Clara Matthys - END-OF-LINE ANCESTOR: Clara Matthys, wife of Gerrit-1 Jansen van Oldenburg

Thank you for the rapid response!

Clara was known by more than one patronymic in records of New Netherland so her father was probably named Matthys or similar but nothing is known about him.

There are no records to support the claim that Clara was born in Amsterdam or that she was even Dutch. She worked for Jonas Bronck, who was more likely Scandinavian than Dutch, before she married a probable German.

Although Clara's father was probably named Matthys or similar, there are no records to identify her mother and "Anneken Matthys" may be an error derived from someone who did not understand the use of patronymics versus fixed surnames in Dutch and related cultures.

In appreciation of your response, here are some verbatim quotes from the article cited, along with some additional commentary.

Phyllis Miller, “The Garrison-Gerritsen Descendants of Gerrit Jansen Van Oldenburg alias Gerrit de Mof,” The New York Genealogical And Biographical Record (Volume 124 [1993]).

“Gerrit-1 Jansen van Oldenburg, alias de Mof [“derogatory (Dutch) term meaning “the German”], was most likely born in Germany between 1610 and 1610 …” “Gerrit Jansen probably came from the county (Grafschaft [German]) of Oldenburg in northwestern Germany, or the city of the same name.”

21 July 1639

“According to O’Callaghan’s translation, Gerrit [Jansen van Oldenburg] was charged with rape 21 July 1639, but Van Laer’s translation says the charge was “eloping with a certain widow.” Gerrit pleaded that he and Clara Matthys were betrothed. He was fined 20 guilders and had to sign a 100 guilder note to obtain Clara’s release from her contract with Jonas Bronk.”

For more information, see also:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bronck-4#Nieuw_Nederland_records_for_...

1 July 1640

First child baptized in the New Amsterdam Reformed Dutch Church.

1 November 1641

“His wife Clara Matthys in a deposition on 1 November 1631 stated that she was 31 years of age.”

Matthys is simply a variation of the more common Dutch given name Mathjis and equates to Matthew in English, Mathias in German and Matts in Swedish.

https://www.behindthename.com/name/matthew

Clara is a German, English and Swedish name that does not appear to have a common Dutch equivalent.

https://www.behindthename.com/name/clara

Clara Matthys worked for a Swedish man, Jonas Bronck, before she married a German man, Gerrit Jansen van Oldenburg. Nothing is known of Clara’s origins beyond the fact that the first name of her unknown father was Matthys (or similar) and it seems more likely that she was German, perhaps Swedish, or even English, and not Dutch.

Thank you for the follow-up.

New Amsterdam was so ethnically diverse, in part, because "old" Amsterdam was a global port with ethnic diversity, largely because religious difference were accommodated. So, in general, we cannot infer birth in Amsterdam from residence there. For example, the Mayflower Pilgrims of England (and elsewhere) spent a generation in Amsterdam before eventually departing for New England.

We will probably know the full truth but indirect evidence favors speculation that Clara was German, like her husband, or Swedish, like her employer, rather than Dutch. As another bit of indirect evidence, note that Clara had no known son named Matthys (or similar); if she were Dutch (or of a similar culture), that "should" have happened.

Thanks for the exchange and the edits!

Hopefully others will read this discussion before (re-) asserting old assumptions.