JACKSON AND HEARD ROOTS IN NEW YORK, AND HOW THEY ALL CAME TOGETHER

 

Every now and then a family historian gets a break, and I got one this past weekend.  I discovered that Ralph Blauvelt has written four books that feature our ancestors (who are also his).   To begin with, we are Blauvelt descendants, and cousins of Ralph through multiple family lines.

The following description of the book is from the Amazon Books. 

"Why does the Blauvelt family in America claim their ancestor was a Dutch colonist named Gerrit Hendricksen? How did he become so well-placed in New Amsterdam society that he could marry the daughter of the foremost ship builder, and receive a substantial land grant making him the next door neighbor of Governor Peter Stuyvesant? What was his relationship to Captain Willem Albertsen Blauvelt, the only man carrying the name in the Dutch colony of New Netherland? Ralph Blauvelt tackles these questions and more in “A Blauvelt Descendant, Researching Family History.” He describes his childhood experience of growing up in Rockland County, NY, and his gradual understanding of his Dutch-American heritage. He did not understand the deference given to him as a school boy when some people learned that his name was Blauvelt. As a college student, he was embarrassed when he could not answer a question about the Blauvelt descendant who married John Kennedy. Ignorance gave way to increasing knowledge about his family history. He became a member of the Association of Blauvelt Descendants, joined its board of directors, and eventually assumed the position of genealogist. “A Blauvelt Descendant” touches upon the contributions of Blauvelt descendant families to American life. In a collection of articles, essays, and historical addresses, the author presents Major Fredericus Blauvelt at the DeWint House, where George Washington made his headquarters during the American Revolution; the 19th century spiritualists, Kate and Maggie Fox; and the 20th century American artist, Edward Hopper. He descended from six of the seven Blauvelt siblings who settled in 17th century Tappan, NY. The author’s most recent research takes us back to 16th century Netherlands and the origin of the Blauvelt name in his essay, “The First Blauvelt, Pieter of Enkhuizen.”

A summary of the descent of Wilmer Jackson from the Blauvelt Family of New Amersterdam (through Gerritt Hendricksen Blauvelt). Note that the Adams family is descended from Gerritt Hendricksen Blauvelt through his great granddaughter Elizabeth Blauvelt who married a Polhemus.

The following description is from Amazon Books.

"Four Hundred Years in America is the story of the first immigrant settlers in New Netherland, the seventeenth century Dutch colony in North America. It is the story of strangers in a strange land, individuals and families who struggled to make a clearing in the wilderness to build a home and make a life. They were the founders of the New York metropolis and the ancestors of millions of Americans. The author reconstructs the lives of selected ancestors from the documents they left behind, from contemporary writings, and the historical accounts of those who came after. The story that emerges is incomplete and fragmented, but it records the voices of our ancestors, reminding us of our immigrant heritage."

In this book, Ralph Blauvelt traces the lives of the following ancestors.

Ghislain Vigne and Adriana Cuvilje -- Immigrant ancestors of the Nolen and Heard Families.  Below is a summary of that descent.  Note that the Heard connection to the Vigne family is through the Nolen Family. 

Joris Jansen Rapalje and Cataluntie Jerominus Trico -- Immigrant ancestors of the Adams and Jackson Families as summarized below.  Note that the Rapalje connection to the Adams Family is also through the Polhemus family.

Lambert Huybertsen Moll and Trymke Pieters -- Immigrant ancestors of the Adams and Jackson Families as summarized below.  Note that the connection between the Adams and Moll Families is through the Blauvelt and Polhemus Families.

John William Seaman father-in-law of John Jackson as summarized below: Note that we are descended from the Seaman family through his business partner and friend Robert Jackson.  Four of their children (two couples) married.  We descent from J. W. Seaman's daughter Elizabeth who married Robert Jackson's son John.

Four Hundred Years in America: Seventeenth Century Immigrant Ancestors  is a wonderful help to me as it points to THREE improvable marriages uniting American families of early European descent.  In February of 1848, when John Theodore Polhemus married Marie(Mary) Aurora (Laura) Frederick, some of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam/New York (Bleuvelt, Polhemus, Moll) were united with some of the earliest settlers of Louisiana (Frederick, Bernard).  On Sept. 1, 1908 when Ida Belle Adams married John Seaborn (Sebe) Jackson, the most prominent English settlers of  Long Island (Seaman and Jackson) were united with the Dutch/German settlers of New York (listed above).  On Nov. 14, 1938 when Wilmer Henry (Jack) Jackson married Myrtis Lee Heard, their marriage united the descendants of two families who were together on the very first ship bringing European settlers to New York (Vigne and Rapalje). The family of the first European boy born in New York (Vigne) was united with the family of the first European girl (Rapalje) born in New York.  Their marriage took place 328 years after the Vinge and Rapalje families arrived in North America.  These improbable marriages took place in the Louisiana towns of Campti, Coushatta, and Pitkin.    

“Bluefields,” the story of Captain Willem Albertsen Blauvelt, is a documentary biography with a summary account of the world he lived in. It is about a seventeenth century adventurer, a Dutchman who sailed a French ship and was listed among the English buccaneers, who called him Blewfield or Bluefield. He lived most of his life in the West Indies, where his name, “Bluefields,” identifies geographic localities in both Nicaragua and Jamaica. However, most of the documents regarding him are found in the Dutch colonial records of New Netherland.

Willem Albertsen Blauvelt came from Monickendam, a small port city north of Amsterdam, in the province of North Holland. He most likely descended from Pieter Blaeuvelt of Enkhuysen (ca. 1480 – after 1542), the founder of the singular Blauvelt family in the Netherlands.

The New Netherland records document Captain Willem Blauvelt’s privateering cruises to the West Indies and the prizes he captured. Related records include his recruitment of investors and crew members for his ship, La Garce, and attendant business, such as powers of attorney, wills, etc...

The records that link Willem Albertsen Blauvelt to Bluefields in Nicaragua are limited to a few mentions in the records of the Providence Island Company in London (beginning in 1637) and the diary of Nathaniel Butler, Governor of Providence Island (1639-40). Willem’s link to Bluefields in Nicaragua must be shared with his father, Albertus Blauvelt, who was the first to explore the area.

There is only one contemporary document, a 1663 list of English buccaneers, that associates Willem Blauvelt, as “Captain Blewfield,” with Jamaica. Yet, he was the namesake of Bluefields Bay, the community of Bluefields, and the Parish of Bluefields in the island country of Jamaica.

The Third Edition of The Blauvelt Family Genealogy traces the genealogy of Gerrit Hendricksen Blauvelt and his second generation children with a documentary account of their lives. It also relates the story of their likely ancestor in the Netherlands, Pieter Blaeuvelt of Enkhuyzen, and the first Blauvelts to arrive in New Amsterdam in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, Willem Albertsen and Gerrit Hendricksen Blauvelt, in 1641. The subsequent generations of Blauvelt descendants up to the present are available at the ABD website www.blauvelt.org, or in the ABD Database, www.genealogy.blauvelt.org.
The Third Edition also includes articles about the Association of Blauvelt Descendants, historical events, and some of the many Blauvelt descendants who distinguished themselves throughout the history of our country. These descendants of Gerrit Hendricksen Blauvelt in the Third Edition are additionally identified by their relationship to one or more of his eight surviving children of the second generation. These include, in order of birth, Hendrick, Huybert, Johannes, Margrietje, Abraham, Isaac, Marritje, and Elizabeth.