Who was the wife of Auke Jans Van Voorhees,
son of Jan Van Voorhees and Femmetje Van Nuys?
Auke Jans Van Voorhees is thought to have married Catherine Sebring.[1] However, she almost certainly was the wife of Auke Jans Van Nuys.
The children and parents of Catherine Sebring, wife of Auke Jans Van Nuys, were discussed by Renee Dauven, Cynthia Zuber and others on the Dutch-Colonies Rootsweb mailing list:[2] Cynthia proposed, “I think her [Catherine's] parents were the emigrants Jan Roelofs Seubering and wife, Adrianna Johannes Polhemus”. The following are exceprts from Cynthia analysis:
“the known children of Auke Jans Van Nuys (later called Auke Johnson), all children baptized in the Raritan, Somerset Co, NJ First Reformed Church:[3]
1. Barbara Janse, bap. 21 April 1702 wit: Jan Sebrege and wife.
2. Arriantje Janse, bap. 20 April 1704 wit: Jacob and Maria Sebrige.
3. Jan Janse, bap. 3 April 1706 wit: Daniel and Lisebet Sebrige.
4. Willem Janse, bap. 4 Aug. 1708 wit: Rolef Sibrige; Seyne Van Neste.
5. Ouke Janse, bap. 25 Oct 1710 wit: Derck Middagh and wife.
6. Ida Janse, bap. 25 Aug 1715 wit: Jan and Janneetie Bulin.
7. Abraham Janse, bap. 23 Mar 1718 wit: Johannis and Aaltje Sebringh.”
[Auke and Catherine’s children were named as follows:] “
1. Barbara, named for Auke's mother.
2. Arriantje, named for Catryntie's mother.
3. Jan, named for both Gfathers.
4. Willem, named for Auke's brother.
5. Ouke, named for Auke's paternal Gfather.
6. Ida, named for Catryntie's sister.
7. Abraham named for Auke's half-brother.”
[The witnesses for the children of Auke and Catherine Van Nuys listed above:] “
1. Jan Sebrege and wife could be either Catryntie's father or her brother Johannes.
2. Jacob and Maria Sebrige. Could be an unknown brother or her paternal uncle, Jacob Roelofs Seubering. Maria would be her sister Maritie.
3. Daniel and Lisebet Sebrige. Could be Catryntie's brother and sister.
4. Rolef Sibrige; Seyne Van Neste. Could be Catryntie's brother and her paternal aunt by marriage, wife of Jacob Roelofs Seubering.
5. Derck Middagh and wife. Derck's wife was Catalyn Pieterse Van Neste, sister of Seyne Van Neste.
6. Jan and Janneetie Bulin. I believe this to be Jan Billiou & wife, he the son of Catryntie's sister, Ida.
7. Johannis and Aaltje Sebringh. Should be Catryntie's brother and his wife, Aeltje Pieterse.”
In addition to Cynthia's analysis, a secondary source confirms Catherine, wife of Auke Van Nuys, was the daugther of Jan Roelofs Seubering:
“The valley house occupied by Lucas [Billou] and his wife, Barbara Jansen (whose mother was Ida Sueberingh's sister Catherine)”[4]
If a Catherine Sebring was the wife of Auke Van Voorhees, she was not the daughter of Jan Roelofse Sebring. Jan Roelofse Sebring’s only known granddaughter named Catherine married John Hibon. Given the likely marriage dates of his other sons, any unknown granddaughters named Catherine would only have been old enough to have been a second wife for Auke Van Voorhees.
I believe that Isaac should be added to the above list of children of Auke Janse Van Nuys and Catherine Sebring, based on the following baptismal record:[5]
1721 Jan 08; Auke Jansz, Catharina Sebering; Isaak; Rem Van der Beek, Isaak Balin
In this baptism, Isaac was named after Catherine's brother-in-law, Isaac Billiou, husband of Catherine's sister, Ida. The witness, Isaac Balin, was the son of Isaac Billiou and Ida Sebring, just as their son Jan Billiou was earlier the witness for Ida Janse, named after Isaac Billiou's wife, Ida. Auke Jansz in the baptismal record above is sometimes thought to be Auke Jans Van Voorhees, but given the known associations with the Van Nuys family in this record, the connection to the Van Voorhees family is probably misplaced.
Who then was the wife of Auke JansVan Voorhees? One possibility is Barentje Praal.
Oreck Hopper is named as the husband of Barentje Praal in the abstract of the will of her father, Arent Praal.[6] However, his name was a pseudonym, the abstractor admitting that his name “is spelled apparently in so many different ways as to make the true name uncertain”. Indeed, the editor of the Corrections volume[7] posits his name as Oreck Twarfe and adds several variations on his given name as well.
Luckily, the original copy of Arent’s will[8] has survived. The name of his son-in-law, Oreck Hopper, is written five times in the will and once in an attached probate record. The first name is consistently written "Ouck" in the will and as "Ouke" in the probate record. The surname is less certain, but is definitely not Hopper, nor Twarfe, as appears in the abstract and corrections. My best reading is, in order of appearance:
Herfe, Harfor, Harfor, Haafe, Hanfe
In the probate record the surname is Harfe.
The "or" ending on two instances is not clear, but it does not appear to be simply a flourish. The best reading appears to be as the name appears in the probate records, Harfe.
Though Harfe is definitely not Voorhees, it could be a misrecording of Hanse or Hansen.
1. Though the “f” in Harfe is not the medial-s (
) that can resemble an “f”, whoever wrote the will could have been unfamiliar with how the medial-s was used. The will liber copy of the will uses the medial-s, though not in the name Harfe (compare to the s in ÿanse in the next paragraph where it is used).
3. Hans and Jans are variations of the name Johannes. Though not interchangeable, they might be mistakenly switched. Given the angular quality of the "ÿ" as in the example below and its unfamiliarity to the English, it could be mistaken for an H.
The suggestion that Ouck/Ouke Harfe is actually Auke Janse Van Voorhees is based on the following:
1. He was an elder in the Dutch Reformed Church of Flatlands and often referred to as Ouke Van
In an extensive, though not exhaustive, review of the records of Dutch Reformed Churches of New York and New Jersey from 1640 through 1760, I have found only 33 men with the given name of Auke or Ouke. All but two of these are probably descendants of Auke Jans Van Nuys. The first, Auke, son of Claes (no surname given) and Grietje Alberts, was baptized at the DRC of New Amsterdam in 1668. No further trace has been found, but given his father’s first name, he would not have been known as Auke Janse. The second, Auke, son of Jan Albertse Terhune and Margaret Van Sicklen, is mentioned only in his father’s will and is thought to have died by 1707. Of the descendants of Auke Jans Van Nuys, Auke Jans Van Voorhees is the only known possibility as the husband of Barentje Praal.
Similarly, only 28 women were found during this time period with the name of Barentje. The name is a diminutive of Barent and was generally bestowed on an older daughter in honor of a grandmother or on a younger daughter whose father, named Barent, had no sons to name after himself. Of these 28, 17 appear in just 3 or 4 families, being passed down. After 1700 there are only 8 women named Barentje and all but 1 is a member of one of those 3 or 4 families.
These two names converge in the children of Abraham,[12] son of Auke Jans Van Voorhees, and his wife, Sarah. Their oldest son was named Ouke, after his paternal grandfather. Their second (and third) daughter was named Barentje. Given her place in the order of their children and the normal use of the name, it is likely she was named after one of her grandmothers. Auke Jans Van Voorhees’ oldest son was named John, in honor of his paternal grandfather. His second son, Aaron, may have been named in honor of his maternal grandfather, Arent Praal.
[1] Florence Christoph, Van Voorhees in America, The First Six Generations, pg. 6.
[2] Renee Dauven, Dutch-Colonies Rootsweb mailing list, 11 Aug 2008
Cynthia Middaugh Zuber, Dutch-Colonies Rootsweb mailing list, 16 Aug 2008
[3] First Reformed Church, Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms, Vol 2: Barbara,
pg. 41; Jaentien/Arriantje, pg. 42; Jan, pg. 43; Willem, pg. 45; Ouke, pg. 139;
Ida, pg. 142; Abraham, pg. 145. For
Arriantje, see estate record for Catherine Johnson of Somerset Co., NJ on 15
Jun 1752, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New
Jersey, vol. 32, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol. 3, pg. 177.
[4] North of the Raritan Lotts a History of the Martinsville, New Jersey Area. by Edward J Maas, Martinsville Historical Committee, 1975, pg. 58
[5] Collections of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Volume IV, Staten Island Church Records, by Tobias Alexander Wright, Records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island, N.Y., p. 25
[6] Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate’s Office, City of New York,
Vol. 2. pg. 323.
[7] Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate’s Office, City of New York,
Vol. 16, Corrections, Abstracts of Wills Vol. 1-5, pg. 92.
[8] See Early Original New York Will, by Kenneth Scott, File No. 739, LDS Film 501145, DGS 007626286.
[9] Flatlands Reformed Dutch Church (Brooklyn, New York), (Main Author) Church records FHL US/CAN Film 888716, image 66.
[10] online at: bklyn-genealogy-info.stevemorse.org/Map/1719.html
[11] see article in Brooklyn Eagle, 29 December 1895, Page 18 for description of the consideration of the patent.
[12] Florence Christoph, Van Voorhees in America, The First Six Generations, pg.103.
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