Philippe & Maria Tayne Casier Family

For Love of Life and Their God

Researched and Written by Carol Cazier Reynolds

(images are only representations of Philippe & Maria Tayne Casier)

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Throughout the 17th century there were extreme persecutions of the Huguenot or Protestant people. As baptized members of this congregation Philippe and Maria Casier were subject to these discriminations. The powerful beliefs of the political and religious powers gave no tolerance toward any religion besides the Catholic Church, and considered other practices heretical. They felt threatened by any change that they could not control. The Huguenots were not to be controlled, they wanted religious freedom. They did not want to worship idols of crosses or the Virgin Mary or of other saints. They did not believe that the ritual, hierarchy, or pilgrimages helped anyone toward redemption. The Pope himself represented a worldly kingdom which sat in mocking tyranny over the things of God. They saw Christian faith as something to be expressed in a strict and godly life, in obedience to biblical laws, out of gratitude for God’s tender mercy. The Huguenots opposed the Catholic Church and in defiance attacked priests, monks, nuns, monasticism, images, and church buildings. Most of the cities in which the Huguenots gained a hold were from riots in which alters and images in churches, and sometimes the buildings themselves were torn down. Ancient relics and texts were destroyed; the bodies of saints exhumed and burned.1

1 Online at www.wikipedia.com.

Centennia Historical Atlas available at www.clockwk.com

The attitudes acquired during this “middle age” era of history throughout 17th Century Europe were born of the necessity to change. During previous centuries the feudal system in operation required every man to give what they had to the lords, or the very few and very rich landholders. They swore homage to him, and in return the lord promised to protect him and to see that he received justice. The masses of the poor worked for the profit of the nobility. This included the bishops of the Catholic Church who were one of the greatest of medieval landowners. Yes, they laid claim to their good share. After all, they proclaimed the blessings, performed the saving rights, and in general played God to the masses. At their discretion God opened the windows of heaven, or closed them on the unrighteous. Politics were played within the religious domain. At the bottom of the social pyramid were the agricultural laborers, and beneath them the peasants or serfs. Customs varied, but it was not uncommon for a peasant to have a small plot of land, or to share one in the community, on which to grow crops, sell them to others or barter for what they needed. As politics ensued, the King conquered

territories, and waged war during which lands and buildings were burned and the people were ravaged. They starved, and the conditions invited pestilences and diseases and devastations. During this time diseases such as the Bubonic Plague, Smallpox and Measles, bore down and destroyed entire civilizations. These pandemics were not particular as to whom they afflicted, rich

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or poor, prestigious or peasant, king or clerical or farmer or beggar. Gradually the population severely diminished; there were not enough protectors, or providers. How then to survive? It soon became apparent that a change in lifestyle was needed and the common people became aware that neither the lords of the kingdom, nor the King, nor the Church, nor anybody else could protect them. They needed to take care of themselves and realized that their own initiative was necessary. They could grow crops, sell them to others, or barter for what they needed. Eventually manufacture and marketing began and society gradually grew out of repression and into a collaborative existence. This narrative is, of course, greatly simplified and a more in depth study of history will produce many more of the details in this web of mankind’s existence. This much simplified version serves to bring us to a time in history of revolution and reformation. These are eras in which Philippe and Maria Casier lived and when they raised their family. Times of turmoil and unrest, but fueled by their desire for a better life. A need to survive, but also to worship the God they knew. Certainly a great exercise of faith and of agency, and without futility. On a ship’s manifest, of which we will speak more of later in this narrative, Philippe himself said that he was a farmer from Calais [France]. Whether he was from the town of Calais or the Region of the Pas-de-Calais, it is not known. However, it is for certain that he was in the middle of the disputes between the Catholics and the Protestants. It is supposed that he or his parents (possibly grandparents too) converted from Catholicism to Protestantism (the Reformed Church which followed the teachings of John Calvin).

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~ Huguenot Family In Flight ~

Available at www.brianaltonenmph.com

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~ Huguenot Fugitives Escaping ~

Engraved in 1877 available at www.huguenot-manakin.org

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~ Hiding Among The Reeds ~

Engraved in 1877 available at www.huguenot-manakin.org

Along the western seaboard, along points where they felt themselves unable to make head against their persecutors, they put to sea in ships

and boats and made their way to England, where they landed in great numbers.

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The leaders of the Reformation itself were many, but it was John Calvin who introduced the Reformed Church to the people. He introduced a new church government and way of worship, rejecting conventional worship. The introduction of Calvinistic beliefs and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Europe began in France in 1559, in the Netherlands in the 1570s, and throughout Europe at different times during the 15th Century, fighting for their cause along the western front of France. Historically, these changes were taking place throughout the period called the 100 Years’ War which was actually a series of separate conflicts fought between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France and their various allies for control of the French throne (religion included).2 In France, civil wars, deadly epidemics, famines and marauding mercenary armies turned to banditry, reduced the population by about one-half.

2 The term “Hundred Years’ War” was later termed by historians to describe the whole series of events.

Painting by François Dubois, a Huguenot painter born circa 1529 in Amiens, who settled in Switzerland. Although Dubois did not witness the massacre, he depicts Admiral Coligny's body hanging out of a window at the rear to the right. To the left rear, Catherine de' Medici is shown emerging from the Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies.

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Philippe and Maria lived for a time in a town on the western coast of France, about 8 or 9 miles south of the town of Dieppe, named Ouville-la-Riviere.3 It is supposed that this was at the beginning of their married life because Maria was only 16 years old, and there were no other known children with them, though Maria could easily have been with child. Philippe was a soldier fighting there in one of the many battles he would have been involved in. In the midst of this chaos, the Casiers found an

3 The river it is named after is the Saân River which runs through the town.

www.wikipedia.com

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abandoned infant in the streets. It is not known whether his parents lay nearby, or if he was a baby or a small child, he is described as “an infant”. One can only imagine the devastation and fear which prevailed. Most likely crying, and possibly injured himself, Philippe rescued the child from certain death and took him home where he and Maria raised him as their own.4 The town of Calais was a major important and strategic seaport where many wars were fought and where ships left and entered her ports doing their business. Near Ouville is another major seaport town named Dieppe. “Dieppe was the premier port of the kingdom [of France] in the 17th century. On July 23, 1632, 300 colonists heading to New France departed from Dieppe. At the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Dieppe lost 3,000 of its Huguenot citizens, who fled abroad.”5 In 1635, a group of about 100 French settlers left from Dieppe to go to the Caribbean island of Martinique and St. Christopher (St. Kitts) for the purposes of colonizing the islands and of clearing land for sugar cane plantations. They were led by a man named Pierre Belain d’Esnambuc (pyer bulăN dānäNbük’). It is

4 This information was obtained through research by Dr. Don H. Watson (deceased) online at genealogy.tomrue.net (no longer posted), 1997. From

Beyond Rememberance, LaRue & Allied Families, p. 9. The story of Abraham LaRue (Leroux, LeRoy), his family, ancestors, and descendants, and all those gallant Huguenots. The LaRue family eventually married into the Uzielle family (daughter of David & Marie Uzielle). Also, it will be noted that after Philippe’s death Marie remarried (8-9 years later) to Jean LeRoy. 5 www.wikipedia.org. New France was created after several colonists emigrated to America from the Caribbean. Among them were Louis Du Bois and his

family (important in a later movement of our family from Mannheim, in the Palatinate, to Texel, Netherlands, in 1660). Though Philippe and his family traveled with others, they remained in New Amsterdam. Later generations of David Uzielle’s family did end up in the Quebec area (part of the New France area).

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supposed that it was with this group following d’Esnambuc that Philippe Casier and his family came to Martinique.6 It seems that wherever Plilippe Casier and his family (which included David and Maria and their family) moved, and wherever their travels took them, they lived by, or near, the water. Philippe’s military background also shows his association with the fortresses and castles of the country.

Calais, France Major seaport (several medieval castles)

Dieppe, France Major seaport (several medieval castles)

Martinique, Caribbean Island(s) in Pacific, Fort St. Pierre

The Netherlands 1/4 of land area below sea level. Systems of dikes & canals (several forts)

Mannheim & Frankenthal Rivers Rhine & Neckar, medieval forts in both towns built in 17th Century

Texel, The Netherlands Island in North Holland, Fort De Schans on south eastern coast

New Amsterdam, New Netherlands Pacific Ocean & major waterways of New York, Fort Amsterdam It is not unreasonable to suppose that the Cazier family associated with many of the castles of the area. Philippe was a soldier, and would probably have moved his family behind the walls of these great fortresses if there were an imminent danger to the surrounding towns. Seaport towns were especially vulnerable, being prized as centers of transport and trading within the country of France, and also all of Europe. To possess it would be to possess a powerful influence over all of the territory.

6 It was suggested by Dr. Don H. Watson (deceased) that the family came to Martinique as indentured servants (Engagés) sponsored by the West India

Company (VWIC). However, by the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), when indentureship was initiated here by the French Crown, the Casier family were long gone and had immigrated to New Amsterdam (1660). Also, the fact that Philippe was a soldier is of some worth to consider them paying their own fare. D’Esnambuc landed of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) in 1635. After being driven off that island by the English, he took the colonists to Martinique and established the first European settlement at Fort Saint Pierre (now St. Pierre). At the time there were few or no Catholic priests in the French Antilles, so the Huguenot settlers were left to settle the land and build the land. They were industrious and became quite prosperous and it supposed that the Casiers only stayed here for 2-3 years before returning to France.

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In the 17th Century a journey from the coast of France to the Caribbean could take three to four months

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Even though the dates we have temporarily assigned to the Casier family are only approximated, there were important historical events which surrounded the time period covering their lives. There were frequent wars going on throughout all of Europe, including the course of several generations of the Casiers. After the “WAR”, and having worked off their indenture, the Casier family returned to France in search of any remaining family and also to investigate the results of the wars. Finding no family, at least where they had known them to be, they moved on north

to the Low Countries7, assuming that they were

7 The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of

Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany. The term is more appropriate to the era of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe when strong centrally governed nations were slowly forming and territorial governance was in the hands of a noble or of a noble house. (From www.wikipedia.com)

www.wikipedia.com

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formerly from the town of Calais or Pas-de-Calais region8, and returned to where their family originally came from. Even though there are very many Caziers (Casier, Cassier, etc. in the Pas-de-Calais region, the first we find of our Philippe and Maria is in the area of Flanders.9 It is not known which “WAR” is referred to in the above statement,10 but the following major wars were among those being fought throughout this time period. All were fought over the power and ownership of countries, the burdens laid upon the people (taxes, etc.), and the right to worship as one pleased:

The 80 Years’ War was a Dutch War of Independence (1568-1648) – A revolt of the Seventeen Provinces against Philip II of Spain. A major cause of Dutch discontent was the heavy level of taxation the general population was required to pay, while the support and guidance needed from the government was hampered by the size of the empire.

The 30 Years’ War (1618-1648) – A continuously fought war fought unceasingly and primarily in what is now Germany but also at various other parts of Europe. One of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. A major impact of the 30 Years’ War was the extensive destruction of entire regions, denuded by the foraging armies. Episodes of famine and disease significantly decreased the population in German states, Bohemia, the Low Countries, etc.

100 Years’ War (1337-1453) – A series of shorter wars between England and France fought for French independence. After a short time in their homeland, the Casier family traveled north through present-day Belgium (at this time a battlefield for all of Europe) and into the Netherlands (under Spanish rule) where many, many Casier names are found in French Flanders. In fact, there are very many Casier (Cazier, Cassier) families throughout northern France and present-day Belgium and the Netherlands (the Low Countries). There are fortresses (castles) here, still known in more modern days by the Cazier name. Some looking for all their worth like sturdy homes and blending into the native landscape, but large and built of mortar and stone.

8 New World Immigrants edited by Michael Tepper, Volume 1, etc. Philippe stated on the ship manifest of De Vergulde Otter (The Gilded Otter) that he

was a farmer from Calais. 9 In Feudal times, Flanders formed a country which extended over parts of the present day Belgium (West & East), northern France (Nord-Pas-de-Calais)

and the Netherlands (Zeeland). See “Jean-Claude Research” on www.caziercuzins.info. 10

From research by Dr. Don Watson (deceased) who knew the language and, along with others who he hired to help, did extensive research on the Larue (Leroux, LeRoy) family. He included research the Philippe and Maria Taine Casier family in his narrative. The Larue family married into the Uzielle family, and they married into the Casier family.

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Returning to France after the War – about 1636

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In 1971, Jean-Claude Cazier (from Lille, France), did research for our family in France.11 He was trying to see if his Caziers (and his mother’s Cassiers) and our Caziers tied together. What he did find was that in the French Church at Zierikzee (Zeeland), on 27 July 1636, Philippe Casier (Jr.), son of Philippe Casier and Marie “Thune” [sic] was baptized. Witnesses are Jean Du Bois and Catherine Denels. Three years later, on 26 Apr 1639, Phillip (Jr.) (about 3 years of age?) is found being received as a member of the church in Middelburg, having moved from the church of Terneuzen. Evidently the Casier family moved around some, or at least attended church in different congregations. The distance from Zerikzee south to Terneuzen is about 46.5 miles and from Terneuzen NW to Middelburg about 21 miles. We find record of a H[Ester] Casier being accepted as a member of the church of Middelburg on 8 Jul 1642. She is listed as having moved from the church of Sluis. It is thought that this Hester is the daughter of Philippe & Maria. The record of her marriage to Jan Belleville (14 Mar 1677 on Staten Island, NY) states that she is from “Sluis, Flanders.” Further research needs to be done on this theory. If it is her, she would be in a different birth order in the family than has been previously accepted.12 While living in Middelburg, the main town on the island of Walcheren in Zeeland (Netherlands), Philippe Casier took out a

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See “Jean-Claude Research & Letters” at www.caziercuzins.info. 12

Because there are two Casier children who are not accounted for in the records of this area (Jean, & Jacques), it may be that they and Philippe (Jr.) were born sometime earlier, and while the family lived in Martinique (Caribbean). It is assumed that because they were not found being born or baptized, or accepted into membership, etc. in The Netherlands, that they were older (or previously baptized), and that Philippe (Jr.) was just baptized here. No further record than that stated above has been found of Philippe (Jr.) and it is not known if he died young, stayed in Europe when they immigrated, or just what happened to him. Of course there is also David Uzielle to consider, who later married their daughter Marie Casier and immigrated with the family. He has also not been found yet in these records. For further clarification, see the ship manifest of De Vergulde Otter. Their daughter Sarah was born 2 years after their arrival in New Amsterdam and when it was still a Dutch Colony. Philippe (Sr.) died three years after arriving here.

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loan on 22 Sep 1642. It was in the amount of 90 £, 4 shillings, his house “situated on Dij Ben dach stratt” is used as collateral. In the margin of the loan it says that the loan was paid off in 1654. On 23 Jan 1643, Philippe Casier and his wife Maria Teyne took out another loan, again using their home as a guarantee on payment. The loan was in the amount of 200 carolus (33 £) with an interest of 6% to be paid off in three years. Two years later, on 10 Jan 1645, the Casiers sell their home, leaving the responsibility of paying for it to the next buyer. Whether Philippe & Maria leave Middelburg or not is not known. He could have moved to settle elsewhere, or just have moved elsewhere within the town.

This map shows the borders of the European Provinces as they were when Philippe & Maria were in Zerikzee, Zeeland, The Netherlands, at that time a friendly ally of the Huguenots (Protestants). As far as can be determined, the Casier family stayed in The Netherlands for about 21 years before moving on to Mannheim (present-day Germany).

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What Jean-Claude found next was our Philippe and Maria “Teyne” Casier partaking of the sacrament in the Reformed Church of Sluis (now in Zeeland, Flanders, in the south-western part of the Netherlands). The record (dated 2 July 1656) also showed that they “arrived with attestation of the church they came from.”13 Further records (dated 7 Feb 1657) from seven (7) months later show a Pierre Cassier14 & Maria Cassier attending the same church “with confession.”

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“Attestation” is an affirmation that they were members of the church and in good standing. 14

It is not known if this Pierre Cassier is a member of the Philippe Casier family or not, no further record of him has been found. He is listed on the same date of the attendance record as Maria Cassier (boys on one page, girls on another).

www.wikipedia.com & Jean-Claude Cazier research on www.caziercuzins.info

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The accumulation of documented events (1636-1657) spans a total of approximately 21 years that they were found living in these areas of the Netherlands. If this information to date is at all accurate, it is reasonable to assume that this locale is where most of their children were born and raised.15 If this is acceptable, Philippe and Maria would probably have been in their early 40s when they left their home once again, this time for Frankenthal (near Mannheim) in the Palatinate (now Germany). As shown on this map, they would most likely have traveled down the Rhine River. Historically, Frankenthal and Mannheim have both been a battleground for several wars, including the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) and the later during the Palatinate War of Succession (1688-1697).16 Control of this area was sought because of Mannheim’s strategic location at the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar Rivers, and its importance as a large industrial town and port. Mannheim had

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David was, of course, born in France and ‘adopted’ by the family; Sarah was born in Nieuw Haarlem and baptized 10 Sep 1662 in Nieuw Amsterdam, 16

Though fought in Continental Europe, Ireland, North America (known there as King William’s War), and Asia, the main fighting took place around France’s borders: in the Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, Duchy of Savoy and Catalonia. France was in the grip of an economic crisis.

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been a fishing village before it became an official city at the beginning of the 17th century. It was built on the site of a fortress which guarded this intended defense harbor. At the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, Frankenthal was also developed into one of the strongest fortresses of the Electorate Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine. By the movements of the different armies involved in the Thirty Years’ War, whole regions of what is now Germany were annihilated and devastation covered the land. In this devastating war many records and church books were lost (if they were kept at all) so for most family history researchers in Germany this is the end of their research. As the different armies moved through the regions of Germany, armies devastated the land. Well over half of the population of the German Empire died either from the effects of the war, or from starvation, or from ensuing diseases (of 18 million people, 7 million survived). Frankenthal was besieged by the Spanish during this war and was soon occupied by troops of opposing sides. Trade and industry were ruined and the town, which had been burned to the ground, was not rebuilt until 1682. It was burned down again during the Palatinate War of Succession (also known as the 9 Years’ War, the War of the Grand Alliance, and the War of the League of Augsburg – [Wikipedia]. During the second half of the 16th century, people from the Netherlands who were being persecuted for their religious beliefs settled in Frankenthal. They were industrious and artistic and brought economic prosperity to the town. Some of them were important carpet weavers, jewelers, and artists. Later, in 1750, under the rule of the Elector Charles Theodore, Frankenthal was established as a center of industry. Numerous factories were opened and mulberry trees were planted for silk production. In 1755 the famous Frankenthal porcelain factory was opened and remained in operation until 1800. It is proposed that sometime after 1657 Philippe and Maria Casier moved their family from The Netherlands to Frankenthal and Mannheim in what is now Germany. Record is found here of David Uzielle marrying Philippe’s eldest daughter, Marie Casier, in 1659 in Mannheim. The marriage record states that they were both born in France. Later their first child Pieter Uzielle is baptized there in 1660, having been born in Germany. Given Philippe’s past as a soldier, and as a farmer, and as an industrious entrepreneur of different trades, it is supposed that these trades were also taught to his sons, including David (whom they had raised as their own). The area around both Mannheim and Frankenthal would have provided opportunity for a safe haven and also to earn a living for their families. The rebuilding of a town provided a stable source of income. Soon, after accumulating some means, it was time to move on again, pursued by the armies and forces seeking to destroy their way of life.

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It is during 1660 that the ship’s manifest for the ship “The Guilded Otter” (De Vergulde Otter) is found which shows Philippe Casier and David Uzille and their families coming to New Amsterdam, in New Netherlands, on the North American Continent. Historically it is shown that several others of the family’s contemporaries also traveled the same routes as the Casiers and Uzielles. Both Louis Du Bois17 and David Demerest (des Marest) were looking for asylum for their families, as were Matthias Blanchan, Jacques Cresson, Anthony Krypel, and other notable personalities. Later records of New Amsterdam show these two individuals, and also several others, traveling and carrying on their business in the same circles as our own family. It is not unreasonable to presume that our family traveled with a particular group in (1660) led by Louis Du Bois back “down” the Rhine

River (North West) to the northern island of Texel in The Netherlands where they boarded the ship and immigrated to New Amsterdam. The trip took them approximately 4 months to complete.

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It may very well be that Louis Du Bois is the brother of Jean Du Bois who is a witness to the baptism of Philippe Casier, (Jr.) in the French Church at Zierikzee (Zeeland), in The Netherlands, on 27 July 1636.

o Sailed from Texel, The Netherlands – 26 Apr 1660 o Arrived in New Amsterdam – before 25 Aug 1660

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Historical events conclude that the ship the Casier family traveled on was most likely a Dutch flute (fluit) which looked very much like the ship Mayflower, Halve Maen (Half Moon), De Bonte Koe (The Spotted Cow) and similar ships of this time period. This type of ship was the preferred ship used by the East and West Indies Companies (VOC & GWIC) because it was extremely seaworthy. Built in different sizes, it ranged from 90 to 130 feet in length and from 200 to 600 tons. It is now known the exact look or build of De Vergulde Otter (The Gilded Otter) which was the ship on which the Casier family immigrated to New Amsterdam.

This picture is a model of what the port in Texel may have looked like. Ships came to wait for the tides to change, or for the weather to change,

before they took sail on the Atlantic Ocean

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The Island of Texel today -- looking from the south toward the north

Letter From Jeremias to Anna Van Rensselaer

“We were all very sad, for the weather became so bad that our ship [De Vergulde Otter – in 1656] could not keep a sail set, the wind blowing furiously from the E.S.E. We drifted toward the shore on our lee and passed a dreadful night, for we were beyond human aid and had to turn to God in prayer. After we had offered up our prayers to God, He heard us, for the storm began to abate and the wind veered around, so that we had to thank God even that very night which had seemed so dreadful to us, not knowing whether it was flat strand or a steep, high cliff we were approaching. In the morning we saw land, the weather being fair. We were about 12 miles from the Sant Punt (Sandy Hook) . . . . (Correspondence of Jeremias Van Rensselaer, ©1932, p. 31) [Note: this letter was written by the passenger of an earlier voyage (1656) than the Casier & Uzille families, but sailing aboard De Vergulde Otter - CR] Source: Van Laer, Settlers of Rensselaerswyck, 1630-1658, “Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts, Being the Letters of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 1630-1643 and Other Documents . . . . Albany, University of NY, 1908, p. 805-846, NY State Library Bulletin, History, No. 7.

members.virtualtourist.com

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The ship manifest of De Vergulde Otter shows a passenger list of about 25 to 30 men on a ship the size of the Mayflower. Added to that are the women

and children. Typical fare was 36 florins; half that for young children; and nothing for nursing infants. (www.olivetreegenealogy.com)

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Upon arriving in New Amsterdam, which is located on the tip of Manhattan Island in what is now New York City, the Casier and Uzielle families would have stayed in New Amsterdam for a short time until other arrangements could be made and a place to live found. This would have been an opportunity to get to know the community and those who would be their neighbors. It was an opportunity also, to visit the businesses and the general town layout. It is only a short time later that we find Philippe and David buying land and farming on Van Keulen’s Hook in the area known as Haarlem, about 10 miles northeast of the main town of New Amsterdam.

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No. 1. David Du Four No. 2. Jan Cogu No. 3. Lubbert Gerritsen No. 4. Michel Zyperus No. 5. Daniel Tourneur No. 6. Sigismund Lucas No. 7. Jan Pietersen Slot No. 8. “ “ “ No. 9. “ “ “ No. 10. Philippe Casier No. 11. Jean Gervoe No. 12. Simon De Ruine No. 13. Adam Dericksen No. 14. Jacques Cresson No. 15. Nicolaes De Meyer No. 16. David Uzille No. 17. Dirck Claessen No. 18. Jan Sneden No. 19. Jan De Pre No. 20. Pierre Cresson No. 21. Jacques Cousseau No. 22. Jean Le Roy

NOTE: The overlying lines were the lots as assigned at the time Philippe and Maria Casier and David and Marie Uzille and their families lived here. The underlying dotted lines are the street addresses after the village grew into a town and had named and numbered streets. Notice the names of neighbors who were among the contemporaries of Philippe's and David's both in the Old World and in the New (ie: Demarest, Cresson, Journee, Delamater, Claessen, Tourneur, Oblinus, etc.)

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No. 10 “was sold by [Philippe] Casier's widow [Maria Tayne] and son-in-law, [David] Uzille, to Joost Oblinus, November 8, 1663.” No. 11 “was sold by Gervoe to Philip Casier, who exchanged with [David] Uzille for 16. Uzille and the widow Casier conveyed it with No. 10 to Oblinus, who about 1688 sold these numbers to John Delamater.” No. 16 “Uzille exchanged for No. 11, with [Philippe] Casier, who sold it, January 11, 166318, to Jacob Elderts, he to Delavall, and he to Joost Oblinus and John Brevoort as joint owners. Oblinus, getting the other half, exchanged this lot with Metje Cornelis for No. 15. . . .” No. 1 & 11 & bb Lots owned by Jean Le Roy, as well as lot #bb in Jochem Pieters’ Flat. A = Site of the Reformed Dutch Church & the Harlem Library. a-v = Original house lots of Nieuw Haarlem to which the following were added later: w, x, y, z, aa, bb, cc, & dd.

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This is the last transaction found completed by Philippe Casier before he died later this same year, thus that part of his estimated death date (bet 11 Jan & 23 Apr 1663).

ushistoryimages.com

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This image shows the area of Nieuw Haarlem where the Casier family lived earlier while they lived on the island. Among other ventures, Philippe had a farm here, he operated a lumber business, and he was a shepen (magistrate or alderman).

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Several records of the time substantiate events as they were happening to Philippe and Maria and the Casier family in both the Nieuw Haarlem and Nieuw Amsterdam areas. The land records and court records indicate traits of ambition, integrity, resourcefulness, and a disposition to aid and assist others. An acute assessment of their lives attests to their devoutness and reverence of the God they knew. The final chapters of Philippe’s life are vividly displayed in the following excerpt from James Riker’s Revised History of Harlem. It gives us a glimpse of some of the cases Philippe would have had to deal with as a magistrate and a look at the lives of these citizens of “the Manatthanes” (the Manhattans).19

“On Sunday morning, February 4th, Jan Pietersen, at whose house Pieter was staying and all this happened, made his complaint to Montagne, the schout; the masters also informing him that their men were plotting other mischief, but they had no power to prevent it. The schout, now going thither, ordered the rioters to disperse; but they only defied him, and even threatened him with their guns and axes. Only more enraged, they gave the Sabbath to cutting down and burning the palisades around Jaques Cresson's barn. Next morning Jacob Elderts, who had lately bought a lot on Van Keulen's Hook, was engaged bringing thatch from Bronck's meadow. Before he had spoken "a single word," they caught and beat him, also wounding him on the head. In vain "Meester Willem," who witnessed the assault, commanded them to desist. Perhaps it was to pay off Elderts for the death of their countryman, Bruyn Barents, a cooper, five years before; perhaps not. The two were then working in a brewery at Brooklyn, and Bruyn made at Elderts with a knife, when the latter, in self-defense, knocked him down with a sledge. Bruyn lingered six months, and died February 12th, 1658. As the case stood, Jacob was arrested, but let off by the court with a fine of 100 gl. for the wounding. But be this the explanation or not, the schout seeing the rioters heeded not his authority, and apprehending further trouble, hastened, the same day, to inform the Director, who, with the Council, referred the matter to the Attorney-General, "to take further information about it."

“Here ended, or is lost sight of, this almost tragedy; the public attention at Harlem being absorbed by the death, in quick succession, of two worthy inhabitants, Adam Dericksen and Philip Casier. Dericksen was from Cologne, owned an allotment of land and had served as inspector of fences with Hendrick Karstens in 1661-2. In the first of these years he married Magdalena, daughter of Lambert Van Telckhuys. Left with an infant Grietie, his widow, a few months later, became the wife of Monis Peterson. In the death of Casier the community lost one of its sterling men, a skilful farmer, and valued for his experience and judgment. His place in the magistracy was filled, April 23d, by the appointment of Michiel J. Muyden.*”

19

The Manatthanes were the Indian tribe which inhabited the island later to be called Manhattan Island.

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“* Philippe Casier, had he lived, must have proven a most useful inhabitant. His adventurous voyage from France to the West Indies, back to Holland, thence up the Rhine, and finally to this country, with his eight in family, are events in his life already noticed. Another child, Sarah, was added in 1662, when Casier had become a resident and landholder at Harlem. He and wife, Marie Taine, united with the church October 2 of that year, and on November 16, he was made a magistrate. But near the close of the ensuing winter, 1663, death arrested his usefulness. He had but just sold, January n, 1663, a lot on Van Keulen's Hook to Jacob Eldertsen, also called Brouwer (Brewer), from his former occupation. Selling her lands to Joost Van Oblinus, the widow bought a house in the Markvelt-steegie, in New York, and lived there for some years, with her sons, Jean and Jaques, who were bakers. In 1671 she married Jean le Roy, of Harlem, and afterward went with him to Staten Island. Her daughter. Hester, born at Sluis, in Flanders, married, in 1677, Jean Belleville, who was living in 1703. They had sons. Jean, born 1677; Philip, born 1670, etc. (See Martino). The younger daughter, Sarah Casier, married, 1680. Jacques Guion. Merchant, from St. Martin, France, she being much his junior. His will, made May 3, 1680, was proved December 1. 1694. And his widow admitted executrix. Guion visited Europe in 1678. He owned 200 acres of land on Staten Island, granted him October 13, 1664. On which some of the descendants still reside. Philip Casier's two sons, in 1673, were members of Capt. Steenwyck's troop; but Jacques appears to have soon died unmarried. Jean accompanied his mother to Staten Island, in 1676, obtaining that year a grant of 80 acres of land on Long Neck. He married, in 1680, Elizabeth, daughter of John Damen, of Brooklyn. In 1701 he and his brother-in-law. Jean Belleville, owning an adjoining farm, with other neighbors like themselves, born French subjects (Casier had his birth in the French island of Martinique), sent their names to England, and were naturalized by act of Parliament. Casier made his will December 26, 1709, which was proved the next month, January 24, 1710. . . .”

As this chapter closes, we are reminded of the remainder of the history of this immigrant family. These sections appear in continuing chapters on this web site. An enduring legacy of the Cazier (Casier) family in America.