Referenced on: http://www.stipak.com/vanderveer/maria/bios/4.HTM

and: 8. Francis Bazley Lee, editor, Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, 1907.

and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Claesen_Wyckoff

The Wyckhoff House and Association are devoted to the history of the descendants of Pieter Claesen Wyckhoff. http://www.wyckoffassociation.org/association/h_pdfs/Wyckoff_Family_in_America.pdf

Born in Sweden, came to Fort Orange, later Beverwyck, later Albany New York (called New Amsterdam at the time) Came from Norden or Nordingen in East Friesland, as an indentured servant of Symon Walichez. He was one of 38 laborers on the Rensselaerswick (also called Beverwyck) to be assigned to verious farms on the Van Rensselaer estate. He was assigned to Simon on 3 April 1637, to earn 50 guilders per year for the first 3 years, and 75 guilders for the last 3 years.

Pieter Cornelissen may have been an auncle of Pieter Claesen. As Claesen's contract matured, Simon Walischez's lease was cancelled on the grounds he was an unsatisfactory tenant, and the final settlement was made by the Van Rensselaer Estate. Pieter Claesen was now 18 years old, and rented a farm for himself and married Grietje Van Ness, daughter of a prominent citizen.

He and father-in-law Cornelis Hendrick Van Ness engaged in prolonged controversy with Van Slichtenhorst, the autocratic director of the colony, which ended when Pieter left the colony in June 1649 and Van slichtenhorst was arrested on 18 April 1652 by order of Pieter Stuyvesant, director of the colony. Considering the prominence of Cornelis Van Ness, one can but wonder what old world connection between the two families there may have been which led to the marriage of Grietje and Pieter, who had so recently been a laborer. Her superior education and rank must have been of immense importance to her young husband when he took up his new duties in Amersfoort.

Pieter and Grietje had 2 sons, Nicholas Claes Pieterson Wyckoff and Cornelius Wyckoff, before they moved to New Amsterdam in 1649. Lived there until 1655, when Pieter signed a contract "to superintend the Bowery and cattle of Peter Stuyvesant in New Amersfoort," and moved into the house on Canarsie Lane in Flatlands, Brooklyn, now known as the Wyckoff Homestead, 5816 Clarendon Road, Brooklyn 11203. He never owned the house in which he lived. Five (5) daughters and four (4) more sons were born there, for a total of 11 children.

But he started buying land around the area in 1652, and became a local judge, like our justice of the peace. He was influential in establishing the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church at the junction of Flatbush Ave., and King's Highway. His remains are said to be buried in land now covered by the altar of this church. The Wyckoff Association in American planted a tree in the churchyard of this edifice on 22 May, 1938, in memory of Pieter and his many descendants. On 26 May, 1940, a bronze tablet inside the church was inscribed in his honor.

When the British took over the Dutch colony, they had difficulty with the Dutch names, and asked that the families take surnames by which they could be identified. In an 1867 roll, Pieter Claesen and his six sons appear with the surname Wijckoff; "Wyk" in Dutch meant "parish," and "hof" means court, referring to his work as a local judge in a town court, "of the town court." Nearly all American descendants with the 67 various spellings of this name are descended from Pieter Claeson Wyckoff, since he made the name up.

A Dr. Max Wickhoff of Vienna, writes that his family came from Friesland in the 17th century, and he believes that the Austrian Wickhoffs and American Wyckoffs derive from the same Friesian gentry living in the Austrian Netherlands, which then comprised a large part of Holland, Belgium, and East Friesland. There is a house in the province of Drente which is called Hof in der Wijk, or Wijkof ("local house").

All 11 children and Grietje were families of some importance. Grietje was from 2 families who carried a surname from generation to generation (while Pieter Claeson was named just for his father, Pieter, son of Claes). --------------------

Peter emigrated from the Netherlands in 1636.  He settled in  Flatlands, where he purchased land, and where on 10 July 1655 he was  contracted to superintended the bouwery and cattle of Petrus Stuyvesant.  

He was magistrate of New Utrecht in 1655, 1658, 1662, and 1663, and was in Feb. 1664, one of the representatives at the convention held at Midwout, for the purpose of sending delegates to the Netherlands, to lay before the States General and West India Company the distressed state of the country. He was also one of the patentess in the town charters of 1667 and 1686.

-------------------- Pieter Claesen (Nicholas) Wyckoff (son of and ) was born ABT 1625 . He died ABT 1694 (Other spouses: )

Pieter Claesen (Nicholas) Wyckoff married Grietje (Margaret) VanNess on .

 Grietje (Margaret) VanNess (daughter of Cornelis Hendrick VanNess and Mayke Hendrieux vandenBurchgraeff) was born . She died . (Other spouses: )''' 

They had the following children:

Annetje (Anna) Piterse Wyckoff born: . died: