Agnes, Daughter of William Post and Aeltje Covert, Rumors of Her Demise

Agnes, Daughter of William Post and Aeltje Covert, Rumors of Her Demise

Agnes is often thought[1] to have died by 1702 when her father’s will was written[2] as she does not appear in it.  Also, some have held that William and Aeltje’s daughter, Jannetje, married Andries Woertman[3], possibly being the otherwise unknown daughter named Annache in William’s will.  However, several records show that Agnes lived into young adulthood and married Lawrence Updike.  Though speculative, an alternate wife for Andries Woertman has been identified.

The children of William and Aeltje appear in three sets of records:

Church Baptisms[4]            1698 Census[5]     1702 will      Naming    

William, 21 Jul 1680          ? Peet                     William          father

Angietie, 07 Feb 1683                                                               paternal grandmother

                                              Ananet                    Annache       unknown

Barbara, 24 Feb 1689        Barbary                  Barbere         maternal grandmother

                    asher                      Alche             mother

                    bereche                   Belche          oldest paternal aunt

Jannetje, 12 Jun 1695                                                                oldest maternal aunt

Elizabeth, 19 Apr 1698     Elizabeth                 Liberche        next paternal aunt

                                                    Teunis            maternal grandfather

                                              Jeane Covert[6]

Except for Teunis in the will of his father (where the children appear first by sex), the children appear in the order they appear in the corresponding record.  The will was originally written in Dutch, but only the English transcription survives.  Hempstead was mostly an English town, so the census taker may not have been familiar with Dutch names.  Given the order they appear in and the naming of their children, it seems more likely that Ananet/Annache is a variant of Angietje[7] than of Jannetje, or that Jannetje was erroneously left out of the will.

An Agnes Post was accepted into the New York City Reformed Dutch Church[8] on 29 Apr 1700, noted as jd, i.e. an unmarried woman.  This Agnes is almost certainly the daughter of William Post, indicating she was alive and unmarried shortly before she married Lawrence Updike.  This was not her cousin, Agnes, daughter of Elias Post, since she had earlier married Casper Blanck[9] on 20 Mar 1698/99.  The only other Agnes Post this could be is her great aunt who would have been about 43 at the time. After her baptism, no further record has been found of her, including the list of members of the Dutch Church by street in 1686[10].  Agnes Post was accepted with certificate into the DRC of Flatbush on 1/11/1703,[11] transferring her membership to Long Island where her family lived. 

Two early baptismal records also suggest that Agnes, wife of Lawrence Updike, was the daughter of William Post and Aeltje Covert.  Her oldest son, William, was baptized on 10/20/1704 at First Reformed Church, Raritan, NJ.[12]  The witnesses were Jan Koeverden and his wife, Jeanne Broucard, Agnes' maternal uncle and aunt.  Her father had recently died, but the child was named after him, a common Dutch custom. Their second son, John, was named after his paternal grandfather.[13]  The second baptism was that of her nephew, Johannes, son of William Post and Martje Van Cleef, baptized on 10/29/1707 at First Reformed Church, Raritan, NJ.[14]  Witnesses were Louwert Opdwck [brother-in-law of William Post] and Barber Williemsen [William's sister, using her patronymic name].  Their third son, Lawrence, was named after his father's paternal grandfather, Louris Jansen Opdyck.  Their eldest daughter, Catherine, was named after her paternal grandmother, Catherine.

According to William Post’s will, his son Teunis was to pay his sister 50 pounds.  A bond of Teunis Post was included in Lawrence's will which Agnes was to inherit.  Teunis was still a baby when Agnes married, so it would have been a long time before he paid the bequest.  This bond is probably the money Teunis was supposed to pay his sisters according to his father's will.  Agnes Post’s youngest son, Teunis, was named after his maternal uncle, Teunis Post.

John Updike, son of Lawrence Updike and Agnes Post named his eldest sons after their grandfathers and great grandfathers, in order of their birth[15]:

   Lawrence, after his paternal grandfather

   Isaac, after his maternal grandfather, Isaac Bragaw

   John, after his father's paternal grandfather, Johannes Updike

   Burgoon, after his mother's paternal grandfather, Burgoon Bragaw

   William, after his father's maternal grandfather, William Post.

   Roliph, after his mother's maternal grandfather, Roelof Pieterse Bas.

The identification of Jannetje, wife of Andries Woertman, is more difficult.  Several baptismal records suggest she may have been the daughter of William Post and Aeltje Covert.  This is supported by the naming of their children.  They were married before 1 Aug 1717 when they were listed as members of the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, NJ.[16] Their probable children included:

1.      William[17], born say 1717.  He died before 18 Apr 1765, in Piscataway, NJ.[18]  His children, Andrew and Anne Mary, were named after their supposed paternal grandfather and aunt, respectively.  He was named after his supposed maternal grandfather.

2.      Aeltje, baptized 08 Apr 1719 at the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick.[19]  The witnesses for her baptism were Teunis and Mary Post.  The record does not say how Teunis and Mary were related, but there is no known couple by this name at the time, nor is there a Mary Post.  It is likely the record is incorrect, the couple being Teunis Covert and his wife, Mary Woertman, sister of the father, Andries, the name Post being mistakenly inserted as it was the maiden name of the mother of the child.  She was named after her supposed maternal grandmother.

3.      Ann Maria, born say 1720.  She married John Phoenix.[20]  She was named after her paternal grandmother, Anna Maria Andriessen.[21]

4.      Jannetje, baptized 21 Dec 1722 at the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick.[22]  She was named after her mother.

5.      Jan, baptized 07 Feb 1724/25 at the First Reformed Church, Raritan.[23]  He was named after his paternal grandfather.[24]

6.      Agnes, baptized 05 Feb 1726/27 at the First Reformed Church, Raritan.[25]  She was named after her supposed maternal aunt.

7.      Teunis, baptized 20 Apr 1729 at the Reformed Church of Readington.[26]  He was named after his supposed maternal uncle.

8.      Andries, born say 1731, named after his father.[27] 

9.      Elizabeth, baptized 12 May 1734 at the Reformed Church of Readington,[28] named after her supposed maternal aunt.  The witness for her baptism was Elizabeth Post, probably the sister of Agnes Post.

If Jannetje is their daughter, it would appear that she was listed out of order in the 1698 census and omitted from her father’s will (which could have been a problem with the translation from the Dutch original).

Two other possibilities regarding Jannetje’s parentage present themselves.  She could be the daughter of Jan Teunis Covert and Jannetje Broucard, born as early as 1698.  Of the witness mentioned earlier, Teunis Covert, was her brother.  Elizabeth Post was her first cousin.  The names Jan, Jannetje and Teunis were part of that family as well. 

The other possibility is that she is the Jeane Covert living with the family of William and Aeltje Post in the 1698 census cited above.  Her parentage is uncertain, though it is possible she was a daughter of Lucas Covert and Barbara Sprong who are listed next in the census.  William Post   may have been her guardian (see earlier footnote) after the death of her father.  In any case, she had a close connection with the Post family and may have named her children after members of her “adopted” family.  Given these possibilities, it is not necessary to assume that Jannetje, wife of Andries Woertman, was “Annache” listed in William Post’s will, or that she was inadvertently left out of William’s will.

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[1] THE POST FAMILY OF CENTRAL NEW JERSEY, BY JOHN NEAFIE, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 7, p. 64.

[2] William Post of Maspeth Kills 31 Oct. 1702.  Wife Allche to continue on the farm I bought of Bargaon Boeker & my son William on the farm of John Covers.  After death of my widow William to have his choice of the farms; son Teunis to take the other.  Sons to pay 50 lbs to each of my daughters:  Annache, Barbere, Alche, Beliche, and Liberche.  No exor. named.  Wits. Hartman Wessells, Elias Van Albode, & Wm. Gleane.  Prob. 18 May 1703. Abstracts of Early Wills of Queens County, NY, RECORD 65:249.

[3] THE POST FAMILY OF CENTRAL NEW JERSEY, BY JOHN NEAFIE, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 7, p. 64.

[4] Collections of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Vol 2, Baptisms from 1639 to 1730 in the Reformed Duthch Church, New York, p. 143, p. 157,  p. 228, p. 251

New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch “Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Brooklyn, New York, First Book of Records, p. 189

[5] http://thomasamurray1.tripod.com/census1698.htm

[6] Jeane Covert in the 1698 census of Hempstead is probably the niece of Aeltje Covert.  The family of her brother, Lucas Covert, is the next family listed in the 1698 census.  Lucas died by 19 Apr 1700 when his widow, Barbara, sold land in Brooklyn, [Genealogical Gleanings From Book No. 2 of Conveyances, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY,, RECORD 1923:311].  It is possible the census in Hempstead was done in mid-1698 as the Kings Co. Census of 1698 lists Barbara Luycas alone in Brooklyn [Documentary History of the State of New York, Vol. 3, p. 133], presumably her husband having died and her children living with their guardians.  The families of Jan Merserole and Gerrit Sprong (among the guardians of the children of Lucas) have an unknown member in their households, perhaps one of their charges.  The deed mentions the guardians of her children, including William Post.  Though it doesn’t mention who the guardians were for each child, it appears likely that William was already serving as a defacto guardian for Jeane before Lucas died.

[7] For an example see Genealogical Gleanings From Book No. 2 of Conveyances, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY,, RECORD 1923:317, “Adryan Bennett and wife Ananitie” sold land to their son, Abram.  His mother was Angietie Jans Van Dyck.

[8] https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/church/rdcmem98.shtml

[9] https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/church/rdcmarr1699.shtml

[10] Collections of the Holland Society of New York, Vol 5, Records of Domine Henricus Selyns of New York, 1686-7,  List of Members of the Dutch Reformed Church in New York in 1686.

[11] Records of the Reformed Protestant Church of Flatbush, Kings County, New York, Vol 1, by David William Voorhees, p. 379.  Though this may have been her aunt, Agnes Post Blank, who was later received into the DRC of NYC, Agnietje Post h:v: v k blank met att(e) v t Vlak Bosch 29 Aug 1705, her family does not appear to have lived on Long Island, so why she would have transferred her membership to Flatbush and then shortly back again is unclear.

[12] First Reformed Church, Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 2, p. 42

[13] The Op Dyck Genealogy, Charles Wilson Opdyke, p.  211, but see note 15.

[14] First Reformed Church, Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 2, p. 44

[15] The Op Dyck Genealogy, p. 211.  John was born earlier than listed there.  I believe that he is listed in the Old Log Meeting House cemetery as: UPDIKE,  John d. Oct. 19, 1819 in his 78th yr. http://www.nytompki.org/cemeteries/tcem062.htm

[16] Historical Discourse Delivered at the Celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey, by Richard Holloway Steele, p. 209.

[17] "Sept. 1 2th, 1753 (Amboy).—John Phenix tells me his brother-inlaw, Wm. Wortman, desir's he may have the refusall of the lott his father, Andries Wortman, lives on ; thinks he will not stick at giving 50/—pr. acre in payments."  Journals of Andrew Johnston, SCHQ Vol 3, p. 278.

[18] Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, Vol 33, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Vol 4, p. 490.

[19] Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Vol 11, p. 207.

[20] Journals of Andrew Johnston, SCHQ Vol 3, p. 278.

[21] “Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Brooklyn, New York, First Book of Records”., translated by A.P.G. Jos van der Linde, page 130.

[22] Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Vol 11, p. 209.

[23] First Reformed Church, Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 2, p. 213

[24] “Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Brooklyn, New York, First Book of Records”., translated by A.P.G. Jos van der Linde, page 130.

[25] First Reformed Church, Raritan (Somerville) Baptisms, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 2, p. 214

[26] Readington Church Baptisms, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 4, p. 212

[27] "Match's, 6th April.—" [1757]..."Rob't Allen tells me that Andries Wortman's sone, Andries, has cut and carted railes several times from that part of the lot which is without the line run by the Eliz'town people ; that he did not see them cut the timbers but see him cart the rails from the land. Thos. Lucas and Elisha Drake he thinks see them cut timber ; the rails were carted late last fall."  Journals of Andrew Johnston, SCHQ Vol 3, p. 262

[28] Readington Church Baptisms, Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 4, p. 215