Individual Details

Note: there is no inscribed marker for Gilbert in this cemetery, and it is not known for certain that he is buried here, but likely. His birth year comes from the date of his baptism, and his death date has not been learned. Though he spent most of his adult life in New Netherland, most authorities agree that after the English took control of the Dutch colony in 1664, that Gilbert came to the Narragansett country of Rhode Island with most of his children, and settled near the home of his father-in-law, Richard Smith, at Cocumscussoc, now known as Smith's Castle, Wickford, RI.

Gilbert was baptized on 25 Sep 1605 at the cathedral in Wesel, Germany known as the Willibrorde-Dom. His name at baptism was Gysbert op Dyck, and he was the son of Lodowick Op Ten Dyck and Gertrude Van Wesek. He immigrated to New Netherland in 1635, "establishing himself on Long Island at Lloyds Neck" according to John O. Austin in his Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode island (p 396). While living in New Netherland, he signed most documents using the name Gysbert Opdyck. He was the commissary at Fort Good Hope from 1638 to 1640, this being a Dutch trading post located in what is now Hartford, Connecticut. In 1641 he returned to Germany for a very short stay, but was back in New Netherland in 1642 when he served as the commissary of provisions for the Dutch colony. The same year he signed a contract with Governor William Kieft for building a church.

In 1644 Gilbert was granted a patent for Coney Island, and the following year he signed a peace treaty with several native sachems, while also serving as a member of the Council of War. In 1647 he was the commander of Fort Good Hope, and in 1658 he was a court messenger. This is the last record found for him, though the predominant opinion is that after the English took control of New Netherland in 1664 that he came to (what is now) Rhode Island with several of his children. His reason for coming to Rhode Island was likely because his father-in-law died in 1666, and his children likely came to lay claim to their inheritance. The family is known to have been in Kingstowne, RI by 1668 when his son Lodowick signed a petition.

Gilbert was married in New Netherland on 24 Sep 1643 to the English woman Katharine Smith, the daughter of Richard Smith who spent time in both New Netherland and at his trading post at Cocumscussoc (now Wickford, Rhode Island). Their first three children were baptized in 1644, 1646, and 1650 in New Netherland, and they had four more children whose births/baptisms were not recorded. Their children were:
* Elizabeth, b. 1644, m. George WIGHTMAN
* Lodowick, b. 1646, m. Abigail NEWTON
* Sarah, b. 1650, m. ________ WHITEHEAD
* Daniel, b. c. 1652, m. Martha ________
* James, b. c. 1654
* Richard, b. c. 1656, killed 19 Dec 1675 in the Great Swamp Fight in Narragansett during King Phillips War.
* John, b. c. 1658

Birth	25 Sep 1605	Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Christen	25 Sep 1605	St. Willibrord Church, Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Marriage	21 Sep 1643	Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts - Katherine Smith
Burial		Ayrault-Congdon-Updike Lot, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island

Spouse	Katherine Smith (1627 - 1664)
Child	Lodowick Gysbert op den Dyck (1644 - 1737)

Notes