Charles Bridges

aka Carel van Brugge (see sources) page 320

~• quoting Stokes:
" In 1639, Charles Bridges came to New Amsterdam from the West Indies, but returned thither to become a member of council and commissary at Curacao, under Stuyvesant; the latter brought him back to New Amsterdam when he assumed the directorship, in 1647. Bridges became commissary at Fort Orange in November of that year, and commissary of the provincial accounts in 165 I; he was provincial secretary and vendue-master in 1652- 53.- Rec. N. Am., I: 66; II: I In. On December 3 1,1656, he was one of three commissioners who went in a small boat up the East River, through Hell Gate, to Eastchester (Oostdorp), under the pilotage of Claes Bordingh, taking with them the appointments of the magistrates made by Stuyvesant and his council, to whom they were to administer the oath of allegiance. His co-commissioners on this mission were Captain Brian Newton and Secretary Van Ruyven. The errand was highly successful, and the three delegates returned to New Amsterdam on the first day of the New Year.-Doc. Hist. N. Y., 8vo. ed., 92I. Bridges was one of the patentees of Flushing, 1. I., and did much to develop this and the adjoining towns. He became van Brugge again after the surrender of 1673 to Colve, and, because of his excellent knowledge of the languages and his position in both good Dutch and English circles, he was appointed clerk of the five English towns on Long Island.- Rec. N. Am., II: lIn. He died at Flushing, in August, 1682. Sarah Cornell survived him, and married, April 16, 1692, "a lunatic son of John Lawrence"-the matter being later referred to the Prerogative Court.-Cal. Coun. Min., 7I. Carel van Brugge did not, as has been asserted, build his own house on the High or Stone Street. The homestead plot, 36 feet wide, remained in the Willett family until 1783, when John Willet sold it to John B. Coles.-Liber Deeds, XLIV: 484. Carel van Brugge had acquired only a life interest by his marriage with Mrs. Willett. Nos. 3, 4, and 5 also belonged to the Willett estate. In 1717, when Jacob De Key and his wife, Sarah (Willett) De Key, sold their inheritance to Samuell Bayard (Liber Deeds, XXXI: I), the rest of the property still belonged to Richard and Thomas Willett. Site of house No. 77, and part of No. 79, Pearl Street. "