USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Early Dutch Settlers of Monmouth County, New Jersey > Part 29
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Hendrickson. The following clause also appears in his will: "I do hereby re- serve one acre of land on the farm where I now live to be used as a bury- ing ground for the Hendrickson family and their connections, which said graveyard is to include the present graveyard and as much land on each side of it as shall make said acre." A codicil is added August 1, 1836, in which he directs that the widow and children of his deceased son William, shall reside with him and no charge be made against them for maintenance. In his will he orders his grandson, Wil- liam Henry to pay to his sisters, Sarah Ann, Francinke, and Mary, $2,000 each.
William Henry, son of Hendrick Hen- drickson, married January 12, 1812, Eleanor DuBois, and had the following children:
William Henry, born June 3, 1813, married first. February 28, 1839, Eliza- beth Woodward; married second. Mrs. Rebecca P. Fields, widow of Thomas Fields. He twice represented Mon- mouth county in New Jersey Senate and was one of the leading and respected citizens of Monmouth county. A very good likeness and full history of his life appears in Ellis' history of Mon- mouth county.
Sarah Ann, born April 14, 1816, mar- ried, October 21, 1834, Rev. Garret C. Schanck (b. September 14, 1806, d. Sept- ember 17, 1888,) and died February 20, 1843. Both buried in yard of Marlboro Brick church.
Charles DuBois, born April 21, 1818, died October 31 1834.
Francinke, born August 18, 1822, mar- ried March 4, 1840, George W. Cox, and died April 29, 1854. Buried by her hus- band in yard of Yellow Meeting House, Upper Freehold.
Mary, born October 1, 1825, married December 25, 1856, Henry Corlies, (born October 20, 1821, and son of Benjamin W. Corlies.) She died in August, 1898.
WILLIAM HENDRICKSON, OR WILM HENDRICKS, AS WRITTEN, BROTHER OF DANIEL.
Wilm Hendricks, as he wrote his name, was a brother of Daniel Hen- drickson, the first settler at Holland, in the present township of Holmdel. I think Hendrick Hendricks, the father of Daniel and William, lived in Mon- mouth between 1694 and 1706. Our court minutes for this period show that one Hendrick Hendricks served on the grand jury and also on a coroner's jury, called to view a corpse thrown up by the sea on Sandy Hook beach, After above dates no Hendrick Hendricks is named on our public records as resident of this county until Daniel's eldest son
arrived at age. Hendrick Hendricks was a widower and married again about 1706, Helen Cortelyou, the widow of Nicholas VanBrunt and of Dionyse Denyse. After this marriage it is said that he lived with his wife on lands at New Utrecht, L. I., which her father, Jacques Cortelyou, had devised to her.
William Hendricks is first mentioned in our county records as one of the persons who broke up Governor Hamil- ton's and Lewis Morris' court at Mid- dletown village, March 25, 170I, as has been already related. In Book I of Deeds, page 219, Secretary of State's office, is record of an agreement be- tween William Hendricks and Jarret Wall of Middletown, Monmouth county, dated June 17, 1703, fixing division line between their lands. The beginning of the line is fixed at mouth of William Hendricks' ditch on west side of Ma- horas brook and to run due west from this point to west side of Hendrickson land. On page 152 of court minutes of Monmouth under date of December 6, 1709, William Hendrickson with others appears before the court as a committee from Dutch church to present Joseph Morgan as their pastor. He is also mentioned in these same minutes in record of two public highways laid out by the commissioners. The first under date of September 27, 1705, of a highway from Middletown to the county line towards Amboy. "William Hendricks mill" is named as on line of this road. In the return of another road laid out April 2, 1706, the beginning is at "Wil- liam Hendricks' mill" and running thence "direct to Cocowders' brook, where Walter Wall's path went over, and then to Ruckman's path which goes
to Waykake." This road return is pub- lished in full on page 266-7, Old Times in Old Monmouth.
Some forty years ago the remains of an old dam, extending about half across the meadow, could be seen a few hun- dred feet south of the dwelling house where Joseph Dorsett lived until his death, and where George Dorsett, his father, had lived before him. The track of the New York and Long Branch railroad run a little distance north of this place. The banks on both sides of the Mahoras meadow south of this old dam are quite high. The east bank curves around to the west so as to . make a natural dam half the width of the meadow. The Mahoras brook which flows north along the west bank of the meadow makes a turn opposite the re- mains of this old dam and for a short distance flows westerly and then turns northerly along the farm of the late Hon. William B. Hendrickson. It only needs a short dam across this narrow neck of the meadow to unite the east and west banks, and so dam up the waters of Mahoras brook. In the divis- ion deeds, between the children of the second Daniel Hendrickson executed in 1789 and heretofore mentioned, this dam and floodgates are referred to as monuments in the description.
The fact that the deceased father had erected a mill and conveyance of half of same to the son Cornelius, is men- tioned in the deed to him. I think that here is the site of the first grist mill erected in Monmouth county. The old Town Book of Middletown township contains records of the contract be- tween the first settlers in 1668 and one Robert Jones, of New York, to put up and operate a grist mill. It was to be built at a place called by the Indians "Choncis Sepus." The early settlers had oxen and a few horses, and were obliged to select a place on some stream with sufficient water to run a mill. Mahoras brook is the only stream near the village of Middletown with sufficient water for this purpose. The banks on each side at this place favored the con- struction of a short dam. The hills were then covered with dense forests and beneath were vines and under- brush, so that the storm water was held from running off rapidly. All the
Yours Truly Charles @ Sendriation
Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, appointed in 1901.
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streams carried a greater volume of water and the meadow or lowlands had not been filled up or raised by the washings from the banks and hillsides after they were cleared and plowed.
The Mahoras brook drains an exten- sive region and during heavy storms an immense amount of water flows down from the hills. Robert Jones erected a mill at this place in 1669, for on May 24. 1.670, town lot No. 33 is transferred to him, which indicates that he must have completed his part of the contract. He did not, however, operate it long, for soon after we find James Grover in possession of the mill and running it. I think Daniel Hendricks purchased the property of Whitlock and Wall on ac- count of the close proximity of this mill. He was a man of more than ordi- nary intelligence and energy for we find him a constable and then sheriff in less than fifteen years after he settled. This, too, among strange people of a different race and language. It was doubtless his ownership of the adjacent lands which enabled him to secure this mill site for his brother William. At all events this same family held it from 1705 until the close of the century, as the deeds of 1789 inform us. A miller and blacksmith were two of the most important men in a new settlement. A great demand existed in early times, as the settlements were pushed to west and south. for men understanding these trades.
William Hendricks married Willimp- tje, (baptized at Flatbush, L. 1., Sept- ember 16, 1677,) a daughter of Guisbert Thys Laen VanPelt and Jannetje Adrianse Lambersen, his wife, who are named among the organizing members of the Monmouth Dutch church in 1709. His name, however, on church records is entered "Gisbert Laen" for the Van- Pelt was dropped. At a later date the name was spelled "Lane," which sur- name has been retained by his descend- ants to this day. One of his daughters, "Moika" (Micha) married Stoffel Dirck - sen Longstraat of Flatlands, L. I., who also removed to Monmouth county, and were the parents of Stoffel Longstreet (baptized December 25, 1713, died 1784) who was the first settler of this name in Upper Freehold township and lived there until his death. William Hen- dricks died in April or May of 1711, be- fore any of his children had arrived at age. His will is dated April 2 and proved June 14 of the year 1711, and recorded at Trenton, N. J., in Book I of Wills, page 326, etc. Cornelius Doorn (VanDorn), William Brudenseck and Barnes Lambersen are the subscribing
witnesses. His brother Daniel Hen- drickson, and friends, Peter Wyckoff and Stoffle Longstreet are named as ex- ecutors. He does not mention his wife, Willimpe, and I therefore infer that she had died prior to this time (1711). He mentions Guisbert (Gilbert) as his eld- est son and gives him four shillings extra on this account. He gives his youngest son Daniel, £20 more than the others. This is the nephew Daniel Hen- drickson also mentions in his will, giv- ing him a small lot of land at Perth Amboy which he purchased of Stephen Warne.
William Hendricks also speaks in his will of his daughters, but does not name them or any other sons except Gilbert and Daniel. He states, how- ever, that all his children are minors. Gilbert Lane, his father-in-law, in his will dated Nov. 7, 1720, proved May 17, 1727, and recorded at Trenton in Book B of wills, p. 66, etc., speaks of his grand-children "born of my daughter Williamea Hendrickson, late deceased, formerly the wife of William Hen- drickson, likewise deceased, and gives them their mother's share in his estate. These orphan children of William Hen- dricks and Williamptji Lane, his wife, who were all under age in 1711 were: Guisbert, Geesye, Hans (John), Jannetje (Jane), Hendrick and Daniel. As their father ran a grist mill on Mahoras brook, it is likely that these boys all learned the business of a miller, for we find some of them or their children fol- lowing this business at a later date in other parts of New Jersey. I do not now know of any descendents of these four sons residing in the old township of Middletown. They all removed to other parts of this county or state and to Bucks and Lancaster counties in Pennsylvania. Some retained the name of "Hendricks" and others the "Hen- drickson" surname.
Guisbert, the eldest son, married about 1728, Elizabeth (bapt. Aug. 13, 1710,) daughter of Johannes Polhemus and Annetje TenEyck, his wife, who have been heretofore mentioned. She was a sister of Tobias and Johannes Polhemus. who also settled in Upper Freehold township probably soon after Guisbert Hendrickson settled in that vicinity. This part of Monmouth together with adjacent territory in what was then Bur- lington and Middlesex counties, went under general name of Crosswicks, now confined in one small village.
Nottingham township was then in Burlington county. Part of this town- ship was taken off of Burlington and called Hamilton township when Mercer
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county was formed in 1838. 1 think Gilbert Hendrickson settled in this part of Burlington, but now Mercer county, somewheres near Yardville. He devised this plantation or farm to his youngest son, David Hendrickson, who ] believe lived and died on it. I should not be surprised to learn that Gilbert Hendrickson operated a grist mill in the vicinity of his farm. This however is a conjecture. As his father helped organize the Dutch church in 1709. so Gilbert helped the first Pres- byterian church at Allentown. As will be seen from his will he remembers this church with the gift of £10 or fifty dollars, which was a considerable sum in those days. Gilbert Hendrickson, like his father, read his Dutch Bible and accepted its teachings when he read therein.
"Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his ser- vant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."
"I, even I am he that comforteth you; who art thon, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man which shall be made as grass?"
"And forgettest the Lord, thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth?"
"Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
He believed in the word of God and trusting in the "righteousness" of God, and not his own goodness, he passed away from this earth in March or April of 1777, leaving his wife surviving and seven stalwart sons. He mentions no daughter in his will, but a granddaugh- ter, Margaret Emley. He therefore may have had a daughter who married an Emley and died prior to date of this will. His descendants are numerous and will be interested in his will where he speaks for himself.
The will and inventory of Guisbert Hendrickson :- In the name of God. amen, I Gisebert Hendrickson of the township in the county of Burlington in the Western Division of the Province of New Jersey, being weak in body but of Sound Mind and Memory Blessed be God, do this Eleventh day of Novem- ber, in the year of Our Lord one thous- and seven hundred and Seventy-Six I do make and publish this my last Will and Testament in manner and as fol- loweth that is to say FIRST I give and Bequeath unto my beloved Wife Eliza- beth the sum of fifteen pounds Yearly
during her natural Life and to have any one of the rooms in the house where J now live that she shall Choose with every necessary thereunto belonging with the use of one Negro Wench with all other necessaries of life found her as long as she shall remain my Widow, and it is my will that all the Estate that my Wife shall have at her death shall be equally divided between my six sons hereafter mentioned or the Survivors of them.
ITEM I give and bequeath unto my Son William the sum of One hundred pounds Besides his Equal part with the Rest of my Sons that is to say with himself & John & Daniel & Tobias and Cornelius & Jacob and it is my desire that he may be Contented with the pro- portion of my Estate with what he al- ready had.
ITEM I give and Bequeath unto my son David all the Plantation whereon I now dwell which I purchased by Sun- dry Surveays now adjoining together to him his Heirs and Assigns for ever together with four horses three cows twelve sheep Waggon plows Harrows Gears He paying to my Six Sons above named three hundred pounds in three Years after my Decease and fifteen pounds Yearly unto my Widow as above said during her Natural Life and make such provisions for her as is Bequeath- ed her in this Will.
ITEM it is my will and do Bequeath to Margaret Emley my Granddaughter one hundred pounds four years after my decease to be paid by my Son David.
ITEM It is my Will and I do Order that that Lot of Land lying at the North East Corner of the Plantation formerly Abraham Tilton's lying upon Doctor's Creek to be sold by my Exec- utors And the Money arising from the sale thereof to be Equally Divided amongst my Six Sons above mentioned to them their heirs and Assigns for ever.
ITEM it is my will & I do Order that if either of my said sons should die without issue that his part and portion herein bequeathed him shall be equally divided amongst the Survivors that have Issue to them their heirs and Assigns for ever.
ITEM it is my Will and I do order that all my Moveable Estate be sold Except what is already Bequeathed in this Will and after all my just debts and funeral Charges are paid that then the Overplush be Equally Divided amongst my Six Sons above mentioned that is William, John, Daniel, Tobias, Cornelius, & Jacob all as aforesaid to them their Heirs and Assigns for ever. And I do hereby ordain and appoint my
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two Sons William Hendrickson and ' Tobias Hendrickson to be my true & lawful Executors to this my last Will & Testament. Item it is my Will and 1 do Order that my Executors first of all do pay to the Elder of the Pres- byterian Church of Allentown ten pounds for the use of said church I do hereby revoke all other Wills by me heretofore made. IN WITNESS Where- of the said Guisbert Hendrickson have to this my last Will and Testament set my Hand and Seal the day and year above written.
Guisbert Hendrickson (SEAL.) Signed Sealed and Delivered by the said Guisbert Hendrickson as and for his last Will and Testament in the presents of us who were present at the signing & Sealing thereof.
Tobias Polhemus
Margaret Magaliard (w) her mark William Reynolds.
Tobias Polhemus, one of the witness- es # to the within will being first sworn
# The old wills now on record in Secretary of State's office at Trenton, N. J., were origin- ally recorded at Burlington, for West Jersey and numbered. While in East Jersey they were recorded at Perth Amboy and books lettered. Thus there are two sets of books covering the same period of time. Some of the Monmouth county wills, although in East Jersey, are re- corded at Burlington, as is shown in this article.
on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God doth declare and say that he was present and saw Guisbert Hendrickson the Testator in the within will named Sign and Seal the same & heard him Publish pronounce and declare the within Writing to be his last Will & Testament And at the doing thereof he was of sound and disposing mind and Memory as far as he knows and as he Verily believes and that Margaret Ma- galiard and William Reynolds were also present at the same time and Signed their Names as Witnesses to the Will together with this Deponent in the presence of each other and.in the pres- ence of the Testator.
Sworn the 28th day of April 1777 at Burlington before Robt Burcham.
The foregoing Will being prov'd pro- bate was Granted by his Excellency Govr. Livingston unto William Hen- drickson and Tobias Hendrickson Ex- ecutors in the sd. Will named being first sworn truly to perform the same ex- hibit a true Inventory and render a true Accot. when thereto lawfully re- quired Given under the Prerogative Seal the day and Year aforesaid.
Cha. Pettit Regrr.
WILLIAM HENDRICKS AND WILLIAMPTJE LAEN HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.
1. William, eldest son of Guisbert, married according to license granted February 22, 1768, Rachel Longstreet.
In Book I of deeds, page 496, Mon- month Clerk's office, is record of a deed dated February 2, 1778, from William Hendrickson and Rachel, his wife, of Upper Freehold, to Gilbert Longstreet of the same township. The grantors convey for £4,000 a tract of land in that township which Stoffel Longstreet had deeded to William Hendrickson, and "Peter Wecoff's" land, Albert Couwen- hoven's lands, and Doctor's Creek are called for as monuments.
2. John, second son, married Novem- ber 14, 1763, Anna Cox, and resided in what is now Ewing township, Mercer county.
3 Daniel, third son, was born about 1737; married Ann Stewart, and settled somewhere near what is now Hamilton Square. He was a zealous patriot and
soldier of the Revolution.
4. Tobias, fourth son, married accor- ding to license dated March 21, 1762, Rebecca Coward, and died May 23, 1811, aged 70 years, 10 months, and 2 days, according to his headstone in Old Yel- low Meeting House cemetery. His will is recorded at Freehold as heretofore mentioned with some of his descendants in Barkalow genealogy.
5. Cornelius, fifth son, is supposed to be the same person named in marriage license granted January 28, 1767, to Cornelius Hendrickson and Mary Thorn of Monmouth county. No other know- ledge.
6. Jacob, the sixth son, married ac- cording to license dated May 2. 1771, Elizabeth Mount, and died July 24, 1831, aged 72 years, 6 months, 12 days, ac- cording to his headstone in the Old Yellow Meeting Honse cemetery. His wife is buried by him.
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EARLY DUTCH SETTLERS OF MONMOUTH.
7. David, the seventh and youngest son, to whom his father left the home- stead, which lay, I think, in what was then Nottingham township, Burlington county, but now part of Mercer county, lived and died on this farm, but I have no dates of his marriage or death.
One of the maternal uncles of these seven sons was John Polhemus, who lived in Upper Freehold township and died there without children. His will is dated June 7, 1788, proved 1793, and recorded at Trenton, N. J., in Liber. 33 of Wills, p. 234. This John Polhemus married Alice, daughter of Joseph Holmes and Elizabeth Ashtont his wife, of Upper Freehold. She died April, 1788, according to her headstone in Yellow Meeting House cemetery, aged 61 years, 10 months. Her husband died September 15, 1793, aged 72 years, and is buried by her. In his will he names his wife's cousins, Elizabeth and Sarah, daughters of Jonathan Holmes, and Elizabeth, daughter of John Holmes, and Elizabeth Wyckoff, daughter of Peter Imlay. He also mentions his own sister, Catherine, who married Matthias Laen (Lane). (They are named as
members of Dutch church in 1750). If she is dead he orders legacy paid to her children. He mentions children of his brothers, Daniel Polhemus, Tobias Polhemus and Cornelius Polhemus, and children of his sisters, Nelly Couwen- hoven and of Elizabeth Hendrickson. "ly brothers' and sisters' children," .
+ Joseph Holmes was the second son of Obadiah Holmes and Alice Ashton, his wife, and their son named in his will to whom he devised his lands at Crosswicks (Upper Free- hold vicinity). Joseph Holmes was born in 1699 ; married Elizabeth, daughter of John Ash- ton, and lived on his farm in Upper Freehold, and died in July, 1777, He is buried in Ash- ton graveyard. His will is recorded in Liber. 19, page 7. He had the following seven child- ren : Allis ( Alice) born June 10, 1726, married John Polhemus, died without issue April 1, 1788, buried by her husband in Yellow Meeting house cemetery ; Obadiah, born October 13, 1728 ; James, born March 6, 1732, died young : Mary, born September 17, 1733, married Peter Imlay ; Joseph, born December 3, 1736, married Phoebe Wardell, died August 31, 1809, leaving only one child, a daughter, (his will was proved September 16, 1809, and recorded at Free- hold in A of Wills, page 317. Ie leaves £300 to Baptist church of Upper Freehold) : Jonathan, born December 4, 1738, married Lydia Throckmorton, died August 4, 1777, from exposure and hardships in American army during the war (he was a captain or lieuten- ant), buried in Yellow Meeting House cem- etery by his wife : John, born March 29, 1744, married Deborah Leonard, died August 10, 1783, (his wife died May 6, 1811, also buried in Yellow Meeting House cemetery.)
are his words. His nephew, Jacob Hen- drickson of Upper Freehold, and his brother, John Polhemus of Middletown, are appointed executors. The will is witnessed by Garret Wyckoff, Robert Imlay, and Samuel Imlay. It thus ap- pears that the Polhemuses, Hendrick- sons, Longstreets, and Wyckoffs, set- tlers in Upper Freehold, were closely connected by blood or marriage. .
Jonathan Holmes, the soldier of the .
Revolution, by his wife, Lydia Throck- morton, had a son Joseph, born 1772, married Mary Bruere, and died July 16, 1815. His youngest son, Joseph, born November 24, 1810, married Martha Ann Miers, and died August, 1897. They were the parents of Joseph Holmes, our present Chosen Freeholder from Upper Freehold township, and who still (1901) owns and resides on old Holmes home- stead in that township. The Joseph Holmes who died July, 1777, and the progenitor of the Upper Freehold Holmes family, was a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey and a member of the Council of Safety in 1775-76. He was one of the most en- ergetic and trusted of the patriot lead- ers of Monmouth county and his death at the very beginning of the war was a great loss. Col. Elisha Lawrence, who raised a battalion of Jerseymen to serve in the English army and who was very active on the royal side, was a near neighbor to Joseph Holmes. There were other very bitter and malignant Tories among his near neighbors. His dwell- ing on one occasion was attacked by the Refugees and plundered.
William Hendricks and Williamptje Laen, his wife, and their children:
Geesye, or Gezina, as spelled on page 87 of Wells' address at Brick church, where she and her husband are put down as members of the Dutch church in 1743, married Matthias Peterzon, or Pietersen and was the second child of William Hendricks. In the record of the baptism of his children, her name is sometimes entered as "Geesye William- se." meaning Geesye, the daughter of William,
Matthias Pieterson, her husband, was a son of Peter Thys Laen VanPelt, and Barbara Houlton, his wife. He was known as Matthias, son of Peter, and so Pieterson became his surname, Some of his descendants, it is said, removed to Hunterdon and Somerset counties in this state, and others over into Bucks and Chester counties, Pa.
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