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The Holland Society of New York 122 EAST 58th STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y. 10022

President:

Col. Walter E. Hopper, Jr.

Advisory Council of Past Presidents: Henry E. Ackerson, Jr. Thomas M. Van der Veer Bruce S. Cornell John de C. Van Etten Col. Leigh K. Lydecker Walter H. Van Hoesen William T. Van Atten Dr. Harold O. Voorhis

Reynier J. Wortendyke, Jr.

Vice-Presidents: New York County Ralph L. DeGroff, Jr. Long Island William E. DeBevoise Dutchess County Alfred Hasbrouck Ulster County Earle H. Houghtaling, Jr. Old Bergen County, N. J Frank B. Vanderbeek, M.D. Essex County, N. J Robert C. Lydecker Union County, N. J Frank A. Van Winkle, Jr. Connecticut Col. Eric F. Storm, USA (Ret.) New England John O. Outwater Mid West Merlin W. Dutcher Potomac „.. Perry B. Van Vleck United States Army Gen. Cortlandt V. R. Schuyler, USA (Ret.) United States Navy Captain Rodman de Kay, USNR (Ret.) United Slates Air Force Lt. Col. Arthur B. Van Buskirk, USAF (Ret.) United States Marine Corps Col. Arthur J. Poillon, USMC

Treasurer: Domine: Secretary; William F. Van Tassel Rev. Dr. Ernest R. Palen Anthony D. Hoagland

Associate Domine:

Rev. Dr. Howard G. Hageman

Trustees:

Richard H. Amerman (1969) John A. Pruyn (1971) James H. Blauvelt (1970) Julian K. Roosevelt (1972) Albert O. Bogert (1970) J. Cornell Schenck (1969) Frederick W. Bogert (1972) Gen. C.V.R. Schuyler, USA, Ret. (1972) Hendrik Booraem, Jr. (1970) Frank B. Vanderbeek, M.D. (1971) Charles M. Brinckerhoff (1971) James G. Van Derpool (1971) Ralph L. DeGroff (1969) John H. Vanderveer (1972) Robert G Goelet (1970) Charles A. Van Patten (1969) Merle A. Gulick (1972) Kendrick Van Pelt, Jr. (1971) Earle H. Houghtaling, Jr. (1970) Adrian Van Sinderen, Jr. (1969)

Wilfred B. Talman, Trustee Emeritus

Editor: Richard H. Amerman

Editorial Committee: Frederick W. Bogert Walter H. Van Hoesen Ralph L. DeGroff Elmer G. Van Name Voorhis D. Demarest Charles A. Van Patten Rev. Dr. H. G. Hageman Adrian Van Sinderen, Jr. Clayton Hoagland Philip Van Wyck David S. Quackenbush Dr. Harold O. Voorhis Lewis B. Sebring, Jr. Elmer B. Vliet Wilfred B. Talman George O. Zabriskie

Burgher Guard Captain:

L. George Van Syckle

Executive Secretary: Mrs. Gano R. Bailey

Organized in 1885 to collect and preserve information respecting the settle­ment and early history of the City and State of New York; to perpetuate the memory, foster and promote the principles and virtues of the Dutch ancestors of its members; to maintain a library relating to the Dutch in America; and to prepare papers, essays, books, etc., in regard to the history and genealogy of the Dutch in America.

The Society is principally comprised of descendants in the direct male line of residents of the Dutch Colonies in America prior to or during the year 1675. Inquiries respecting the several criteria for membership are invited.

De Halve Maen, published quarterly by the Society in April, July, October and January, is entered at the post office at New York, N. Y. Communications to the editor should be directed to the Society's address, 122 East 58th Street, New York 10022, telephone PLaza 8-1675.

Editor's Corner In this number the first article appears

in a series entitled "The Founding Families of New Netherland," written by the well known genealogist and our fellow-member, George O. Zabriskie. While it is not ex­pected that later articles will come out in consecutive issues, we propose to use this heading to identify up-to-date genealogical studies of old Dutch families for a long time. Purpose of the series is to clarify in the light of modern research the older data which in several instances are understood to reflect incomplete or even erroneous in­formation. Ideas and comment regarding the series are cordially invited from mem­bers and other interested persons.

In donating to the Society a six-volume set of rare books, "Kabinet Nederlandsche en Kleefsche Outheden," published in Hol­land in 1727-32, Trustee Van Patten has performed a service of permanent value. For these volumes contain some 300 en­gravings of scenes in Dutch municipalities as they looked when our 17th century fore­bears departed to come to America. Members will find the pictures of engrossing interest, and should make it a point to inspect them. From the pictorial matter and accompanying text, some of it already admirably trans­lated by Mr. Van Patten, we think some fine articles for de Halve Mein should be prepared by or for members on their an­cestral towns and villages. An example of such a write-up, about Petten, appeared in the April 1967 issue. The material is now available in profuse detail; one hopes that good use will be made of it.

Welcome evidence of timely success in saving famous old houses from damage or destruction is to be observed on Pages 2 and 3 of this issue. We wish to commend Mayor John Vliet Lindsay and the Wyckoff Association on steps taken to protect the Wyckoff House in Brooklyn, and the Co­lumbia County Historical Society in re­storing the Van Alen House at Kinderhook, N . Y., to pristine grace and dignity from the sad condition depicted when a feature article about the house was published in the October 1963 issue of this magazine.

Many of the active Branches plan to hold outings or dinner meetings during the Summer and early Fall, although in but few instances are dates and places firm now. Mid West is to meet at Portage, Wis., August 24 and in Madison, Wis., October 18, while the Burgher Guard picnic is set for Beemerville, N . J., October 5. Members in other areas may expect to receive notices in due course of Branch functions believed likely to take place about as follows: Union County and Vermont — July or August ; Potomac — late summer; Long Island — early September; Dutchess — early October; Old Bergen — October; and Ulster — late October or early November.

DC

HALVE MAEN

VOL. XLIII • N o . 2 JULY, 1968 • N E W Y OR K CITY

S T A D T H U Y S R E S E A R C H P R O P O S E D FOR P U B L I C A T I O N I N COLLECTIONS SERIES

When the projected Stadt Huys restoration down­town was shelved in May, the merit of making a permanent record of important work done for it became apparent. Through the good offices of Trustee James G. Van Derpool, and with unanimous board approval, feasibility studies have been initiated with a view to publishing in the "Collections" series a meticulously documented study of the historical and architectural features of the building which was New York's first City Hall from 165 3 to 1699.

Representing years of expert research by Mrs. Regina Kellerman of New York from original 17th century sources, the study consists of about 100 pages of text, footnotes and extensive pictorial matter. The special committee in charge, which hopes to issue a subscription circular by early Fall, consists of Trustee Van Derpool, former chairman of the New York City Landmarks Commission, and Trustees F. W. Bogert, Talman and Amerman.

TRUSTEES, VICE PRESIDENTS CONFER AS ANNUAL JOINT MEETING IS HELD

Action on proposals to admit a diplomatic class of members and to publish an historical study in the Society's Collections series highlighted the annual joint meeting of the trustees and vice-presidents held with President Hopper presiding at the Union Club of New York, Thursday, June 13. The board also accepted with pleasure a gift from Trustee Goelet, approved Burgher Guard medal awards, heard reports from of­ficers, committee chairmen and Branch representatives, and elected 13 new members.

After their business meeting the conjoint session con­tinued with the vice-presidents as the trustees' guests at dinner served in the Club's private dining room. In these proceedings, also marked by lively interest and enthusiasm, the group heard three notable addresses on matters of current national concern. Associate Domine Hageman spoke on the youth of America; Domine Palen on the problem of violence, and General Schuyler on the war in Vietnam.

Amendment of the Society's Constitution (Ar t . Ill , Sec. 1) is envisaged by the suggested admission, as diplomatic members free of {ees and dues, of present and past Netherlands Ambassadors to the United States and United Nations, and Netherlands Consuls General

(Continued on Page 2)

Hopper Elected to Third Term as President of the Holland Society

Walter E. Hopper, Jr., New York lawyer and Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve, received a rarely accorded accolade when unanimously voted a third term as Society Presi­dent at the Annual Meeting held in the Union Club here Monday, May 6. Besides naming five Trustees and 15 Vice Presidents, the members also re-elected Anthony D. Hoagland, Secretary; William F. Van Tassel, Treas­urer, and the Rev. Drs. Palen and Hageman, Domines.

In accordance with the traditional order of events, the meeting came to order as Captain Van Syckle led Burgher Guard parades of the Colors and Beaver. Presi­dent Hopper extended cordial greetings to the audience, welcomed new members individually while presenting them with orange rosettes, and cited former Trustee Joseph E. Hasbrouck, Jr., elected to the Society in 1919, as the most senior member present. Officers' reports were offered and the necrology read.

The slate proposed by Trustee Blauvelt for the Nomi­nating committee was then presented, and, with Trustee Amerman acting as chairman of election, was duly voted into office. Col. Hopper thereby became the fifth President to gain a third term, an honor previously won only by Hooper C. Van Vorst (188 5-90), Seymour Van Santvoord (1916-19) , Harold O. Voorhis (1947-50) , and Louis B. Vreeland (1962-65) . Heartily ap­plauded, too, was the election as Trustee Emeritus of Wilfred B. Talman, a board member for 36 years.

For their united efforts in making the past year strikingly successful, Col. Hopper expressed warm ap­preciation to his fellow officers, the trustees, Burgher Guard, Branches and Executive Secretary. Noting the expanded membership program which has proven pro­ductive beyond expectations, and the excellence of Society functions, he urged cordial support of events to come, especially the Banquet at which W. Averell Harriman is to be the Medalist next fall.

Other highlights were presentations to the Society of a set of 18th century Dutch books by Trustee Van Patten and of a check for the Scholarship Fund, its amount augmented later that evening, from Old Bergen members. Also warmly applauded at dinner after the business session was the introduction of new trustees, the speech of former President Van Hoesen, and an­nouncement that eight Vliets were present, most ever to represent a family at an Annual Meeting.

[ 1]

28th Memorial Service Is Held Before a congregation which included President

Walter E. Hopper, Jr., and many members with their families, the Rev. Dr. Ernest R. Palen, Domine of the Society and pastor of the Middle Collegiate Church of New York, officiated at the Society's 28th annual mem­orial service at the church Sunday morning, April 21 .

The commemorative service in the historic Dutch church, originally founded in 1729, was in tribute to 3 0 members deceased during the past year whose names were read by President Hopper. Flags of the Society were borne in the procession by Burgher Guardsmen under the direction of Captain L. George Van Syckle.

Text of Dr. Palen's sermon was taken from Matthew 4:10, "Then saith Jesus unto the devil, get thee hence Satan, for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord Thy God and Him only shalt thou serve." From this crucial confrontation and His rejection of temptation so as to follow the path of God, we learn the lesson of spiritual power over material weakness.

This is not to say that material things are without place in Christian living. But we tend to forget how easily man can become enslaved by money and posses­sions. Indeed, evidence accumulates that "Easy come, easy go" are the watchwords of the day. It seems pain­fully clear that people in many segments of our affluent civilization have fallen for the tempter's bait.

Thus, in a recent issue of a respected New York daily newspaper one reads almost disbelievingly of the "imagi­native" ways some of the very rich find to spend their wealth: on sports cars as luncheon favors, $145 for a pair of shoes, thousands of dollars for a 12-year-old's birthday party. This kind of irresponsible stewardship of God's blessings epitomizes the lack of a real sense of social responsibility, which the world so greatly needs.

But surrender to material temptation is equivalent to rejecting one's Christian heritage and the moral in­tegrity and serenity that faith brings. We should con­sider physical and material things as Jesus did, as their master. Let us therefore use each day of our lives to cultivate the way that He lived, and thereby absorb anew the lesson that in spiritual power lies command over the material temptations of life.

After the service the "coffee hour" and reception customarily held to give Society members an oppor­tunity to meet clergy and parishioners, took place in the Church House.

W Y C K O F F H O U S E S A V E D F R O M V A N D A L S To protect the pre-1641 Wyckoff Homestead of

Brooklyn from vandalism, Mayor John Vliet Lindsay last month instructed the City Highways Department to build a high wire fence around the property. The house, although occupied, recently was broken into and also was stripped of several of its cypress shingles.

In issuing his order, Mayor Lindsay, as reported in The New York Times of June 3, declared: "To let the oldest building in New York deteriorate would be un­conscionable. To lose it through neglect would be tragic. It is part of the living tradition of New York City and the heritage of the nation."

Built in Wouter Van Twiller's time, the Homestead was long occupied by Pieter Claesen Wyckoff and his descendants. Since 1962 it has been owned by the Wyckoff Family Association and the Wyckoff House Foundation.

TRUSTEES AND V.P.'s MEET (Continued from Page 1)

in this country. After discussion the board approved the proposal, which upon due notice will go before the membership for decision in a general meeting of the Society at the earliest practicable date.

Besides presenting on behalf of Trustee Van Derpool and himself the concept of a Collections publication, as noted in more detail on Page 1, Trustee Amerman re­ported on activities of the Publications committee re­garding the magazine. He also expressed regret at tardy delivery to members of the last issue. Although pub­lished and ready to mail April 30, it had been delayed by administrative error which in view of corrective steps taken should not recur.

Received with appreciative thanks was Trustee Goelet's gift of about $1200 to advance the Library committee program. In announcing this donation, Treas­urer Van Tassel also reported Society finances in good condition but urged upon committee chairmen the utmost care in disbursing funds. In a related report, Finance Chairman Van Sinderen noted with pleasure the increase in portfolio values since March.

With Medalist-elect W. Averell Harr iman intensely occupied at Paris as principal U.S. negotiator with Hanoi representatives to bring about peace in South Vietnam, President Hopper pointed out in the absence of Banquet Chairman Vanderbeek, who was ill, that a date for the 84th Annual Banquet next Fall had not yet been determined. The progress of events is being closely followed with a view to deciding upon a time and place as soon as possible, he said.

Upon recommendation of the Burgher Guard execu­tive committee, unanimous approval was voted awarding three Guardsmen "The Presidents' Award," or Service Medal, for their outstanding services. Those honored are Captain Van Syckle, Lt. J. H . Vander Veer, Jr., and Adjt. E. H . Houghtaling, Jr. In other actions the board approved appointment of Special committees for Junior membership activities and the structuring of regular standing committees.

Warm applause greeted the Vice Presidents' reports, especially that presented by Merlin W. Dutcher, of the Mid West Branch, who had travelled from Minneapolis to attend. Other Branch representatives who spoke were Robert C. Lydecker, Essex County; William E. De-Bevoise, Long Island; Ralph L. DeGroff, Jr., New York County; Trustee Van Pelt, Old Bergen County; Trustee DeGroff, Potomac; Kenneth E. Hasbrouck, Ulster County, and Frank A. Van Winkle, Jr., Union County.

Trustee Frederick Bogert of the Genealogy com­mittee offered the names of 13 candidates, of whom four (*) come within the By Law providing deferred life membership upon admission under the age of 18. With cordial unanimity the board accordingly elected those whose names and addresses follow: *APPLETON FRYER, Jr., Buffalo, N. Y. *DANIEL KENEFICK FRYER, Buffalo, N. Y *ROBERT LIVINGSTON FRYER, Buffalo, N. Y. Capt. GORDON LARIMORE GRAY, Jr., USN,

Alexandria, Va. CHARLES EDO KIP, Chapel Hill, N. C. JAMES YOUNG SNEDECOR, New York, N. Y. ALEXANDER VAN PELT, Wayne, Pa. ANDREW VAN PELT, Radnor, Pa. CHARLES B. P. VAN PELT, Radnor, Pa. JOHN VAN PELT, Bryn Mawr, Pa. JOSEPH K. T. VAN PELT, Bryn Mawr, Pa.

•CORNELIUS ADRIAN COMSTOCK VERMEULE, Cambridge, Mass.

DAVID BAUSMAN VOORHEES, Buffalo, N. Y.

[ 2 ]

Branch Meetings: Restoration of Van Alen House M I D W E S T B R A N C H L U N C H E O N . — T h i s an­

nual spring event was held at the Chicago Club, Chi­cago, 111., May 3, with Branch President Merlin W. Dutcher of Minneapolis presiding. The Branch was honored by the presence of the newly appointed Nether­lands Consul General to Chicago, J. C. van den Berg, and his deputy, H . J. Tadema Wielandt, a Branch friend of many years.

In addition to enjoying good fellowship and an inter­esting report from Branch Treasurer Francis R. Schanck giving highlights of the recent Society dinner to Henry Fonda in New York, Branch member F. Walter Van Epps invited members and wives to his home in Portage, Wisconsin, for a summer outing on Saturday, August 24. His invitation was gladly accepted.

The idea of holding the Annual Branch Dinner this Fall in Madison, Wis., was readily approved. The date of Friday, October 18, was set with Branch Vice Presi­dent W. Scott Van Alstyne in charge of arrangements. This will be the first time in 14 years, or since the Branch was formed in 19 54, that the annual dinner is to take place outside of Chicago.

Others present were Ellsworth B. Cregier, Alan M. Deyoe, Wesley Hardenbergh, Ar thur J. Heyer, Lee H . Ostrander, Jr., Waldo Van Valkenburgh and Branch Secretary Elmer B. Vliet.

ULSTER ELECTS HASBROUCK.—Kenneth E. Hasbrouck, historian and genealogist, succeeded Earle H . Houghtaling, Jr., as Branch president at the annual election dinner meeting held with 51 members and guests present at Williams Lake Hotel, Rosendale, N . Y., Saturday, May 10. To serve with him the group chose Dr. Virgil B. DeWit t , Lloyd R. LeFever and E. H . Houghtaling, Jr., vice-presidents; Howard A. DeWit t secretary, and Richard W. Lent treasurer. Mr. Hough­taling presided.

After a reception featuring Poucher's Punch, the proceedings at dinner began with an address of welcome by the chairman. Toasts proposed to The Queen and The President were drunk with hearty good will. Among visitors introduced who spoke briefly were Trustees Amerman, Van Derpool and Van Pelt, and Guard Cap­tain Van Syckle. In a short business session, the mem­bers besides electing officers adopted a resolution that Ulster Branch presidents should hold office for no more than two consecutive years.

The principal speaker, J. Fletcher Hurs t , in World War I an attache with the U.S. Embassy in Petrograd (now Leningrad) who witnessed the Bolshevik drive to power in 1917, gave an on-the-spot account of events during the Russian Revolution. Mr. Hurs t , president­elect of the Wayne County, Pa., Historical Society, attributed the communist takeover to several factors, among them failure of the Brusilov offensive, the fanati­cism of Lenin and his handful of followers, and their seizure of virtually all means of communication.

Others present were Mr. and Mrs. Roy Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. David T. Brink, Mr. and Mrs. Huber t Brink, Mr. and Mrs. Huber t Brink, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Joel B. Brink, Mr. and Mrs. Addison Crowell, Mr. and Mrs. James Crowell, John Delamater, Edward P. Demarest, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Deyo, C. Chester DuMond, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Elliott, former Trustee and Mrs. Joseph E. Hasbrouck, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Joseph O Hasbrouck.

(Continued on Page 12)

Work shown in advanced stage, since completed, to restore 1737-built Dutch farmhouse near Kinderhook, N. Y., said to be the locale of Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepv Hollow. Story's "Headless Horseman" shown in foreground.

One of the finest examples of Dutch colonial archi­tecture in the Hudson Valley, and famed for its asso­ciations with Washington Irving, the Van Alen House built in 1737 near Kinderhook, N . Y., has been restored through a $100,000 project undertaken by members and friends of the Columbia County Historical Society. Declared a National Historic Landmark early this year, the House is now open to the public.

Witnessing the ceremonies May 24, when Charles Peterson of the National Park Service presented the official plaque which certifies the House as an historical monument, was an assemblage of persons whose efforts helped bring about the restoration.

Among them, besides many others, were William C. Van Alen, Philadelphia architect, who contributed the House, land, and substantial funds; Dr. L. L. Tucker of the State Department of Education; Robert C. Cul-len, president of the Columbia County Historical So­ciety and Mrs. Edward O. Dorman, the curator. The property, previously in ruinous condition from vacancy for over three decades, had been purchased by Mr. Van Alen a number of years ago to preserve it.

Standing on land acquired in 1721 by Lucas Van Alen, a descendant of the Dutch colonist Laurens Van Alen, the southern part of the House was built by Lucas for his bride. About 12 years later the northern part was added, of two rooms, open attic and chimney, the juncture-seam showing plainly on the above photo. The last Van Alen occupant, Mrs. William Herrick, nee Maria Van Alen, lived there until about 193 5.

Its association with Washington Irving goes back to 1809 (his "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" came out ten years la ter) , when the author paid a long visit to the Van Ness family of Kinderhook, whose house later became "Lindenwald," the home of Martin Van Buren. The region then was peopled by descendants of the early Dutch, and Irving came to know them well.

His description of a Dutch farmstead is believed based on the Van Alen property. Tradition also holds that the original of Katrina Van Tassel was Helena Van Alen, or an older sister. In 1846 former President Van Buren, in his own hand, deposed that the Kinderhook school­master Jesse Merwin was the prototype of Ichabod Crane.

[ 3 ]

HERE AND THERE WITH MEMBERS Donald B. Kipp was recently elected Secretary of

the New York Yacht Club. Dr. Elmer G. Van Name in May became Presi­

dent of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New Jersey.

Rufus C. Van Aken and John G. Lowe in May were re-elected as Councillors of the Long Island His­torical Society.

Raymond F. Dey was recently elected assistant his­torian of the St. Nicholas Society of the City of New York.

Kenneth E. Hasbrouck spoke before the High Falls, N . Y., Civic Association March 17 on Ulster County history from Dutch times in the area of High Falls, a community which is to celebrate its tercentenary next year.

George O. Zabriskie during August is to conduct a 20-session seminar on genealogical research pertaining to the early Dutch settlers and their descendants in New York and New Jersey, at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Eugene Van Voorhis ' new eight-meter yacht Iro­quois III, destined for competition on the Great Lakes, early in May received its first inspection after being launched at a City Island boatyard here.

Clinton V. Meserole, Jr., chairman of the Pacific Insurance group of companies, was one of five directors re-elected to the board of the Pacific Insurance Co. of New York at its annual meeting here May 20.

Dr. Frank B. Vanderbeek and Mrs. Vanderbeek on April 24 became grandparents of twins, Katherine Ellen and Christopher Bogert White, born to their daughter, Mrs. Bernard F. White, Jr., the former Miss Katherine Gail Vanderbeek, at San Mateo, Calif.

Dr . C. Malcolm B. Gilman, M o n m o u t h C o u n t y , N . J., Medical Examiner, who also is well known as an author and historian, addressed the Old Guard of Rutherford on "The American Revolution in New Jersey and Bergen County" at a meeting held in Fellow­ship Hall, St. John's Lutheran Church, Rutherford, March 13.

Rear Admiral William L. Knickerbocker, U.S .N. (Ret . ) , has been bereaved by the loss of his wife, Mrs. Marion Reybold Knickerbocker, a descendant of Philip Pieterse Schuyler, Richard Stockton and the Huguenot , Major Philip Reybold, and by avocation a genealogist, who died at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, April 16, in her 61st year.

Capt. Richard J. Van Deusen, affiliated for many years with the District of Columbia Society, Sons of the American Revolution, recently received from the SAR national office a handsomely inscribed certificate attest­ing his half-century of active membership in the Society.

Bertram M. Demarest 's son, Bruce Herbert Dema-rest, in April became engaged to Miss Nancy Gayle Foley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Foley of Greenville, S. C. The prospective bride attended Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University and New York University. Mr. Demarest, Lawrenceville School '64, is studying at N.Y.U. A July wedding is planned.

Montagnie Van Norden , investment banker in this city and former Burgher Guard officer, is pictured in The New York Times of Sunday, April 28, with Mrs. Van Norden in their home, of which several rooms are decorated with trophies from their African safaris, in­cluding elephant tusks, zebra-skin rug and leopard-pelt

throw, in conjunction with a three-column article describing recent hunting trips of a number of New Yorkers.

Col. Arthur J. Poillon, U.S.M.C., Vice President of the Society for the Marine Corps, is now assigned to the Student Detachment at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

Bruce P. Bogert in his yacht Euphoria took first place ahead of 11 other Class D yachts on corrected time to win divisional honors in the Storm Trysail Club's 200-mile Block Island race last month.

Dr. Roland Van Zandt's book, "The Catskill Moun­tain House" (Rutgers, 1967) , received two glowing reviews recently: one by Brooks Atkinson in New York History for October, 1967, and the other by J. Owen Grundy in The Neiv-York Historical Society Quarterly for January, 1968.

Stanley L. Van Rensselaer, chairman of the New York State Crime Victims Compensation Board, with his fellow Commissioners took part in a 3 0-minute pro­gram, "After the Crime," telecast over N B C - T V , Saturday evening, May 11, that described in terms of actual cases how the State law is administered which provides financial compensation for innocent victims of crime.

Elmer B. Vliet, Mid West Branch secretary, and Mrs. Vliet together with Mr. and Mrs. Ar thur J. Heyer and Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth B. Cregier attended the re­ception given in honor of The Queen's birthday by Johannes van den Berg, new Consul General of the Netherlands in Chicago, and Mme. van den Berg in the Guildhall of the Ambassador West Hotel , Chicago, 111., April 30.

Starr E. Brinckerhoff in April became engaged to Miss Sherard Noel Ralli, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pandia C. Ralli of Bronxville, N . Y. The bride-elect, an alumna of Miss Hall 's School and Bennett College, is with Brunschwig & Fils Inc. of New York. Mr. Brinckeroff, son of Mr. and Mrs. John H . Brinckerhoff, is a graduate of The Choate School and Tr in i ty College '64, and is with Fahnestock & Co., members of the New York Stock Exchange. The wedding is planned for late July.

Adrian Van Sinderen, Jr., was saddened by the death of his mother, Mrs. Jean White Van Sinderen, widow of the late Brooklyn banker and philanthropist, at her Washington, Conn., summer home, April 29, in her 81st year. Well remembered in the Holland Society for her gift in 1964 of two rare books about New Netherland published in Holland in the mid-17th cen­tury, Mrs. Van Sinderen headed the Brooklyn Visiting Nurse Association from 1934 to 1948 and received in 195 3 the gold medal of the Brooklyn Downtown Asso­ciation for distinguished public service.

Arthur H. Van Brunt, Jr., and Mrs. Van Brunt are parents of the former Miss Carol Van Brunt, whose marriage to Janko I. Rasic took place at the Van Brunt home in Essex Fells, N . J., May 30. The bride, an alumna of the Kimberley School and Smith College '60, is an investment officer with Morgan Guaranty Co. of New York. Mr. Rasic, son of Mrs. Renee Rasic of Hastings-on-Hudson, N . Y., and Mirko Rasic of To­ronto is a graduate of Hackley School, Princeton Uni ­versity, and the Princeton School of Architecure ' 6 1 . He is with William Barnum Associates in New York.

(Continued on Page 6) 4 ]

The Founding Families of New Netherland N o . 1 — T H E H O P P E R FAMILY

by George Ol in Zabriskie, Fellow of the Amer ican Society of Genealogists.

Writer analyzes data derived from 17th century records, clarifies subsequent commentary, in study of family origins.

AN undocumented statement by James Riker, writing in 1904, that the Hopper family ". . . of good

Dutch antecedents, are descended from Andries Hoppen, who, with his wife, Geertje Hendricks, emigrated hither in 165 2",1: ; ' was repeated by the late Hopper Striker Mott in his five-part article about the family published in 1908-09.2 Mr. Mott then tells us about Andries' trading activities in far more detail and embellishment that the original records reveal or warrant . He even has Andries trading with "the Dutch possessions in present New England" at a time when the Dutch had been long since overrun there by the more numerous English. He also states that, traditionally, Andries was in America in 1620, in addition to the 1652 date taken from Riker.

In the light of the existing records it seems apparent that Mr. Mott 's account of the Hopper family lacks a solid factual basis. We do not know, as a matter of fact, when Andries Hoppe or Geertje Hendricks came to America, from whence or with whom they came, or whether they came together or separately. In addition, evidence is lacking to show where their marriage took place, either in Europe or in America. In fact, our knowledge about them begins in 16 51 when their daughter Tryntje was baptized n the old Dutch Church in New Amsterdam.

To show now ihe baptismal records for the four chil­dren of Andries Hoppe and Geertje Hendricks, docu­ments of the Dutch Reformed Church at New Amster­dam reflect the following:

Name/ Page date Parent (s) Witnesses 10 Tryntie Andries Wil- Jan Van de Bildt,

9-10-1651 lemszen Soppe Wyntie Elberts, (sic) Arentje Gerrits.

37 Willem Andries F o p . Joris Stephenszen, 3-29-16 54 Stoffel Andrieszen,

Cornelis Arentszen, Beelitie Hendricks.

41 Hendrick Andries Hop. Cornelis Aertszen, 1-9-1656 Geertie Hend- Belitje Hendricks,

ricks 48 Mattheus Andries Hoppe Lambert Huijbertszen

Abbertus Geertie Hend- Mol, (sic) ricks Arie Corneliszen, 3-3-1658 Christina Harmens,

Engeltje Wouters. We know, too, that Andries was alive on March 3,

165 8, when his last child was baptized, and that he died later that same year before December 18, when Cornelis Aarsen and Lambert H . Mol were appointed guardians of his four children.3 His home was on the east side of

GEORGE O. ZABRISKIE, who retired from U.S. government service in 1965 after a 30-year career during which he won many citations for meritorious achievement, lives in Hono­lulu with his wife and family. An expert genealogist, who has taught and written widely on the subject, he compiled the authoritative Zabriskie family history published in 1963.

Broadway, north of Beaver Street; the site of a building believed to have been his warehouse was on the north side of Bridge Street between Broadway and Whitehall Street, an area then near the East River. His surname is usually given as Hoppe, but Hoppen does appear in some records.

Andries may well have been Dutch. His name ap­pears as Andries Willemszen Hoppe (actually tran­scribed in the record as Soppe) when Tryntje was baptized in 1651. But this is the only instance where we find his name with a patronymic in true Dutch fashion. More importantly, Andries' children did not use the Dutch patronymic style of surname, although this may reflect their mother's influence rather than his. In these circumstances he could also have been English, Flemish, Scandinavian, or none of these. We simply do not know his nationality with certainty.

His wife and widow, Geertje Hendricks, presents the same problem. Her name is typically Holland Dutch, but may be the product of the scribes or clerks in New Netherland and thus differ from the original spelling. In Dutch churches of the time it was customary to have relatives as baptismal sponsors or in their absence, or by choice, to have close friends serve in that capacity.

The names of Geertje's Hoppe children and their baptismal records offer some clues as to her relatives and nationality. The first two sons were named for their grandfathers, in good Dutch style, and we may assume that Tryntje, the only daughter, was named for one of her grandmothers. But the third son was given two first names, contrary to usual Dutch custom, and his second given name, Adolphus, is not a Holland Dutch name.

JXecords disclose that Cornelis Arentse and his wife Beletje Hendricks (whose descendants used Van Schaick as a surname) acted as witnesses at two of the four Hoppe baptisms, and that their son, Arie Cornelissen, witnessed the last one. The first baptism was witnessed by Jan Arentse Vanderbilt, whose wife at that time was Annatje Hendricks, a native of Bergen, Norway. Beletje Hendricks was in America as early as 1641, when her eldest child, Hendricktje Arents, was baptized. Annatje Hendricks married Vanderbilt in 1650, and Geertje Hendrick's first child, as we have seen, was baptized in 1651.

Thus we may tentatively conclude, in the absence of concrete evidence, that Geertje Hendricks was not a Hollander. Similarly it would appear, again without de­finite proof, that Geertje Hendricks, Beletje Hendricks, wife of Cornelis Arentsen, and Annatje Hendricks, first wife of Jan Arentsen Vanderbilt, were sisters. And, be­cause it is known that Annatje was born in Norway, we may further conclude, albeit without supporting documentary evidence, that Geertje Hendricks also was a Norwegian; that the two younger girls, Annatje and Geertje, followed their sister Beletje to America; and that both married in New Amsterdam.

From the foregoing considerations the writer of this article reaches a personal conclusion that Andries

'Footnotes appear on Page 6.

m

Hoppe, more likely than not, was Dutch, that Geertje Hendricks was Norwegian; and that she and Andries met and married in New Netherland.

A b o u t two years after Andries' death his widow, Geertje Hendricks, and Dirck Gerritszen van Dien, on May 7, 1660 announced their intention to marry.4

The day before, Geertje gave 200 guilders to each of her four Hoppe children. And on May 20, 1660, while still listed as Geertje Hendricks, widow of Andries Hoppe, she appeared in the Orphans Court at New Amsterdam, apparently to increase the security held by the court to insure her faithful care of the estate of her Hoppe children. On January 10, 1661 (new style, and therefore not in 1 6 6 1 / 2 ) , Gerrit, the only child of Dirck Gerritszen van Dien and Geertje Hendricks, was baptized in New Amsterdam.0

Dirck, a landowner at Bergen (the present Jersey C i t y ) , settled his new family there at about this time. The record shows that he, his wife, child, and the four Hoppe stepchildren were living there by November 1662, when Dirck pledged 20 florins to support a minister at Bergen.0

The four Hoppe children and their half-brother, Gerrit van Dien, all reached maturi ty, married and reared families. The second Hoppe son, Hendrick, mar­ried Marritje Jans Van Blarcom of Bergen, and their descendants became the Hopper family of Bergen County, New Jersey. Hendrick and Marritje are the sixth great-grandparents of Col. Walter E. Hopper, Jr., President of the Holland Society, and also of the writer of this account.

'James Riker, History of Harlem, N. Y. (New York: Harlem Pub. Co., rev. ed., 1904), p. 384.

2New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, Vol. 39 (1908), pp. 269-276; Vol. 40 (1909), pp. 9-15, 123-128, 168-177, 258-263. See also History of Paterson, by William Nelson (1897), pp. 344-350. Another source, The Hopper Family, by Herbert Stewart Ackerman (1947), gives the most extensive account of the family; however, it contains a number of inaccuracies and must be used with extreme care.

3Holl. Soc. Year Book, 1900, p. 115. 4Dirck Gerritsen van Dien, from Tricht, the Netherlands,

arrived in New Amsterdam on the ship Love in March, 1660. Contrary to some accounts, he was not related to Gerrit Cornelissen Van Duyn. For banns of Dirck's marriage to Geertje, see Old Dutch Church Records, p. 26.

*Ibid., p. 59. cJohn Romeyn Brodhead, ed. Documents Relating to the

Colonial History of the State of New York (Albany, N. Y., 1881), XIII, p. 233.

H E R E A N D T H E R E (Continued from Page 4)

Richard C. Deyo, son of former Trustee and Mrs. George J. Deyo, was united in marriage with Miss Kathryn Helen Reilly at St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church, Short Hills, N . J., April 20. The bride, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Walter F. Reilly, is an alumna of Oak Knoll School and Rosemont College, and is on the research staff of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn here. Mr. Deyo, Princeton University '60 and Harvard Gradu­ate School of Business Administration '66, is a product manager with Buitoni Foods Corp., Hackensack.

Haro ld V. B. Voorhis , long active in freemasonry and a leading writer on the subject, last February in Washington, D. C , was elected to head the rarest of all Masonic organizations, the Grand Priory of America comprised of Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cite Sainte. At present the head of four other Masonic groups, he was recently the subject of a feature article in the Philalethes Society magazine, which cited by title and

date his authorship of 17 books and over 400 papers on Masonry, besides other publications.

H o w a r d A. Rusk, M.D. , founder and director of the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at N.Y.U. 's Medical Center, and the Society's Medalist in 1963, was one of the principal speakers at dedicatory ceremonies opening the Institute's nine-story research pavilion here that took place in Alumni Hall, June 3.

T h o m a s S. Snedeker in May became engaged to Miss Marilee Eustis Eaves, daughter of Mrs. Albert B. Crutcher, Jr., of New Orleans, La., and Norman E. Eaves of New Orleans. The future bride, on the staff of Antiques Magazine here, graduated from Newcomb College of Tulane University and studied at Wellesley College, University of Vienna, and the N .Y.U. Institute of Fine Arts. Mr. Snedeker, son of Sedgwick Snedeker and the late Mrs. Snedeker, is an alumnus of Hebron, Me., Academy and Trini ty College, Hartford, and is with the First National Ci ty Bank of New York.

Richard H . Amerman ' s second son, Stephen V., 17, a President's aide at the 78th Annual Banquet in 1962, and this year captain of the Rutherford, N . J., High School track team, bettered his school record by seven seconds to take the Group II mile title in 4:26.3 at the New Jersey State Interscholastic track and field championships held at Rutgers Stadium, New Bruns­wick, June 1.

Juan T . T r ippe , Medalist of the Society in 193 8 for distinguished achievement in aviation, this Spring retired as board chairman and chief executive officer of Pan American Airways, which from the time he founded it in 1927 has become, as noted in Time Maga­zine of May 17, the world's largest international air­line, with flights into 86 countries on six continents along a route system covering over 80,000 miles, and with assets of over $1 billion and revenues that last year reached a record $9 5 0.2 million.

Richard H . Vanderwarker , Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Vanderwarker of New York and Pawling, N . Y., was married to Miss Patricia Ann Reese in Trini ty Episcopal Church, Wilmington, Del., June 8. The bride, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. Meredith Reese of Wilmington, is an alumna of the Oldfields School and Bennett College '64. The bridegroom, who attended Tabor School and the University of Nor th Carolina, is a vice-president of the Havenfield Corp., and a member of the New York Stock Exchange.

Dr . James R. Killian, chairman of the Corporation of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the So­ciety's Medalist in 1959, now serves with the Institute of Defense Analyses on an individual rather than repre­sentative basis, as do top-ranking officials of other uni­versities, and the nine public members elected June 4 when the government-sponsored research agency an­nounced its plan to sever the direct link with various institutions of higher learning that had given rise re­cently to widespread student protests.

David H . Schurman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon L. Schurman of Reading, Mass., was married to Miss Valerie Rough at Arlington Street Church, Boston, June 9. The bride, daughter of Mrs. Robert A. Nielsen of Smith's Parish, Bermuda, and the late John Vale Rough, is an alumna of Radcliffe College '66 and has been a research assistant in field biology for the Massa­chusetts Audubon Society and World Wildlife Fund. The bridegroom, Wesleyan University '57, and M.I.T. (architecture) '63, is with the firm of Campbell, Aldrich & Nul ty , architects, of Boston.

1

The Dutch Mijl as a by Thomas Demarest, Studi

Evidence brought forward by researcher indicates word meant about four miles during Dutch period and for years after.

W H E N Alexander Pope wrote the poetic line, "blun­ders round about a meaning," he expressed in

one phrase a quandary historical researchers sometimes meet in trying to fathom the present significance of words in old documents. To avoid blunder when the matter involves a foreign language, and 17th century Du tch at that , the problem of accurately rendering a word or phrase can become difficult. Especially is this true if one has but little knowledge of Dutch and the word, or words, already have been given a widely ac­cepted but possibly erroneous meaning in English. Take, for instance, the Dutch word mijl.1*

Just as in Holland the guilder of that day possessed a double standard of value,2 so the Dutch recognized two different ways of expressing the mijl as a unit of linear measurement. One they called nur gaands zeemijl, or sea-mile, equivalent to three nautical miles, 1/20 degree, or 18,261 feet; the other was gcographischc mijl, or geographical mile, identical with 4.611 statute miles, or l / l 5 degree, or 24,348 feet, according to the late Arnold J. F. van Laer, a native-born Hollander who for many years was Archivist of the State of New York.3

In stating distances in mijls the Dutch in New Netherland almost always did so without qualification as to the unit employed. This in turn became a factor in problems arising under the English later, such as the New York-New Jersey boundary dispute. Related ques­tions, on the location of historic sites, for example, survive to this day. By way of personal opinion, and without claim to omniscience, the author believes that as a general rule when the early Dutch wrote down the word mijl in their accounts of the region, they meant "geographical mile."

I jet us now consider several sources of information on this subject dating back to and since the 17th century. Among informants contemporary with new Netherland, one of the best is David Pietersen de Vries, ship captain, explorer and writer,4 who founded the short-lived patroonship of Vriesendael in northern New Jersey about 1640. He and other Dutch voyagers were familiar with distances along the Hudson River, New York Bay and coastal Long Island, for at that time travel of any appreciable extent was mostly by water.

In view of this fact, the measurements de Vries recorded may be regarded as accurate to the best of his considerable ability, given the instruments and tech­niques of the time. Since he was a master mariner, and made a number of voyages to America, as Jameson points out," one would suppose that in his writings a mijl meant sea-mile, although the word nowhere is qualified as such. But this does not seem to be the case. Inspec­tion of de Vries' journal reveals that in expressing distance, his mijl was equal in most instances to about four of today's miles.

At two places Captain de Vries refers to Long Island

*Footnotes begin on Page 8.

Measure of Distance t of Local History.

as being about 30 mijls in length;6 the island is in fact about 120 miles long, a ratio of four to one. Again, on three different occasions he states that Sandy Hook is five mijls from Fort Amsterdam;' the actual distance from fort site to the tip of Sandy Hook, only 1 8 miles by water, becomes 20 miles if extended to the protected part of Sandy Hook Bay,8 thus preserving the four to one ratio.

Ships coming in from sea often lay in the safety of this bay until the tide favored the passage to New Amsterdam, or until someone familiar with local waters would pilot them in. When heading out to sea, vessels anchored in the bay when faced with contrary winds, and the men on board passed the time in picking wild plums ashore or fishing until favorable conditions pre­vailed. They used small boats to communicate with Fort Amsterdam. De Vries describes the advantages of Sandy Hook Bay, and mentions that he arrived "safe behind the point." Once he was detained there two days."

J J e Vries describes the salt meadow at Tappan where he had some land (not the site of Vriesendael, how­ever) , on the west side of the Hudson, as five mijls above the fort in New Amsterdam.1" The actual mea­surement is 23 miles, for a ratio of 4.6 to one, pre­cisely that of the geographical mile as stated by van Laer. At another place, however, the Captain informs us that Long Island Sound is about two mijls wide from the mainland to Oyster Bay,11 whereas the distance, measuring to the shore at Oyster Bay, is six or seven miles, a ratio of about 3.5 to one.

Even less consistent are his observations in Connecti­cut and Virginia. On the same page noting his com­ment about Long Island Sound, he estimates the trip up the Connecticut River from its mouth to Fort Good Hope, site of present Hartford, at 15 mijls,12 although in fact it is some 3 5 miles. Of a voyage to Virginia he tells us about sailing eight mijls up the James from Point Comfort to "Blank" Point on a passage which is actually shorter than that in terms of present-day miles.13

Since these variations are rare it seems fair to say that Captain de Vries' use of mijl, in recording distances well known to the Dutch, generally was intended to mean geographical mile, not sea-mile. In this he followed precedent, for in 1614 the Dutch sea captain, Adriaen Block, inscribed on his "Figurative Map" of the region the words Duytsche Mijlcn tot 15 voor cen Graact1* (meaning "German [or Du tch ] miles at 15 for a degree"). This indicates that Block adopted the geo­graphical mile in preparing his map, and provides an early example of a mariner's use of that standard.

During 1679 the keenly observant traveler, Jasper Danckaerts, wrote several times in his journal of the difference between the Dutch mile, as it came to be known, and the English. While on a trip to the "South

GUEST AUTHOR.—A life-long resident of Old Tappan, Bergen County, N. J., Mr. Demarest for years has conducted research relative to historic sites, records and events of colonial and Revolutionary times in the local area. Interest in the location of Vriesendael, site of David Pietersen de Vries' plantation in northern New Jersey, led to this study of the Dutch mijl. Besides his research notes on which the present article is based, Mr. Demarest has compiled other data about the Dutch era that are to appear in an early issue.

]

River" (the Delaware), he commented on the length and width in miles of an island lying in the river that someone had told him about, and added that "he [the informant] did not say they were English miles, which are only one-fourth the length of Dutch miles, or fifteen to a degree."1 '

r urther along in his narrative, Danckaerts, a native of Zeeland and then 40 years of age, mentions two creeks as "navigable for eight miles, that is, two Dutch miles of fifteen to a degree."16 At another place he says of the Delaware that "from the falls to the seacoast it is about eighty English miles, or twenty Dutch miles, from Newcastle each way."1 '

Arguments advanced in provincial boundary disputes shortly before the Revolution indicate wide under­standing of the old Dutch geographical mile in rela­tion to the English mile as a unit of linear measure. Thus in 1769, a point made by New York in its con­troversy with New Jersey over lor ation of the line separating the two provinces, was that all Dutch maps are laid down by a scale of common "German" miles of 15 to a degree of latitude. The reasoning proceeded:

Whence it appears, that one German or Dutch Mile, was antiently [sic] esteemed equal to four English miles; and that such was the ancient com­putation, in the Country, appears from the charter for Schenectady . . . in which the Length and Breadth of the Tract , is described, both in Dutch and English Miles in such Terms, as clearly shew, that one Dutch was then reckoned as equal to four English miles.18

The patent for Schenectady, evidently the charter cited, reads in part: ". . . to a certain place called by ye Indians Canaquaryocuy, being reputed three Dutch miles, or twelve English miles."19 Similarly, in dis­cussing the New York-Massachusetts boundary dispute in 175 7, James De Lancey observed that "A Dutch mile has always in this Country been understood to be equal to four English."20

i \ century later the wheel came full circle when Henry C. Murphy (1810-1882) , an able scholar and diplomat, undertook to translate into English and edit the work of David Pietersen de Vries. Writing in 18 57, Murphy in­advertently rendered de Vries' vijf mijl as "five miles,"21

an error which may have led others to place the site of Vriesendael, mistakenly it is believed, near Old Tappan, New Jersey. His equating of mijl with mile was with knowledge of the discrepancy, for in an earlier work he had stated "A Dutch mile is equal to four English miles."22

Murphy, who served as U.S. Minister to The Hague in 18 57-1861 and wrote several important monographs on the Dutch colonial period in America, was not the only scholar to whom a synonym for mijl would prove difficult to find. Later historians, Jameson, for example, would use the word "league." This term, generally de­fined to mean about three English miles, appears to be the only word in our language for a distance nearly comparable to the 17th century Dutch mijl.

Long before Murphy's time, and prior to the intro­duction of the metric system in Europe, the mile as a measure of length had varied according to time and place. From the ancient Roman milliare (from which the word derives) of a thousand paces it became, by statute enacted in 1593 during the reign of Elizabeth I, the English mile of "8 furlongs of 40 perches of 16'/2

feet each."23 This measure, equivalent to 1760 yard; of three feet each, we retain to this day.

On the continent, the length of the mile differed widely from country to country, possibly from con­siderations of national prestige. Thus the Prussian mile was equal to a remarkable 6.648, and the Swedish to 4.68, statute miles.24 A two-fold standard prevailed in the Netherlands, as we have seen. But of the two it is submitted, in view of the evidence exhibited, that the geographische mijl or a substantial approximation there­of, was the unit of length most commonly used by the Dutch in measuring distances in New Netherland.

'In this article the plural of mijl, properly mijlen, is ex­pressed as mijls except when in quotations.

!A. J. F. van Laer, ed. Van Rensselaer Bowier Manu­scripts (Albany: University of the State of New York, 1908), p. 847.

2Ibid. For purposes of this discussion, the ratios between our present-day mile and the Dutch geographical- and sea-mile, are considered as about 4:1 and 3:1.

4D. P. de Vries, Korte Historiael ende Journaele Aentey-ckeninge (pub. Alkmaar, 1655; copy in Rare Book Room, New York Public Library).

SJ. Franklin Jameson, Narratives of New Netherland (New York: Scribner's, 1909), at pp. 184-185, giving biographical sketch of de Vries, whose book, trans, into English, follows in part at pp. 186-234.

"Ibid., pp. 202 and 230, where the phrase "about thirty leagues" appears. Compare with de Vries, op. cit., pp. 149 and 181, where the text reads: omtrent dertigh mijlen, and dat dertigh mijl lanck is.

'Jameson, op. cit., pp. 191, 193, 201. DeVries, op cit., p. 116: vijf mijlen van de Sant punt (first ref. only).

8See, "A Chart of New York Harbour with the Soundings Views of Land Marks and Nautical directions . . .", by Lieutenants John Knight and John Hunter, in "Charts of Several Harbours, and divers parts of the Coast of North America, from New York south Westwards to the Gulph of Mexico", by J. F. W. Des Barres, Esq., 1780, pub. Atlantic Neptune, 1780.

"Jameson, op. cit., pp. 190, 191, 193, 199, 201, 234. 10Ibid., p. 206, again uses word "leagues." DeVries, op.

cit., pp. 151-152: vijf mijl van 't Fort. "Jameson, op. cit., p. 202. DeVries, op. cit., p. 149: twee

mijl wijt van het vaste Landt. "Jameson, op. cit., p. 202. DeVries, op cit., p. 149: dat

vijfthen mijlen vande mond vande Rivier leyt "Jameson, op. cit., p. 195. DeVries, op. cit., p. 143:

Blanch punt acht mijlen op. In a letter dated April 4, 1966, Mr I. Noel Hume, Director of Archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg informed the author "There is not the slightest doubt the 'Blank Point' is a misreading of 'Blunt Point'." This indicates the distance is about seven and a half English miles.

"Shown on reproduction of this map at I. N. Phelps Stokes' Iconography of Manhattan Island (New York: Robert Dodd, 1915-1928), II, plate 23, foil. p. 75.

15Bartlett B. James and J. Franklin Jameson, eds. Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680 (New York: Scribner's, 1913), p. 101.

"Ibid., p. 128. "Ibid., p. 151. 18From "An Argument Delivered on the Part of New York

at the Hearing Before His Majesty's Commissioners Ap­pointed . . . the 7th Oct, 1767, to Settle and determine the Boundary Line between the Colonies of New York and New Jersey."

'"Office of Secretary of State, Albany, N Y., Patents Book No. 7, p. 275.

20John Romeyn Brodhead, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York (1856), VII , p. 334.

2,H. C. Murphy, "Voyages from Holland to America, A.D. 1632 to 1644" (Collections of the New-York Historical Society), 2d series (1857), III, Pt. 1, p. 88.

^Collections of the New-York Historical Society, 2d series (1849), II, p. 262n.

"New International Encyclopedia (New York: Dodd Mead & Co., 1916), X V p. 632.

"Ibid.

]

The Rattle Watch of New Amsterdam: II. by John E. O 'Connor , Lecturer in His tory, Queens College, T h e City Universi ty of New York.

Rules issued in 1658 for New York's first police are set out, personnel described, early problems of tax support discussed.

WHILE quite elaborate, the rules issued in New Amsterdam to govern the Rattle Watch upon

its organization as a municipal police force in 165 833::" (published in text on the next page) were essentially administrative, and related only in slight degree to its substantive functions. Watchmens ' duties were later made more specific. In 1661, men on duty were ordered to help fight fires,34 and in 1663 to arrest those who "quarrel or are noisy on the Strand [Pearl Street] , bring them to the City Hall and keep them until the next day, and then report [ them] to the Burgomasters through their Captain for punishment."3 0 The power of arrest, most important for a police force, had existed from the start but detailed instructions for its exercise were not given until 1663.

From a personnel viewpoint the Rattle Watch con­sisted largely of individuals who had yet to attain burgher status, or official recognition as men of standing in the community. Although a number of watchmen were members of this class and others were to reach it, initially but three had belonged to the Burgher Guard of New Amsterdam and as such possessed the "burgher r ight" as provided by customary law under a characteristically Dutch institution to be discussed later. In all, from 165 8 until the English occupation in 1664, twenty- two men served in the Rattle Watch.

Several of these men are difficult to trace in the records because of their commonplace names, such as Hendrick Hendrickson, Cornelis Hendrickson, Pieter Jansen, Jan Jansen, and Jan Pietersen. We know that Hendrick and Cornelis (relationship unknown) and Pieter were reappointed to the watch in 1661, but the other two were not.36 Others go unmentioned in the records except for the fact that they were watchmen: Corsten Corstenszen, Abraham Karmel, Abraham Kim-berly, Mathys Muller, Christian Teunissen, and Christian Pietersen.

Of the watchmen who held burgher status, Adriaen Andrieszen is described in the municipal records as a pilot.37 Over a year before he joined the watch, Adriaen was listed as a carpenter and "small" burgher,"3 8 the fee for which he paid from his watch salary.39 Purchaser of lots in 165 5 and again in 1660, first near Hellgate and later on Smith Street in New Amsterdam,40 he was reappointed in 1661.41 His fellow watchman, Hendrick van Bommel, placed a bid for the burgher excise in 1656 but did not secure the award.42 He was a tailor by occupation at the time he became a burgher in April, 1657.43 Like Adriaen, he was re-appointed to the watch in 1661.4 4

Oince Cornelis Berensen was identified in 1661 as a baker,4n it would appear that he and perhaps other watchmen held different jobs in off-duty hours. This "daylight ing" may explain occasional lack of diligence by the watch in its police work. In Berensen's case, the situation was aggravated by his troubles over the sale

*The footnotes beginning on Page 11 continue in sequence those published in the April issue.

Courtesy of the Municipal Pol ice, Tl.e Hague

Equipment of municipal watchman in Dutch town—"rattle," half-pike, and broadsword—varied little from that used by Rattle Watch of New Amsterdam. Above picture, dated 1842, appeared in Dutch magazine, De Nederlanden (19th ed.).

of a house and lot that run through several volumes of New Amsterdam records; the litigation, which involved a fellow watchman, Thomas Verdon, was still unsettled after two years, in February, 1661, although this did not interfere with Berensen's reappointment that same year.

Before Frans Jansen was appointed to the watch in 1662, he had several brushes with the law. Accused by Fiscal de Sille in May, 1660, of "breaking windows and making a noise in the street,"4 , his bail was paid by Jacob Stryker, whose indentured servant Jansen was.48

A year later Stryker re-appeared in court to seek release from his contract as employer, alleging that "He [Jansen] goes out drinking and remains out all night."4 9

Even so, and perhaps because in 165 8 Frans had twice performed carpentry work for the court, he was ap­pointed to the Rattle Watch on January 20, 1662/'" Official status failed to improve his conduct, however, for in December, 1663, we find the following record:

Motion of the fiscal that Frans Jansen from Amsterdam, a prisoner, who refuses to answer cer­tain interrogatives, be subjected to torture: denied, on the grounds that the prisoner had already been once tortured and twice whipped, without eliciting any additional information from him.01

Charged with theft and attempted jail-break, Jansen was sentenced to be "severely flogged in public and then banished." "2

Less is known of Albert Leendertszen, who served only about two years. Admitted to the "small" burgher right in April, 1657,r'3 he also was a latecomer to the watch, having been appointed with Frans Jansen in January, 1662.54 Albert died before February 7, 1664,

[ 9 ]

for on that date his widow petitioned the court for a judgment on her late husband's debts.55 Another watch­man, named Gerrit Pietersen, who became a "small" burgher in April, 1657/'" had received a patent to New Jersey land in December, 16 54,57 and a year later was described as taking part in an expedition to the south with "other old soldiers.'"8 By 166 5 he had returned to Holland.511

I he only man to be dismissed from the Rattle Watch, Hendrick Jansen Sluyter, owed at least part of his mis­fortune to a termagant spouse whose conduct scandal­ized the town. In a neighborhood altercation during August, 16 59, Mevrouw Sluyter outdid her perform­ance in earlier wrangles by placing her back to her neighbor and "hoisting her skirts in most unseemly fashion."60 When the matter came to court, Hendrick agreed to send her back to Holland and pay the re­quired fine if the judges would allow him to remain in the colony. This was permitted, but Hendrick lost his post on the city watch and had to pay the fine from his salary.01 His wife's reputation dogged him, for the application he submitted for permission to open a tavern02 apparently was never approved.

At least two men in New Netherland were named Thomas Verdon (Verdanck) . One served as magistrate in Breuckelen from 1661 to 1664;63 the other, possibly his son, was in the Rattle Watch. In 1656 the younger Verdon had been a beer carrier,04 and in 1659 he was fined for sitting in his cart while driving through town.65 Evidently his service was of short duration, for the record shows he died before March, 1663, when his son and three sons-in-law petitioned the court to order their stepfather to render an account of their father's estate.06

Of the three remaining appointees, Roelof Jansen was a former member of the Burgher Guard07 while Jacques Pryn, like several of his fellow watchmen, had been admitted to the "small" burgher right in April, 16 57.68

Pieter Jansen Steenhaler is mentioned several times in the records, but the entries indicate only that he was perpetually tardy in the payment of his debts.09

J\ watchman's pay was not inconsiderable, amounting to 18 guilders a m o n t h . " Giving the 17th century Dutch gulden a present-day purchasing power of $10 .50 , ' this meant a monthly salary of $189 payable at the rate of 24 stivers per night (one guilder then be­ing equal to 20 stivers), or about $12.60 for each tour of duty performed on alternate nights as prescribed. In addition to their regular compensation the watchmen also were provided with firewood (two pieces per n igh t ) , ' 2 and candles.'3

The Captain of the Watch received only 10 guilders per month for his services, but he had other responsi­bilities and other income. His full title was "Burgher Provost, Doorkeeper of the Council of War, Captain of the Rattle Watch, and Receiver of the Watch Money."74

His instructions, of November 165 8, required him to supervise the Burgher companies, to summon delinquents to court, to collect taxes, and to make sure the watch performed its functions and obeyed the rules. The Captain was specifically directed to observe that the men "impose not on any burgher in going around or on the watch; also that they steal not any firewood nor any other timber nor anything else."75

During its six-year existence the Rattle Watch had but one Captain, Lodowyck Pos (Post) . Contemporary

Regulations Prescribed for the Articles made and ordained by the Burgomasters of

the City of Amsterdam in New Netherland respecting the duties of the Rattle Watch; the 12th October, 165 8.33

First: That all watchmen shall be obliged to come on the watch at the usual hour, to wit, before bell ring, on pain of forfeiting six stivers.

Item: Whoever comes not in person on the watch or being occupied on reasonable business does not put any other in his place shall forfeit each time two guilders for the benefit of the general watch.

Item: Whenever anyone comes drunk on the watch or commits any opposition, insolence or impurity within the Square of the City Hall or in going the rounds, he shall forfeit each time one guilder.

Item: Each one shall be bound to pay due attention to his watch in going around, and whenever anyone shall be found asleep on the street he shall forfeit each time ten stivers.

Item: Should it happen by sleep, negligence or the failure of anyone on the watch, that any arms be taken or stolen, such negligent person or sleeper shall be bound to pay for the said arms according to the Burgomasters' valuation, and in addition, for the first time, one guilder, for the second time, two guilders and for the third time at the discretion of the Burgomasters.

Item: If anyone lies still when people call Val Val, or be otherwise disobedient, he shall forfeit twenty stivers.

Item: Whoever presumes to swear or to blaspheme the name of God shall be fined ten stivers.

Item: Whenever anyone presumes to desire to fight on the watch or to threaten anyone of the watch to come with him to fight, he shall forfeit two guilders beyond the Officer's penalty.

Item: Whoever threatens another to beat him in the morning, when the watch is dismissed, he shall forfeit two guilders.

Item: If anyone fights in fact with another on the watch or even in the morning coming from the watch, he shall forfeit six guilders, saving the right of the Officer, and shall moreover be arbitrarily corrected by

records, silent as to his qualifications for the appoint­ment, note that he had been licensed to operate a tavern in 1656,70 and make it clear that such places frequently were the scene of brawls and disorders. Pos' experience undoubtedly proved useful, for the watch had to deal with many disturbances originating in New Amster­dam's pot-houses and taverns. ' ' As a result of one such melee, when revelers stripped Pos of his sword, he was reprimanded by the burgomasters.78

When charged in January, 1664, with fighting in the streets, Captain Pos won acquittal upon convincing the court that he had been struck first and was only defending his wife and son-in-law.79 In October of the same year he interceded for his son-in-law, held prisoner for "rioting, disturbance and noise" and for threats to shoot the arresting officer;80 Pos' influence kept the young man's punishment to a fine of 5 0 guilders. The Captain's concern with his son-in-law's business went too far on a later occasion, however, when Pos and his wife brought their daughter to court in June, 1665, to seek a divorce from her husband. The court, effecting

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Rattle Watch of New Amsterdam the Burgomasters according to the circumstances of the case.

Item: Should anyone be unwilling to go around or in any way lose a turn, he shall forfeit one guilder.

Item: If anyone presumes to go away from the watch for any cause, whatsoever it be, without the express consent of the others, he shall forfeit two guilders for each time.

Item: N o person shall be received into the aforesaid Rattle Watch before and until he shall have taken the oath from one of the Burgomasters.

Item: Whatever any of the watch shall get from any of the prisoners, whether lock-up money, present or other fee, which those of the watch shall receive by consent of the Burgomasters, it shall be brought into the hands of the Captain for the benefit of the fellow watchmen and shall be there preserved until it be divided around.

Item: The aforesaid presents and fees shall be brought in by each of the watchmen under the bond of the oath which they shall have taken to the city.

Item: All the fines which accrue, and the profits which in any wise shall be realized, by insolence, fault, neglect or otherwise shall be divided four times a year among the members of the watch, when they according to old custom shall each quarter of the year receive their watch money from the city, without their holding any drinking meeting thereupon or keeping any club.

Finally and lastly: They shall be bound on going the rounds to call out how late it is at all the corners of the streets, from nine o'clock in the evening until the reveille beat in the morning; for which they shall re­ceive each man eighteen guilders per month in common pay; and the Captain is ordered to pay strict attention hereunto that all be regularly obeyed according to the penalty thereunto annexed. Thus done in the Court of the Burgomasters of the City of Amsterdam in New Netherland, dated as above. Follows the oath:

We promise and swear in the presence of the Most High that we will fully observe the articles read to us, and demean ourselves as faithful watchmen are bound to do. So Truly Help us God Almighty.

a reconciliation, blamed the couple's problems on "their parents' meddling."81

A s Captain of the Watch, Pos had pressing problems of an official nature connected with his duties as "Receiver of the Watch Money." Compensation of the watchmen, and their expenses, were to be paid from proceeds of a specific tax. Records for the years 165 8 to 1664 contain dozens of instances of failure to pay the 15-stiver charge.S2 Pos had difficulty in collecting it from the start. Adverse public reaction evidently was anticipated, for in the first four months after enactment (November to February, 1658-59) first the Provincial Secretary,'133 and later the deputy Schout,84 were ordered to accompany the Captain in gathering the tax, from which scarcely anyone was exempt. Not until Febru­ary, 1661, were the watchmen themselves exempted, and even then they had to extend their rounds so as to call the hours outside the city gates, "for which [service] the people living there must pay to support the ratt le-watch."8 o

In March, 1661, Matje Greveroat, when asked why she had not paid her money for the Rattle Watch, answered that as a woman she earned less than a man and could not afford to pay the tax. Arrangements were made so that she could contribute.86 The burgomasters also were lenient with Roelof Hendricksen on his plea of poverty,87 and with Staffel Elswoort, who was allowed to pay his debt in firewood.88 On March 10, 1661, it was decided that those subject to Burgher Guard service should be the only ones taxed for the watch,89 but this provision apparently afforded little relief. Servants of the West India Company, such as the weigh-house porters, were still not exempted.90

The collection effort was so thorough that Willem Pietersen's widow had to pay 20 florins in wampum for

3aBerthold Fernow, ed. The Records of New Amsterdam, 7 vols. (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1897), [hereafter cited as Fernow, New Amsterdam Records], VI, pp. 196-197.

uIbid., VII, p. 265. "Berthold Fernow, ed. Minutes of the Orphanmasters of

New Amsterdam, 2 vols. (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1897), [hereafter cited as Fernow, Orphanmasters], II, p. 171.

3eFernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 265. "Ibid., II, p. 357. wIbid., I l l , p. 343. 30E. B. O'Callaghan, Register of New Netherland (Albany:

J. Munsell, 1865), [hereafter cited as O'Callaghan, Register], p. 179; Fernow, Orphanmasters, II, p. 167.

40E. B. O'Callaghan, Calendar of Dutch Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, N. Y. (Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., 1865), [hereafter cited as O'Callaghan, Calendar], pp. 59, 386.

"Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 265. "Ibid., II, p. 211. "O'Callaghan, Register, p. 176. "Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 265. "Ibid., VII, p. 260. '"Ibid., VII, p. 265. "Ibid., I l l , p. 159. 4KIbid., I l l , pp. 159, 172. "Ibid., I l l , p. 274. '''"Fernow, Orphanmasters, II, p. 124. "O'Callaghan, Calendar, p. 256. "Ibid., p. 257. "O'Callaghan, Register, p. 182. '"'Fernow, Orphanmasters, II, p. 124. "O'Callaghan, Calendar, p. 259. '"O'Callaghan, Register, p. 176. "O'Callaghan, Calendar, p. 381. 58Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, I, p. 347. ""Ibid., V, p. 187. ""Kenneth Scott, "New Amsterdam Taverns and Tavern

Keepers," pub. in 5 parts, de Halve Maen, April 1965, Pt. V, p. 11.

"'Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 208. "Scott, loc. cit. "O'Callaghan, Register, p. 75. ""Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, II, p. 84. ™Ibid., I l l , p. 91. ""O'Callaghan, Calendar, p. 245. 6,E. B. O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, 2 vols.

(New York: Appleton & Co., 1848), II, p. 569. "sO'Callaghan, Register, p. 182. "Ternow, New Amsterdam Records, III, p. 26; V, pp. 10,

13; VI, p. 96. '"Ibid., VII, p. 208. "W. and A. Durant, The Age of Reason Begins, "The

Story of Civilization," Pt. VII (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961), p. ix. Guilder values and supporting source supplied by editor with consent of author.

"Fernow, Orphanmasters, II, pp. 120-121. '"Ibid., II, p. 92. "Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 200. "Ibid. "Ibid., IV, p. 33. "Scott, op. cit., passim.. '"Fernow, Orphanmasters, II, p. 95. "Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, V, p. 3. ""Ibid., V. p. 148. "Ibid., V, pp. 262, 276. "Ibid., VII, pp. 198-199. "•'Ibid., VII, pp. 201-202. MIbid., VII, p. 214. 8rFernow, Orphanmasters, II, pp. 76-77. ™Ibid., II, p. 85. "Ibid., II, p. 88. mIbid., II, p. 89. ""O'Callaghan, Calendar, p. 222. 00Fernow, Orphanmasters, II, p. 121.

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"Rattlewatch dues and other city taxes" from her husband's estate.91

A burgher petition in September, 1959, complained of the many charges laid upon a citizenry "already heavily burdened beyond any other Colony and Townspeople with excessive heavy day and night watch; yea, even every night."9 2 In earnest language it entreated Director and Council to effect a proportionate reduction in muni­cipal taxes by increasing the number of taxpayers. To achieve the result of augmenting city revenues in this relatively painless fashion, the petition pressed for a decision to make the burgher right easier of attainment and to require it in certain instances.

The burgher right this petition refers to had been reformed in New Amsterdam in January, 1657.93

Afterward, it consisted of two classes, the "great" and the "small," with admission to either requiring the applicant to be approved by the city authorities, to take an oath of fidelity, to pay certain fees, and to be registered. Costing 5 0 guilders in New Amsterdam, the "great" burgher right, to which few belonged, was prerequisite for civil office and also carried a number of privileges. The "small" burgher right, the fee for which was 20 guilders, and had a residence requirement, entitled the holder to conduct a business in the city.94

The petition of 1659 would, among other things, have required foreign traders to obtain the small burgher right95 and to become subject to various taxes.

Although the burgher right as a mark of distinc­tion had been largely reduced to a measure of ready cash by the legislation of 1657, it may be said that the Rattle Watch tax was at least a factor in maintaining a relatively easy standard of qualification for burgher status. The petition of 1659, which argued unsuccess­fully for a change in the rules, raises an incidental ques­tion by mentioning a watch "day and night ." Members of the Rattle Watch patrolled only at night, as we have seen. Since this is the only contemporary reference to a day watch, we may assume it refers either to the Company's soldiers on guard at the fort or, more likely, to the Schout and his deputies.

(To be concluded)

"Ibid., II, p. 150. 92Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 233. ""John R. Brodhead, History of the State of New York

(New York: Harper & Bros., 1853), I, pp. 629-630. "'Robert G. Wheeler, "The Master Craftsmen of the 17th

Century," pub. de Halve Maen, July 1963, p. 10. "Fernow, New Amsterdam Records, VII, p. 233.

B R A N C H M E E T I N G S {Continued from Page 3)

Also, Mrs. K. E. Hasbrouck, K. Edward Hasbrouck, Jr., William Heidgerd, Mrs. E. H . Houghtaling, Jr., former Congressman and Mrs. Jay LeFevre, John H. LeFevre, Louis D. LeFevre, Mrs. Ruth H. MacDowell, Mr. and Mrs. Ivan T. Ostrander, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Vande Mark, Mrs. James G. Van Derpool, Mr. and Mrs. Cortland Van Etten, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Van Etten, Mrs. Kendrick Van Pelt, Jr., and George S. Van Siclen.

ESSEX M E E T S A T D E Y M A N S I O N . — W i t h 40 members and guests present, the annual Branch meeting was held in ideal May weather at the historic Dey Mansion in Preakness Valley Park, Wayne, N . J., Sun­day afternoon, May 19. Its curator, Society member Raymond F. Dey, and Mrs. Dey took special pleasure in the visitation by so many descendants of the early Dutch. Robert C. Lydecker presided.

Following inspection of the two-story Georgian-style house with its many antiques and artifacts dating back to the 18 th century, the assemblage, which included several Trustees of the Society, the Associate Domine, and Burgher Guard Captain, enjoyed a social hour in the garden and a buffet supper in rooms of the Mansion. At a brief business meeting, the members re-elected Mr. Lydecker president and Ar thur B. Kouwenhoven secretary-treasurer.

Built about 1740 by Dirck Dey, grandson of Dirck Jansen Dey who came from Holland to this country about 1641, the property was first known as Bloems-burg, or Bloomsbury Manor. During the Revolution it belonged to Col. Theunis Dey, a friend of General Wash­ington, for whom the Mansion served as headquarters at different times in 1780. Among its noted visitors then were Lafayette, Nathanael Greene, William Alex­ander (Lord Stir l ing), and "Mad" Anthony Wayne.

In attendance at the meeting, besides those men­tioned, were Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ackerman, Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Albertis, Mr. and Mrs. Peter W. Albertis, Trustee and Mrs. Albert O. Bogert, Mr. and Mrs. Austin Drukker, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Freer, Jr., and guests Mr. and Mrs. William T. Sperry, Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Howard G. Hageman, Mrs. A. B. Kouwen­hoven, Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Lydecker.

Also Mrs. R. C. Lydecker, Trustee and Mrs. Wilfred B. Talman, former Long Island Branch President and Mrs. John H . Vander Veer, Jr., and guest Mrs. Ashton, former Trustee and Mrs. Paul E. Van Horn, Trustee and Mrs. Kendrick Van Pelt, Jr., Guard Captain L. George Van Syckle, Mr. and Mrs. Albert L. Vree-land and guests, Mrs. Burpeau and Mrs. Etheridge, and Mr. and Mrs. J. Robert Westervelt.

44 A T P O T O M A C D I N N E R . — P r o m p t l y re­scheduling its dinner after civil disturbances had flared up in Washington following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and resulted in a city curfew which compelled cancellation of the April 5 date originally planned, the Branch conducted a highly successful formal dinner with 44 members and guests present at the Lafayette Hotel, Washington, D. C , Friday, May 24. President Van Vleck presided.

Preceded by a congenial reception, the dinner pro­gram featured Dr. Henry L. Darner as guest speaker. He spoke on his travels through the Low Countries, illustrating with color slides various points of historic interest in Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg. The assemblage, which warmly applauded his presentation, also considered Branch plans for the future. The group is to meet again in the late summer at a place and date to be announced.

Those present were William T. Banta and guest; Trustee and Mrs. Ralph L. DeGroff, Dr. and Mrs. Henry L. Darner and guest; Mr. and Mrs. Jerome K. Kuyken-dall and guests; Mr. and Mrs. George E. Lent, Mr. and Mrs. H . C. Maclaine Pont, Mr. and Mrs. Howard C. Van Arsdale and guests; Willis Van Devanter, Winslow B. Van Devanter.

Also Mr. and Mrs. Peter Van Dyke and guests; Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Van Horn, Rear Admiral Blinn Van Mater, USN (Re t . ) , and Mrs. Van Mater, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. B. Van Pelt, Mr. and Mrs. Perry B. Van Vleck, Mr. and Mrs. William H . Van Vleck, Mr. and Mrs. J. Carlton Van Wagoner, and Mr. and Mrs. Edgar T. Van Winckel.

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IN MEMORIAM W I L L I A M S. V A N D E R B I L T

William Stephens Vanderbilt of Bloomfield, Conn., a member of The Holland Society of New York since 1954, died at the age of 73 on Monday, February 12, 1968. Descended from Jan Aertsen Vanderbilt, of Bilt, Nor th Holland, who came to this country before 16 5 0, he was born at Greenville, Greene County, N . Y., January 3 0, 1895, son of William Stephens Vanderbilt and Mary Reed Chapman. A retired vice-president of the Hartford Fire Insurance Co., he attended Green­ville Free Academy and was graduated from Cornell University in 1917. Entering upon two years of war­time service with the Navy after graduation, he won the Silver Star decoration during his 13 months' overseas duty while in grade of Lt. ( j .g . ) , USNR. In 1920 he joined the Hartford concern as an underwriter and advanced during his 40 years with the company to be­come vice-president and secretary, posts he also held with the Citizens Insurance Company of New Jersey. For many years a resident of West Hartford, and formerly a director of the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fra­ternity, Hartford Golf Club and the Cornell Club of New York. He is survived by his wife, the former Grace Goodrich Markham, and three daughters, Mrs. William M. Shepard, Mrs. John T. Dobbin, and Mrs. John R. McAllister 2d. Interment followed the services conducted at Trini ty Episcopal Church, Hartford.

T H E O D O R E I. MERSELES

Theodore Irving Merseles, of Darien, Conn., a mem­ber of The Holland Society of New York since 1926, died at the age of 67 on Thursday, March 14, 1968. Descended from Pieter Marselise who came to this coun­try from Holland in 1661, he was born in Jersey City, N . J., August 24, 1900, son of Theodore Freling-huysen Merseles and Elizabeth Rich. A prominent sportsman and founder of several well known golfing organizations, he was educated at The Hill School, Pottstown, Pa., which he left to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War I. Long active in the estate manage­ment field, he was also associated for a time early in his career with Conde Nast Publications, Inc., of New York. A founder and past president of the New York State Golf Asosciation, he also helped establish and later headed the New York Seniors' Golf Assocation and the Bermuda-Canada-U.S. Golfing Society ("Bercanus") . He was formerly president of Siwanoy Country Club, and a member of the United States, Connecticut, West­chester, and Nor th and South Seniors' Golf Associations, besides serving as a permanent director of the Society of Two Hundred Senior Golfers. His memberships also included the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew's, Scotland, Riddles Bay Golf and Country Club of Bermuda, the Pine Valley, N . J., Golf Club, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and Union League of New York. His father was a Holland Society member. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Marie Martin Merseles; a son, Craig P. Merseles, and a daughter, Mrs. Ann M. ReerJ, both of Birmingham, Mich.; a stepson, and three grandchildren. Services were held at St. Luke's Episco­pal Church, Darien, March 18, with interment at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, N . Y.

D A V I D G. A C K E R M A N

David Greenlie Ackerman of Morristown, N . J., and Lake Placid, N . Y., a member of The Holland Society of New York since 19 5 5, died at the age of 72 on Friday, April 19, 1968. Descended from David Acker-man who in 1662 came to this country from the Mayory of Bosch, the Netherlands, he was born at Passaic, N . J., September 6, 1895, son of John Edmund Ackerman and Willemina Greenlie. A retired New York banker, he attended the Passaic schools and was gradu­ated from Rutgers College in 1917. During World War I he won two Battle Stars while serving as First Lieu­tenant and Executive Officer of Battery A, 313th Field Artillery, 80th Division, with the American Expedition­ary Force in France. A partner in Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. from 19 5 3 until his retirement, he had previously served in managerial posts from the time he joined the firm in 1930. Earlier he had been asso­ciated with T. R. Goodlatte & Sons, manufacturers, as assistant to the president, 1919-26, and with J. G. White & Co., investment bankers, as Newark branch office manager, 1926-30. Formerly a director of Austral Oil Exploration Co., Drilling & Exploration Co., Benson Iron Ore Corp., Hydrocarbon Production Co., and Sun Insurance Co. Ltd., he was a past trustee of the Morris-town Public Library and the Adirondack Community Church of Lake Placid, and served also as a director of the Passaic Boys Club and on the Passaic Selective Service Board during World War II. His memberships included the David Ackerman Descendants-1662, Beta Theta Pi fraternity, Lake Placid Club, Morristown Club, Morris County Golf Club, India House, Lunch Club of New York, and the Harding Township Civic Association. His father was a Holland Society member. He is survived by his wife, the former Sarah Jane Benson; a son, David H. Ackerman, a member of the Society; three daughters; two sisters, and 15 grand­children, of whom David G. Ackerman, II, is a mem­ber of the Society. Services were held in the Presbyterian Church of New Vernon, N . J., April 23, with inter­ment at Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson.

ROBERT M. PEEK, Jr.

Robert Marsteller Peek, Jr., of Little Rock, Ark., a member of The Holland Society of New York since 1966, died at the age of 52 on Thursday, May 30, 1968. Descended from Jan Peek who emigrated from Holland to this country before 165 0, became an innkeeper in New Amsterdam, a Hudson River skipper for whom Peekskill was named, and Beverwyck property owner whose widow Maria De Truy Volchers and their son Jacobus settled in Schenectady about 1670, he was born at Little Rock, November 24, 1915, son of Robert M. Peek and Bess Eugenia Everett. An executive in the flour brokerage business, he was a graduate of Washing­ton and Lee University. Owner of the Peek Brothers Flour Brokers firm of Little Rock, he was a member of the First Methodist Church, Rotary Club, and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. During World War II he served in the Pacific theater of operations in rank of Captain, U.S. Army Air Corps. His first cousin, Andrew O. Peek, is a Holland Society member. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Katherine Partlow Peek; his mother; four sons, Edward, Richard, and William Peek, and Robert M. Peek III, and a sister, Mrs. Willis John­son, Jr., all of Little Rock.

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