Lucas Voorhees, husband of Mary Ditmars

Lucas Voorhees, husband of Mary Ditmars

Lucas Voorhees, husband of Mary Ditmars, is only indirectly mentioned in the Van Voorhees Family in America, the First Six Generations, twice.[1]  His parents are unknown, but the information below may be helpful in establishing some possible options.

In the one case, Lucas is mentioned as a possible second husband of Mary Ditmars, whose first husband was Cornelius Voorhees.[2]  There is it noted that Lucas Voorhees and Mary Ditmars were witnesses for the baptism of Cornelius, son of William Stoothoff and Hellitje Voorhees, on 16 Sep 1770 at the DRC of Flatlands.[3]  The child was named after Hellitje’s brother, Cornelius, Mary Ditmar’s first husband.  Lucas and Mary are not noted as husband and wife in that record, but it was also mentioned that just a couple of months later, on 25 Dec 1770, Aeltje, daughter of Lucas Voorhees and Mary Ditmars was also baptized at the DRC of Flatlands.  The witnesses were Gerrit Kouwenhoven and Annetje Lefferts.  Aeltje is their only known child.

In the other case, Lucas is mentioned in conjunction with Lucas⁴ Voorhees (Stephen³, Jan², Stephen¹), husband of Maria Van Voorhees, whose will was probated 26 Mar 1761.  Since this Lucas has not been identified, his probate is mentioned as well, though noted as being considerably later and probably in relation to a different Lucas.  Letters of Administration[4] were issued to his widow, Mary Voorhees, on 19 Apr 1771, with a bond provided by her and Douw Ditmars.  Douw Ditmars was probably Mary’s father.  This is undoubtedly Lucas, the second husband of Mary Ditmars.

As Mary Voorhees, Mary Ditmars married Paul Amerman by license[5] dated 7 Apr 1773.  She was a widow from Queens at the time of her marriage.  John Ditmars, also of Queens, was one of the fellowbondsmen.  He was probably her brother.

Mary was born on 13 Feb 1746 and died in June 1805, being buried at Old St. Edwards Church, Clememtsport, Annapolis, NS, Canada.[6]  Her daughter, Aeltje, married Shippey Spurr and also moved to Annapolis, NS, Canada.[7]

Lucas was probably born around the same time-frame as his wife, and likely in the same area.  One possible option for his parents are Lucas⁴ Voorhees (Stephen³, Jan², Stephen¹) and Mary Voorhees.  They had some unidentified children, as noted in his will[8] and lived near the border of Kings and Queens Counties.  They had one child, unnamed, baptized at the DRC of Jamaica in 1754[9], the records around that time being very sketchy.  The witnesses were Stephen Voorhees [his brother] and Stephen’s wife, Annetje.  That child would not be Lucas, husband of Mary Ditmars, but they could have had a child named Lucas earlier, say 1749.

Other clues may be found in the baptismal witnesses for Aelltje  Gerrit Kouwenhoven, one of the witnesses for Aeltje, was the son of William Kouwenhoven and Annetje Voorhees.  Gerrit may have acted as one of the witnesses as a cousin, especially if Lucas’ father was deceased.  Annetje Lefferts’ was Gerrit's wife.

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[1] Van Voorhees Family in America (VVFA), p. 33and p. 181.

[2] VVFA, p. 181

[3] http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/church/flatlands5.shtml

[4] VVFA, p. 33

[5] New York Marriage Bonds, 1753-1778, compiled by Dr. Kenneth Scott, p. 466.

[6] http://www.interment.net/data/canada/ns/annapolis/old_st_ed/index.htm

[7] http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=purdyboats2&id=I8314

[8] VVFA, p. 33.

[9] Baptismal Record of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Jamaica, Long Island, by Josephine Frost, vol. 2, p. 47.