Despite the fact that my DNA test revealed that 63% of my distant ancestors came from Western Europe as opposed to only 24% from Ireland, Scotland, or Wales, and 11% from Great Britain, it would seem that the majority of the stories in my Baker Family Tree blog are focused mostly on my ancestors with English origins. That fact combined with my own English surname of Baker and my mother's Scottish surname of Patterson, makes me wonder if perhaps my DNA test results might simply have been wrong. On the other hand, when I study my family tree on Ancestry.com especially looking back at my many ancestors who arrived in America in the 1600s, I have to admit that a large number of my early ancestors did in fact emmigrate from Europe. It would appear that based on the unusual surnames of my European ancestors and their lack of detailed family histories (as opposed to my English ancestors) plus the fact that many of them ultimately married Americans with English sounding surnames, these issues may have led me to ignore them as subjects of my family history stories. This being the case and to be fair, I have chosen for this current chapter to write about my Bertholf family ancestors, a line of my family tree that originated in Holland. Now to their story.
Guiliaem (Guilliam) Bertholf (1656- ca1726): Guilliam Bertholf was my 9th great grandfather on my paternal grandmother's side of my family. He was baptized on the 26th day of February in 1656 in a small church in Sluis in the Dutch province of Zeeland located in the southwestern corner of the Netherlands. This is the area in the Netherlands that is well known as having large portions of its land below sea level which accounts for it being the least populous province of the Netherlands, a fact especially true during my great grandfather's early life in the Netherlands. Very little is known about the parents and grandparents of Guilliam other than their names and possible birth and death dates and the fact that they too lived and died in Sluis. My 10th great grandparents were
Cryn (Quirinus) Bartholf (1620-1675) and
Sara Van Coperen (1620-1682). Guilliam was their sixth of at least nine children. Guilliam's grandparents (my 11th great grandparents) were
Cristoffel Bertholf (1594-1636) and
Catalyne Backhijus (1598-1639). There is some speculation that Guilliam's great grandparents came from Germany although frankly there is no clear documentation to verify this possibility. We could find nothing about the lives of Guilliam's parents and grandparents other than their possible birth and death years and the names of their children, records that were obviously obtained from local church records.
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| Early map of fortified village of Sluis |
It should not be surprising to learn that Guilliam Bertholf, who was then around 28 years old, with his family left Sluis and the Netherlands for America sometime during or just before 1684. Considering the tumultuous past history of their homeland and the almost continuous religious wars between the Catholic countries of Spain and France and the largely Protestant country of the Netherlands during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, their departure was understandable. Sluis, considering its location on the southern border of the Netherlands and it close proximity with the North Sea, was often under attack. As early as the 14th century the village of Sluis found it necessary to fortify their small town. In 1587, Spanish troops attacked and then occupied Sluis until it was recaptured by the Dutch in 1604. Again in 1606 the Spanish attempted a failed attack to recapture the small fortified village followed later by other failed attempts in 1621 and 1622. In 1672, the village was again attacked this time by the French who fortunately for the residents failed in their efforts to capture the village. Sluis is also well known during this time period as being a refuge town for French Huguenots who were Protestants who had escaped persecution by the Roman Catholics who made up the majority of the French population.
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| Zwin Channel |
There is no evidence to suggest that Guilliam Bertholf nor his father or grandfather had been soldiers or in any way contributed to the leadership or the defense of their hometown of Sluis. In fact, in one of Guilliam Bertholf's brief biographies, it was written that he owned a bakery and was a "cooper-smith," presumably making barrels and possibly shipping his bakery goods to other parts of Holland or other countries. Considering that Sluis during this early time period had been a major shipping port, this occupation would have been a real possibility. Unfortunately, it is also written, that Sluis' strength as a shipping port depended largely on its access to the North Sea via the Zwin Channel, and what was gradually happening, was that the Zwin was getting shallower as a result of the buildup of silt in its bottom. Hence, it was getting more and more difficult for seagoing vessels to make their way down the Zwin Channel to Sluis. It is entirely possible that Guilliam Bertholf and others in this area of the Netherlands, recognized the growing limitations of business development in their area, and they were thus encouraged to seek far greater opportunities, or so they thought, by emigrating to the New World and America. This possibility, plus the fact that many of the families that left the Netherlands were Huguenots who were seeking religious freedoms, meant that there was a strong flow of individuals out of the Netherlands during this time period in history, including of course our Bertholf ancestors. We found it quite interesting to discover that Guilliam Bertholf (Bertolf) was listed in a book named "
The Huguenots or Early French in New Jersey" published in 1955 and written by Albert F Koehler. Mr. Koehler at the time was the Treasurer of the Huguenot Society of New Jersey. Despite the indisputable fact that Guilliam was not French, Mr. Koehler nevertheless listed him as a Huguenot.
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| Early Dutch settlements in America |
Guilliam Bertholf was 20 years old when he married his new wife and my 9th great grandmother,
Martyntje Hendrickse Vermeulen, on the 15th of April in 1675. Over the next eight years or so and before they left for America, Martyntje gave birth to three daughters. Their youngest daughter was still a baby when they boarded a ship bound for America. The name of their ship and the exact date of their departure is unknown. What is probable however, is that the ship passengers were largely Huguenots and the ship landed in what was by then the small village of New York on the western end of Long Island. It is well known of course, that the Dutch were the original settlers in New York beginning around 1613 with the formation of a trading post and then by 1625 the settlement of a new village on Long Island by the name of New Amsterdam (the future City of New York). New Dutch settlements rapidly began to expand in the area as far north as the future city of Albany up the Hudson River as well as into the future states of New Jersey and Delaware. Unfortunately for the Dutch in 1664, the British seized the Dutch colony so that by the time that Guilliam Bertholf and his family arrived in America the land upon which they settled while still largely occupied by Dutch as well as Walloons (Belgians), Germans, and French Huguenots, was then under the control of the British.
Why Guilliam Bertholf is sometimes referred to as a Huguenot is possibly because he and his family eventually settled is an area known as Hackensack in the present day county of Bergen in New Jersey. Hackensack is considered to have been the first permeant Huguenot settlement in New Jersey beginning in 1677. In 1685 however, shortly following the arrival of the Bertholf family in America, the Edict of Nantes was revoked in France. This edict had originally granted the Huguenots the right to practice their religion without persecution, but when this right was totally revoked what followed was a large influx of French Protestants, the Huguenots, into America with large numbers ultimately settling in New Jersey, the new home of our great grandparents, the Bertholfs.
The Bertholf family is believed to have first settled in a community originally named Bergen (now Jersey City) located in present day New Jersey and just across the Hudson River from the village of New York (New Amsterdam.) It was there that he and his wife are recorded as having joined the local Dutch Reformed Church ("The Little Church") on 6 October 1684 and where at least two of his early American born children were baptized. Family historians are a little unclear as to how long Guilliam and his growing family lived in Bergen and some suggest that they soon moved about 15 miles north of Bergen to a small settlement named Acquackanonck where Guilliam owned and operated a small farm. Since most historians also report that Acquackanonck was only scantly inhabited at this point, it would seem probable that the family remained in Bergen. In any case, Guilliam soon met the local Bergen church's visiting minister by the name of Rev. Hendricus Selyns who was so impressed with young Guilliam that in 1690 he offered Guilliam a church job serving as clerk and lay-reader ("
voorlezer") in the tiny congregation in Harlem located just east of New York and across the Hudson River from Bergen. At the time church ministers traveled from community to community and the local voorlezers operated the local churches in their absence. The voorlezer effectively had the duties of an assistant minister.
What is known is that at some point probably around 1692, Guilliam Bertholf was offered a job as the voorlezer in a small local church in Hackensack located just north of Bergen where he soon relocated, purchased land, began operating a farm (for needed income of course), and worked for their small local Dutch Reformed church. Shortly following his recent hiring by the church in Hackensack, a new church opened in nearby Acquackanonk (later Passaic) where he also was soon employed as their voorlezer. This position beside being responsible for keeping the church records and leading prayers, etc. in the absence of the traveling minister, also included teaching school to the young local children. Apparently my great-grandfather was more educated than the vast majority of the local residents and as it quickly turned out he soon became a highly respected leader in his community and in the local churches.
Understandably the local people of Hackensack were not at all pleased with their church being run by an out-of-town, non-Dutch speaking, and mostly absent minister especially now that Guilliam Bertholf was there as their voorlezer and whose theology and politics were both congenial to them. Unfortunately the only way for Guilliam to be ordained as a minister was for him to be ordained by the Dutch Reformed Church back in Amsterdam. This issue was so important to the locals that they funded a trip for Guilliam back to Amsterdam where in September of 1693 he was quickly ordained as a full minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. Guilliam Bertholf returned to Hackensack on 24 February 1694 and his life soon changed.
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| Sleepy Hollow Church |
For the next thirty years Guilliam Bertholf served as the full time minister of the churches both in Hackensack and in nearby Acquackanonk. He is recognized as the first Dutch speaking minister in New Jersey. He also over the many years he served for the church, was responsible for the founding of numerous other churches both in New Jersey as well as a few in New York including the church in Tarrytown, New York which later became famous as the "
Sleepy Hollow Church," featured in Washington Irving's book
Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Grandfather Bertholf became quite well known during his long service and not surprisingly considering his high character, he was a very highly respected individual. A Rev. Dr. David Cole wrote a book in 1894 wherein he described Guilliam as follows: "
His piety was deep, his judgement and tact superior, his grasp of the Bible clear and strong, his preaching reverent and superior, his intercourse with people cordial and magnetic, and his devotion to his work untiring." I am honestly quiet proud to be a great grandson of the Rev. Guilliam Berthoth.
Considering Guilliam's active role within the church we were a little surprised to discover that the exact number of children born to the Bertholf family is unknown. Considering however, that if a child died at birth and before they could be baptized, then a record of their birth could easily have been lost particularly since no birth records, only baptismal records, were being kept during this period of history. What is known is that Guilliam and Martina (Martyntje) had at least eight children including two sons who were both my 8th great grandfathers,
Hendrick Bertholf, who was baptized on 6 April 1686 at the church in Bergen, and
Corynus (Quirinus) Bertholf, who was also baptized at the church in Bergen on the 4th of May in 1688. There are some sources that state that Corynus was born in New York City although this would seem unlikely if the family was at the time still living in Bergen. The last child of Guilliam and Martina, a daughter, was born in 1714 when Guilliam was 42 years old. The exact date and the burial locations of both Guilliam Bertholf and his wife are unknown although it is believed that Guilliam died in 1726 at the age of 69, two years following his retirement. He is believed to have been buried under the pulpit of the original Reformed Church in Hackensack. Considering his highly respected role in his church as well as in his community, his honorable burial within his church should not be at all surprising.
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| Schraalenburgh Dutch Reformed Church 1728 |
Their son
Hendrick Bertholf was 21 years old when he married my 8th great grandmother,
Marritje (Mary) Terhune (Ter Hutne) in the Dutch Reformed Church in Hackensack on the 29th day of March in the year 1707. One has to assume that Hendrick's proud father, minister of the church, was the one who oversaw the marriage of his son and new daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, we really do not know much about the lives of Hendrick and Marritje. Some historians report that they moved to Pompton, New Jersey in 1730 where they purchased 404 acres of land. The land purchase is probably accurate as Hendrick was likely a farmer, although it is unlikely that they moved to Pompton or possibly what is now Pompton Lakes in Passaic County, New Jersey. What is known for certain is that Hendrick Bertholf was one of the many original founders of and donators to the Dutch Reformed Church in Schraalenburgh (now Bergenfield, New Jersey) which was founded around 1723. The original church construction was completed in 1728. In 1631, Hendrick, then around 42 years old, is listed as being one of the early Church Elders. With Pompton being around 20 miles from their church in Schraalenburgh it would seem highly unlikely that Hendrick Bertholf lived in Pompton. In the early 1700s a trip of 20 miles by wagon might have taken at least four hours or eight hours round trip. Incidentally, Schraalenburgh or todays Bergenfield is only 5 miles or so from Hackensack. Together Hendrick and Marritje had 12 children including my 7th great grandfather,
Jacobus Bertholf, who was born in Hackensack in 1717. Hendrick outlived his wife, my great grandmother, by 20 years finally dying in 1766 at the age of 80. Perhaps not surprisingly considering how long ago the family lived, Hendrick Bertholf also outlived eight of his twelve children and most of his brothers and sisters including his brother and my other 8th great grandfather, Corynus Bertholf, who died in 1733 or 33 years before his older brother Hendrick.
Corynus Bertholf, also my 8th great grandfather, is known by a number of names in the course of history most likely because accurate or consistent spelling was not common during this time in our country's history. We have seen his name spelled as
Corymus, Cryn, Crynis, and Coynius, and there are probable more variations although we are going to stay with Corynus. We know that on 30 August 1718 Corynus was married in his father's church (like his brother) to a young 19-year old girl by the name of
Annetje (Anna) Ryerson whose parents had moved to Hackensack from Brooklyn around the year 1707 when Annetje was only 9 years old. We have to believe that Corynus and Annetje obviously met each other in the church although since he was 10 years older than his future wife, it is certainly possible that their marriage may have been an arranged marriage possibly set up by her parents. Just a guess.
While reviewing the history of Annetje Ryerson's family tree, I discovered that her great grandfather was none other than Joris Janseen Rapalje (1604-1662) [
see Chapter 1 of this blog- The Rappleye Family] who just happens to be my 8th great grandfather through another entirely different line of my family tree. What I also discovered that I had not known previously, was that four of Joris Jansen Rapalje's children, Sarah (1625-1685), Jannetje (1629-1699), Jeronimus (1643-1690), and Annetje, Annetje Ryerson's grandmother (1646-1692) were all my great grandparents through entirely different family lines. Wow, we guess we should not be surprised that my DNA reflects 63% Western European ancestry.
Corynus and Annetje Bertholf were to have six children including their fifth child, my 7th great grandmother,
Elizabeth Bertholf, who was born on 26 June 1726. Her father Corynus died at the relatively young age of 45 in the year 1733. Most historical writings also report that her mother, Annetje, may have also died in the same year 1733, and assuming that this is accurate, we might conclude that their death may have been the result of a epidemic that hit both of them around the same time. Unfortunately these causes of deaths were very common during this period of our country's history. When Corynus and Annetje died their six children ranged in ages from 5 years old to 14 years old and obviously following their parents deaths, the children must have been sent to live with some of theirs and their parent's relatives. Exactly which relative or relatives accepted the children is unknown but we suspect that their daughter Elizabeth, then only 7 years old, may have gone to live with her Uncle and Aunt Hendrick and Marritje Bertholf despite the fact that this family already had many children. The reason that we suspect that Elizabeth went to live with her aunt and uncle is that nine years later in 1742 she ended up marrying her cousin
Jacobus Bertholf, son of Hendrick and Marritje Bertholf. She was only 16 when she married her 24 year old cousin Jacobus. They must have been awfully close friends but at least it was not until she was 20 years old that her first son was born, my 6th great grandfather,
Petrus "Peter" Bertholf (1746-1801). Prior to Petrus' birth two daughters were born, one in 1743 and one in 1744.
Unfortunately we know very little about the lives of our married cousins Jacobus and Elizabeth Bertholf including where they lived and what Jacobus did for a living. It is doubtful that they inherited anything much from their parents and most likely they lived on small farmlands that cost little or nothing to purchase. The records for the births of their youngest children including my great grandfather Peter Bertholf, show that they lived in Pompton Plains which is now in Morris County, New Jersey located about 18 or 19 miles northwest of their birth home in Hackensack. At some point however, they moved north into what is now the Town of Warwick in Orange County, New York located about 40 miles north of Hackensack and about 30 miles north of Pompton Plains. Based on the baptismal record of their fifth child, Henry Bertholf who was born in Orange County in 1750, the family obviously moved north just prior to 1750. We found this quite interesting since the first permanent settlers in this area arrived in 1712 and they were my 9th great grandparents,
Johannas and Elizabeth Dumbaugh Wisner. The story of my Wisner ancestors is told in Chapter 12 of this blog. Also early settlers in Orange County, New York were my 6th great grandparents,
James and Susannah Seeley Sayre, whose family's history is told in Chapters 13 and 37. Another earlier settler family in this area were my 8th great grandparents
Josiah and Patience Corwin Vail. It is obvious that at the time of Jacobus and Elizabeth's arrival in Orange County it was possible to acquire large acres of land at very inexpensive prices which undoubtedly motivated them to relocate.
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| Gravestones of Jacobus and Elizabeth Bertholf |
In total Jacobus and Elizabeth Bertholf had eight children born between 1743 and 1763 at least four of whom were born in Morris County and four further north up in Orange County. Jacobus died at the age of 63 on 15 April 1781 and he is buried in the Locust Hill Cemetery in Warwick, Orange County, New York. Elizabeth outlived her husband by around 24 years final dying in 1805 and she too is buried alongside her husband in the Locust Hill Cemetery along with at least four of their children. We found it interesting that engraved on the tombstone of Elizabeth Bertholf is the statement that implies that she was the wife of a Revolutionary War soldier: "Revolutionary War Wife of Jacobus Bertholf." Since this statement is probably not accurate, obviously her gravestone is not the original one. There are no records however, that have been found that might confirm that old man Jacobus Bertholf was enlisted in the Orange County militia during the Revolutionary War although we suppose that it is possible.
My 6th great grandfather
Peter Bertholf married my 6th great grandmother,
Angenietje (Agnes) Vander Bogart, but there is much confusion as to when and where they were married, how old she was when they married, and when their first child was born, my 5th great grandmother,
Elizabeth Bertholf. While the exact dates are not really that important, we find it interesting that there is so much confusion. Grandma Angenietje is often shown as born in 1757 and married in 1768 which would made her only 11 years old when she married, which is ridiculous. Other writings show their marriage in the year 1775 which is more realistic but then they show their daughter Elizabeth born in 1770, which is again ridiculous. What is probably most accurate is that their marriage occurred around 1775 and Elizabeth was born in early 1776. Considering that their second child, Doortje Bertholf, was born in September of 1777, Elizabeth's birth a year or so earlier makes more sense. We did find one source that reported that their marriage took place in Pompton Plain, New Jersey in 1776 although this is very unlikely considering that by 1775 or 76, the Bertholf family was living in or near Warwick, in Orange County, New York and that shortly following their marriage, Peter Bertholf enlisted as a soldier in the local militia preparing for battle in the Revolutionary War. On the other hand, there is another record showing the baptism of second daughter Doortje Bertholf in the Dutch Reformed Church in Pompton Plains so who knows. Pompton Plains and Warwick are around 28 miles apart, a rather long distance in 1777.
As was very common during the Revolutionary War, Peter was hardly alone among friends and relatives who joined the militia forces fighting against the British. Peter was originally commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Fourth Orange County Militia on 22 September 1775 followed by a raise to Captain on 19 February 1778, quite an honor. Also in the same militia was the future father-in-law of his daughter Elizabeth, one Lieutenant Colonial
Henry Wisner (1742-1812), my 6th great grandfather, as well as two of Peter's younger brothers, Ensign Henry Bertholf, and Crines Bertholf. There were also at least four of his Bertholf cousins in this same militia as well as dozens of his close friends. Exactly which battles Peter may have fought in is speculative although it is known that the Fourth Regiment engaged in the Battle of White Plains in 1776, and in their disastrous loss at the Battle of Minisink fought near their home on July 22nd of 1779. In this engagement around 48 of their 120 militia soldiers were killed as opposed to only around a half-dozen or so killed who were fighting with the British forces which consisted of around 60 Iroquois Indians and 27 British Tories. Obviously Peter's group was not well trained and lacked experience which was not that uncommon for the American militia soldiers fighting during the American Revolution. Thank goodness for George Washington and his full time, professional forces. Following the Battle of Minisink Peter Bertholf's militia was pretty much dissolved or at least no more engagements were fought by them as the major war battles trended southward with the war effectively ending following the Battle of Yorktown and the British defeat in October of 1781.
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Gravestone Peter Bertholf
Unionville Cemetery
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Obviously Peter Bertholf's engagements in the Revolutionary War did not take him to far from home since besides the birth of his daughter Elizabeth around 1776, his daughter Doortje was born in September of 1777, and his daughter Mary around 1779 or 1780. Clearly his battle loss in July of 1779 did not affect his sex life and in total Peter and Angenietje had six children. Following the war it is unclear what Peter did for a living although based on his role as a captain during the war, he was probably well respected in his community. He may have at some point owned a farm near Unionville in Orange County for it is in a small cemetery in Unionville where my great grandfather was buried following his death at the age of 54 on 14 December 1801. Unionville is also in Orange County located about 12 miles northwest of Warwick where his parents and some of his siblings are buried. Where Grandma Angenietje is buried is unknown although she did outlive her husband by some 20 years and most likely she too is also buried in the Unionville Cemetery.
While we do not know the exact birth year of
Elizabeth Bertholf we do know that she married
John Wisner on 16 May 1790 and 14 months later their first child was born at their home in Minisink, located near the homes of both her in-laws and her parents. Her father-in-law was
Henry Wisner who was not only one of the leaders of her father's Revolutionary War militia unit but he and his wife,
Susannah Goldsmith Wisner, my 6th great grandparents, were also most likely good friends of both of Elizabeth's parents. John and Elizabeth Wisner had nine children together all of whom were born in Minisink in Orange County. Unfortunately we uncovered almost nothing about John's and Elizabeth's life other than John was reported to be a farmer and that he died at the relatively young age of 40 in the year 1811. Elizabeth died in 1843 outliving her husband by 32 years. Their sixth son and my 4th great grandfather was
Henry Wisner. Chapter 12 of this blog continues the story of this line of my family tree forward:
4th Great Grandparents: Henry Wisner m Maria Smith
(1801-1862) (1804-1897)
3rd Great Grandparents: Henry C. Spaulding m Clara A. Wisner
(1812-1902) (1822-1906)
2nd Great Grandparents: Charles H. Spaulding m Mary Catherine Sly
(1841-1875) (1844-1917)
Great Grandparents: Henry C. Spaulding m Ella McBlain Reynolds
(1863-1889) (1863-1935)
Grandparents: Charles S. Baker m Helen Mary Spaulding
(1885-1952) (1887-1937)
Parents: Charles A. Baker m Marian C. Patterson
(1916-2000) (1916-1973)
Living Generation: Charles Asbury Baker Jr. (1942- )
Anne Baker Fanton (1943- )
Joan Baker (1950- )
And so ends another family history story . . . .
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