Based on apparent family relationships and other factors, it appears that Stephen5 Van Voorhees (Coert4, Stephen3, Coert2, Stephen1) did not marry Neeltje Hegeman, but instead he is the Stephen Van Voorhees who married Maria Lake and the children attributed to Neeltje Hegeman are actually the children of Maria Lake. Little is known for certain about Stephen4 Van Voorhees (Jan3, Lucas2, Stephen1) who was previously thought to have married Maria Lake, but he may have married a woman from New Jersey and later moved there.
Stephen4 Voorhees (Jan3, Lucas2, Steven1) did not marry Maria Lake. He was apparently living with his parents in Flatlands in 1731.1 He was named executor of the will of Lucas4 Voorhees (Stephen3, Jan2, Steven1), his brother-in-law of Bushwick, Kings Co., NY, on 21 Sep 1757,2
thus, probably himself living in Kings Co., NY.
No further concrete information was found regarding him. However, it appears that he may have married a daughter of Simon Horn of South Amboy, New Jersey, and later moved there. No children have been identified for this family.
Simon Horn named a Stephen Voorhees as his brother [sic] in his will3 dated 14 Apr 1760. Previously, researchers have taken this to mean that Simon’s wife Elenor’s maiden name was Voorhees.4 This is incorrect. Eleanor’s maiden name was Scoby, as appears in her marriage bond with Simon Horn, the bondsman, John Scobey, probably being Helen’s father. An abstract of their marriage bond5 reads:
#031; Simon HORN and John SCOBIE (SCOBEY), both of Middlesex County... [bound to]... Lewis MORRIS, Governor... 500 pounds... 26 May 1743. ... Simon HORN... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Helen SCOBY of Mid'x* County afs'd, spinster... [w] Tho:s BARTOW Sec'ry
Simon Horn and his siblings are named in the will of his father, Simon Horn, Sr.6 The abstract of Simon’s father’s will reads:
1725-6 Feb. 22. Horn, Simon, of Piscataway Township, Middlesex Co., joiner; will of. Wife Sarah. Children - Simon, William, Elisabeth, Hanah and Sarah, all under age. Real and personal estate. Executors - the wife, brother William Horn and brother in the law William Olden. Witnesses - William Harris, Benjamin Bond, Rob't Richardson, Proved March 31, 1726. Lib. A, p. 355
Variations of Helen include Ellen and Eleanor. Thus, she is probably the Elinor Simon Horn mentions as his wife in his will. The other executor of Simon’s will was his friend, Lucas Schenck, whose will7 was also written in South Amboy. Lucas was Stephen’s first cousin, son of his mother’s half-brother, Martin Schenck. Thus, it appears that the reference to Stephen as his brother was through one of Simon’s siblings, not his wife. Since the name of the wife of Simon’s brother, William, is unknown, the connection could be through William having married a sister of Stephen’s, but more likely the relationship is closer, Stephen having married one of Simon’s sisters. Hannah married Joseph French by license dated 03 Jan 1748/49,8 so Stephen probably married either Elizabeth or Sarah. Though unconfirmed, there is some indication he married Sarah.
A Stephen Voorhees and Sarah had a daughter named Arriantje baptized on 14 Oct 17649 at the Dutch Reformed Church of Harlingen. Arriantje could be the daughter of Stephen Voorhees and Sarah Horn, who would have been about 39 at the time, assuming she was the youngest daughter of Simon Horn. On the contrary (and there is no evidence of it), there is also a possibility Peter Voorhees and Arriantje Nevius had a son named Stephen, born about 1743, who could have married a woman named Sarah and had a daughter named Arriantje. Though unlikely, the possibility should be researched.
Lucas Schenck was made an executor of the will of Richard Jewell10 of Cranbury and Stephen Van Voorhees was one of the witnesses on 12 Dec 1756. Lucas Schenck and a Stephen Voorhees were subscribers towards the purchase of the parsonage property of the Cranbury Presbyterian Church in 1758.11 A Stephen Voorhees was one of the executors of the will of Lucas Schenck of South Amboy,12 dated 10 Sep 1783. It is possible that these are all the Stephen Voorhees was the husband of Ellen Patton whose will was written in South Amboy in 1807.13 South Amboy was a large township and included parts of what is now Cranbury Township.14 The deeds mentioned as his or those of his son, James, may provide information to more closely locate where Stephen, husband of Ellen, was living, helping to clarify whether or not he lived near Cranbury and which Stephen Van Voorhees is being referred to in these records. However, the number of times Lucas Schenck and Stephen Van Voorhees are mentioned together suggest a family relationship, which was quite distant for Stephen Voorhees, husband of Ellen Patton.
Stephen5 Van Voorhees (Coert4, Stephen3, Coert2, Stephen1) married Maria/Mary Lake on 23 Oct 1753 at Gravesend, recorded by the Dutch Reformed Church of Flatbush, Kings Co., NY.15 Stephen’s family was living in Gravesend in 173116 and his father wrote his will there in 1746.17 Mary was the daughter of Daniel Lake and Elizabeth Sutphen, baptized on 10 Jun 173318 at the Reformed Dutch of New Utrecht, NY. Mary was named in Daniel’s will19 as Mary Voorhees on 16 Dec 1744.
Elias Van Voorhees20 held that Stephen5 (Coert4, Stephen3, Coert2, Stephen1) Van Voorhees married 1st Catherine Leek, 2nd Maria Leek and 3rd Elizabeth Mathewman and that Stephen4 (Jan3, Lucas2, Stephen1) Van Voorhees married Maria Lake. Elizabeth Matthewan was later identified as the wife of a different Stephen Voorhees. The name Lake was sometimes recorded in Dutch church records as Leek, as in the baptism of Maria Lake’s nephew, Dirck.21 The mother’s name in the baptism of Isaac in 1762 is given as Catherine Lek,22 but the mother of Jacob and Maria in 1768 and 1769 is given as Maria Leck.23
It is unclear why or when Neeltje Hegeman was introduced as a wife of Stephen5 Van Voorhees. The baptismal records24 for Daniel and Stephen, supposed sons of Neeltje Hegeman, do not list the mother’s name. The biography of Steven Coert7 Van Voorhees (Koert6, Stephen5, Coert4, Stephen3, Coert2, Stephen1)25 indicates that his descendants did not know Steven’s parents nor presumably his grandparents, so the identification of Neeltje did not come from them.
Based on the discussion below, it appears that Maria Lake and Maria Leek are the same person, Catherine Leek was a misrecording of Maria Leek and Neeltje Hegeman probably did not exist.
The re-organized family of Stephen Voorhees and Mary Lake is as follows:
1) Coert, b 1755, probably identical to Coert Voorhees, supposed son of Neeltje Hegeman,26 married 1st Mary, who died before 1810, and identical to the Coert Voorhees who married 2nd Anna by 1818.27
2) Daniel, born about 1757, married Sarah Phillips.28
3) Stephen, born 1759, identical with Stephen Voorhees, supposed son of Neeltje Hegeman, married Lanah,29 and identical with Stephen Voorhees, supposed husband of Sarah, but actually Lanah.30
4) John, born 1760, who probably did not die young, and is the same person as their son John born 29 Jan 1775, married Sarah.31
5) Isaac, born 1762,[32]32 identical with Isaac Voorhees who married a woman named Ellen and had one son, probably Lawrence, and one daughter.33
6) Jacob, born 1768, married Susan Teed.34
7) Maria, born 1769.35
There are two unusual aspects to the marriage of Stephen Van Voorhees and Mary Lake as previously understood:
1) Stephen married for the first time when he was 44.36
2) Mary was 24 years younger than her husband.37
While both are possible, they are unusual.
There are two unusual aspects to the marriage of Stephen Van Voorhees and Neeltje Hegeman:
1) His wife’s name was the same as his mother’s name, and his wife has not been placed in the Hegeman family.38
2) I have not found any records that include Neeltje’s name, including the baptisms of their two supposed children.39
On the other hand, there are several coincidences of time and place that suggest there is a very close connection between the supposed children of Stephen Van Voorhees and Neeltje Hegeman and those of Stephen Voorhees and Mary Lake.
Both families were living in the Fishkill area in the 1750s. Stephen, supposed husband of Neeltje, had two children baptized at the Presbyterian Church of Brinkerhoffville in the town of Fishkill in 1755 and 1759.40 Stephen, husband of Mary Lake, was living in Fishkill when he was appointed guardian of his younger brothers in 1755.41
Below is a listing of the census records for 1790 through 1810 for the members of this family. Relationships are not given in the census records, but the close proximity in location of Coert and Isaac and of Stephen and John suggests a close relationship between their respective families.
Daniel Vanvoorhis 1810 Beekman, Dutchess, NY, p. 80 0 0 1 0 1 / 0 0 1 0 1
Stephen Vanvoorhis 1810 Beekman, Dutchess, NY, p. 80 1 0 0 1 0 / 0 1 0 0 1
- Stephen was Daniel’s son
Isaac Vanvoorhees 1810 Hurley, Ulster, NY, p. 827 0 0 1 0 1 / 0 1 0 0 1
- See VVFA, p. 791 where he is supposed to be the brother of Coert.
Coert Vanvoorhees 1810 Hurley, Ulster, NY, p. 827 0 0 0 0 1 / 0 0 1 0 0
- Coert's wife is deceased, consistent with his remarriage to Ann
John Vanvoorhees 1810 Hurley, Ulster, NY, p. 827 0 0 0 1 0 / 1 0 1 0 0
- See VVFA, p. 7941. Probably s/o Coert, his daughter Mary named after her paternal grandmother.
Stephen Vanvoorhees 1810 Schodack, Rensselaer, NY, p. 130 0 1 1 0 1 / 1 1 1 1 1
Stephen Vanvoorhees Jr 1810 Schodack, Rensselaer, NY, p. 130 2 1 0 1 0 / 3 1 0 1 0
- Stephen was Stephen’s son
John Vanvoorhees 1810 Schodack, Rensselaer, NY, p. 128 0 0 1 0 1 / 0 2 1 0 1
- John, brother of Stephen, Sr.
Jacob Vorhis, 1810 Somers, Westchester, NY Series M252 Roll: 37 P.: 205 0 0 0 1 0 / 3 3 3 1 0
- in 1816 he purchased land in Somers Twsp. from his father-in-law, Charles Teed.42 In 1829 he and his wife, Susan, sold the land.43
Koert Vanvoorhis 1800 Beekman, Dutchess, NY, p. 11 1 1 2 0 1 / 1 1 0 1 0
Daniel Vanvoorhis 1800 Beekman, Dutchess, NY, p. 6 1 0 1 1 0 / 1 1 0 1 0
Stephen Vanvoorhees 1800 Schodack, Rensselaer, NY, p. 820 2 1 0 1 0 / 2 0 0 1 0
John is not found in the 1800 Census. He may have been living in Clinton, Dutchess, NY, but land records show he was living in Schodack in 1803 (see below).
Isaac Vanvoorhis 1800 Poughkeepsie, Dutchess, NY, p. 60 0 0 0 1 0 / 0 0 0 1 0
- probable brother - missing son under 10 as compared to 1810 census
Jacob Vanvare, 1800 Stephentown, Westchester, NY, Series: M32 Roll: 27 Page: 766 3 0 0 1 0 / 0 0 0 1 0
- Stephentown was later renamed Somers
Daniel Van Voorhis 1790 Beekman, Dutchess, NY, p. 61 1 2 6 0 1
Isaac Van Voorhis 1790 Fishkill, Dutchess, NY, p. 78 1 0 3 0 0
Coert Van Voorhis 1790 Fishkill, Dutchess, NY, p. 78 3 3 2 0 0
- Presumably his brother, Jacob, and his father, and either his mother or his sister, Mary, or Jacob’s wife (his first child was born in 1791) are living with him.
Stephen Van Vooris, 1790 Rensselaerwick, Albany, NY, Film: M637, Roll: 6, p. 270 2 1 2 0 0
- Stephen had his first child, Stephen, in 1787 in Dutchess Co.44 William was born abt 1790
- John and his wife were probably living with him. They had their first child in 1791 in Dutchess Co,45 but the family may have been in transition at the time.
John J. Van Voorihas of Shodack bought land in Shodack from Hubbard Ostrander on 18 Jun 1803.46 John J. Van Voorihas and Sarah, his wife, sold land in Shodack to James Van Voorhis on 9 Apr 1814.47
Stephen Voorhees, born in 1759,48 is buried in the cemetery as his presumed brother, John.49 VVFA states that John was born in 1760, that he died young and a second John was born in 1775.50 However, that 2nd John Van Voorhees appears to be the son of Stephen Van Voorhees and Elizabeth Mathewan.51 The cemetery record indicates that the 1st John was born in 1760 and the 1810 census indicates he was born before 1765, so he apparently did not die young nor was there a second John in this family. The earlier birth date is more likely also since he had his first child in 1791.52
Given their birthdates and the birthplace of their oldest sons in Dutchess Co., NY, Stephen and John are undoubtedly members of this combined family. Coert and Isaac were living in close proximity in Fishkill, Dutchess Co. in 1790 and in Hurly, Ulster Co. in the 1810 census, though it is not certain they are the same people. They are roughly the correct age, so it seems likely they are members of this combined family.
Stephen Van Voorhees and Mary Lake did not have a son named Coert, but Stephen Van Voorhees and Neeltje Hegeman did. If the two families are one, then their two oldest sons are named after their grandfathers and their only daughter, Maria, was named after her maternal grandmother, Mayke, a variation of Maria.
Given that Stephen Van Voorhees and Mary Lake were married early enough to be the children of all of these children, the lack of evidence that Neeltje Hegeman existed, the likely associations between the children of this combined family in census records and the naming of the children of the combined family, this reconstruction is undoubtedly correct.
As a note for future research, Lanah’s maiden name may have been German, based on the naming of their son, German, and the presence of several families named German in Beekman Precinct, Dutchess Co., NY,53 near Fishkill.
Endnotes
1. 1738 census of Kings Co., NY (taken in 1731), The Documentary History of the State of New York, by E.B. O'Callagahan, Volume IV, pp. 122-131. Albany: Charles van Benthuysen, 1851.
2. Abstracts of wills on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York (Volume VI), ABSTRACTS OF WILLS LIBER 22, p. 506.
3. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, First Series, Vol 32, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol 3, p. 164.
4. Van Voorhees Family in America (VVFA), the First Six Generations, by Florence Christoph, p. 761, Eleanor.
5. New Jersey Archives, US Genweb archives, contributed by Patricia M. Gergener, http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/statewide/vitals/marriages/njmarh01.txt
6. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, First Series, Vol 23, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol 1, p. 237.
7. Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post Revolutionary History of the State of New York, First Series, Vol 35, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol 6, p. 342
8. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, First Series, Vol 22, p. 206.
9. Records of the Harlingen Reformed Dutch Church, Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol 18, p. 86.
10. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, First Series, vol 32, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol 3, p. 176.
11. Historical Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, NJ, Salary Subscription Lists, online at: http://records.cranburypres.org/FPC/R3/D8/SalarySubcriptionLists1750-1833.pdf
12. Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary History of the State of New York, First Series, Vol 25, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, vol 6, p. 242.
13. VVFA, 1st Six Generations, by Florence Christoph, p. 157.
14. Cranbury was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1872, from portions of both Monroe Township and South Brunswick Township. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranbury,_New_Jersey
15. Josephine Frost Collection, p. 12.
16. 1738 census of Kings Co., NY (taken in 1731), The Documentary History of the State of New York, by E.B. O'Callagahan, Volume IV, pp. 122-131. Albany: Charles van Benthuysen, 1851.
17. Abstracts of wills on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York (Volume 4), ABSTRACTS OF WILLS LIBER 17, p. 291.
18. Records of the New Utrecht Reformed Dutch Church, Baptisms, RECORD 113(1982):11.
19. Abstracts of wills on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York (Volume IX. Jan 7, 1777-Feb 7, 1783), p. 19.
20. A Genealogy of the Van Voorhees Family in America, by Elias Voorhees, p. 105 and p. 338
21. https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/church/flatlands2.shtml
22. The Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Hackensack, Dutchess County, New York, edited by Maria Bockee Carpenter Tower, p. 10.
23. Records of the Reformed Church of Fishkill, Dutchess County, NY, P. 82 and p. 83, online at https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com
24. New York Births & Baptisms: Southeast Region, by Ancestry.com, Brinkerhoffville Presbyterian Church; Court on 13 Apr 1755, Stephen on 9 Sep 1759. The baptismal records cited in Van Voorhees Family in America, the First Six Generations, by Florence Christoph, on page 150 at Ref. Church of Poughkeepsie and Ref. Church of Fishkill could not be found.
25. VVFA, 7th and 8th Generations, by Florence Christoph, p. 1
26. See VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 150, 377, and p. 791,
27. See VVFA 7th & 8th Generations, p. 1243.
28. See VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 73 and p. 212.
29. VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 150 and p. 377.
30. VVFA, 7th & 8th Generations, p. 1246.
31. VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 73 and p. 213.
32. VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 73.
33. VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 791.
34. VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 73 and p. 213
35. VVFA, 1st 6 Generations, p. 73.
36. Records of the Dutch Reformed Church, Collections of Josephine Frost, p. 12. Van Voorhees Family in America (VVFA), The First Six Generations, Florence Christoph, p. 73.
37. VVFA, The First Six Generations, by Florence Christoph. p. 73
38. VVFA, The First Six Generations, Florence Christoph, p. 150. Unfortunately, there appears to be no reliable definitive genealogy of the Hegeman family, see John Blythe, The Hegeman Family of New Netherland: a brief outline of the first three generations, at http://library.uwinnipeg.ca/people/dobson/genealogy/ff/Hegeman.cfm. A review of a variety of sources did not yield a Neeltje Hegeman who could be the wife of this Stephen Van Voorhees
39. The Presbyterian Church of Brinkerhoffville, Dutchess Co., NY, transcribed by Arthur Kelly, extracted from New York Births and Baptisms, Southeast Region, New York State, published by Kinship Press
40. The Presbyterian Church of Brinkerhoffville, Dutchess Co., NY, transcribed by Arthur Kelly, extracted from New York Births and Baptisms, Southeast Region, New York State, published by Kinship Press
41. VVFA, The First Six Generations, Florence Christoph, p. 150.
42. Westchester Co., NY, Deeds, Liber 27, p. 145.
43. Westchester Co., NY, Deeds. Liber 35, p. 330.
44. 1855 Census Halfmoon, Saratoga Co., NY.
45. 1855 Census Schodack, Rensselaer Co., NY.
46. Rensselaer Co., NY, Deeds, vol 10, p. 139.
47. Rensselaer Co., NY, Deeds, vol 13, p. 464.
48. Interments in Rensselaer County Cemeteries, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyrensse/cemv3.htm
49. Interments in Rensselaer County Cemeteries, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyrensse/cemv3.htm
50. VVFA, the First Six Generations, by Florence Christoph, p. 73.
51. VVFA, the First Six Generations, by Florence Christoph, p. 220 and A Genealogy of the Van Voorhees Family in America, by Elias Voorhees, p. 105. See also New York Births and Baptisms, Southeast Region, NY, published by Kinship: Child: John; Reference ID: 879; Birth Date: 29 May 1775; Bapt. Date: 27 Jun 1775; Parents: Rev. Stephen Van Voorhees /Elizabeth Matthewman; Source: Poughkeepsie Reformed Church (Baptisms)
52. VVFA, the First Six Generations, by Florence Christoph, p. 214.
53. The History of Dutchess County, New York, edited by Frank Hasbrouck, p. 85 and p. 100. Carman [sic],
