Chapter 3 - The Chauncy Family

Charles Chauncy (1592-1672)

Several years ago I began researching Charles Chauncy, my great (x9) grandfather. He was an interesting family ancestor for three reasons all of which made him a candidate for another chapter in our family history.

First, Charles Chauncy is notable because he was an early settler in the Plymouth Colony arriving in the year 1638, only 18 years after the landing of the Mayflower. Secondly, he is notable because he is listed in the Who’s Who of early American settlers, and thirdly, he is notable because of his family pedigree which we share in common.

We are fortunate to be able to trace Charles Chauncy’s ancestors back over 900 years from our present day for much has been written about him and his ancestors. Our common ancestors played a major role in English history and to fully understand this role it is worth providing a brief history of early England.

The period before the arrival of Julius Ceasar and the Romans in 55 AD is referred to as Prehistoric Britain. This is the time of the stone, bronze, and iron ages, the construction of Stonehenge in 2000 BC, the Druids and warring tribes of Celts, and of St. Patrick. There is essentially no recorded history from this period but it is know that man occupied the land from as far back as 5000 BC. The timeline of the Roman occupation of Britain spans from 55 BC to approximately 410 AD. During this period the Romans conquered most of Britain with the exception of Scotland. The famous Hadrian’s Wall was completed in 130 AD built to keep out the barbarians from Scotland. The Romans constructed engineered stone roads, fortifications, and cities throughout the land and introduced government and civilization. In doing so, they replaced the warring tribes and their primitive fortifications and villages constructed mostly of dirt and wood. Ultimately however, the Roman Empire declined and almost everything that the Romans had been built in Britain during their almost 400 years of occupation fell into ruin.

The time period between 410 through 1066 is referred to as the Anglo-Saxon period. During the 5th century, large waves of immigrants called Angles invaded Britain from the Schleswig area of southern Denmark and northern Germany. Additional westward movement by the Saxon peoples from the northern German coasts occurred during this same time period. Constant power struggles, intrigues, and alliances continued into the 6th century resulting in the native Britons falling back and losing almost all control in the southern regions of Britain. It was during this period that King Arthur (Artorius), a Briton, became a legend in English history as a result of his struggles against the Saxon invaders. It is doubtful that life in prehistoric Britain was anything like a “Camelot”.

Over the next 600 years, the Anglo-Saxons cemented their hold over Britain and by 1066 most of Britain was a unified kingdom. Besides having to almost exterminate the native Britons to gain power, the Saxons were exposed for over 100 years to constant raids of hostile Vikings from Norway and Denmark. By the end of the 9th century Alfred the Great finally stopped the Danes in a decisive victory. While Danish raids and invasions did not stop completely, and in fact for a period of several decades a Danish King actually ruled Britain, by 1042 an Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the Confessor, was once again in control and ruled until his death in the year 1066. He did not leave a clear successor and this was to lead to a power struggle. Edward was to be the last Anglo-Saxon kings, for at his death an event occurred that was to change the course of English history.

As a young Canadian schoolboy in the late 1950s, I was keenly aware of the importance of a special date in English history: October 14, 1066. I still remember that date 50 years later. I suspect even now that if a British grade school student can not recite that date and know its significance, he or she will be expelled from school and forever humiliated. In 1066, Duke William of Normandy invaded Britain and at the Battle of Hastings on October 14th, his Norman army destroyed the English army and effectively conquered England and ended the rule of the Anglo-Saxons. On Christmas day in 1066 at Westminster Abby, William had himself crowned King of England, thereby changing the course of English history forever. He was henceforth called King William I but he is more commonly known by the name of William the Conqueror. William began his reign quickly, brutally, and decisively by removing all Anglo-Saxon’s from power and from their land. He redistributed the land to all of his commanders and allies who were the elite who had provided the ships, horses, men and supplies for the invasion. They were granted the Lordships and huge estates. This dramatic change in power and control of England ultimately affected the English political and military systems, the language, the architecture, and much of the English culture. This change was obviously not well received by the Anglo-Saxons. The tale of Robin Hood is a product of their struggle as told in the story of the evil future King John, a Norman, and his pawn the Sheriff of Nottingham vs. Robin Hood, whose noble Anglo-Saxon father was killed by the Normans and his land stolen. In time however, the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans through intermarriage and cultural changes became one nation of people and their language which originally consisted of Norman French which the Normans spoke and the Anglo-Saxon dialect became one common language, English.

Now what does this have to do with our Charles Chauncy? It seems that the ancestors of our Charles were on the winning side at the Battle of Hastings. Many of them including his great (x 14) grandfather Chauncy de Chauncy were part of the invasion and received titles and land in England. I have identified from the list of known Norman commanders listed in the “Battell Abbey Rolls” at least eight of our ancestors including Roger Arundel, Hugue de Beauchamp, Guillaume Bigot, Robert Bigot, Gilbert de Neuville, Roger de Montgomerie, Hubert de Rie, and Ivo Taillebois who served William during the invasion. Roger de Montgomerie is particularly noteworthy as he was the cousin of Duke William’s, his childhood friend, and a close confidant. Roger was granted a huge estate in England in Sussex and credited with the construction of Arundel Castle, as Earl of Arundel (and later, Earl of Shrewsbury). Kathy and I visited the castle on a 1972 trip to England totally unaware that it was constructed by our great grandpa. We can now proudly that note that since our ancestor, Roger de Montgomerie, was William the Conqueror’s cousin it means that our family has the blood of William the Conqueror flowing in our veins. Wow!

Charles W. Brewster, a Portsmouth columnist in the mid-1800s, wrote the following about the pedigree of Charles Chauncy:

“Probably no family in Portsmouth can trace its pedigree beyond that of the Chauncy. Chauncy de Chauncy came into England with William the Conqueror in 1066, from Chauncy, near Amiens in France. The female branch goes back directly to Charlemagne and Egbert, about the year 800. The descendants occupied the estates in England, making but one change, up to the birth of President Chauncy in 1592.”

Charles Chauncy was born on November 5, 1592 in Yardleybury, Hertfordshire, England and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge where he graduated in 1613. He became a fellow of the college and for a number of years served as a professor of Hebrew and later Greek. In 1630, he married Catharine Eyre, daughter of Robert Eyre, one of England prominent surgeons. In 1626, Charles Chauncy was appointed vicar of St. Michael’s in Cambridge, and subsequently from 1627 through 1633, as vicar of Ware. From 1633 through 1637 he served as the pastor of Marston-Lawrence in Northamptonshire. Charles was obviously competent and highly intelligent. Unfortunately, he suffered some serious personality flaws. He was very opinionated, arrogant, outspoken, intolerant of the views of others, and short tempered. These were flaws that were to haunt him for the rest of his life. Twice he was called before the “high commission court” by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1630 and again in 1634, for refusing to follow the ecclesiastical regulations. On the second occasion he was suspended and imprisoned. In both instances he recanted, but then later formally withdrew his recantations which caused him for the rest of his life self-reproach and humiliation.

Following orders in 1637, he emigrated to America and from 1638 until 1641 he served as an associate pastor at Plymouth and from 1641 through 1654; he served as pastor at Scituate, Massachusetts. Even in the new world his eccentric beliefs continued to get him in trouble. For example, in Plymouth he was an unspoken advocate of requiring that infants be totally immersed in water when baptized. The Pilgrims replied, mildly but sensibly, that total immersion in water was not really convenient in their climate and they requested his departure. His service in Scituate was no less tumultuous and by 1654 he resolved to return to England. He relocated to Boston to facilitate his return. Fortunately, however, Harvard College was in immediate need of a new president. He was elected the second President in 1654 under the condition that he kept his views on baptism to himself in the future. He accepted the position and he remained President of Harvard until his death in 1672. As president, he seemed to have been eminently successful and due to the responsibilities of his workload, it seems he was able to curb the flaws of his personality. Taken all things into consideration, it is not too shabby a resume.

Charles Chauncy had six sons all of whom graduated from Harvard. One of his sons, the Rev. Israel Chauncy, is credited with being one of the founders of Yale. His great grandson, Charles, graduated from Harvard in 1721, and is credited with being the pastor of the first church in Boston, a prolific ecclesiastical writer and prominent cleric, and an earnest patriot during the American Revolution. We are related to Charles Chauncy through great grandfather Ferree’s mother’s side of the family, the Hutchinsons.

Chapter 2 - The Sprague Family

Our Plymouth Colony Connection

It is hard to imagine how anyone would willingly agree to travel over 3,000 miles across the north Atlantic in a small 180 ton sailboat departing in the early fall of the year 1620. Nevertheless, 102 passengers, men, women, and children did agree to make the trip which took a total of 65 days. They sighted Cape Cod on November 21, 1620 and finally landed in Plymouth on December 26, 1620. Winter was just beginning and they had little food and no shelter. During the winter of 1620-1621 almost half of the first inhabitants of the Plymouth Colony perished.

On November 9 of 1621 a second ship, The Fortune, arrived carrying an additional 34 new colonists. The following July, 1623, two more ships arrived, the Anne and the Little James, bringing 88 more colonists including 28 year old Francis Sprague and his two daughters, 6 year old Anna, and 3 year old Mercy. As of the summer of 1623, the 168 surviving residents in the Plymouth Colony are classified by historians as the “Founding Fathers.”

Francis Sprague was a not a Puritan as were many of the original settlers in Plymouth. That is, he did not come to America for religious reasons. It is not clear as to why he risked the voyage especially with two young daughters. We know that he was living in London just prior to the departure and we know that he had lost his wife sometime before 1623. London was an awful place to live in the early 1600s and it is probable that he left for the New World in the hope of making a better home and future for himself and his family. At the time of his death in 1676 he was considered to be one of the most respected and wealthiest men in New England suggesting that his decision to move to the New World was the correct one. Francis Sprague is my great (x12) grandfather and Mercy Sprague is my great (x11) grandmother. I am a descendent of theirs through my grandmother Helen Spaulding on my father’s side of the family.

It appears from what I have learned to date, that Francis and Mercy Sprague were the first of our ancestors to arrive in America. They were followed less than a year later, in the Spring of 1624, by Joris Jansen Rapalje who arrived with his wife on the Dutch ship “Endracht” (Unity) landing in New Amsterdam at the mouth of the Hudson River. I am a descendent of theirs through my Great Grandmother Helen Rappleye on my father’s side of the family. The “Great Migration” into the New World began in 1630 commencing with the arrival of eleven vessels carrying 700 passengers into various coastal ports in Massachusetts, including Boston. Robert Seeley and his family arrived in 1630 as did John Hall and Giles Gibbs and their families. Both are ancestors of my great grandfather Ferree’s mother. Richard Butler and his family arrived in 1633. Thomas Wright and his family arrived in 1635, and Charles Chancey, later to be the second President of Harvard, arrived in 1637. All were direct ancestors of Great Grandfather Ferree’s mother.

One of the reasons that we have so many details of our ancestors arriving and living in our country in the 1600s is due to the fact that the early colonies were highly organized with respect to the governmental management of their settlements. We have court records, birth and marriage records, military records, and records of the purchase and sale of property. Unlike the early Spanish, whose primary reason for being in the Americas seemed to be exploitation, and the French who failed to take advantage of promoting settlement, the English focused on creating well governed groups commencing with early settlements in Virginia and in Massachusetts. This proved in the end to be the right approach. The Dutch also attempted to follow this same approach with their early settlement of New Amsterdam; however, their settlement which was sandwiched between the English to the north and to the south was eventually taken over by the English and renamed New York.

The Puritans in Plymouth Colony were particularly well governed and for that reason we know quite a lot about Francis Sprague and his daughter. We know that they arrived in 1623 and were granted land in the colony. We know that in 1627, the original Company that sponsored their trip to the New World was dissolved (an agreement was made to pay their expenses) and the land was distributed to all 168 surviving colonists included Francis and his two daughters, in groups of thirteen with each group owning 20 acres, one cow, two sheep, and a few pigs. The Pilgrims recorded the distribution of land as the “Division of Cattle.” Parents and children owned equal shares of land and animals. Also in 1627, it is recorded that Francis made an agreement with the governor of the colony, William Bradford, to engage in the fur trade. In 1630 Francis remarried. In 1637 the family moved to Duxbury about 10 miles north of Plymouth and purchased land. Also in 1637 he was admitted as a Freeman, an honor offered only to responsible persons in the colony. History also records that Francis Sprague in 1637 was granted a license to open what may have been the first inn and tavern established in New England. In November of 1637 Francis’s daughter, Mercy, married William Tubbs who arrived in New England in 1630 and settled in Duxbury in 1635. In 1638, Francis Sprague joined the Duxbury militia under Captain Miles Standish. In 1649, Francis is listed as the Surveyor of Highways, a position that he held on several occasions, and in 1649 it is recorded that he was a Constable of Duxbury. Francis Sprague died in 1676, a wealthy landowner and respected individual.

Definitely, as we will see, Mercy Sprague was a more colorful figure than her father. At the age of 17, Mercy married William Tubbs, who was approximately six years her senior. Together they had three children between the years of 1638 and 1654 including the birth of our ancestor, Samuel Tubbs, her first born son. William Tubbs, like his father-in-law, was a respected individual. He was granted Freeman status in 1636, he was a volunteer in the military in the war against the Pequot Indians both in 1637 and again in 1643, and in 1678 he was a Surveyor of Highways. It was also noted in his historical biography that he was a large landowner.

When the marriage of Mercy and William started to fall apart is not exactly known. In March of 1651 several years before the birth of their last child, Mercy at the age of 31, was ordered to appear before the court to answer the charge of “mixed dancing”. The court admonished Mercy for her behavior which obviously was not the norm of the day. Several years later, William Tubbs sold his house “with the consent of Mercy” which was not an ordinary procedure and may have been a precursor of future problems with their marriage. Then in March of 1662, one Joseph Rogers sued a couple for their reporting that they had seen him lying under a blanket with Mercy. He failed to show up at the trial thus implying his guilt, and the court noted his and Mercy’s “obsean and lacivous behavior with each other.” In June 1663, Joseph Rogers was again back in court and this time he was directed to stay away from Mercy Tubbs or risk being whipped. Apparently he and Mercy ignored the court’s order, for in October of 1663 they were both heavily fined after being accused of lying on a bed under a rug. It appears that in Puritan times it must have been difficult to stay away from neighbor’s prying eyes. Finally, William Tubbs sued his wife for a divorce and in 1668 the divorce was granted. William Tubbs remarried. Mercy Tubbs moved to Rhode Island possibly to be with Joseph Rogers, and she then disappeared from the eyes of history. One interesting aside, Joseph Rogers (1607-1678) was probably the Joseph Rogers that arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. Our family may not be direct descendents of a passenger on the Mayflower. We can however, take satisfaction that our great grandmother bedded a Mayflower passenger. There may not be many Americans today that can report this unique family trivia. On second thought, it probably would be better if this trivia is known only to our family.

It might be interesting to trace the descendents of Mercy Sprague Tubbs. Her son, Samuel Tubbs (1638-1696) was born in Duxbury and died in New London, CT. His son, Samuel Tubbs (1672-1713) was born and died in New London, CT. His son, also named Samuel Tubbs (1699-1778) was born in New London, CT and was killed at the Battle of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. His son, Lebbeus Tubbs was born in New London, Ct and died in Southport, NY near Elmira, New York. He also fought as a lieutenant in the Penn militia during the Battle of Wyoming. His Daughter, Lucy Tubbs (1758-1826) was born in New London and died in Southport. She married Lebbeus Hammond (1754-1826) who also fought at the battle of Wyoming and was born in New London and died in Southport. Lebbeus’s father also died during the Battle of Wyoming. We visited the graves of Lebbeus and Lucy in 2005. Their daughter Mary Hammond (1774-1859) married John Sly (1767-1856). Both are buried in Elmira, New York. Their granddaughter, Mary Sly (1844-1917) married Charles Spaulding. The granddaughter of Charles and Mary is my grandmother Helen Spaulding, my father’s mother. And that is the end of the story.

Chapter 1 - The Rappleye Family

History of the Grandfather Clock

Each time that I handle our grandfather clock, when I adjust its hands, crank up its old lead weights, and dust its cherry wood cabinet, I feel a sense of pride and awe at this clock for which I have the privilege of being the temporary owner. The clock is not only an antique, it will be 200 years old in the year 2015, but it is also an heirloom as it was constructed by my great-great-great grandfather Peter Rappleye in the year 1815. The wooden case for the clock was made from a cherry tree and pine trees growing on Peter’s farm in Interlaken, New York, a rural farming area in New York’s Finger Lakes Region. As were many of the early settlers in Farmer Village, the original name for Interlaken, Peter Rappleye was of Dutch ancestry. He could trace his family back to the first Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam who first landed on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in the spring of the year 1624. Peter’s great-great-great-great grandparents were Joris Janssen Rapalje and Catalyntje Trico. Their story is an interesting episode in our family’s history.


In 1609, two years after the English settlers established the colony of Jamestown in Virginia, the Dutch Parliament hired English sailor Henry Hudson to find a northwest passage to India. In this he failed, but in the course of his explorations we know that he sailed into a large bay in Canada that bears his name, the Hudson Bay, and he eventually sailed into the mouth of a large river and made his way up the river to the present site of the City of Albany. The river today is called the Hudson River and Henry Hudson upon returning to the Netherlands claimed the entire Hudson River Valley for his Dutch employers.

In 1623, the Dutch East India Company, a national-joint stock company that was chartered by the Dutch Parliament in 1621 to organize and oversee all Dutch ventures in the Western Hemisphere, sponsored 30 families and agreed to transport them to North America and help them establish settlements on present-day Manhattan Island and up the Hudson River Valley. The “Eendracht”, the first of two ships carrying the colonists departed the Netherlands on January 25, 1624 and arrived in the New World in the early spring of 1624. The second ship, the “Nieuw Nederland”, arrived two months later. History knows the names of only a few of the passengers on the two ships and only four of the identified families are known to have left descendents in the colony. One of these families is the Rapalje Family, ancestors of our clock builder Peter Rappleye. The other settlers appeared to have died in the first few years of the colony or returned to the Netherlands.

While much has been researched about the ancestors of Joris Janseen Rapalje and his wife Catalyntje Trico, very little data has proven to be conclusive. We do know that Joris was born in the year 1604 in Valenciennes, a city which in the 1500s was part of the Spanish Netherlands, and is today located near the City of Dunkirk in the north-east corner of France. While it is not totally clear, it is believed that Catalyntje was born in Prisches, a city located about 30 miles south-west of Valenciennes. Exactly where and when the couple met is unclear but we do know that they were married in the Walloon Church in Amsterdam, Netherlands on January 21, 1624, only four days before they departed on the ship for America. He was 19 years old; she was 18. From their marriage certificate we learn that Joris listed himself as a textile worker, a major industry at the time in both Valenciennes and in Amsterdam. Neither Joris nor Catalynyje could read or write as they simply placed their marks on the marriage certificate. Their parents did not attend the wedding. Catalyntje’s sister was listed as their only relative in attendance. Four days after the wedding they departed on the perilous voyage to the unknown wilderness in the New World.

Why did this young couple make the decision to emigrate to America. Both Joris and Catalyntje were Walloons, a Calvinist sect of the Church similar to the French Protestant Huguenots. During the late 1500s and early 1600s, the Walloons were heavily persecuted by the Spanish which during this period of time ruled most of the Netherlands. They with many other Walloons hoping to worship as they pleased, fled to Amsterdam and Leiden, where the Spanish were no longer in control. It is worth noting that during this same period the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony fame, also lived in Leiden, near Amsterdam, prior to their departure to America in 1620. Joris and Catalyntje were probably recent residents of Amsterdam. Since joining the Guild [trade union] to work in the textile industry required a residency of at least one year, Joris, if he were a recent resident, may have had trouble finding a good paying job in textiles. Historians also note that their wedding seems to have been hastily planned. Normally, after an announcement to wed, the action was followed by the proclamation of banns for the next three Sundays before the wedding could take place. This normal procedure did not occur and they were married on the second Sunday following their intention to wed was registered. We might therefore speculate that Joris and Catalyntje may have only recently met and that their hastily planned wedding was necessary so that they would be accepted as colonists by the sponsors of the planned voyage to America. This observation is supported by the fact that neither set of parents attended the wedding, most likely because there was not time to invite them. Obviously the Church must have been sympathetic to the situation since they overlooked the fact that both Joris and Catalyntje were considered minors and absent of their parents permission to wed. A more romantic but a less likely scenario is that Joris and Catalyntje were young lovers much like Romeo and Juliet, who married without their parents’ permission and then escaped to the New World. While this is an unlikely scenario, it should not suggest that it was an arranged marriage and that they were not in love. They stayed married for almost 40 years until Joris’s death in 1663 and they were the parents of eleven children.

The “Eendracht” arrived in New Netherlands at the mouth of the Hudson River in early spring of 1624. Initially they were to have landed on Manhattan Island but instead the decision was made to take some of the colonists, including Joris and Catalyntje, up the Hudson River to settle at Fort Orange, which is presently the City of Albany, where they were expected to help out in the fur trading operations. Problems with the local Indians resulted in the colonists being relocated in 1626 back to Manhattan Island for settlement. In the meantime, the Dutch governor of the colony, Gov. Peter Minuit, in May of 1626, purchased Manhattan Island from the local Indians “for 24 dollars worth of trinkets”, an event eventually recognized as the most infamous real estate purchase in American history. While still living in Fort Orange, Joris and Catalyntje gave birth to their first child Sara, born June 9, 1625. Sara was the first white child born in New Netherlands.

After relocating to Manhattan Island in 1626, Joris and Catalyntje farmed for several years and then opened a small tavern on the north side of Pearl Street abutting the south-west corner of the wall of the new fort that had been constructed at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in 1628. New York City’s famous “Wall Street” takes it name from this fort and Pearl Street is still to this day a city street in New York City. Joris and Catalyntje operated the tavern and lived and raised their eleven children in their home on Pearle Street until 1654 at which time they moved their family to their large 355 acre farm in Brooklyn that they had purchased from the Indians in 1637. The farm had been used to grow vegetables and flowers that the Rapalje’s sold at their tavern. They remained on their farm for the rest of their lives. Their land is now part of land occupied by the U.S. Marine Hospital in Brooklyn. Their farm eventually passed down to one of their descendents, a John Rapalje. As it turns out, John Rapalje remained a Loyalist during the American Revolution. At one point he was actually tarred and feathered and shortly thereafter left the New York area for Nova Scotia. The farm after the Revolution was confiscated by the government and became part of the Brooklyn Naval Yards.

In the colonial records of New Amsterdam Joris Rapalje’s name is mentioned on a number of occasions. In 1641, Joris was elected a member of the board of 12 men to advise the governor as to what to do about the general Indian problems. This was probably an important issue for Joris as his son Jacob in 1639 was shot and killed by Indians while on the front steps of their tavern on Pearl Street. The fact that Joris was elected to this board shows his important standing among the colonists. In the years 1655 through 1661 Joris served as a magistrate in Brooklyn. Joris Rapalje died in 1662 at the age of 58, two years before the English first wrestled New Amsterdam away from the Dutch. Catalyntje lived until 1689 finally passing away at the age of 84. Together they had eleven children including their 8th child, their son Jeronimos Jorise Rapalje, my great (x8) grandfather. Jeronimos continued to occupy the family farm in Brooklyn until his death in 1702. He served as schepen of Brooklyn in 1673 and 1674 and as justice of the peace in 1689 and 1690. Jeronimos’s son Teunis, born on the family farm in 1671, moved out of Brooklyn with his family in the 1690s to New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It was Teunis’s great grandson, Jeremiah, who eventually relocated his family out of the New York-New Jersey area and it is here at this point, that our story of the grandfather clock has its beginning. The above painting shows the third generation of Rapalje's in America.

Before we begin the final chapter of the grandfather clock it is worth noting how the name Rapalje became Rappleye. It is thought that since Joris was French speaking the original spelling of his name may have been Rapalie or Raparlie as it was spelled on the wedding certificate and the spelling changed to Rapalje when he moved into the Dutch speaking area of Amsterdam or later in New Amsterdam. On the other hand, some genealogists believe that Joris’s father’s name was Jean Rapareilliet and if that is the case the name was simply misspelled or just phonetically spelled as Rapalje by the Dutch. Considering that neither Joris or Catalyntje could read, write or spell and it is doubtful that they would have recognized the correct spelling. When the English language finally replaced the Dutch language in New Amsterdam and the city named changed to New York, the existing Dutch surnames were gradually all Anglicized. Considering how large the family had become over the years it is no wonder that the original Rapalje name evolved in English to become Rappleyea, Rappleye, Raplee, Rapleye, and other variations. By the present time, it is estimated that there are over one million descendents of Joris and Catalyntje Rapalje living in North America.

Jeremiah Rappleye, the great-great-great-great grandson of Joris and Catalyntje was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1742. In 1766 he married eighteen year old Sarah Williamson who like Jeremiah was of Dutch ancestry. Sarah’s ancestral surname was Willemsen and she could trace her family back to her great grandfather Willem Willemsen who emigrated to New Amsterdam in the 1650s. Together Jeremiah and Sarah had thirteen children including our great-great-great grandfather, Peter Rappleye, their third oldest son. All of the children were born in New Jersey between 1767 and 1790.

Prior to the American Revolution the Finger Lakes Region of Central New York State was occupied primarily by Indians. These Indians, primarily Seneca Indians, because they were actively supporting the British during the war, were chased out of the area in the year 1779 by American troops under the command of General John Sullivan. Following the end of the American Revolution the land surrounding the Finger Lakes, primary the land on either side of Cayuga and Seneca Lakes was opened for settlement. Much of the land was set aside for the soldiers who had fought in the Revolution as payment for their services. Many of the soldiers sold their land to land speculators and the remainder of the land that had not been set aside was quickly grabbed up by these same speculators. It became well known that the land around these Finger Lakes was abundant, fertile, ideal for farming and if purchased early enough, inexpensive. No doubt, Jeremiah was attracted to this available opportunity.

In the year 1797 Jeremiah moved his entire family to this then wilderness countryside, via flatboat up the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, making various overland portages, then through Oneida Lake, and finally down the Seneca River into Cayuga Lake. They then traveled by boat down Cayuga Lake and finally on the 15th day of May in 1797, the family disembarked at what is now known as Kidders Ferry. The family then moved overland about five miles to the small scantly populated village named simply “Farmer Village.” The following excerpt was copied from historical records found in the Interlaken Public Library:

“Jeremiah Rappleye, [Peter’s father] who was born at New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1743, purchased the southwest corner of Lot 42, consisting of 100 acres, from Abram Smith on February 11, 1797, and became the pioneer settler of Farmer Village. He died a highly respected resident on October 27, 1827.” Note that the date of the land purchase does not agree with other records that indicate that they did not arrive in the area until May of 1797. I believe that the actual land purchase was made later in 1799.

Peter Rappleye, my great-great-grand father and third son of Jeremiah and Sarah was born in 1776. He was 21 years old when he moved with his parents to the Finger Lakes. The following history was copied from an article found in the Interlaken Public Library:

“Peter Rappleye was born in New Jersey in 1776. In 1797 he came with his father, brothers and sisters to what was then the town of Covert, Seneca County. Two years after his coming, on June 1st, 1799, he, together with his brothers William and Teunis, each bought farms of Benjamin Dey of the town of Romulus, lying on the west portion of Lot #51 [100 acres each at a cost of $375.00 each], and along the highway known as the Turnpike leading to Ithaca, New York. Peter bought 64 acres lying on the northwest corner of the lot, bordering on the east by lands owned by John Kennedy and on the south by William ?. For his 64 acres Peter paid $214.00.
It continues:
About this time [1799] Peter was married to Mary Covert, daughter of Abraham Covert by his second wife, Arian Wyckoff. Abraham Covert came from New Jersey in 1790 with five children, Ann, Joshua, and Cornelius Wyckoff. [Note: One of Peter’s sons was named Joshua Wyckoff Rappleye after his uncle.] He settled on Lot #27 in the town of Ovid. The stepson, Joshua Wyckoff, came into possession of land which Peter later bought, namely, the northeast corner of Lot #50. On January 1st 1806, Peter bought 55 acres of land of Joshua Wyckoff, paying $308.15 for same. On this land now stands the First Baptist Church of Interlaken. This land comprises the southeast portion of Interlaken also. It is believed that here Peter built his first log house. It stood about where now stands the home of Melvin Morehouse. Peter, by selling off much of his original farm into lots, became a well-to-do man and substantial citizen. To three of his sons he gave a farm each, and gave the land whereon stands the Reformed Church parsonage [This church was constructed in 1831 and still exists as of 2004]. On August 20, 1824, Peter and Mary, his wife, sold to the Union Baptist Church, Farmersville, ½ acre, 11 rods, etc. When the Reformed Church was organized in 1830, Peter was one of the first elders, and a staunch and faithful member the remainder of his life. He was a trustee of McNiel or First Reformed Dutch Church of Ovid and a Justice of the Peace and Postmaster of Farmersville from 1815 until 1833. His life was mostly devoted to the business of farming, although for a time he was engaged in the mercantile business under the name of Almy & Rappleye. He died in 1858.” [He died of Typhoid fever, a common cause of death in the 1800s.]

Interlaken was originally named Farmer Village and it is known that Peter was himself a farmer. Peter Rappleye in the year 1815 constructed or commissioned the construction of the grandfather clock that sits in our Florida home today. The clock was constructed from a cherry tree and from white pine trees that grew on his farmlands. He purchased the clockworks from an outside source possibly purchased in the New York area. Considering the quality of the clock construction, we might conclude that Peter may have been a master carpenter although based on the rather elaborate construction of the clock and the special tools that would have been necessary to cut and trim the wood, it is more logical to assume that he hired the construction of the clock from a local furniture maker. Family history [“Memories” written by Asbury Baker] records that our clock builder was “an intelligent man with more than average education for that period, and his services were in frequent demand to draw up contracts, wills and other legal papers.”

Peter Rappleye married Mary Covert in 1799 and following the lead of his father, cleared some land, erected a log house, and reared a large family of five sons and two daughters. Peter Rappleye lived to the age of 82. He left to his children fertile farmlands, and to Farmer Village he gave lands on which were erected churches, the town hall, and a school. Our clock builder, Peter Rappleye, is credited with being the founder and original trustee of the Dutch Reformed Church in Interlaken. He donated the land for the church. The church was constructed in 1831 and still exists today. He and his wife who survived him by 12 years and died in 1870 are buried in the Lakeview Cemetery in Interlaken (see adjacent photograph.) When we visited Lakeview Cemetery in 2004 we could not help but note that there were 100 burial plots under the name Rappleye and/or Rappleyea.

To his eldest son, Joshua Wyckoff, my great-great grandfather born in 1814, Peter left his log house and the farm as well as the grandfather clock. Joshua and his family (he had three wives, outliving two) spent their entire life on the farm. Sometime around the 1850s Joshua had a new log home built near the site of the original log cabin, and it is probable that this is the first time that the clock was moved since its construction in 1815. Interestingly enough, the clock was later inherited by Peter’s granddaughter, Helen E. Rappleye (rather than one of Joshua’s sons), who married Asbury Harpending Baker from Elmira, New York in 1893. The clock at this point passed to the Baker branch of our family and made its second move to Elmira, New York probably sometime in the early 1890s. Following the death of Asbury Baker in 1933, the clock was inherited by his oldest son, Charles Schenck Baker, my grandfather, and it was moved to his home in Corning, New York. In the early 1950s, Charles S. Baker moved into his son’s home in Niagara Falls, New York and the grandfather clock moved as well. In 1956, the son, Charles A. Baker, my father, moved the clock again to his new home in Lewiston, New York. There it remained until his death in the year 2000. It was then relocated to Savannah, Georgia and later to our home in Estero, Florida in 2003. The clock was serviced in July 2003 and again in November 2006. As of 2006 the grandfather clock is in working condition.

Shortly after the birth of their son, Joshua Wyckoff Rappleye on November 15, 1814, Peter Rapaleye started construction of the clock. We believe that the clockworks within the clock, which Peter purchased when Joshua was only three days old, are the original clockworks. This has not been verified although it was suggested by a professional restorer of old clocks that we talked with in Florida, that the clockworks appear to be from the period of the early 1800s. It is noted that the changing of the moon dial has not worked in many years (since the early 1900s) and it is thought unlikely at this point that we will be able to find anyone who can restore the clock. Furthermore, it is probably better not to repair the moon dial if the repair work includes installing new, modern clockworks. Installing new parts verses restoring the original mechanisms, would probably greatly devalue the clock.

The grandfather clock has remained in the family since its construction in 1815 It is not know what damage if any has occurred during the clock’s many moves nor do we know what repair work has been performed as a result of any past damage. We do know that the clock was tipped over in 1950 damaging the glass and wooden parts of the clock’s hood. Obviously some repair work was done at that time although as we learned later, the quality of the repair work was inferior such that it could not be considered as a proper restoration job. For example, the loose wood pieces were reinstalled using modern finish nails and without glue. We also must report that some damage to the clock’s wood finish and veneer at its legs occurred when the clock was in storage in Savannah in 2002 and early 2003.

In early January of 2004, the wooden hood of the clock was given to Jim Freshwater of North Ft Myers, Florida for restoration. Mr. Freshwater is a specialist in the restoration of old clocks and he came highly recommended. Basically, he reglued all of the loose wood pieces on the clock hood, plus he applied new putty around the glass pieces and installed a new brass knob on the door to the clock face. During his inspection of the clock Mr. Freshwater made the following observations. He stated that the clock was obviously handmade and constructed by a skilled craftsman. He doubted that Peter Rappleye actually made the clock wood cabinet himself and suggested that Peter was probably a well-to-do farmer (which was true) and he most likely hired a local tradesman to build the clock’s cabinet. Since some of the frame pieces are attached using tongue and grove jointing he suggested that the tradesman was most likely a furniture builder since this type of jointing was not standard in the construction of clocks. All of the wood pieces in the clock would have been constructed using a planner rather than saws, since saws were not in use in the early 1800s. The veneer on the front and two sides of the clock are made from cherry wood all glued to pine wood. Even the door to the weights and pendulum is made from two glued pieces of pine and cherry. He noted that screws were not in use in the early 1800s. Cut nails were used to hold some of the pieces together although most everything was attached using only glue. The pinewood was obviously cut from the center of the tree so that warping would not occur. He did observe the crack in the bottom front piece and pointed out that this was not unusual in a piece of wood this size. He noted that the cracked section had a spline piece across it backside which may have actually been installed at the time the clock was constructed. He noted that neither the glass nor the pendulum were original. He was not sure that the clockworks were original although he noted that the clockworks were old and may be from the early 1800s. In summary, he stated the clock was wonderfully built and basically in good condition. He suggested rubbing the clock with #0000 steel wool and applying lemon oil. This treatment was done in late January 2004. He strongly recommended against refinishing the clock since this would reduce the value of the clock. He also stated that he believed that the existing finish was the original finish.

As I write the final words in this Chapter, I can not help but ponder the fate of our grandfather clock one hundred years after my death. Will my great-great grandson or granddaughter be still lifting the lead weights each week? I hope so. It would be a terrible loss to lose something so valuable in our Family’s History.