Individual Details

Documents researched in the archives of Amersfoort, The Netherlands, reveal something about the early life of Wolfert Gerritsen for 1611-1623. He first appeared as a baker married to Neeltje Jacobsdocter and was later the co-owner of a bleach camp there. His brother Willem was a tenant on the farm Couwenhoven near Amersfoort.

During the Dutch colonial period, patronymics were generally in use - the name Wolfert Gerritse, indication that Wolfert was the son of Gerrit.

The name Couwenhoven was quite common in the Amersfoort area and is attached to some very old Dutch families. No connection from Wolfert to any of these has been discovered, although many attempts have been made and numerous unsupported claims made. Most of the claims seem to connect to very and influential men - possibly wishful thinking on the part of those making the claims.

It seems unlikely that Wolfert and his sons would later have used the name Couwenhoven unless their father had been a tenant on a farm of that name, not just Wolfert's brother Willem. Tenant documents for this farm Couwenhoven have not been discovered for the time period necessary to see who preceded Willem as tenant. There are records of a Gerrit, possibly a tenant farmer on Couwenhoven, but not proved - he of course could have been the father of Wolfert and William. Records of the family who stayed behind in Netherlands prove that the name Couwenhoven was used in reference to his deceased brother, Willem.

Willem Gerritsz. tenant farmer for Johan de Wijs on the farm Couwenhoven, died before 1622 and was married to Neeltge Willemsdr who was then married two more times. There were five sons: Gerrit Willemsz. Couwenhoven, living in 1656; Willem Willemsz. Couwenhoven who was living in Amsterdan in 1658; Jan Willemsz. Couwenhoven who assumed the contract as tenant farm on Couwenhoved and was deceased by 1656, perhaps even 10 years earlier; Harmen Willemsz. Couwenhoven, living in 1656; and Willem Willemsz. Couwenhoven de Jonge, living in 1656.

15 Dec 1611 Wulphert Gerrits signed an agreement to assume the property and debts of the deceased parents of his wife Neeltgen Jacobsdr. from the other heirs for 100 guilders. He signed with a stylized A. Neeltgen's parents were Jacob Peterss. and Metgen Jacobsdr. Her brother Herman Jacobsz, al signed as did her brother-in-law William Dircx who had married Aeltgen Jacobs. Petergen Petersdr, the underage daughter of Metgen's brother Peter Jacobsz. had already received 50 guilders. In the settlement of the estate of Neeltgen's parents, 8 Aug 1612, Wolfer's profession was that of Baker. Herman Jacobsz was a resident of Leiden - he used the family name Van Es or Nes.

22 Mar 1612, Wulpher Gerristz, who again signed with the stylized A (as he did in all documents) and wife Neeltgen Jacobsdr sold a bleachcamp outside the Coppelpoort of Amersfoort to Henrick Janss. and his wife for 1200 Carolus guilders.

14 Apr 1615 Wolfert took part in an agreement with Herman Zieboltz of Amsterdam in regard to two morgens of turf ground near Cologne. Apparently the Amsterdammer made over a debt on which he could not collect because he was unable to pay Wolfert monies owed.

16 May 166 Wulpher Gerritss. baker, was a witness for the tax evasion of Griet Maes. Willem Gerritsz. miller, also testified - but his relationship to Wolfert was not stated.

28 Oct 1616 The last payment was made on the bleach camp and the property made over to Henrick Janss. and Haesgen Thonis, his wife.

30 Jan 1617 Aert van Schayck and wife Anna Berents sold to Wulphert Gerrits. baker, and his wife a house on the Langegraft in Amersfoort. Wolfert placed three mortgages on this house.

3 Jan 1618 Wulphuert Gerritsz. and wife Neeltgen Jacobs purchased a bleachcamp outside Amersfoort with Hubert Lamertsz. Moll and and wife Geertgen Cornelisdocter as their partners. This may have been his second time to become a bleacher. They borrowed money as partners and separately and assumed mortgages already on the property. There was a not in the margin that obligations were fully paid on 5 Mar 1628.

A bleach camp was a captial intensive and seasonal business requiring many workers. Profits were low. There were three sorts of activities each requiring specialized labor - yarn, woven cloth, or clothing. The material was first cooked in a lye solution and then spread out on grenn grass where it was kept damp. Then it was cooked in a solution of wheat meal and again spread on the fields. The entire process took about three months. Only the wealthiest people would afford this process. It isn't certain which type of bleachery Wolfert had in 1618, but in the sale of the bleach camp in 1612, a sheet table was mentioned suggesting it was a cloth bleach camp. Wolfert would have supervised the work, noegotiated with merchants for purchase and delivered the goods. Thie experience would have been of interest to Van Rensselaer when he was establishing his patroonage in New Amsterdam.

17 Sep 1618, Wulphert Gerritss. baker and wife, contracted another mortgage on their house. Perhaps his bleaching business was no more successful than his bakery had been.

In 1622, Wolfert was made guardian of the five minor children of his brother Willem Gerritsz. Couwenhoven, deceased.

11 Jun 1623 Hubert Moll and wife sold the bleach camp to Welpher Gerritsz. bleacher and hiw wife. Probably this was the sale of their partnership. On the same date Wulpher Gerritss. sold the property to Monsieur Jacques Chies Cuiassier of the company of his Princely Excellency ?Maurits? and the purchaser assumed the mortgages. This is last document found in Amersfoort pertaining to Wolfert Gerritse.

One of the unanswered questions about Wolfet Gerritse is whether or not he had contact with or worked for Van Ressalaer in Netherlands before his departure for America. There are also no documents that indicate any children other than Gerrit, Pieter, and Jacob.

Arrived with his family in Jun or July of 1625 in New Netherland on a ship of the Dutch West India Company in the expedition composed of the ships Mackeral, Horse, Cow, and Sheep. He was one of the Head-farmers sent by the Company and mentioned as one of five men to be allotted the livestock when the ships landed. He and his family occupied Bouwerie #3 on Manhattan.

In 1626, Wolfert's wife was mentioned in a letter from the secretary of the West Indian Company sent back to Holland, "We live here very plainly; if there is anything to be had it is the colonists who get it. It happened one day that the wife of Wolfert Gerristz came to me with two otters, for which I offered three guilders, ten stivers. She refused this and asked five guilders whereupon I let her go this being too much. The wife Jacob Lourissz, the smith, knowing this, went to her and offered her five guilders, which Wolfert's wife again told me. Thereupon to prevent the otters from being purloined, I was obliged to give her the five guilders.

In 1629 Wolfert sailed back to the Netherlands to renegotiate his contract and while there, on 16 Jan 1830, he signed a six year lease with the Dutch West Indian Company for Bouwerie No.6, about 91 acres.

On 16 Jan 1830, Wolfert Gerritsz contracted with the Patroon Killaen Van Rensselaer, to become manager of the his vast estate, Renesselaerwick, along the Hudson River. Wolfert was bound for four summers but Renssaelaer had the right to end the contract after one or two summers. The term of service to be from April to November but it will be necessary for him to stay through the winter. Wolfert was not to trade in furs. He was sent back to New Netherland with settlers, arriving on 24 May 1630.

9 Jan 1632, Van Kouwenhoven wrote to Van Renssalaer in Amsterdam, asking to be released from his contract. On 20 Jul 1632, Wolfert was released with the words, "I had hope that you would have settled in my colony, but, as I am told, your wife was not much inclined thereto"

From July of 1632 until July of 1638 Wolfert operated Bouwerie No. 6 on the north end of Manhattan, although his lease would have expired in 1836.

20 Jul 1633, Andries Hudde sold to Gerrit Wolphertsen, 50 morgens of land at Achtervcit, Long Island

16 Jun 1636 Wolphert and Andres Hudde, received an Indian deed for a tract Kestateus, known as the Great Flat, containing 3600 acres of arable land, much of it meadow. They named their new estate Actervelt, meaning the hindmost field. Wolfert promptly moved to the property, building a dwelling surrounded by palisades which became the focal point of the village of New Amersfoort, later called Flatlands. He and his son farmed there until Wolphert's death.

http://www.conovergenealogy.com/dkcances/dkcances-o/p5.htm#i275
October 31, 2007
A document described as the oldest surviving land deed for Long Island land was auctioned Wednesday for $156,000 in Manhattan.
The deed, signed by Dutch Colonial Gov. Wouter von Twiller at "Eylandt Manhatans" on June 6, 1636, confirms the purchase of 3,600 acres from the Lenape Indians. The land is known as Keskachauge, and constitutes a large portion of present day Brooklyn.
The winning bid was more than three times predicted, and for almost four times the opening bid of $40,000
"It is without question one of the oldest Dutch documents in private hands," said Jeremy Markowitz, head of Americana sales at Bloomsbury Auctions, a Manhattan auction house where the sale took place. "It is the first deed for land on Long Island."
Markowitz describes the deed as one of the earliest examples of private land ownership in the colony controlled by the Dutch West India Company.
"It is amazing it survived, being over 370 years old and preceding the first private land ownership in Manhattan."
Markowitz said the deed was signed a dozen years after the founding of the Dutch colony by von Twiller, the successor to the first and better known governor, Peter Minuit.
"We know from the records of the Dutch West India Company who received land deeds," Markowitz said. "There are only about a dozen land deeds that preceded this one" and they are for tracts north or south of present day New York City.
The 13-by-18-inch document, written in ink in Dutch, confirms the purchase of the land in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn from the Indians by Wolfert Gerritsz van Couwenhoven and Andries Hudde.
The auction catalog carries a price estimate of $50,000 to $75,000 but auction organizer Markowitz said that range was very conservative and there has been a lot of interest from institutions and private collectors.
On the reverse side, there is a reaffirmation of the original transaction in 1658 and signature of another more famous governor, Peter Stuyvesant, who amended it to say the sole owner of the property was Kouwenhoven. The endorsement was a result of the proclamation by the Dutch West India Company in 1652 that annulled all private land purchases and took all the land back
"It came from a private collector," Markowitz said. It has been auctioned several times after being held by the Kouwenhoven family for centuries.
The document has minor soiling and a small hole affecting two words where the deed is dated. The text reads:
"We, director and council of New Netherland, residing on the island of Manhattan at Fort Amsterdam ? herewith testify and declare, that today, date underwritten, before us personally appeared Tenkirau, Ketaun, Ararikan, Awackouw, Warinckehinck, Wappittawackenis, Ehettin, as owners; Penhawis, Kakappeteno being present as chiefs of the district, ? have transferred, ceded, surrendered and conveyed as lawful, true and free possession, as they therewith transfer, cede, surrender and convey to and for the behalf of Andries Hudde and Wolphert Gerritsz the westernmost of the flats called Keskateuw belonging to them on the island called Suan Hacky between the bay of the North river and the East River of New Netherland?"
According to Markowitz, on June 6, 1636, Wolfert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven and Andries Hudde purchased jointly the 3,600 acres. The same day Jacobus Van Corlear bought an adjoining tract, and 10 days later a third was purchased.
Together, these three tracts in present day Brooklyn constituted an area called 'Castuteeuw,' 'Kestateuw' and 'Casteteuw.'" The name is thought to be derived from the Lenape word for "where grass is cut."
The catalog notes "the sale of these lots was a significant event and constitutes among the earliest examples of private land ownership in New Netherland. At the time, it was highly unusual for land to be owned by anyone except the Dutch West India Company." And most land was leased rather than sold.
Colonial records show the first private purchase of land in the colony of New Netherland occurred in 1629, in present day Delaware. The 1636 purchases collectively are the seventh purchase of land in New Netherland, and the third in the present state of New York. The first private land sale on the island of Manhattan was recorded two years later.
Corlear purchased the land for speculation but Gerritsz van Kouwenhoven settled on the westernmost of the three plots and constructed a dwelling and laid out a plantation that eventually became the settlement and town of Flatlands. The pioneer called his estate Achterveldt and his dwelling stood near the junction of Kouwenhoven Place and Flatbush Avenue.

When his son Jacob married in 1637, he used the name Jacobus Couwenhoven:
Jacobus Couwenhoven of Amersfoort residing in the Jonge Roelen Alley, 22 years old, assisted by his uncle Rutgert Jansz, parents still living, marries Hester Jans of Haarlem, 22 years old, living on the Princes' Canal with her mother Lijsbet Setten. Signed: Jacob Couwenhoven

9 Jul 1638, an inventory was taken. The van Couwenhovens had a house set around with long round palisades, the house being 26 feet long, 22 feet wide, 40 feet deep, with the roof covered above and around with plank; two lofts above one another, and a small chamber at their side; one barn, 40 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 24 feet deep; and one bergh with five posts, 40 feet long. The plantation was stocked with six cows, old and young, three oxen and five horses.

4 Oct 1638, Wolphert Gerritsen, aged 54 years, made a declaration before the Secretary of New Netherland.

16 Sep 1641. Wolpfert purchased all of Hudde's interest from the original patent.

In Feb 1643, several of the settlers, including two of Wolfert's sons, Jacob and Gerrit, petitioned the director and council for permission to “ruin and conquer” the Indians. Director Kieft refused their request, but they did it anyway, killing several Indians. A war ensued, which destroyed much of the settlement, a fate which escaped Wolphert because his houses were protected by a stockade and troops. The hostilities ended in 1645, but his eldest son, Gerrit was killed at age thirty-five.

On March 11, 1647, Gerrit Wolphertson (Van Kouwenhoven) received a patent for "a certain piece of land, at the (Ma) Rechawieck, both the maize and woodland, on the marsh of the Gouwanus Kil, between the land of Jacob Stoffelsen and Frederick Lubbertsen, extending from the aforsaid marsh till into the woods, till to the land of said Frederick, till to the land of Andries Huddle, northeast by north, a little northerly, 148 rods: behind through the woods, till to the land of the aforesaid Jacob Stoffelsen, southeast by east 80 rods next to the land of Jacob Stoffelsen aforesaid, till to the aforsaid marsh, southwest a little westerly 165 rods, along the marsh to the place of beginning 60 rods, with an oblique outpoint: amounting in all to 29 morgens, 341 rods." Pattents, GG, 172
This plot evidently fronted on the main road leading from Flatbush, through the village of Breuckelen, which was located at this point, to "the Ferry," and is included in lands marked as G. Martense's on Butt's map. Wolphertsen sold this property to Nicholas Jans, baker, of New York on Mar 11, 1647.

In 1649, Wolfert Gerritszen was listed as a member of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam.

1655 Several thousand Hudson River area Indians go on a three-day rampage in the city, as well as on Staten Island and in New Jersey. Over a hundred Dutch settlers are killed. More than 150 are kidnapped.

6 Dec 1656. Wolfert's wife Neeltje has died, because on this date Peter asked for an injunction against the execution of a judgment obtained against his brother Jacob. Their father, Wolfert, had co-signed a debt of Jacob's and Peter objected to any collection against his father until his mother's estate had been distributed to him and to the estate of his deceased brother, Gerrit.

18 Apr 1657 Wolfert obtain Small Burger rights which entitled him to conduct business in the city of New Amsterdam. He could then supply his neighbors with merchandise, credit, and capital.

20 Oct 1661 seems to be the first recorded instance of reference to this man as Wolfert Gerritsen van Couwenhoven. He was named as defendant in a law suit filed by Frans Jansen in a dispute over a contract in which Janesen was to buy land from Wolfert. Use of the name by his sons occurs numerous times in the New Netherland records.

Sometime between 2 Mar 1662, when an action was recovered against Wolfert, and 24 Jun 1662, when his heirs were sued for non-performance, Wolfert died. His estate was still unsettled as late as 27 May 1664.

Birth	1584
Marriage	17 Jan 1605	Aeltge Jansdocter
Marriage	Ca 1608	Neeltgen Jacobsdr
Death	Bef 24 Jun 1662

Spouse	Neeltgen Jacobsdr ( - 1656)
Child	Gerrit Wolfertsz Van Couwenhoven (1610 - 1645)
Child	Jacob Van Couwenhoven (1612 - 1675)
Child	Pieter Van Couwenhoven (1614 - )

Spouse

Aeltge Jansdocter ( - 1607)

Webtags

Notes