met at the homes of the members until a log church could be built.

Richard Stout’s will was written on 9 June 1703 and proved before Lord Cornsburg, Governor, Captain General & Etc., on 23 October 1705 at Perth Amboy. In it he left his orchard, all the land he owned and home to his wife and left one shilling each to his sons and daughters. He also left one shilling each to his daughter-in-law, Mary Stout and her son John.

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The manifest of the ship Elizabeth and Anne, bound for Boston in May 1635, lists William Swayne (Swaine) as a gentleman from London, age fifty years. His son Samuel was about 16 at the time of sailing. The family first settled in Watertown where William had a grant of 60 acres. In 1637 he moved his family (including sons Samuel and Daniel and daughter Mary) to the new colony of Wethersfield, where he had acquired adventure lands. It was from here that Mary was kidnapped by Indians. She was rescued by a Dutch ship, and Lyon Gardner paid for her return. Preferring the theocratic constitution of New Haven, William Swaine purchased a plantation of 435 acres in Branford in 1644 and the family moved again, joining with the congregation of Rev. .Abraham Pierson, who had moved there from Southampton Long Island.

Samuel Swaine married Joannah Ward c. 1645. Samuel, like all land owning settlers was a farmer. He also constructed mills; was active in the militia, being appointed chief military officer in Branford; was a deputy to the New Haven legislature; and served as a judge. When New Haven was united with the Connecticut Colony in 1662, the leaders of Branford, Milford and Guilford were dismayed that their pure government by the church would be corrupted.

When in 1664, the Lord Proprietors of New Jersey offered inducements to settle New Jersey, Robert Treat and John Gregory were sent to explore the area and confer with Phillip Carteret in Elizabeth Town. They were favorably impressed with an area on the south side of the Passaic River, with wide expanses of salt hay marshes, a high plateau with few trees, crisscrossed with streams and backed by the Watchung Mountains covered with hardwoods. An agreement was quickly reached with Carteret to plant a colony.

Joanna and Samuel Swaine, with their seven daughters (an eighth daughter died in 1655) were among the first thirty families that arrived in Newark on 18 May, 1666. It is said that Elizabeth, the Swaines’ seventeen year old eldest daughter, was the first to land on the shore, having been merrily handed up the bank by her gallant fiancé, Josiah Ward, in his ambition to secure for her the mark of priority.

Local Lenni Lenape, who were on their annual trip from the Delaware to fish, met the settlers, and claimed that Carteret did not have title to the land (the original Elizabeth Town purchase from the Indians on Staten Island included the Newark area). Samuel Swaine was left in charge while Robert Treat went up the river to the headquarters of the Hackensacks. It was agreed that the land would be purchased for gunpowder, lead, axes, coats, guns, swords, kettles, blankets, knives, hoes, breeches, and trooper coats (value $750). While Treat was gone, Samuel Swaine, with others, drew up a compact to ensure that the new colony would be a strict theocracy settled by families from Branford, Guilford, and Milford. The principles of the church were to govern the spiritual and civil life of the citizens. Only church members could become freeman of the town and participate in any vote.

Samuel Swaine was active in community affairs of the new colony. He represented Newark at the settlement of the boundary with Elizabeth Town; was a member of the first General Assembly of the Province Elizabethtown called by Governor Carteret in 1668 and again in 1672; was a member of judiciary; and was contracted to build a mill in the town. In his will dated 17 Mar. 1682, he left all of his estate to his beloved wife Joanna. He died prior to 1685. Joanna’s will dated 1692 left her estate of the home lot in Newark, land at the Mountain beyond the great swamp, and a silver teabox, to five of her daughters (Elizabeth, Abigail, Joanna, Christiana, and Sarah) and son-in-laws (Phoebe and Mary (2) may have predeceased her). The Settler’s Monument in Fairmount Cemetery marks the final resting place of the founders of Newark. A brass plaque depicts the landing of the settlers with Elizabeth Swaine stepping ashore. The children of Samuel Swain and Joanna Ward were:

Elizabeth Swaine b. 1 May 1649 - d. 1706 Newark m. Josiah Ward b. c. 1645 m. 1666 d. bef. 1676 (Newark)
m. David Ogden (from Elizabeth Town) b. 11 Jan 1639; m. c. 1676 ; d. will proved 27 Feb. 1692 (Newark)
Mary Swaine b. 1 May, 1649 d. 10 Nov.1655 (Branford)
Joanna Swaine b. 1651 d. 16 Sept., 1729 (Newark) m. Jasper Crane Jr. b. 2 Apr, 1651 d. 6 Mar., 1711/12
Phoebe Swaine b. 7 May 1654 -
Mary Swaine (2) b. 12 June, 1656 -
Christiana Swaine b. 25 April 1659 - d. Jan 1731/32 m. Nathaniel Ward b. 2 Nov. 1656
Sarah Swaine b. 7 Oct 1661 d.__ m. Thomas Johnson
Abigail Swaine d. __ m. Eleazer Lampson

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John Throckmorton of Providence, Rhode Island, traditionally son of Bassingboume and Mary Hill Throckmorton, of Norwick, England, was baptized 8 May 1601 at Herts, England. He married, place and date unknown, Rebecca Covill, and died between 17 March 1683/4 and 25 April 1684 at Middletown, New Jersey while visiting his sons Job and John and was interred in a plot set aside there by, and mentioned in the 1690 will of his son John Throckmorton.

John Throckmorton was one of the original proprietors of Providence Plantation, Rhode Island, a Deputy there 1664 - 1674. During the visitation of John Fox he was converted to The Society of Friends at Newport, Rhode Island. He had been one of the syndicators of the Mayflower voyage to Plymouth and came to Massachusetts to determine why there had been no financial return on their investment in ten years. He became active in the development of coastwise shipping among the colonies which probably was not what the Crown wanted. He founded in 1643 in Eastchester, New York, a colony on land which bore his name Throgmorton Neck, eventually shortened to Throg's Neck.

He was an unusually outspoken immigrant and left a trail of paper, much of it against various religious sects or people. By 1664 he was restless again and he became one of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Patentees. He remained a resident of Rhode Island and his trading ships plied the eastern waters. He deeded land in Middletown to his sons and "died an octogenarian while visiting" them there.

Rebecca Covill (possibly Comell), Mrs. Throckmorton, was cited in Providence as being a midwife. She is said to have predeceased her husband, but her place of interment is not known.

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Martin Tichenor was probably born in Sussex County, England, where the Tichenor surname flourished. He married at New Haven, Connecticut, on 16 May 1651, Mary Charles, daughter of John and Mary (Moss?) Charles. Mary died at Newark, New Jersey before 1673. Martin Tichenor died there in October 1681 and was buried with his wife in the churchyard of the First Church.

Martin Tichenor was a Puritan and first appears of record at the New Haven colony, taking the oath of allegiance on 5 August 1655. He married Mary Charles in 1651 and they were listed as members of the Congregational Church in 1655/6 and 1661/2. They moved about 1665 to Branford, where he purchased land from his father-in-law.

Tichenor was in the group of Milford settlers who removed to Newark in 1666. He and his son Daniel signed the Fundamental Agreements on 24 June 1667. Martin received home lot #20 between William Camp, Ephraim Pennington and Seth Tomkins. The location of this lot is marked by the present intersection of Tichenor Street and Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. The southwest corner of the land lay at the extreme end of the town, along the road leading to the salt meadow, known as "Tichenor's Gate", and evidently a position of some vulnerability in the early days. We read that Martin received among several other grants of land a special one of one and a half acres "for his Staying so much on his place when the Town was first Settled", that is, "the first Summer."

He and his sons were active in the community. He was chosen a Heyward, and in 1673 was the Warner of Town Meetings. His eldest daughter, Hannah, married Ensign John Treat, son of Governor Robert Treat.

Martin's will was written 19 October 1681 and letters of administration issued to his son John, on an inventory of 27 October showing an estate of realty and personalty of Pounds 230.11. Martin and Mary had six children who survived infancy: John, Hannah, Daniel, Abigail, Samuel and Jonathan.

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John Tilton was born in Wolston, Warwickshire, England on 4 March, 1613. He emigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts prior to 1640 and then moved to Scituate in Plymouth Colony in 1643. Sometime later the Tiltons moved to Gravesend in Dutch New Netherlands, likely with the followers of Lady Deborah Moody; probably as a result of religious unrest against Quakers in English Massachusetts.

On 10 January 1661, John Tilton and his wife Mary (also known as Goody) were arrested and imprisoned “for being at the Quaker meeting 9 January, and at a Quaker meeting at Gravesend January 10.” John was sentenced to banishment from the Province, but through the influence of Lady Moody, he was pardoned. The Tilton’s problems were not over. On 19 September 1662, the Director and Council notified the magistrates of all English towns on Long Island to assist Resolved Waldon in arresting “all persons who attend unlawful or prohibited meetings.” At the same time complaint was made against John Tilton for attending meetings of Quakers and harboring persons of that persuasion, and against Mary, his wife, for “attending meetings of that abominable sect called Quakers.” They were both imprisoned, and on 6 Oct, were banished from the Province. The sentence was postponed until 7 May 1663, due to the rigors of approaching winter. Anthony Wright and others Friends offered them a home at Oyster Bay, which was outside the Dutch jurisdiction.

New Netherlands fell to the English in 1664; and on 1 January 1664, John Tilton Sr. and his son John Jr. were among those to whom land was deeded by the Indians at Shrewsbury, New Jersey (the Monmouth Purchase). It is not clear whether John Tilton Sr. actually resided in Shrewsbury; after his banishment from Gravesend for attending Quaker meetings, he had found refuge at Oyster Bay. In 1667, John and his wife moved back to Gravesend, and in 1668, he was again made Town Clerk. Mary “Goody” Tilton died 23 May, 1683 in Gravesend. John Tilton died in 1688, also at Gravesend; his will recorded on 3 April of that year divided his land among his children:

John Tilton born 1640, married Mary Coates and secondly, Rebecca Terry
Peter Tilton born 1641, married Rebecca Brazier
Sarah Tilton born 1644, married John Painter
Ester Tilton born 1647, married Samuel Spleer
Abigail Tilton born 1650, married Ralph Warner and secondly, William Scot
Thomas Tilton born 1652
Mary Tilton born 1654, married Henry Bowman

The Tilton’s son Peter and his wife Rebecca Brazier lived and died in New Jersey. On 1 June 1697, Peter conveyed one hundred acres of land to this daughter Rebecca, wife of Daniel Applegate, between Hop and Swimming Rivers, in Middletown, New Jersey. Peter Tilton died in Middletown, 6 October 1700

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Robert Treat was born 1622/24 at Pitminster Parish, near Taunton, Somersetshire, England. He was the son of Richard Treat and Alice, daughter of Hugh Gaylord (Gaillard), also of Pitminster. He came first to Massachusetts in 1635 and removed shortly to Weathersfield, Connecticut where his father was a town founder. He married at Milford, Connecticut, 1647 Jane Tapp, daughter of Edmond and Anna (-) Tapp. He died at Milford 12 July 1710.

Treat interested himself in military affairs, joined the local Train Band at Milford and later became its Captain. On 24 May 1666 he, with ten others from Milford, Guilford and Branford entered into an agreement to take up lots on the Passaic River in the Province of East Jersey, which they named New Ark or Newark. Newark Town Records record that "Only Capt. Treat was allowed to have Eight Acres in his Town lot." Fundamental Agreements were signed in June 1667 at Newark with Treat as Recorder. He was deputy from Newark to the General Assembly of East Jersey 1667-1672. Now about fifty years of age, he returned to Milford, Connecticut.

On 18 September 1675 it was said that his arrival at Bloody Brook, in command of Connecticut troops turned the tide in the Indian battle. On 19 December 1675 with Treat as Major and Commanding Officer of Connecticut forces, King Philip was defeated at the Great Swamp Fight in what is now southern Rhode Island. Treat was chosen Deputy Governor of Connecticut 1676-1682, when he succeeded to the office of Governor which he held until 1698, with an interim during the regime of Sir Edmond Andros, Governor of New England. He was appointed Colonel of Connecticut forces in 1687. It is said that while being forced to entertain Sir Edmond Andros that Robert Treat's associates hid the Connecticut Charter in the famous Charter Oak.

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Cornelius (Theunissen) Tunison, Sr. was born 10 Jan 1694 in Brooklyn, New York, one of eight children of Teunis Nyssen (Denyse) and Phebe (Femmetje) Seals. He married Neeltje Bogaet, the daughter of Tunis Gysbert Tunisons, Aug 28 1687. A deed dated 20 Jan 1687-8 conveyed to Cornelius Tinnisonne and his brother Jan (and others) a farm at Roysefield, Middlesex County., NJ, from John Royse. Cornelius Teunissen’s name also appears on a deed dated Oct 14, 1689, from John and Elizabeth White for a tract of land, in what is now the center of the village of Somerville.

In 1717 he married Rebecca Folkerson from Brushwick, New York. Their son Cornelius Tunison Jr , was baptized on 8 Mar 1699, one of the first entered in Dutch, in the records of the newly established First Reformed Church of Raritan.

The couple had ten children. Cornelius died in Raritan 25 Aug 1775, and Rebecca died the same year.

Johannes Updike (Opdyke) was born in 1651, probably in Beverwyck/Albany, New York, where his parents, Laurens Janszen Updike and Stijntje (Christina) Pieters, first settled after their immigration to New Netherlands in about 1650. On 23 Dec. 1653, Laurens Janszen testified at the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck that he was 48 years old and was born at Hoesem (Holland). On January 14, 1650, Stijntje Pieters, his wife, gave her age as about 40 years. While he was at Beverwyck, Laurens Jansz was engaged in the fur trade. By 1653 Laurens had purchased land and moved his family to Gravesend, Long Island, where he died in 1659. On March 16, 1660, prior to her second marriage to Norwegian Laurens Petersen, Stijntje had guardians appointed for her children, Peter, Otto and Johannes (Opdyke).

Johannes grew up on Long Island, where about 1674 he married Catherine whose surname is unknown. Besides farming, Johannes actively bought and sold land in New York. However, in April 1697 he bought 250 acres in West Jersey above the falls of the Delaware River (near Trenton). The entire extended family moved from Dutch Kills to West Jersey, with their household goods and farm animals. There is a well preserved tradition among descendants that the carts of the Updike settlers were turned up at night to shelter the women and children, until a few days’ work with axes and stout arms had prepared the first log homes.

By 1714, Johannes had moved to Hopewell, Hunterdon County, New Jersey where a Dutch clergyman from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, baptized six of his grandchildren in 1710 and 1712, which indicates that the family still maintained the Dutch religion and language. On February 12, 1729, at the age of 78 years, Johannes Opdyck made his will, leaving his estate to be equally divided among his eight living children. The next generation shifted the surname from Opdyck to Updike. When the executors of Johannes’ estate, son Lawrence and grandson Eliakim Anderson, submitted their final bills on April 7, 1731, they listed the refreshments for the funeral; rum, sugar and spice, a barrel of cider and biskakes, all good food and drink in true Dutch fashion.

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Lubbert Gysbertsen, wheel-wright and wagon maker, was born c. 1601 in Blaricum, District of Gooiland in the Netherlands. He married there Divertje Cornelis. He died c. 1655 in Bergen Neck, New Jersey, probably killed in an Indian raid.

On 15 April 1634 Lubbert signed a contract with Killaen VanRensselaer, the Patroon of Rensselaerwyck in New Netherland near Fort Orange (now Albany, New York). He and his wife and their three children sailed on the ship de Eendracht which sailed from the Texel in May 1634. The Patroon advanced the expense of his passage to the West India Company, for which Lubbert would reimburse him over a three year period by working for him. Lubbert's account was opened in Rensselaerwyck on 20 July 1634, indicating that the trip took about two and a half months. His account with the Patroon was cleared in 1647. In 1648 his wife Divertje witnessed a baptism in New Amsterdam.

On 5 December 1654 Lubbert was given a Dutch patent for 50 morgens (100 acres) in Bergen Neck, New Jersey, below Cavan Point, in the area south of present Jersey Cityr. His son-in-law, Jan Cornelis Buys, had 25 morgens just south of his land and beyond that his son, Jan Lubbertsen, also had 25 morgens. Farther south, his sons Lubbert and Gysbert Lubbertsen, each had 25-morgen farms. It is not known when these farms were first occupied, but Lubbert's granddaughter, Tryntje Oosteroom, according to her marriage record, was born in New Jersey. She was baptized in New Amsterdam 16 August 1654.

In September 1655 an Indian was killed for stealing fruit from an orchard in New Amsterdam. In retaliation, a large Indian war party terrified the residents of New Amsterdam and then crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey, burned the Dutch bouweries and plantations, killed or captured anyone who had not fled. Lubbert may have been killed in this raid. An entry in the Minutes of the Court of Schepens and Burgomasters of New Amsterdam dated 1 May 1656 shows that Jan Corns. Buys, alias Jan Damen and Lubbert Gystertse's widow requested permission to trap as they "have been driven from their houses by the last trouble with the Indians." The request was granted.

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Jacob VanDoorn was born in Gowanus, Long Island, NY, before 1655. In 1690 he married Maria Bennet. Between 1697 and 1701 he became the sole owner of 675 acres in what is now Holmdel and Marlboro Townships; and in about 1698 he moved the family from Long Island to the Monmouth County, New Jersey. Jacob Van Dorn built his first house, probably initially a log cabin, on a knoll on the property, near the families Schencks, Couwenhovens and Hendricksons. The family traveled every Sunday to attend services at the first Dutch Church.

As early as 1714, Jacob built a dam and erected a grist mill, a great convenience to the settlers within four or five miles around. Jacob died abt. 1720; his will divided his estate between his oldest and fourth sons, directing that they pay £75 to each the other children, with an additional £37 to the youngest. His wife Mary survived him by many years.

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Baltus Barents VanKleeck was baptized on 6 Aug. 1645 in Haarlem, The Netherlands. His father was Barent Baltus who was from Lipstadt in Westphalia, and who on 18 May, 1631, had married Sara Peters in Haarlem. Less than five years later, on 29 January, 1636, Barents now a widower married Mayken Quiters of Haarlem. They had seven children, including Baltus and Elsie.

Barents Baltus emigrated to America; he first appears in the New Netherland records in Flatbush on 8 July, 1654. He married the first time a woman whose name is unknown and who was buried in 1676 in Flatbush. He married second Tryntje Jans Buys daughter of Jan Cornelis Buys (alias Damen) and Ybetje Lubberts (daughter of Lubbert Guybertsen) in 1657 or 1658.

Baltus Van Kleeck moved first to Albany to be near his sister Elsie who had married the large landholder Robert Sanders. This is where their daughter Sara was born.

In about 1683, Baltus Van Kleeck purchased land in Bergen. The three tracts, known as lot No. 49, lot No. 67 and lot No. 156 and so marked on the map of the “Bergen Common Lands” in the County Clerk’s Office at Hackensack, N.J. Lot No. 49 was a tract of upland. Lot No. 67 was a piece of meadow. Lot No. 156 was a lot in the town of Bergen. In total they comprised 36 and a half acres of farmland and a lot in the village. The family then moved to Bergen where his wife’s relatives had returned after the Indian uprising in 1655. On 2 July 1683, Baltus Barens and wife Tryntie Jans joined the Bergen Dutch Church. Their son Peter was baptized there on 2 April 1688.

Baltus sold the Bergen property 8 May, 1697 and on 3 June, 1697 bought a large parcel of land at Poughkeepsie, where the family settled permanently. Baltus Van Kleek is considered to be the founder of Poughkeepsie and in turn Dutchess County. In 1702 he built the first stone house there with a lintel stone that contained the initials of Baltus and Tryntie. Baltus VanKleeck also donated land for the building of the first church. . In later years Baltus VanKleeck was very prominent in the affairs of Poughkeepsie. He was a Captain of the Militia of Ulster and Dutchess County in 1700, and in the 16th Colonial Assembly in 1715, he represented Dutchess County. He died between 1 Sept. 1716 and 9 April 1717. His stone house remained standing in Poughkeepsie until well into the Nineteenth Century with an adjacent family graveyard.

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Peter Van Nest was born c. 1625 in the Netherlands; he emigrated from Utrecht, arriving in the colonies in 1647 and settling in Brooklyn. He married about 1652 Judith Jorise Rapalje, born 5 July 1635. She was the daughter of Joris Jansen Rapalje and Caralyna Trico Rapalje; first settlers of New Amsterdam. Peter and Judith were the parents of eight children: Catalyna, Pieter, Sitje, Jeronimus, Jacomyntje, Sara, Joris and Marritie. Peter was a carpenter by trade.

The second land title in Somerset County, New Jersey was dated 12 December 1681; and signed by four Indians in consideration of 120 pounds. Among the earliest permanent settlers in this section of East Jersey was Peter Van Nest, who purchased land there in 1681/2. He added to his land holdings on 26 Oct 1693, when James Graham, conveyed to him a large track of land. In 1693 VanNest was appointed by Somerset for the purpose of raising soldiers to “defend the Province” and in 1694, he was appointed along with J. Tunison, Commissioner of Highways.

One of their daughters, Catalina, married Derrick Middagh and on 1 May 1709, Peter VanNest of Somerset County, yeoman, and his wife, conveyed to Derrick Middagh, of the same place, yeoman; land originally purchased from James Graham in 1693.

Penelope VanPrincis is considered the first white woman in New Jersey. The daughter of Baron VanPrincis (a.k.a. Van Prinzen), she was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1622. After her marriage to John Kent c.1640, bride and groom set sail for New Amsterdam; near the end of the journey their ship ran aground near what is now Highlands in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Penelope, with her husband and others made it to shore; however, her husband was too ill to travel with the rest of the survivors who headed on foot toward New Amsterdam. Penelope and her husband stayed behind in the Navasink woods and it was not long before they were attacked by hostile Indians. John was killed and Penelope, partially scalped, horribly cut and left for dead. She survived for a week before she was found by two friendly Indians. She begged to be put out of her misery and the younger one was willing to oblige but the elder one stopped him. He threw her over his shoulder and took her to their camp. There he sewed her up with fish bone needles and vegetable fiber. She lived with the Indian until she recovered and eventually made it to New Amsterdam.

In 1642, Penelope met Richard Stout who had left Nottingham, England, to serve in the British navy. At the end of his seven year enlistment, he had left his ship in New Amsterdam. Penelope married the English-born colonist, in 1644, when she was 22 and he was 40. They settled at Gravesend, Long Island on a plantation, which he had been allowed to purchase from the Dutch. Stout prospered and became a large landowner.

After the English took over the rule of New Amsterdam in 1664, Penelope persuaded her husband and a number of their neighbors at Gravesend to move across the Lower Bay to what is now eastern New Jersey, near the village of the Indian chief who had saved her life. John Stout became one of the original Monmouth Patent purchasers. After their move to Middletown in Monmouth, the elderly Indian who had rescued her was a frequent visitor to the Stout home. Penelope is considered the “mother of Middletown.

The Stout’s were Baptists and in 1668 Richard and others met to organize the first Baptist Church in New Jersey. Richard and his son John were among the eighteen male charter members and for twenty years they met at the homes of the members until a log church could be built.

Richard Stout’s will was written on 9 June 1703 and proved before Governor Lord Cornsburg, on 23 October 1705 at Perth Amboy. In it he left his orchard, all the land he owned and home to his wife and left one shilling each to his sons and daughters. He also left one shilling each to his daughter-in-law, Mary Stout and her son John. Penelope lived to the ripe old age of 110. While the exact location of Penelope's grave is unknown, both she and her husband were buried in Middletown Monmouth County.

Children of Richard and Penelope Van Princis (Kent) Stout:

John Stout (1645 - 1724)*
James Stout (1648 - 1715)*
Mary Stout Bowne (1650 - 1675)*
Alice Stout Throckmorton (1652 - 1703)*
Sarah Elizabeth Stout Pike (1656 - 1714)*
Jonathan Stout (1665 - 1722)*
David Stout (1667 - 1732)*
Benjamin Stout (1669 - 1734)*

Claes Jansen VanPurmerent was born in Holland, probably at Purmerend, date unknown. He first appears in the records as the purchaser on 20 August 1655 of a tract called Pembrepock, along the side of the Hudson River, which he subsequently sold in 1658. On 11 November 1656, Claes Jansen married at the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam, Annetje , daughter of Cornelis VanVoorst and Vrouwtje Ides.

Claes Jansen VanPurmerent (Cuyper) purchased on Aug 20, 1655, a tract called Pembrepock, along the Hudson River. On Nov 11, 1656, Claes Jansen married at the Dutch Church in New York, Annetje, daughter of Cornelis VanVoorst and Vrouwtje Ides. In 1659, Claes Jansen VanPurmerent, wheelwright, wife, servant and child returned to Holland on the Beaver.

It is not known how long he remained in Holland; however, on Jan 31, 1662, he obtained a patent for land at or near Horsimus, now a part of Jersey City. Annetje was listed in 1664 as belonging to the Bergen Church. Claes Jansen was elected schepen for Ahasymus in the Bergen Court, Aug 31, 1674, and was appointed a surveyor of highways in 1682. The couple had twelve children. The name of at least one son appears in the records as Cornelis Claessen Cuyper.

Claes Jansen died intestate Nov. 30, 1688, at Ahasymus. His wife, according to Bergen church records, died July 12, 1725, as Annatje Stoffels, listed as widow of Claes Jansen Kuyer.

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Cornelis (Cornelius) Van Voorst, son of Hendrick van Voorst and his wife Anna Cornelis Frans de Bure, was born about 1580; married 1) on 15 June 1607 in a civil ceremony at Utrecht, Holland, Beatrix van der Laen, daughter of Cornelis Thijsz van der Laen. She died before 1628 when he married Vrouwtje Ides, who died in Ahasymus (Pavonia, New Jersey) in 1641. He died 1 July 1638 during a visit to his sister and her husband in Holland.

Cornelius was a woodcarver and cabinet maker who was banished from the Netherlands as the result of his participation in an aborted uprising in 1610 over the local government of Utrecht. He went to Italy and learned the language. In 1619 as part of a general amnesty he was free to return to Holland, but did not do so immediately. On 26 April 1626 he made a statement before a Notary that he had been "engaged by the Directors of the West India Company to go to New Amsterdam" for the collection of certain debts owed him. He sailed soon after on The Amsterdam Arms.

In New Netherlands the family lived in Ahasymus (Pavonia), in the southern part of present Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1632 Cornelius was appointed superintendent of the colony, the civil and judicial head. He was acting as the agent for Michael Pauw.

By 1662 one of Cornelius’ two surviving children, son Ide Cornelissen van Voorst, received deeds for about 150 acres of land at Ahasymus that probably had been his father's. Annken, the other child by Vrouwtje, married Claes Jansen van Pumersand.

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Waling Jacobse VanWinkle, son of Jacob Waling VanWinkle and Tryntie Jacobs was baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam on 10 October with no sponsors, only his father present. He was married 15 March 1671, by the court at Bergen, New Jersey, to Catharyna Michielse, with banns published 26 February and recorded with the marriage date and place at the Bergen Reformed Dutch Church. Catharyna was a daughter of Michael Jansen Vreeland baptized at the New Amsterdam church 24 October 1649. On 15 August 1674 Waling Jacobse was nominated to the office of Schepen (judge) of the "Court of Justice at Bergen" and received his commission on 31 August 1674.

Waling Jacobse was one of fourteen purchasers of the Acquackanonk Patent, acquired from the Indians in 1679 and ratified by the Lord Proprietors of New Jersey in 1684. The area includes present-day Passaic, Paterson and vicinity.

As early as 1682, Waling Jacobse had an extensive farm at Barbadoes Neck, now Rutherford. On 2 March 1692, and again on 30 June 1695, he was elected a member of the General Assembly of New Jersey, representing first Acquackanonk and then Barbadoes Neck. A founder of the Acquackanonk Church, he was elected elder in May 1696 and re-elected in May 1701.

Eight children were born between 1672 and 1690 to the VanWinkles: Annetje, Jacob, Michael, Trintje who died in infancy, Johannis, Trintje Sarah and Abraham. Waling died between 1 November 1727 and 12 September 1729, at Acquackanonk, then in Essex County, New Jersey. His wife Catharyna was the sole executrix.

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Hartman Mickeilsen Vreeland (later the name was changed to Vreeland from Mickeilsen) was baptized Oct 1, 1651 and married Matje Braecke in 1672. He was a wheel wright by trade, and lived first at Rechpokus on part of his wife’s inheritance. He then purchased 270 acres of land including “Stoffel’s Point”, and an island in the Passaic River near Aquackanonck called Hartman’s Island (Dundee Island). He died on January 18, 1707 in Bergen County.

He made the first land transaction in the area known as Acquackanock, when he purchased from an Indian chief Dundee Island in the Passaic River, later called Hatman Island. Michielsen then induced others from Bergen to join in the purchase of a large tract of land (5500 acres) along the river up to the falls, from the Indians paying coats, blanketrs, kettles, powder and other goods. On March 28 1679, the associates received a patent from the Proprietors of East Jersey

Hartman and Matje had 13 children, his first-born was Claus who married Annetje Harmanse; (2) Aeltje; (3); Michael, who died at the age of 14; (4) Dirck, who married Margrietje Diedricks Banta; (5) Fitje, who married Dirck Paulusen; (6) Syntje; (7) Aagtje, who married Cornelis Blinkerhoff; (8)Dedricksje; (9) Marietyje, who married Thomas Fredericks; (10) Jannetje, who married, Gerrit Van Ripen; (11) Michael, who married Elysabet Van Ripen; (12) Arriantje, who married Zacharias Sickles; and lastly (13) Enoch, who married Jannetje Van Blerkum. Subsequent generations changed the name from Mickeilsen to Vreeland.

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