Individual Details

Pieter Claasen Wijckoff, who was in this country 51 years, took the Oath of Allegiance in 1687 in the Kings County Province of New York on September 26-30th 1687. From Vol. i., page 659, Documentary History of New York. Flatland is listed as "Fflackland".

Unfortunately, an error has been made in attaching him to parents and a country to which he did not belong, by early researchers. These "facts" have been picked up by current authors and many Internet databases and widely distributed and perpetuated. Likely they will never go away. He was born Norden, East Friedland, Germany - and his name in America was first Pieter Claeson van Norden [from Norden] until he adopted the surname Wyckoff in 1686.

From a Post'em Note on Pieter's WorldConnect file, posted by Perry Streeter, 29 Jan 2013:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=okerson&id=I83335
Pieter Claesen Wyckoff was *NOT* the son of Claes Cornelissen van Schouw
Over 80 years ago, in 1932, Charles Arthur Hoppin (The Washington Ancestry and Records of The McClain, Johnson, and Forty Other Colonial American Families, prepared for Edward Lee McClain; Greenfield, Ohio: Privately Printed; 173-174) made it very clear that Pieter Claesen Wyckoff was not the son of Claes Cornelissen van Schouw, in his chapter, “Claes Cornelissen van Schouw, Meutelaer, of Long Island, New York”:
“Jacob Wyckoff of Middlebush, New Jersey, in a short statement about Claes Cornelissen on page 49 of Volume VIII, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, asserts: (1) that Margaret van der Goos was the wife of Claes Cornelissen; (2) that they were the parents of Pieter Claesen [van Norden] (afterward surnamed Wyckoff); (3) that these three persons came to America in the ship Rensselaerswyck, arriving at New Amsterdam in March, 1637. We find that the Van Rensselaer-Bowyer Manuscripts, giving the names of the passengers in this vessel and a complete account of the voyage, daily, from the departure from Amsterdam on September 25, 1636, to the arrival on April 3, 1637, of the vessel at the colony of Rensselaerswyck on the Hudson River opposite the present site of the city of Albany, does not mention Claes Cornelissen van Schouw or Margaret van der Goos. It is quite certain that neither one came in the Rensselaerswyck or ever lived in the colony of Rensselaerswyck, or was present in America before 1639.”
“That Claes Cornelissen van Schouw, born about 1605, was the father of Pieter Claesen van Norden, who arrived in the colony of Rensselaerswyck with his employer, Simon Walischz, on the arrival of the ship Rensselaerswyck, April 3, 1637, and who on that same day began to draw a man’s wages as an employee on Simon’s farm, is without a particle of record evidence. The idea of any relationship between these two men is untenable guesswork. Nevertheless, Claes has been accepted by some of the Wyckoff family as the father of Pieter, upon the ground that Pieter Claesen’s second name implies that his father’s Christian name was Claes (Nicholas). Claes Cornelissen, found residing in Amersfoort where resided Pieter Claesen van Norden (after 1686 called Wyckoff), has been seized upon as the father of Pieter, notwithstanding that Pieter was at least twenty years old when the first child of Claes was baptized in New Amsterdam in 1640; and if Claes Cornelissen’s solemn declaration that he was born about 1605 was a true declaration, he would have been not over fifteen years of age when Pieter Claesen van Norden was born. Fifteen years before either of these two men came to Amersfoort another man, Claes Cornelissen van Voorhout, was living close to Pieter Claesen van Norden on the island of Papscanee, colony of Rensselaerswyck, certainly without relationship one to another. Norden in German, whence Pieter came in 1636, is about 125 miles from Schouwen in Holland, whence Claes Cornelissen came about May, 1640. A study of the records and associations of both men reveal them to have had nothing in common, and to have been unlike in their characters, social positions, and material circumstances. They never appear in any record in any warranting the suggestion that they were related. No property of Claes Cornelissen van Schouw is found in the possession of Pieter Claesen van Norden, or Wyckoff, at any time, nor did their lands adjoin. Their widely separated homes in the Netherlands and in Germany separate them decisively, and no record in America brings them together as relatives. Notwithstanding these facts, the compiler of a recent work upon the ancestry of Eugene Dorr Felt, has seized upon the published error, and, without investigating it, has repeated it in all solemnity.”
In 1945, William J. Hoffman reinforced all of Hoppin’s conclusions through his own analysis and added the following observations, in his article, “Claes Cornelissen van Shouw(en) Meutelaer and the Wyckoff Ancestry,” (The American Genealogist, 22:70-71):
“… Among the sponsors appearing at the baptisms of the grandchildren of Claes Cornelissen Meutelaer there is not once mention of Pieter Claesz (Wyckoff) nor his wife, nor for that matter are any of Pieter Claesz’ supposed brothers and sisters mentioned as sponsors at the baptisms of his own children… These facts, in my opinion, exclude the possibility of Pieter Claesz belonging to this family group.
“This opinion is further strengthened by the consideration that the records show that on the contrary all the known children of Claes Cornelissen acted as sponsors at the baptisms of each other’s children… one cannot fail to reach the same final conclusion [as Hoppin], namely that there was no connection between them [Claes Cornelissen and his children] and Pieter Claesz who was born at Nordigen (Norden), East Friesland, Germany… and that his ancestry is still an unsolved problem.”
Unfortunately, nearly seven decades later, the ancestry of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff still remains an unsolved problem—in part because so many Wyckoff descendants persist in believing the myth that Hoppin and Hoffman actively tried to dispel so long ago. Today, there are literally thousands of databases in RootsWeb.com’s WorldConnect Project and family trees at Ancestry.com that continue to perpetuate Pieter’s mythical ancestry.
As a Wyckoff descendant and member of the Wyckoff Association, I am sharing this message through multiple Internet-based venues in hopes that exposing this content to all (and to search engines) will prompt greater awareness that Pieter Claesen Wyckoff’s ancestry remain unknown. Through greater awareness, others may be inspired to join the search for his true origins in Norden.


Another file on WorldConnect suggests another possible relative for Pieter without basis in my opinon, but at least it didn't perpetuate Claes Cornelissen van Schouw as his parent.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kad1526&id=I84811

The Wyckoff House and Association was created to promote interest in Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, his descendants, and in the Wyckoff House Museum located in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn, New York. The Association also assembles, publishes, and distributes materials and information relating to them.
The Wyckoff House was built about 1652 and occupied by Pieter and Grietje Wyckoff about 1655. It remained the home of Wyckoff descendants for about 250 years. The Wyckoff House is the number one Landmark in New York City as well as the oldest house in New York State It is also a National Historic Landmark. In 1982, it was restored as a Living Museum to honor the Dutch presence in America.
When the English took over New Amsterdam (renaming it New York in 1664), they made all Dutch take surnames, which had not been Dutch custom. Our Dutch ancestor chose the name "Wyckoff." Most Wyckoff's (in any of the various sixty three spellings) in the U.S. today are descendants of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff. The Wyckoff descendants joined together and saved the original Wyckoff house in the Flatlands from destruction.
Pieter Claesen, founder of the Wyckoff Family in America, came to Fort Orange, Province of New Netherlands, 7 April 1637, on the ship Rensselaerswick. In the log of that ship is the following:
"This ship sailed from Amsterdam, Holland, 25 September 1636, anchored off the seaport, The Texel, 8 October 1636, reached New Amsterdam, New Netherland, 4 March 1637, and Tuesday 7 April, 1637, about three o'clock in the morning we came to anchor before Fort Aeranien, the end of our journey upward."
Note: Van Ressalaer-Bowyer Manuscripts give the names of the passengers and an account of arrival in Renssalaerswyck on the Hudson across from the city of Albany on 3 April 1637, but does not mention Claes Cornelissen van Schouw, or his wife Margaret van der Goos. Pieter Claesen van Norden arrived on that ship with his employer, Simon Walischz and began to draw wages the same day on Simon's farm.
The Rensselaerswick was outfitted by Killian van Rensselaer, a diamond merchant of Amsterdam, who had a speculative contract with the West India Company for the grant of a large body of land near the headwaters of the Hudson River, under which he was required to transport men and animals to the new country. There is no complete list of the passengers on this ship, but among those named are Pieter Cornelissen from Monnickendam, North Holland; Pieter Claesen Van Norden, and Simon Walischez. These three did not remain in New Amsterdam, but went on to Fort Orange. Here Pieter Cornelissen became prominent in the affairs of the colony. He may have been an uncle of Pieter Claesen, although the two are not mentioned together in the records of the Van Rensselaer estate.
Based on Peiter's employment as a common laborer, it would not seem he was related to Pieter Cornelissen. Dutch names in this time period were patronymic - Pieter's father probably named Claes. There's no reason to think he was kin to Pieter Cornelissen who came from a different place, anymore than he was kin to Claes Cornelissen van Schouw who would have been only about age 15 when Peiter was born. That should have been a clue to researchers.
These records show that Pieter Claesen was one of the thirty-eight laborers sent on the Rensselaerswick to be assigned to various farmers on the Rensselaer estate, and that under the date 3 April 1637, he was assigned to Simon Walischez. According to a scorched fragment of the records of the estate, saved from a fire in the State Library at Albany in 1911, he was to receive 50 guilders per year for the first three years and 75 guilders for the last three years. About the time when the contract matured, Simon Walischez' lease was canceled on the ground that he was an unsatisfactory tenant and the final settlement was made by the van Rensselaer Estate. According to the report, Pieter Claesen was 18 years old when he made his settlement with the van Rensselaer estate. Soon after this he rented a farm for himself and married Grietje van Ness, the daughter of a prominent citizen of the colony. Their two eldest children were born in Rensselaerswick, but the church in which were kept the records of their birth and the marriage of their parents, was burned and the records destroyed. With his wife and two children he went to New Amsterdam in 1649. Here he remained until 1655, when he signed a contract "to superintend the Bowery and cattle of Peter Stuyvesant in New Amersfoort" and moved into the house on Canarsie Lane in Flatlands, Brooklyn, now known as the Wyckoff Homestead.
Pieter Claesen prospered and became one of the most influential citizens of the little frontier settlement. He had bought land in that section in 1652 and continued to buy land from time to time, but he never owned the house in which he lived. He became a local judge, something like our own justice of the peace, and was influential in establishing the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church at the juncture of Flatbush Avenue and King's Highway. His remains are said to have been buried in land now covered by the altar of this church. The Wyckoff Association in America, on May 22, 1938, planted a tree in the Churchyard of this edifice in memory of Pieter Claesen and his descendants. On 26 May 1940 the same Association unveiled a bronze tablet inside the church, suitably inscribed in honor of Pieter Claesen.
When the British took over the Dutch colony, they had difficulty with the Dutch names and demanded that the Dutch families take surnames by which could be identified. It was then that the name Wyckoff first came into use. In a roll of those who took the oath of allegiance in King's Co. in 1687, the names of Pieter Claesen and his six sons appear with the surname Wyckoff. The origin of the name is as follows: Pieter Claesen had been a local judge and the name came from this fact, the "Wyk" meaning a parish and "hof" meaning a court. Thus the name would mean Pieter Claesen of the town court. A member of the Wyckoff family, wandering through a Dutch town during World War II, was surprised to see the name Wyckoff on a place of business, which suggests that the name may have been taken because of some old world association. Dr. Max Wickhoff of Vienna, Austria, in a letter dated 20 December 1929, writes that his family came from Friesland in the seventeenth century and that he believes that the Austrian Wickhoff's and the American Wyckoff's derive from the same Friesian gentry, living in the Austrian Netherlands, which then comprised a large part of Holland, Belgium, and East Friesland. He also refers to the house in the province of Drente which is called Hof in der Wijk, or Wijkof. "Hof" would here mean house or farmstead and "Wijk" would designate the locality. There can be no certainty as to which explanation is correct.
There are many spellings of the name, but the original spelling is Wijckoff, and the nearest approach to that is Wyckoff. The others are corruptions that have arisen from carelessness or illegible writing.
Pieter Claesen and his wife, Grietje van Ness, had eleven children, six boys and five girls, all of whom married and had families. The Wyckoff family had a high standing in the Dutch colony, as is shown by the families into which they married. All were families of importance.

Found on a family tree at Ancestry.com
Pieter Wyckoff and his father-in-law Cornelis Van Nes and his mother-in-law Mayken Hendriex van den Burchgraeff are cited in court minutes off and on from 1648-1650. Basicallly Pieter and his in-laws accused the new director of the colony of Rennselaerswyck with cheating Pieter. Evidently, even if these things are true, you may basically be sued for slander for stating this in public. The following are summarized court minutes taken from The Washington Ancestry pg 104, 188-191.
1. 14 Sept 1648 VanNes stated the Director was a cheat & Pieter reported that the Director was no Christian. These events occurred at a public leasing in front of Rev Domine Megapolensis & bystanders. After speaking their piece Pieter and Van Nes walked out while the meeting was in progress and other people also walked out without leasing their properties at the rate the director was proposing.
2. 16 Sept 1648 The wife of Cornelis is charged for slandering Councilor de Vos saying if he had a seat in government he would make them suffer for the insults which they had offered to him. They demand she appear before the council and acknowledge she said too much & that she is heartily sorry, and pay a fine of 6 gilders.There is no record of her ever appearing which seems to indicate that she gave no apology.
3. 8 Oct 1648: Pieter sued by Brant Aertsz van Slichtenhorst, the Honorable Director of the Colony of Rensselaerswyck. Defaulted. fined.
4. 22 Oct 1648 Pieter cited by Hans Vos to fulfil his contract of service. Summoned.
5. 22 Oct 1648 Pieter claims unjust treatment by the Director.
6. 22 Oct 1648 Pieter charged by the Director with the same offense as his father-in-law Cornelis Hendriecksz who called the Director a cheat.
7. 26 Nov 1648 Cornelis is charged with "out of spite threshed out a quantity of oat straw, which is in winter best fodder, and thrown the straw on the manure pile." Demands Cornelis pay a fine of 25 guilders and make good the loss of straw. Cornelis had refused do do this on Nov 18th so on Nov 19th the Director attached the person of Van Nes and all his property, forbidding him to leave the colony: that he should vacate the house and barn next New Year & shortly render to the director a specified account of everything, including the trade, for each year separately.
8. 17 Dec 1648 Cornelis repeates his charges against the director.17 Dec 1648 Pieter & Cornelis regret using vehement language against the Honorable Director
9. 21 Jan 1649 Van Nes: Judgement of florins 150 with interest, also florins 36:15, 2 skins with costs, Judgement on account of the oat straw-with cost-to give security for both. Sentence on account of slander by the wife of Van Nes. Pieter offers himself to be imprisoned as surety for his father-in-law, to satisy all judgements in actions which the Honorable Director may bring against Van Ness, in toto.
10. 28 Jan 1649 The 235 guilders due Pieter from Jan Derricksz attached by the Director as security for the delivery by Pieter of the patroon's horse and the house in as good condition as he received them.
11. 29 Apr 1649 Living with his father-in-law: both summoned & their property attached & ordered to be watched over by Hans Vos to supervise over their property until they shall have rendered their accounts and performed their duties, all on payment of the proper wages to Han Vos.
12. 6 May 1649 Pieter promises to deliver up the house, barn and hay barracks used by him.
13. 17 May 1649 Pieter is assigned by the Director to pay Jan van Bremen florins 266:3 11.
14. 22 May 1649 Pieter is ordered to let Jan van Bremen have two of the strongest horses
15. 22 May 1649 Pieter is released from bail bond executed for his father-in-law
16. 5 June 1649 Pieter and his family left the colony of Rensselaerswyck
17. 13 Jan 1650 Cornelis is summoned to appear on the 29th and is forbidden to tap. (Dispose of the beer he has brewed.)
18. 17 Feb 1650 Hans Vos is granted by the court 100 guilders for his supervision during the past year at the house of Cornelis and Pieter.
Pieter had been at Rennslerwyck for over 11 years and Cornelis and his wife 7 years prior to the arrival of the new director-Director Brant Aertsz van Slichtenhorst on 22 Mar 1652. Their troubles began soon after his arrival and continued during most of his term there. 18 April 1652, under the order of Director General Peter Stuyvesant, Director Slichtenhorst was put under arrest for maladministration and held in custody for 4 months in New Amsterdam before being sent back to Holland.
In 1655 Peter Stuyvesant hired Pieter Wyckoff to superintend Stuyvesant's own bowery and cattle. Soon after Director Slichtenhorst's enforced removal from the colonies, Cornelis was elected raets persoon (councillor) of Rensselaerwick. He served until 1658 and was re-elected in 1660, 1661 and 1663, 1664.

Birth	6 Jan 1625	Nordigen (Norden), East Friesland, Germany
Immigration	7 Apr 1637	Rensselaerswick
Marriage	1645	Albany, Albany County, New York - Grietje Van Ness
Death	30 Jun 1695	Flatlands, Kings County, Long Island, New York

Spouse	Grietje Van Ness (1624 - 1689)
Child	Nicholas Claes Pieterse Wyckoff (1646 - 1714)
Child	Marrietje Pieters Wyckoff (1648 - )
Child	Annetje Pieterse Wyckoff (1650 - 1688)
Child	Willemptje Pieterse Wyckoff (1651 - 1693)
Child	Cornelius Pieterse Wyckoff (1656 - 1746)
Child	Hendrick Claesen Wyckoff (1658 - 1744)
Child	Geertje Claesen Wyckoff (1660 - )
Child	Garret Pieterse Wyckoff (1662 - 1707)
Child	Marten Wyckoff (1663 - 1707)
Child	Jan Pieterse Wyckoff (1665 - 1746)

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