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Many Thanks to Sean Bagby for his Extensive Research and to Debbie Parsons for the Newton Family Connections Page; located at Gencircles.com where I found this file Steven
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Cornelis Aertsen VanSchaick 22 SmartMatches
Birth: About. 1610 in The Netherlands 1
Death: 1669 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland
Sex: M
Father: Aert Jansz Van Schayck b. Unknown
Mother:
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Spouse:
Belitje Arabella Hendrickse (Wife) b. Unknown
Marriage: 1635 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland
Children:
Arie Cornellissen VanSchaick b. 9 Jul 1642 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland
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Biography:
Our earliest record of Cornelis Aertsen dates from New Amsterdam onJanuary 31, 1640, when a
t the age of 30 he was joined by three other menin testifying about the good conduct of Huych Aertsen in a local tavern.The next record dates from June 16, 1640, when Cornelis Aertsen fromHouten, about 30, and his fiancé Belitje Heynricxdr from Arnhem,contracted from Kiliaen Van Rensselaer for four years work inRensselaerswyck. The next record is the marriage register of the ReformedChurch in Sloterdyck outside Amsterdam showing that on July 1, 1640,"Cornelis Aerendtsz van Woerden ende Belitje Hendricx van Arnhem" weremarried. These three records tell us much. Since terms of service werenormally for four years, Cornelis had probably been in New Netherlandsince 1636, the traditional year of his arrival there. He apparentlyreturned to Amsterdam to marry. He'd been born between mid 1609 andJanuary 31, 1611, and had been baptized Reformed at Woerden, a towntwelve miles west of Utrecht. Later in buying and selling a house onManhattan, Cornelis was "from Utrecht", the city from which Hyuck vanRossum came. Also while Cornelis' signature was ordinarily a handmark, inhis contract with Rensselaer he signed "Cornelis Arijaensen", whileBelitje signed with an "X".
In New Netherland the couple settled across the Hudson from NewAmsterdam in Pavonia. The ir four children were baptized: Hendrickje in1641, Arie in 1642; Hendrick in 1646; and Lysbeth in 1651. Baptismalwitnesses included: Tryntje Simons (de Witt); Huyck Aertsen; the wife ofOloff Stephenszen from Wyckbij-Duurstede; Evert Corneliszen van der Wel;and two step-daughters of the minister Everardus Bogardus from Woerden.
In 1649 with Egbert Wouterszen from Ysselsteyn, Cornelis Aertsen wasnamed by Jan Janse n Damen to administer his estate. Cornelis' family hadclose ties with the families of Andries Hoppe (whose wife Ceertje wasBelitje's sister), Jan Aertsen van der Bilt (whose wife was AnnetjeHendricks from Norway), and Peter Cornelissen van Steenwyck (who marriedHendnckje Aerts in 1670). While Cornelis left his heirs about 65 acres ofManhattan farming land upon his death in 1669, most of his farming hadbeen on leased lands, on Peter Stuyvesant's farm in the 1650's and on theJan Jansen Damen farm in the 1660's.
Cornelis was born about 1610 in Westbroek, Province of Utrecht. TheNetherlands (Holland) . Among the settlers chosen by the Dutch West IndiaCompany was Cornelis Aertsen Van Schaick, a man of 26 who arrived in NewNetherland after a long and arduous voyage in 1636. He joined a group ofbrave and hard working people who were devoted to the establishment of acolony in the New World in accord with the policy of exploration andcolonization of the West India Company.
The Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam were a diligent, thrifty, andsturdy people unlike th e personalities and characters portrayed byWashington Irving in his "Knickerbocker's History of New York". >From allthat is known about Cornelis, it appears that he was energetic and activein building and defending the new settlement. Cornelis was willing toaccept whatever risks were present in the hostile environment, in whichhe lived and reared a family. In 1636, Cornelis received a grant of landfrom the West India Company.
A tragedy befell Cornelis when he was living at Pavonia (Paulus Hook). His buildings an d property were destroyed in the February 1643 Indianuprising. A number of Dutch settlers lost their lives in this unjustifiedconflict that occurred during the administration of Governor WilliamKieft. After the loss of his house and farm buildings to the Indiantorches, Cornelis moved to Manhattan. This move did not altogetheralleviate the risks inherent in living in a frontier wilderness.
In 1645 Cornelis became the grantee of 22 acres of land. This landwas located at Crown P oint, Corlears Hook adjoining the Corlearplantation and had a long frontage on the East River.
In 1656 Cornelis leased Governor Stuyvesant's bouwrie, one of thelargest as well as on e of the most remote from the city. During theperiod of this lease, it was necessary to post extra watches at night toprotect the bouwries in the area from possible Indian depredation. TheIndians had never become really friendly with the Dutch settlers sincethe 1643 episode. Although a peace treaty with the Indians was signed in1645, there was continual friction and misunderstanding between the Dutchand the Indians.
Cornelis also became the lessee of the Jan Damen farm, whichextended from the East Rive r to the Hudson and was bounded generally onthe south by what became known as Wall Street. On the north it wasbounded by Maiden Lane. He was one of the leading farmers of the Colonyand is reported to have supplied the families of New Amsterdam with muchof their country produce. Cornelis for many years occupied the "GreatHouse" on the Damen farm located just outside the landgate on what is nowCedar Street. Upon the death of Jan Damen, Cornelis became one of theadministrators of the estate.
It is of passing interest that the Damen farm abutted land formerlyowned by Goosen Gerri tsen Van Schaick of Albany, a cousin of Cornelis,who when elected Magistrate in Albany in 1648, came to New Amsterdam anddisposed of his property before accepting the office at Albany. GoosenGerritsen came to New Netherland in 1637.
On 12 Sept. 1648, Cornelis acknowledged by his mark that he wasindebted to Ibrant Dircks en Goethart in the sum of 322 guilders payableon 1 June 1649.
As one of the Overseers for the Outward where he received his firstgrant of land, Cornel is brought several suits against other landownersfor the improper maintenance of their fences.
Cornelis was a friend and supporter of Governor Peter Stuyvesant andearly in 1664, he ma de a contribution at the request of the Governor forimproving the defenses of the city. He did not sign any of theRemonstrances or Petitions requesting relief or redress. Hisfair-mindedness and excellent standing in the community are demonstratedby his repeated selection by the Burgomasters Court of New Amsterdam asone of the arbitrators in contested litigation, which the Court found,should be submitted to arbitration. The evidence is ample that Corneliswas well thought of in the Colony and that he played a creditable part inits early history, particularly throughout the Stuyvesant administration.
Cornelis died in 1669 and his estate passed to his surviving heirs,Arie Cornelissen, hi s brother Hendrik Cornelissen and their sisterLysbeth Cornelissen. They conveyed to Captain John Barry of Bergen, NJtwo parcels of land on the Island of Manhattan, the two parcels beingconfirmed by a patent from Governor Francis Lovelace bearing date of 16September 1669.
In 1987 Melwood Van Scoyoc visited Woerden where Cornelis Aertsensaid he'd been baptize d The baptismal records there date only from 1626.Located on the Old Rhine ten miles west of Utrecht just across theborder in South Holland, Woerden has been a townsite for over 3,000years. The Romans located a frontier detachment there.
In 1372 Woerden obtained rights of self-government. The townsfolkthen built bastioned wa lls of brick surrounded by a moat to protect thefive-sided town. The defenses were strengthened in 1410 by Duke Jan ofBavaria who built a castle on the southeast bastion; this castle guardeda bridge into the town from the east, located where the Rhine flowedinto the town. Fortified gates guarded a bridge to the south and one onthe northwest side where the Rhine exited the town. Within the wallsfive bridges crossed the Rhine, connecting the two halves of the town.
The town walls were leveled two centuries ago, but the moat,following the outlines of th e bastions, still surrounds the old town.This branch of the Rhine, then and now little more than a sluggishcanal, no longer flows openly through the town and a business street(Rijn Straat) follows its former course. Near the center of town standsthe 14th Century Petruskerk. In 1572, fifty years after Woerden's Jan deBakicer was martyred, the town and the church became Lutheran. Then in1593, it adopted the Reformed faith. In Petruskerk, Cornelis Aertsenwould have been baptized.
Woerden was then a local center of trade. The population, estimatedat 1,500 in 1514, gre w to about 3,200 in 1629 when 528 houses werecounted. Another 500 inhabitants lived outside the walls, mostly to thewest. where roof tile and brick makers had their kilns. Peat suppliedfuel for the kilns and for a peat trade, but by 1610 the nearest peat wasused up and the bogs drained.
Around the town lay poldered farm land; on the higher lands grain,vegetables, and orchar ds grew; on the low lying lands cattle, draftstock and other farm animals grazed. Today Woerden rivals Gouda as acheese manufacturing and marketing center. Its annual market faircelebrated its 500th anniversary in 1910.
Close by Petruskerk to its rear stands the Stadhuis or Town Hallbuilt in 1501 and expand ed to the rear and upward in about 1610. Stillused as the Town Hall until 1889, the building now is the municipalmuseum. The church with its tower, the Stadhuis, one residence, thecastle and the moat date from before 1610.
The orphanage is gone which in 1610 took in nine-year-old EvertBogaert, born in Woerde n in 1607 who was destined as Everardus Bogardusto become the pastor at New Amsterdam in 1633, to wed the celebratedAnneke Jans, to baptize the first three of Aertsen's children, and until1647 to minister to his family.
Although born in Woerden, Cornelis Aertsen probably didn't livethere long. In 1640 he sa id he lived in Houten and in 1645 in NewAmsterdam he was identified as from Utrecht. Consequently it is likelyhe was reared and had family connections in those localities.
UTRECHT and HOUTEN
Like Woerden, Utrecht was a townsite long before Roman times, but by1610 it had a doze n times the population of Woerden. Located where theCrooked Rhine (Kromrnerijn) from Wyck-by-Duurstede to the southeast splitinto the Old Rhine flowing west through Woerden and the river Vecht northto the sea, it was chosen by Bishop Willibrord, apostle to the heathen,as his seat and the center of civil government.
Utrecht was well located for commerce. As a riverboat and markettown, it flourished. I n the 1600's it had long been walled and rnoated;twelve bastions guarded the brick walls and eight main gates gave entry.It was a city of churches; Donikerk (the cathedral), started in 1254with its 367-foot tower completed in 1382 was flanked west byJacobikerk, north by Janskerk, and east by Pieterskerk (1048). A churchto the south, planned to complete a cross, was never built, perhapsbecause it wasn't needed. Mariakerk (1090), Catherijnekerk (now the RCcathedral), Geertekerk, Nicolaikerk, and Buurkerk served the south end ofthe city. The Dom Tower, then as now, dominated the skyline from everydirection.
The Crooked Rhine flowed around the town in a moat and by way oftwo canals. Wagon road s ran from gates west to Woerden, north to Maarsen,Martensdijk and Westbroek; east to de Bilt, Bunnik, Soest, and Odijk;south to Ysselstein, Jutfaas and Vianen; and southeast to Houten.
In and around Utrecht, there was much to see; river and canal boatsloading and unloading , sails furled; windmills pumping water and grindinggrain; heavy carts drawn by yoked oxen or paired horses; merchants andtradesmen at work; bakers, brewers, boat builders, and brick makers;candle. cabinet and coffin makers; costers and coornkopers; clothweavers and fullers; blacksmiths, tinsmiths, gold and silversmiths and adozen other crafts; carpenters, bricklayers, groiners and joiners, rooftilers and thatchers, stone carvers and stone masons; painters and makersof religious art; and soldiers, many of them English, Scottish and Germanmercenaries.
The twelve-year truce with Spain had expired in 1621. The defenselines ran from northea st of Utrecht around it to the south and west.From 1621 to 1648, military action east and south generally favoredDutch arms and important territories were added to the nation, whileoverseas the East and West India Companies assembled a Dutch empire.
Area east and south of Utrecht could be flooded for defense and in1638 an accidental bre ak in the Lek dikes resulted in heavy flooding andprovided work for many laborers. Several farming villages, built onhigher ground then were isolated by water. Less than two miles east ofHouten stood the Overdam farmstead, the place of origin of one family ofVan Schaycks, and a mile farther, just southwest of Odijk, stood theSchadewyck farmstead, dating back at least to 1236.
Houten in the 1600's was dominated by a brick church standing at oneside of the centra l plaza from which six or seven roads led. The villageof about 800 was unwalled and from its edge the cultivated fieldsstretched into the distance marked by scattered farmsteads. Houten was amarket center and besides its minister it housed shopkeepers andtradesmen; millers, bakers, and tailors; cobblers and wooden shoemakers;bricklayers, carpenters, thatchers, cartwrights and blacksmiths. Theremust also have been tapsters providing places to gather, gossip, andplan. A village market was held each Saturday in the central plaza.
Today besides the church and central plaza, there are few remains ofthe 17th Century vil lage. Outside the old dorp and surrounding it standsa modern suburb of over 60,000 who live in townhouses and commute dailyby train, bus, and auto.
Cornelis Aertsen was in New Amsterdam on January 30, 1640. Heprobably left on de Engle G abriel in March arriving in Holland in May.One reason for his trip was marriage, perhaps arranged by letter andprobably long planned. Cornelis' visit in Houten with relatives couldnot have been more than a few weeks but despite the brief stay. one mayspeculate that longtime Houten heading for Rensselaerswyck talkedCornelis into contracting to go there with them.
Roelof and Crijn Cornelisz, who were sons of Cornelis Marternsz andAdriana Ros Jansdr fr om Houten, had gone to Rensselaerswyck in 1637 andCrijn had returned after two years. Now he was going back and 5 ofHouten were going with him; Nijs Jacobsz, a lad of 19; Jan Reyersz, theson of a poor laborer; and a family group consisting of CornelisCrijnen, and Jan Cornelis (Crijnen), a father with his brother and son.At least a business relationship had existed between Crijn Adriaensz,the presumed father of Cornelis and Jan Crijnen, and Jan Willemsz VanSchayck, the younger, who was Cornelis Aertsen's grandfather.
They sailed on the Waterhondt in July, but while Cornelis Aertsenand Belitje Hendrick s had contracted to work in Rensselaerswyck, theirnames were never entered in the colony's account books. Their contractwas probably bought out because they next appeared as residents ofPavonia west of New Amsterdam across the river, apparently living on thefarmstead at Ahasimus occupied by descendants of Cornelis van Voorst fromUtrecht.
Aert Jansz Van Schayck, father of Cornelis Aertsen
In November of 1987, Melwood Van Scoyoc spent three weeks in theUtrecht archives seekin g Adriaen and Aert Van Schaycks of the right ageto have fathered Cornelis Aertsen of Woerden, Houten, and Utrecht. Thissearch continued over the next two years aided by Willem A. Wijburg ofUtrecht, who combed his research notes for references, which might apply.From the Utrecht marriage registers and the files of the notaries over adozen names of Adriaen and Aert Van Schaycks turned up which were worthyof consideration.
Each name was checked and all but three were eliminated conclusivelyfrom consideration . 'two of the three remaining showed no connection withHouten. The one left was Aert Jansz van Schayck whose parents JanWillemsz van Schayck, churchwarden of Houten in 1617, and his wife, AnnaAert Heynricksdr, made their will on January 26, 1621 before notaryWillem van Galen. At that time their oldest son Aert was "out of thecountry" Since the couple had married in about 1586, Aert, the eldest,would have been about 23 when Cornelis Aertsen was born, the right age.
Then in 1991 the Reverend Marcel Kemp offered to search his 150,000data cards for eviden ce that Aert Jan Willemsz van Schayck was the fatherof our ancestor and we asked him to do so. In seeking the ancestry ofCornelis Aertsen of New Netherland, Kemp was investigating the only AERTvan Schayck with close connections to Houten of the right age in 1610 tobe the father. When Kemp sought data on this Aert van Schayck, however,he found data to he extremely scant.
The Jan Willemsz van Schayck will in 1621 named five sons and fourdaughters. The fourt h son, Henrick, became a baker in Utrecht where hedied childless in about 1681. In a will made in 1678 Henrick mentionedseveral living nephews and nieces, among who was his brother's daughterAertgen AERTSDR. This is important because otherwise we might think thatAert had died childless in some foreign land. Now we know that Aert Janszvan Schayck had somewhere begotten a daughter.
From other records we find that Aertgen Aertsdr married for thefirst time on May 2, 166 3 to Henrick Gysbertsz van Bell, a widower; bothwere living outside the Wittevrouwenpoort of Utrecht, which is on theroad to de Bilt. The wedding was performed before the civil authoritieswhich means at least one of the couple was probably a Roman Catholic.Henrick Gysbertsz had been living in Abstede, just east of Utrecht, onMay 2, 1642, when he'd married his first wife.
In 1685 Aertgen was buried "gratis" in the Buurkerk (In poverty).Her husband and an unde rage daughter survived her. If the child was bornin 1665 when Aertgen was as old as 45, she might have been born as earlyas 1620. Aertgen, therefore, had to be AT THE VERY LEAST 10 years youngerthan Cornelis Aertsen; she was most likely much younger, and ahalf-sister, born perhaps in about 1630 or 1640.
Within weeks of making his will in 1621 Jan Willemsz van Schayckdied. His widow remarrie d before March 6, 1624, to Thomas Jan Philipsz ofOdijk. In 1629 his grandnephew Philip Jansz Wantanaer and Aert Jansz vanSchayck made inquiry in the Thilesteeg Court, in that area of Utrechttoward Houten and Jutfaas, about the age of horses they had bought fromAdriaen Jansz van Oostrum of Bunnik (January 10, 1629 GAU CourtThllesteeg II 3492-3 f 55). Kemp warns that this may have been the AertJansz van Schayck of Jutfaas who married in Utrecht in 1629, but therelationship of this Aert Jansz' partner to Aerts' stepfather suggeststhat this is a trace left by Aert Jansz van Schayck of Houten.
Moreover, Aert Jansz Van Schayck of Houten as a horse dealer in 1629fits well with Huyc h Aertsen van Rossum's partnership in 1633 with JanJansz van Cothen; the two were described then as coachmen with two wagonsand horses contracted to the military service, which partnership lastedat least to the end of 1635. Furthermore, at about this time HuyckAertsen's aunt Jannechgen F'redericksdr lived outside the Thilesteeg gateof Utrecht; as the widow of Govert Ockersz she made her will from thereon January 13,1631.
Huyck Aertsen's grandfather (Frederick Ancriesz) and Aert Jansz vanSchayck's grandmothe r (Henrickgen Andriesdr) were brother and sister, soHuyck Aertsen of New Netherland was a cousin of Aert Jansz van Schayck;recall that the earliest known record of Cornelis Aertsen dates fromJanuary 1640, in New Amsterdam when Cornelis "Arissen" took the lead intestifying about Huyck's good behavior in a tavern. (It is tempting tothink Cornelis Arissen may have been one of the Company's soldiers justthen ending a four-year enlistment; two of the three other men joiningCornelis Arissen in his testimony, Philip Generdy and Rogier Jorissen,were soldiers). In 1642 Huyck acted as a witness at the baptism ofCornelis Aertsen's first son Arie, a role for a relative much like agodparent.
Kemp identifies the characteristic handmark used by Cornelis Aertsenin signing document s as one used by at least ten people in the areaaround Houten in the early 1600's including the mark used by HuyckAertsen's father Aert Frederick Andriesz. This mark was also used in 1630by Antionis Cornelisz of Loerik near Houten whom Kemp identifies as apossible cousin of Cornelis Aertsen, and by Gysbert Nysz, an uncle of NysJacobsz who probably traveled to New Netherland on the Waterhondt in1640 with Cornelis Arissen.
Another known relative of Aert Jansz van Schayck was an earlysettler in New Amsterdam. T he instructions dated April 22.1625, from theWest India Company's directors to Director General Willem Verhulstmention a head farmer named Mattheus de Reus (Documents Relating to NewNetherland, 1624-1626, D7: p. 94). Gerrit Mattheusz de Reus was operatingone of the Company's farms on Manhattan in 1631, probably havingsucceeded his father. According to Kemp, he visited Utrecht in 1632sailing in July on the Soutberch for service in Rensselaerswyck, wherehe died before mid 1639. Jan alias Frederick van Schayck, married toGeertruyt de Reus, was a brother of Aert Jansz's father and a great uncleof Gerrit de Reus. Whether Gerrit met with Cornelis Aertsen and HuyckAertsen in 1632 or later in New Amsterdam is not known, but Gerrit deReus in 1612 and Jan Jansz Damen of Bunnick in 1638 each interestedothers in venturing abroad.
Assuming that Jan Jansz Damen in New Amsterdam perhaps namedCornelis Aertsen as an admin istrator of his estate because of familyrelationship, Kemp looked into Damens' origins. Anna Aert Heynricksdr wasAert Jansz van Schaycks mother. In 1587 a Jan Damen in Utrecht hadmarried Heyndrickge Aert Heynricksdr, perhaps a sister, but this couplehad only a single son named Cornelis. Thus they were not the parents ofJan Jansz Damen whose father was Jan Cornelisz Lamen of Bunnik, dead by1627 when Jan Jansz Damen, only 20, acknowledged receiving a payment fromthe administrators of his estate.
Jan Jansz Damen and Cornelis Aertsen may have been related on Jan'smother's side as Kem p suggests, but the Jan Damen who married HeynrickgeAert Heyndricksdr and named his only son Cornelis may have been a secondJan Cornelisz Damen, brother of Jan Jansz Damens' like-named father. JanJansz Damen himself had two brothers named Cornelis, both named in JanJansz Damen's will, and Aert Jansz van Schayck's father Jan Willemsz hadtwo brothers each also named Jan Willemsz, as we shall see. The practicein this region of namesaking like-named relatives with two or morechildren creates problems for genealogists. If the two Jan Damens werebrothers, as seems possible, then Jan Jansz Damen was a cousin bymarriage of Aert Jansz van Schayck of Houten.
The known relationship of Huyck Aertsen van Rossum and Gerrit deReus and probable relati onship of Jan Jansz Darnen to Aert Jansz vanSchayck, along with the associations of these with Cornelis Aertsen inNew Netherland constitute a major link of circumstantial evidence tyingCornelis Aertsen to Aert Jansz van Schayck. Weaker links have connectedlines in many genealogies but work continues to seek even firmer and morepositive evidence.
The Economic, Social and Religious Milieu
The great farmers of the Crooked Rhine region held their leases ofland from generation t o generation, the family farnmtead passing fromeldest son to eldest son. Inevitably there was partition of lands amongfamily members but appropriate marriages mitigated the partitions,enhanced family wealth and increased land holdings. The wealthy purchasedleases from the less fortunate who were forced into towns and cities.Warfare and religious strife strained economic and social ties andaltered land tenures and social position.
The de Reus family lost heavily in the civil warfare before the turnof the century. Th e family of Aert Jansz van Schayck suffered financialreverses and lost their lease on the Overdam farmstead in about 1600after 18 years of occupancy.
With few exceptions the great farmers of the region clung to the oldreligion. Family mem bers becoming Protestant found themselves atdisadvantage sometimes cut off from family benefits and forced to seekfortunes elsewhere. Thus while most farming families of the region wereCatholic, most settlers to New Netherland were Protestant, many fromfamilies suffering financial reverses. Many settlers used no family namecalling themselves only by patronymics and hometowns.
Cornelis Aertsen was Protestant. He married Reformed in Sloterdyckand with his wife wa s active in the church at New Amsterdam. 0n the otherhand, the Reformed church was the only church. witnesses at Aertsenbaptisms included a church deacon's wife and two stepdaughters of theminister, Everardus Bogardus from Woerden. Belitje served as witness atnumerous baptisms. As a lifelong Protestant, Cornelis had probably beenbaptized Reformed by his father at Woerden.
In contrast, all four of Aert Jansz van Schayck's brothers and twosisters remained Catho lic, or married Catholics, as Kemp shows from therecords of their marriages; only Geertruy and Anichgen married Reformed.Anthonis Jansz, however, was buried Reformed in the Buurkerk in 1660, aswere Hendrick Jansz in 1681, and Aertgen Aertsdr in 1685. The Buurkerkstands not far from the Thllesteeg gate on the road to Houten. ThereWillem and Gysbert Jansz van Schayck leased land in 1638 and near thereHenrickgen Jansdr, wife of Ryck Stael, still lived in 1642 at Heemstele.
If religious differences in the mid-1600's in this family seemmilder than in some famili es, the differences may have been sharp whenAert was coming of age. Kemp cites one clear-cut case of a brotherdisinheriting his siblings for religious reasons and he suggests thatreligion may be why Aert left the family circle at Houten and whyCornelis Aertsen never used the family name Van Schayck.
Religion may have cost some farmers renewals of their leases onlands taken over by th e Reformed church, but other factors were at work.For whatever reasons, by 1700 all the descendants of Aert Jansz vanSchayck's father (most of whom had remained Catholic) had left farmingfor other pursuits, and some, including the Protestant Annichgen andAert's daughter Aertgen, had died in poverty.
All in all, the case Marcel Kernp makes for Aert Jansz van Schayckof Houten as the fathe r of Cornelis Aertsen of New Netherland, while notconclusive is convincing. With most other possibilities ruled out, AertJansz van Schayck fits the picture well. Direct evidence shows he marriedand had at least one child and that religious differences may have causedhim to leave the family circle. Circumstantial evidence shows thatProtestant relatives of Aert Jansz van Schayck associates closely withCornelis Aertsen in Manhattan. Finally, the evidence that Aert Jansz hadissue much younger than Cornelis Aertsen, suggests new ways of explainingCornelis Aertsen's family connections with Jan Aertsen van der Bilt andHendrickje Aerts Breyandt, a problem which American genealogists havepondered for many years.
Work continues to confirm the descent of Cornelis Aertsen from AertJansz van Schayck th ough the chance remains that some other Aert orAdriaen with a Van Schayck mother or grandfather was Cornelis' father.Nevertheless, the Descendants of Cornelis Aertsen van Schaick, Inc.,consider this line of descent sufficiently likely that they proceed todescribe the family of Aert Jansz van Schayck and the Overdam farmsteadwhich that family occupied for 180 years.
Info on this family group from Sean Bagby -- seanb@pwrtc.com
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