Aree Van Genee

One of the seminal figures of freed slaves in early New York and New Jersey, Aree (of Guinea) provided the land for the Zion Evangelic Lutheran Church. (see below)

van Genee is a variant of van Guinea (from Guinea)
see: < Documents > that cite:

History of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church,

Oldwick, New Jersey Series, Vol. 1, Pt. 1:

History of the Zion Lutheran Church at New Germantown, New Jersey (1715-1774)

 by Dr. John C. Honeyman

This brings up a question: 1: When did he arrive? See the New Amsterdam Origins / Afrrican Immigrants document

“There is speculation by Stephanie B. Stevens that Aree was a son of a Dutch master and a slave woman. There is no record of his birth or his death. He is described as a Negro, a Mulatto, a Moor (mixed race from northern Africa) and one source claims that he was possibly of Arab descent. He could read Dutch and sign his name as a young man when most people, regardless of their race, could neither read nor write. At one point he is described as possibly the most prominent man of color in the state of New Jersey in the early 1700's.”

from http://arayvanguinea.blogspot.com/

Ari's third daughter, Maria was baptized in the Dutch Church in New York in June 1705. He had a son baptized in the same Church in October 1708. Within this three year span Ari had moved from Bostwick, New York (Brooklyn, New York) to the Raritan River Valley on the Millstone River in the area now known as Six Mile Run, Somerset County, New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, about 1711, Ari welcomed an influx of several Palatine German families to the area around his home in the Six Mile Run area."

"Freedom was granted to Ari prior to 1705, he was a free man. He purchased 132 Acres of land from Benjamin Rounsavall on April 3rd or 4th 1730. There is an erroneous statement which claims that Aree Van Guinea purchased his land in 1714 and was not given a deed until 1730, presumably because of a law that slaves were not allowed to own land. This statement ironically is from a Zion article dated in 1939 for the 225th Anniversary of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church which states,

     "Once he received his legal deed, he donated two acres of land to the German Lutheran Church  

        so they could erect a permanent church building." 

The purchase of the land and the donation of the 2 acres to the Church happened within days or months of the purchase of the land in April 1730. Later in life, Aree gave another 50 acres of land to the church to use as a "glebe" in 1750. A glebe was intended to be used by the church for the support of the Pastor and a help in providing monetary support for the Church's obligations."

unplaced descendants

• Aaron Van Guinee and wife Elizabeth and son Nicholas Lutheran bap. Aug 21 1774
  • U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989 New York City Lutheran, Vol I, Book 85, page 515 sponsor Nicholas Emmanuel (~• Mann?) and Elizabeth (all free negroes)
    • guessing:Is Nicholas a grandson of Aree Van Genee ?