Person:Hendrick Hendricks (5)

Hendrick Hendricks was born 11 November,1706 in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Almost nothing is known about Hendrick Hendricks’s life, except the basic genealogical facts that can be gleaned from the church and public records of the time. He married Aeltje Couwenhoven, the daughter of a prominent Middletown family, in 1728 and had two sons, Henry and Albert. It is assumed that he continued to farm the land he inherited from his father, whose estate he administered on 9 October, 1736. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Freehold and Middletown, New Jersey. Hendrick’s last years were no doubt affected by the events of the American Revolutionary War, which often swirled around him in the Northern New Jersey area. He died in Middletown the summer before the American victory at Yorktown, 28 July, 1783. It is assumed he is buried in Middletown as well.

Updated Research on the Parents of Hendrick Hendricks

THE ANCESTRY OF HENRY HENDRICKS By Carol H. Cannon, A.G.

       The parents of Henry Hendricks (1730) have been well established and documented as Hendrick Hendricks (1706) and Altje Couwenhoven, of Monmouth County, New Jersey.  Based on previous research, the Henry Hendricks Family Organization once accepted Willem Hendrickson and Willemptje Thys Laen Van Pelt as the parents of Hendrick Hendricks (1706).  The parents of Willem Hendrickson were accepted as Hendricks Hendrickson (the immigrant) and Jane Luitgert (or Suitgert).  Recent research indicates that two of these connections are in error.

       In an article entitled "Origins of the Hendrickson Family of Monmouth County, New Jersey" by Henry B. Hoff in Vol. 106 of the New YorkGenealogical and Biographical Record, January 1975, Mr. Hoff rejects Hendrick Hendrickson as the father of the two brothers, William and Daniel Hendrickson, who appeared in Monmouth County, New Jersey about 1700.  Instead, he offers good proof that William and Daniel Hendrickson were the sons of Hendrick Willemsz of Albany and his wife Geesje/Gisseltje Bradt.  Geesje Bradt was first married to Jan Van Eckelen and bore him three children, Johannes, Albert and Jacobus.  After Jan Van Eckelen's death, Geesje Bradt married Hendrick Willems, who died in 1677 leaving sons William and Daniel.  Geesje either predeceased her husband or died shortly after he.

       A note at the front of the Hoff article helps clarify understanding of Dutch naming practices:

       "Many families of Dutch . . . origin used only patronymics until after the English occupation of New Netherland (1664).  Eventually all used surnames, some of which might be called 'frozen patronymics':  the 'last name' in use by the siblings in a family group was continued in use thereafter by successive generations . . . the descendants of brothers sometimes assumed different 'family names.'

       "Success in doing research on families who used patronymics depends on intelligent analysis and a knowledge of customs of the period.  In particular, it should be remembered that the first two sons and first

two daughters were normally named for grandparents. It was also the custom to name a child for a recently deceased relative. Moreover, if possible, children were sponsored at baptism by relatives, sometimes one from each side of the family, certainly by a representative of the person whose namesake was being baptized."

       The names of Hendrick and Geesje occur among the children of both William and Daniel Hendrickson.  In addition, some of the sponsors at the christening of the children of William and Daniel were the Van Eckelen children of Geesje Bradt by her first husband.

       Mr. Hoff states:

"It is probable that the Hendrickson boys were eventually taken to Kings County by their older half-brother, Jan Van Eckelen. As Johannes Van Eckelen he married Tryntje Titus on 9 September 1683 at New Utrecht. He lived in Flatbush, where he was schoolmaster and later Clerk of Kings County.

"He did not take the oath of allegiance in Kings County in September 1687, but appears on the 1698 census of Flatbush. The 'Willem Hendrickse, native' who took the oath of allegiance in Flatbush was probably the William we are considering; his brother was probably too young to take the oath.

"William may also be the Willem Hendrix who was received into the Flatbush Church on 4 June 1687. Daniel Hendrickson was of Flatbush in 1693 when he was mentioned in a Monmouth County deed. Neither Hendrickson was listed in the 1698 census of Kings County."

       This all accords well with the time Daniel and Willem appeared in Monmouth and with other available facts.  Taken together the evidence is convincing that Willem and Daniel Hendrickson of Monmouth County, New Jersey are the sons of Hendrick Willemz and Geesje Bradt.  However, the parentage of Willem Hendrickson becomes irrelevant as there is good evidence that Willem Hendrickson and Willemptje Thys Laen Van Pelt are not the parents of the Hendrick Hendricks (Hendrickson) who was born 11 November 1706, and who married Aeltje Couwenhoven.  In rejecting this connection Mr. Hoff maintains that Willem's son Hendrick was the first child and was born before Jannetje (who was baptized 13 September 1699) and that he probably died young..  The family of Willem Hendrickson is offered by Mr. Hoff as follows:

 i.    Hendrick, named of paternal grandfather; probably died young.

ii.    Jannetje, bap. 13 Sep 1699; sponsors: Johannes Karos and Anna Van Ekele his wife (paternal aunt and husband).  Named for her maternal grandmother.

iii.    Geesje, named for paternal grandmother.

iv.     Gysbert ("eldest son" according to will; named for maternal grandfather), bap. 1 Sep 1703; sponsors: Cornelius Lanen, Tryntie Van Ekelen (maternal uncle and paternal aunt, probably by marriage).

v.     Johannes, bap. 29 May 1705, Brooklyn Dutch Church.  Sponsors: Stoffel Schar, Geesje Van Hekel (paternal aunt or first cousin).

vi.     Daniel ("youngest son" in the will; named for [his father's] brother.)

       If Willem Hendricks is rejected as the father of Hendrick Hendrickson, who then were his parents?  In spite of much confusion from previously published sources there is strong evidence to suggest that he was the son of Hendrick Hendrickson (1679?) and Helena Cortelyou.

       George C. Beekman's Early Dutch Settlers of Monmouth County, New Jersey, states in the Albert Couwenhoven section, page 27, that Albert Couwenhoven's daughter, Aeltje, married Hendrick, son of Hendrick Hendrickson.  On the same page he also cites a deed from the Monmouth County Clerk's office (Book G, page 59) where Tunis Covert of Freehold Township sells land to Cornelius Van Brunt and Hendrick Hendrickson of New Utrecht, Long Island.  Cornelius Van Brunt was a brother of Nicholas Rutgers Van Brunt, first husband of Helena Cortelyou.  The above cited deed indicates that Helena's third husband, Hendrick Hendrickson was buying land with Helena's brother-in-law.  The connection between these two families was again strengthened when Cornelius Van Brunt's son, Nicholas, married Geesje Hendrickson, daughter of Hendrick and Helena.

       Also cited in Beekman (page 27) is a deed dated 1 May 1719 where Abraham Emans of Freehold Township sells land to Hendrick Hendrickson and Jacques Denys of New Utrecht, Long Island.  In this case Helena's husband, Hendrick Hendrickson, buys land jointly with Helena's son, Jaques Denyse (by her second husband, Denys Teunissen).

       All of the above information from Beekman's book accords well with other evidence that Hendrick Hendrickson and Helena Cortelyou were the parents of Hendrick Hendricks (1706).  However, in the Hendrickson section of Beekman's book a discrepancy arises that has been the source of confusion in the past.  On page 148 Beekman states:

       "Wilm Hendricks, as he wrote his name, was a brother of Daniel Hendrickson, the first settler at Holland, in the present township of Holmdel.  I think Hendrick Hendricks, the father of Daniel and William lived in Monmouth between 1694 and 1706.  Our court minutes for this period show that one Hendrick Hendricks served on the grand jury and also on a coroner's jury, called to view a corpse thrown up by the sea on Sandy Hoof Beach. . . .  Hendrick Hendricks was a widower and married again about 1706 Helena Cortelyou, the widow of Nicholas Van Brunt and of Dionyse Denyse.  After this marriage it is said that he lived with his wife on lands at New Utrecht, L. I. which her father, Jacques Cortelyou, had devised to her."

       That Hendrick Hendricks was married previously, prior to his marriage to Helena Cortelyou, would be a necessary forced conclusion by Beekman because Hendrick and Helena did not marry until about 1706.  Therefore, if William and Daniel were his sons they would have been grown married men with families at the time their alleged father married Helena Cortelyou and it would have to be assumed (as Beekman obviously did) that they were by a previous wife.

       Beekman lists the children of Willem Hendrickson and Williamptje Laen Van Pelt, and includes a son Hendrick, born 1706, who married Altje, daughter of Albert Couwenhoven.

       Compounding the error Beekman states on page 138 (in the section enumerating the children of Daniel Hendrickson and Catherine Van Dyke), that Geesje Hendrickson, who married Nicholas Van Brunt, was a sister of Daniel and William Hendrickson, the pioneer settlers of Monmouth County.  Geesje Hendrickson who married Nicholas Van Brunt could hardly have been a sister to Daniel and William, as she was forty or more years younger than they.  Apparently Beekman forgot his earlier contention in the Couwenhoven section that the father of Hendrick Hendrickson who married Aeltje Couwenhoven was also named Hendrick Hendrickson, and by mistaking Hendrick (Jr.) as the son of Willem, he had to bend other facts to fit.

       The relationships Beekman tries to force would also account for his listing Geesje Hendricks (who married Nicholas Van Brunt) as a sister of Daniel and Willem.  It is established that Geesje was a daughter of Helena Cortelyou and Hendrick Hendricks.  Hence, under Beekman's interpretation in the Hendricks section, she would have been their half-sister.  What the facts bear out, however, is that Geesje was, indeed, a daughter of Helena Cortelyou and Hendrick Hendrickson, and that she had one full brother, Hendrick Hendrickson (1706).

       In Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y. (page 311), Teunis G. Bergen credits Geesje Hendricks who married Nicholas Van Brunt as a daughter of Hendrick Hendrickse of the narrows, New Utrecht, by his first wife.  Again, this appears to be in error.

       Geesje's husband, Nicholas Van Brunt, was born about 1706.  Geesje's first child was born 28 April 1732, (indicating that Geesje was born  about 1708-1712).  By about 1706 Helena and Hendrick were married, andGeesje is almost certainly the daughter of both.

       Helena's exact birth date has not been established.  However, her first marriage took place August or September of 1683.  If Helena was about 18 then, her birth date would be about 1665.  It is established that Helena's second husband Denyse Teunissen, was dead by about 1706.  It would appear she married Hendrick Hendrickson shortly after that.

       Helena would have been near the end of her child-bearing years when Hendrick and Geesje were born in 1706 and about 1708-12.  She had borne one son by Nicholas Rutgers Van Brunt and seven children by Denyse Teunissen.  She was probably well acquainted with Hendrick Hendrickson, who would become her third husband, inasmuch as he was a partner with Denyse Teunissen (her second husband) in buying a large parcel of land in Somerset County, New Jersey.

       No evidence has yet surfaced to substantiate the contention that the Hendrick Hendrickson who married Helena Cortelyou was previously married or that he had children by a previous wife.

       The tie between Geesje Hendricks (Van Brunt) and Hendrick Hendrickson (1706) is unmistakable.  Hendrick and Aeltje stood witness at the christening of Geesje's first child.  In this record the child is listed as Enjeltie, daughter of Nicholas Van Brunt and Geesje Hendrickse, and the sponsors are Hendricks Hendrickse Hendrickse (meaning Hendrick Hendrickson, son of Hendrick) and his wife, Aeltje Couwenhoven.  This is a strong proof that the Hendrick Hendrickson (1706) who married Aeltje Couwenhoven was the son of a Hendrick Hendrickson and not a William Hendrickson.

       It is well established and provable that Willem Hendrickson and Willemptje Laen Van Pelt had a daughter named Geesje.  However, this Geesje married Matthias Peterson.  This is further proof that the Hendrick Hendrickson who married Aeltje Couwenhoven is not the son of Willem.

       The Geesje Hendrickson who married Nicholas Van Brunt is definitely not the daughter of Willem.  Therefore, the fact that Hendrick and Aeltje were sponsors to Geesje Hendrickson Van Brunt's child indicates a connection to that Geesje and not Geesje Hendrickson Peterson, Daughter of Willem.  In addition, Hendrick and Aeltje are never found as sponsors at the births of any of the children of Willem's son and daughters.

       The birth record of Albert, son of Hendrick Hendrickson (1706) further substantiates this conclusion.  In 1732 (July) Albert Hendrickson was baptized, with his grandfather Albert Couwenhoven standing sponsor for his namesake.  The parents are recorded as Hendrick Hendrikse Hendrikse and Aeltje Couwenhoven.  (Again, Hendrick is listed as Hendrick Hendrickson, son of Hendrick.  Likely the scribe was endeavoring to differentiate between this Hendrick Hendrickson and others of the same name in the area at the same time.)

       On 9 October 1736, Hendrick Hendrickson Jr. of Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey and John Deare of Amboy Middlesex, New Jersey, made application for the administration of the estate of Hendrick Hendrickson, late of Middletown.  There is no way to definitely prove that this Hendrick Hendrickson Jr. is the same Hendrick Hendrickson (1706) who married Aeltje Couwenhoven.  However, the circumstantial evidence is compelling.  There are other Hendrick Hendricksons in the area in 1736, but all can be accounted for as sons of other fathers. The fact that the Hendrick Hendrickson whose estate was probated in 1736 was "of Middletown" strengthens the circumstantial case because that is where Hendrick Hendrickson (1706) and his family lived.

       Unless and until contrary evidence is found, the Hendricks Family Organization is accepting Hendrick Hendrickson and Helena Cortelyou as the parents of Hendrick Hendrickson (1706) who married Aeltje Couwenhoven.

       Who then are the parents of Hendrick Hendricks, the first?  In his article, Mr. Hoff cites an article by Wilson V. Ledley and B-Ann Moorhouse in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 103, April 1972, entitled "Early Dutch Smiths and Van Boerums."  On page 75 of this article Jacob Hendricks is listed as the nephew of Adriaen Lambertsz who arrived with Adriaen's family on the ship De Rooseboom at New Amsterdam in 1663.

       There is confusion regarding the surname of Jacob Hendricks.  In some records he is listed as Jacob Hendricks; in others as Jacob Hendricks Hafte or Hafften.  In Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y. Teunis G. Bergen states that Jacob Hendricks used the surname Kee in a joint will he made with his wife.

       However, it is possible to follow the life of Jacob Hendricks in the records with reasonable accuracy.  Jacob married in about 1760, Geesje Bartels, daughter of Bartel Claesen (originally from the manor of Ruynen in South Holland) and his wife Hildegonde.  On 12 January 1684 Jacob paid for a grave for his deceased wife at the Flatbush Dutch Church. Jacob married second, Catherine Beauvois, daughter of Carel De Beauvois and his wife Sophia Van Lodensteyn.  The exact date of Jacob's death is unknown but was probably between 1702 and 1706.

       Wilson and Moorhouse list the children of Jacob Hendricks (Hafte) as follows:

Issue by first wife, Geesje Bartels:

1. Child, d. abt. 1671 when Jacob Hendricksz paid 8 gl. to the Flatbush Dutch Church for a grave in the church "for child."

2. Hildegonde Jacobs (named for maternal grandmother) b. 1672-3 (aged 11 in 1684); m. (1) 24 Aug 1690 Jan Barton, by whom she had dau. Annetje. She m. (2) 8 June 1707 Evert Evertsen by whom she had dau. Geesje.

3. Hendrickje Jacobs (named for paternal grandmother?) born 1674-5 (aged 9 in 1684); m. Laurens Jans; had at least 3 children.

4. Bartelt Jacobsen (named for maternal grandfather) b. 1676-7 (age 7 in 1684); married 14 April 1695 Elleanor Douglas, wid. of Jan de Lenni and daughter of William Douglas.

5. Hendrick Jacobsen (named for paternal grandfather, bap. 18 Feb 1679, Flatbush. Also know as Hendrick Hendricksen (using his father's patronymic as a surname, a common practice of the time); m. after 1706 Helena Cortelyou, widow of Nicholas Rutgers Van Brunt and of Denyse Teunisse, dau. of Jacques Cortelyou I of New Utrecht; they had 2 children.

6. Catalyntie Jacobs, twin with Hendrick above, bap. 18 Feb 1679, Flatbush. Died 16 Dec 1767; m. 26 Aug 1698 Barent Hendricksen Speir. Had 10 children.

7. Cornelis Jacobs, "youngest" child in 1684, bap. 27 May 1683, Flatbush.

Issue by second wife, Catherine Beauvois:

8. Karel Jacobsen (named for maternal grandfather) bap. 13 June 1685, Flatbush. As unmarried man in 1706 sponsored a child of his sister Catalyntie; nothing further.

9. Johannis Jacobsen Haften/Hasten; m. Jannetje Johannis and had 3 children baptized at Staten Island.

       On pages 145-146 of the Ledley-Moorhouse article the following information is offered:

"According to The Cortelyou Genealogy Jacques (Cortelyou) and his brother Pieter continued to operate the Staten Island ferry started by their father, but in 1710 their brother-in-law Hendrick Hendricks tried to take away their traffic. Finally when Hendricks tried to exclude them entirely, they petitioned against him 24 September 1719, the ferry then having been operated by the family nearly fifty years. The brothers won their rights for twenty-one years, but subject to competition by others in a patent 7 Nov 1719.

"Of special interest to us is the identity of Hendrick Hendricks as Jacques had two brothers-in-law of that name, Hafte and Van Boerum. However, as Hendrick Van Boerum apparently never went by his patronymic, as he was not a brother-in-law of Pieter Cortelyou (Hendrick Hendricks was described as the brother-in-law of both Cortelyou brothers), and as Van Boerum was living in New Jersey from 1714 on, it is concluded that the contestant was Hendrick Jacobse/Hendrickse Hafte."

       The Ledley-Moorhouse article refers to an article in Vol. 55 of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1924, entitled "Ancestors and Descendants of Barent Hendrickse Speir and His Wife Catalyntje Jacobs Hendricks," by Howard S. F. Randolph.  This article documents some of the descendants of Bartel Claesen and his wife Hildegonde through their children Geesje and Hendrick Bartels.

       Geesje married Jacob Hendricks Hafte.  The children of this couple are set forth much the same as in the Ledley-Moorhouse article except that the first child who died young is not listed.

       Child No. 4 is listed as Hendrick who married Helena Cortelyou.  That Hendrick was a twin to Catlayntje and that their parents were Geesje Bartels and Jacob Hendricks Hafte can be proved by their baptism record 18 Feb 1697.

       That this Hendrick is the same Hendrick Hendricksen who married Helena Cortelyou has not yet been proven satisfactorily and is, to date, the weak link in the chain.

       The citation Randolph offers in his article for accepting this relationship is Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y. 1881, by Teunis G. Bergen, pp. 140-141.  In this work a Hendrick Hendricks is listed as third husband of Helena Cortelyou and a Hendrick is listed as a son of Jacob Hendricks (Hafte), but no connection between the two is made.

       The largest problem with accepting this connection is the age difference between Hendrick, son of Jacob Hendricks (Hafte), who was baptized 18 Feb 1679 and Helena who was born about 1665-67 at the latest.  This would put her about 13 to 15 years older than her third husband.  Nevertheless this connection cannot be ruled out on this basis alone.  Helena was a wealthy woman and a prominent one.  Hendrick Hendrickson had been associated with her husband Denyse Teunnissen and with other of her relatives for some years.  Also, Helena died about 10 years before Hendrick did.

       Based on what circumstantial evidence is available it appears that the Hendrick Hendrickson who married Helena was probably not married previously.  If Hendrick Hendrickson Sr. had a son older than Hendrick Jr., it seems likely that son would have come forth at the time the estate of his father was settled.  Hendrick Sr. had land at Middletown which probably passed down through them to their two sons Albert and Hendrick (Henry, who married Sarah Thompson).  Deed records for Monmouth County for this period have been lost, so this is conjectural but consistent with other evidence.

       One of the results of the research reported here is that the Van Pelt family, on which much research has been accomplished by the Hendricks Family Organization, is no longer considered a pedigree family.  However, ultimately the Van Pelt family may prove to be descended from an ancestor in common with this Hendricks family.  Jacob Hendricks Hafte is listed in the passenger list of the ship De Roosenboom as a nephew of Adriance Lammertsen.  If Jacob is a blood nephew of Adriance Lammertsen then they descend from a common ancestor.  A daughter of Adriance Lammertsen, Janetje Adrians Lammertsen, married Gysbrecht Thyssen Lanen Van Pelt.  To this union was born Willemptje Thys Lanen Van Pelt who married Willem Hendrickson.  It is therefore possible that Willemptje Van Pelt and Jacob Hendricks Hafte, who may prove to be the founder of our branch of the Hendricks family, descend from a common ancestor.

       It has been observed that nothing is "for sure" in early New York Dutch research.  These early families intermarried again and again weaving an almost incomprehensible pattern of intricate family relationships.  A lifetime could be spent in the records of this period.

(This article is taken from The Henry Hendricks and Sarah Thompson Family: From New Amsterdam to New Frontiers, 2nd edition, 1991, pp. 9 19.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES CITED:

1.     HOFF, Henry B.  "Origins of the Hendrickson Family of Monmouth County, New Jersey," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, January 1975, Vol. 106, pp. 1-3.

2.     GETTY, Innes.  The Bradt Family, 1954.

3.     Monmouth County, New Jersey Deed Records.

4.     LEDLEY, Wilson V. and MOORHOUSE, B-Ann.  "Early Dutch Smiths and Van Boerums.," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, April 1972, Vol. 103, No. 2 pp. 65-78; July 1972, Vol. 103, No.3, pp. 138-146.

5.     BANTA, Theodore M. (prepared by).  Year Book of the Holland Society of New York.  1902.  pp. 23-24.

6.     BERGEN, Teunis G.  Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y., 1881.

7.     RANDOLPH, Howard S. F.  "Ancestors and Descendants of BarentHendrickse Spier and His Wife Catalyntje Jacobs Hendricks," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1924, Vol. 55, pp. 314-330.

8.     CORTELYOU, John Van Zandt.  The Cortelyou Genealogy, 1942, pp. 82 85.

9.     Holland Society Yearbook, 1898, Vol. III.

10. BEEKMAN, George C. Early Settlers of Monmouth County, New Jersey.

11. "Records of the Dutch Congregations of Freehold and Middletown," The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Vol. 22 (1947) through Vol. 38.

12. Monmouth County, New Jersey, Probate Records.