New Amsterdam family, part 2

Dirck Volckertsen and Christina Vigne > Magdalena Dircks > Christina Rosenkrans > Johannes Cortright > Elisha Cortright > Isaac Cortright > Mabel Cortright > Jameson Ransom > Charles Ransom > Lillian Ransom > Charles Walters

Continuing with my New Amsterdam ancestors. Part 2 of 3
(See part 1 here)

Dirck Volckertsen was from Norway and often called “Noorman.” He married Christina Vigne, probably around 1630. The couple had at least 8 children, with the youngest being baptized in 1653 in New Amsterdam. Sometime after his father-in-law’s death, Dirck is alongside his mother-in-law in dealing with the deceased’s estate.

The surviving New Amsterdam documents include a wide variety of records including financial agreements, land transaction and court cases. Dirck can be found in several of these documents. One of the earliest was in May 1638, when Dirck received a loan of fl.720 from Director Kieft and the West India Company. He was given 3 years to repay.

Two months later, Christina and Dirck are at odds with her new step-father, Jan Jansen Damen. Apparently their family, as well as the family of Christina’s sister Maria, was living in the same home as their mother Adriane Cuvelier and her new husband, Damen. Perhaps tired of sharing his home with so many, Damen ordered his new extended family out of him home. Things became violent as Damen shoved Christina out of the house. Knives were drawn between Damen and Dirck and blood was shed. See more here.

In the following years, Dirck can often be found involved in additional court cases. In 1639, Dirck and 4 other men were fined for being aboard a ship without consent. As it was the first offence, the men were changed a relatively small fine. A couple years later, Dirck claims he innocently purchased a rope that may have been stolen and he was told not to leave town until the matter was settled.

It is possible that Dirck was finding himself in some financial problems in the 1650s and 1660s. Court records show a number of times when the plaintiff was suing Dirck for money owned. There were times when Dirck didn’t even appear in court and other times, he admitted to his debt and was ordered to pay. On occasion, Dirck was the one seeking what was owed him, including one case where Pieter Cornelis, a fellow resident of Breuckelen (Brooklyn), was ordered to return Dirck’s boar.

Beginning In October 1656, Dirck was involved in a court case that stretched into the next year. Witness statements say that Dirck was playing dice with Jan Perie when an argument occurred between the two men. The argument led to a fight and Jan was stabbed. Jan then sued Dirck for surgeon fees and time lost. Dirck argued that it was Jan who started the fight and he was only defending himself and therefore should not have to pay for Jan’s injuries. In the end, Dirck ended up paying Jan.

But not every time Dirck’s name appeared in the records was for a court case. Church documents record the baptisms of his children and show Dirck and Christina as witnesses for the baptisms of other children in New Amsterdam. A 1639 land transaction shows Dirck entered into a 6 year lease with the director and West India Company. In this deal, Dirck was given some livestock and each year received 50 Carolus Guilders to pay his servants. In return, Dirck was to pay 30 pounds of butter for each of the cows he was leased as well as half of the grain he produced. At the end of the 6 years, Dirck was to return the livestock plus half of the livestock that was born to him during the lease.

In the 1640s, Dirck sold his home in Manhattan. A provision of the sale was that Dirck was allowed to take 6 apple trees from the land as well as any of the produce from the garden until the sale was finalized that fall. In 1646, he had a home built for him on Long Island, perhaps the farm he later leased to his friend Jochem Calder. Later, he bought and then sold land in Smith’s Valley on the East River of Manhattan. 

Sources: New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch/New Netherland Documents, NewNetherlandinstitute.org; The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674, volume 1-5, archive.org; “Dirck Volckertszen De Noorman,” Fulkerson.org

I’ve come across a number of websites, books and blogs that include more information about my New Amsterdam relatives. While I have looked at some for reference, the information I’ve included here is primarily from the New Amsterdam records I was able to locate online and hope to add more later on. 

New Amsterdam family, part 1

Guillian Vigne and Adriane Cuvelier > Christina Vigne > Magdalena Dircks > Christina Rosenkrans > Johannes Cortright > Elisha Cortright > Isaac Cortright > Mabel Cortright > Jameson Ransom > Charles Ransom > Lillian Ransom > Charles Walters

Lately I’ve been looking into my ancestors who lived in New Amsterdam, an early Dutch settlement on the island of Manhattan. When the English took control in 1664, its name was changed to New York. I found my New Amsterdam line contained some interesting people. Their names appeared in all types of documents including land transactions, law suits and even cases of violence.

This is generation 1 of 3 that I will be posting here. Look for the others soon.

In 1618, Guillian Vigne and wife Adriane Cuvelier can be found in Leiden, Holland (at that time known as Leyden). In September of that year, they brought their daughter Rachel to the Walloon Church for her baptism and the following month they were officially accepted into the church. Walloons were French-speaking Protestants and the family may have come to Leiden to escape persecution from the Catholic Church.

Before coming to Leiden, Guillian and Adriane had two older daughters. Four additional children would be baptized in Leiden in the next 5 years, although only one of the children born in Leiden would reach adulthood. In 1623/4, Guillian, with his wife and three surviving daughters, left Holland and became some of the first settlers in New Amsterdam. Here, Adriane gave birth to a son, Jan, believed to be the first European male to be born in New Amsterdam.

Guillian died sometime before 1632, leaving Adriane with four children. Daughters Maria and Christina were married or soon to be married at the time of their father’s death, but children Rachel and Jan were still minors. When Adriane was planning to married Jan Jansen Damen, the estate of her first husband needed to be settled on their children. It was settled that Maria and Christina would receive 200 guilders from their father’s estate, and Rachel and Jan would receive 300 guilders at either the time of their marriage or when they became of age. It was also put upon Jan Damen as his responsibility to provide for the minor children, seeing that they were provided for and educated “as parents ought to do.”

Jan Damen appears to have been an interesting man. The inventory of his estate was extremely large, by far greater than other inventories included in the records. He owned various land in present day New York City and was the first European who owned the land where the World Trade Center is located. He was selected to serve as church warden. A fellow warden was Peter Stuyvesant, the director of the New Netherland colony. A few years later, it was Damen who acted on behalf of Stuyvesant when the director wanted to purchase a large farm.

Some of Jan Damen’s other actions and connections, however, show a different side of Jan. In July 1638, shortly after his marriage to Adriane, Jan decided that he no longer wanted his new extended family living with him. He ordered his step-daughters Maria Vigne, wife of Abraham Van Planck, and Christina Vigne, wife of Dirck Volckertsen, and their families out of his home. When Christina refused to leave, things turned violent. According to witnesses, Jan forced Christina outside and struck her. He also thrust a knife at Christina and cut her skirt. Dirck, coming to her defense, threw a pewter can at Jan, but missed. Jan then turned on Dirck with the knife, "cutting and thrusting at him."  Dirck used a post to defend himself. Jan then turned again on Christina, hitting her with his fists and tearing her cap from her head. He told Dirck "If you have courage, draw your knife." The witnesses testified that Dirck, "being sober" did not attack, only defended himself, implying that Jan was drunk. The matter was brought before the courts, however the records don’t include a ruling.

Jan Damen was involved in another altercation involving a blade a few years later. Philip Gerrady was seeing Jan to his home sometime after midnight. When they arrived, they were met by one of Jan's servants who threatened to shoot Philip. Jan told him to go to bed, but the servant responded, "I will not." A fight ensued between the knife-wielding servant and Jan who had a scabbard. During the fight, Jan was pushed down and Philip stepped in to protect him. In the darkness, Jan cut Philip on the back, possibly mistaking him for his servant. Philip survived his injury and said he didn’t believe Jan meant him any ill will.

A year and a half before his death, Jan seemed to think the end was drawing near and gave his last testament. In this statement, his personal effects and large sum of money was to go to his nephew with additional money to be sent for the poor in Utrecht, Holland. The remainder of his estate was to be divided between his brothers and sisters. His widow, Adriane, was to have his farm (with the caveat that if she were to sell or lease the property, Cicile, the West Indian maid servant was to be given her freedom). There was no mention of any of the Vigne children receiving anything from his estate.

Three days after his death, however, men came to Adriane for the settling of Jan’s estate and it was decided that Adriane could “dispose of the entire estate to the best advantage of her and her children and heirs.” There is no mention of any of Damen’s blood relatives being upset with the distribution of the estate, but considering the size of the estate, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of his relations were unhappy at the thought of his step-children benefiting from his death.

Sources: New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch/New Netherland Documents, NewNetherlandinstitute.org; The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674, volume 1-5, archive.org; “The Vignes,” Fulkerson.org; New Netherlands Connection, Vol 3, No.1, AmericanAncestors.org

I’ve come across a number of websites, books and blogs that include more information about my New Amsterdam relatives. While I have looked at some for reference, the information I’ve included here is primarily from the New Amsterdam records I was able to locate online and hope to add more later on.