Individual Details

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=hesshogs7&id=I1373
EXCERPT FROM "Historical Miscellanies Relating to Long Island", by Charles J. Werner, Member of Long Island Historical Society, Huntington Historical Society, New York Genealogical and biographical Society, privately printed 1917:
"The Schenck Homestead at Mill Island, Flatlands --- New York State's Oldest House
It is not generally known that the oldest houses in New York State are situated in the city of Brooklyn and are located in the Flatland, Flatbush, Gravesend and New Utrecht sections. Such, however, is the case and at least some of these old landmarks should be bought and preserved either by the city or the historical societies, or even by a society formed for that specific purpose.
The Art Commission of the City of New York has recently taken fifty photographs of early landmarks in all five boroughs of the city, in order that an image of them may be had for future generations in case of their destruction. That this fate is imminent may be judged from the fact that at least three in the collection have been torn down since they were photographed by the commission.
.....One in particular is the oldest building in the State and is known as the SCHENCK homestead. It is located on Mill Island just south of Bergen Beach and was included in the old town of Flatlands.
Jan Martinse Schenck, one of the early settlers of Flatlands, came of a noble Dutch family which had long been prominent in the Low Countries now known as Holland. He emigrated with others of his family in 1650 and six years later erected the house which now bears his name and which enjoys the distinction of being the oldest house in our State, with an age of 259 years.
The property is in a good state of preservation in spite of its great age and at the time of my visit was occupied by a tenant. It is a very good exammple of the farmhouse erected by the Dutch founders of our city. Two stories in height, the windows of the second story on the front are of the dormer variety. Vines completely cover one side of the building and a very comfortable porch looks out towwards the surrounding country.
Looking at the front of the house we are first attracted by the pleasant simplicity of the architecture, which is a characteristic of the early Dutch farmhouse. There is a door in the center leading into a hall which runs to the rear of the house. The door is flanked on either side by windows and the roof is cotninued out over the porch and makes a cover for it. The roof is supported by five pillars. Three dormer windows peer out from the upper story and lend an eerie quaintness to the design. The high peaked roof is surmounted by a single chimney at the extreme end. The old tiles around the hearth are still in place and the sturdy ceiling beams do not show their great age. Some of the beams are held in position by ship's cradles, for it must be known that the Schencks were seafaring men and carried on a brisk trade with the old country.
The vessels owned by the Schencks came in through Jamaica Bay and discharged their cargoes at the Schenck whart on the island near the house. The idea of using Jamaica Bay as a terminal for transatlantic commerce is, therefore, over 200 years old and one can scarcely realize that a considerable amount of trade existed there at such an early date. Flatlands lost that trade by indifference to its demands and a lack of foresight on the part of the early settlers. It is gratifying to know that the project of improving and deepening Jamaica Bay is to receive the attention it deserves and in the course of time the busy hum of commerce will again be heard over its silent waterways.
Jan Martinse SCHENCK willed the property to his son, Martin Janse SCHENCK, whose son, Captain John SCHENCK finally became the owner. His heirs sold the property to Joris MARTENSE of flatbush, who paid 2,300 pounds for the house, mill, docks and about seventy-five acres of land. MARTENSE was a wealthy man and a leading citizen of Flatbush. He secretly advanced $5,500 to the American cause, while ostensibly favoring the British.
.....Joris MARTENSE devised the property to his daughter, Susan, who married Patrick CATON. Caton Avenue in Flatbush is named in her honor. Mrs. Caton willed the property to her daughter, the wife of General Philip S. CROOKE. After remaining in the CROOKE family for some years, it was finally sold to Florance C. SMITH, who in turn disposed of it to a real estate concern. The waterways surrounding the Island were dredged out and the property greatly improved by the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company,, who finally became the owners when the real estate company, having been affected by the financial panic of 1907, deeded it to them on January 14, 1909. The House is still owned by the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company and is occupied, as has been stated before, by a tenant of the company."

Death	27 Aug 1687	Flatlands, Kings County, Long Island, New York
Birth		Amersfoort, Utrecht, Hollan

Father	Martin Pieterse Van Nydeck (1584 - 1650)
Mother	Maria Margaretha Bockhurst (1609 - 1688)
Sibling	Roelof Martense "Martin" Schenck (1630 - 1705)