Jan Aertsen Middagh

Jan Aertsen MIDDAGH was born 12 Dec 1662 in Wallabout, Brooklyn, NY, and was christened 24 Dec 1662 in Brooklyn DRC, Brooklyn, Kings, NY. Witnesses: Jan Hansen Bergen and Catrina de Rappalie. Jan died about 1740.

While it is known Jan moved to "Raystetter" (Rochester Twp.) in Ulster County with his brother, Joris, it is not known exactly when. There are civil records of him purchasing land in the area on 4/4/1688 and according to N.B. Sylvester in his book "The History of Ulster County, New York" and other sources, he was residing there in 1689. However it is believed the brothers moved to the area earlier than that, probably around 1685/6. Also, according to "The Documented History of the State of New York" by E. B. O'Callaghan, Volume I, Pages 279-282, Jan was among the settlers residing in Ulster County in 1689. Jan first appears in an Ulster County record as a witness at a baptism in the Kingston DRC on 10/3/1686. He is recorded as taking the "Oath of Allegiance" in Ulster County on 9/1/1689 stating he was "native" (i.e. born in the colonies). His next appearance in any of the Ulster County civil or church records does not occur until the baptism of his daughter, Brechje(n), in 1696. From then until 1721 he is found a number of times in the records of the Kingston DRC; at the baptism of his and Geertjen Teunisse KLAARWATER's children, and as a witness to the christening of other people's children. There is one peculiarity about the baptisms of his children; all of them except Abraham, his next to last child, was baptized in the Kingston DRC. Abraham's baptism, for some reason is listed in the records of the Machackemack DRC. However, on page 27 of a book "History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey" by James P. Snell it is indicated that both Abram (Abraham) and Isaac were born in Menissinck (Minisink).

Just when Jan and Geertje may have moved to the Minisink area is unknown. According to church records it is known that Theunis was born in Rochester Township. Therefore the move had to be after his birth in 1706 and before that of Abraham in 1718. At a meeting of the Trustees of the town of Marbletown on 3/18/1703, Hendrick BOGART asked for a "conveyance" covering 20 acres of land he had bought from Jan.

He married Geertje Klaarwater around 1695, probably in Ulster County, but the record of their marriage has not been found. Jan and Geertje are later recorded as man and wife, having children baptized at Kingston DRC, from 1696 to 1718. It is thought that they lived at this time in Raystetter (Rochester), and attended the Kingston DRC. Their two youngest children were baptized at Mackackemeck DRC in the Minisink area of Sussex County, New Jersey. Jan and Geertje were among the first settlers in the Minisink area.

Jan was a witness at the baptism of Martin, son of Gerritt Boogard & Jannetje Martins, co-witness was Geertie Martins. He was also a witness at the baptism of Derick Weyne, son of Hendrick Weyne & Annetje Jansen, co-witness is Marritie Martins. It is believed that these two women were daughters of Martins Ysselstyn, and who later married Jacobus DeLaMater & Joris Middagh.

Jan died about 1740, but there has been no record of his death found, nor any grave. He probably died in the Minisink area of Sussex County, New Jersey. During the time that Jan was alive, there appears to have been two men named Jan Middagh in New Amsterdam, which has unfortunately caused some confusion in the research.

"Ariaentje having died around 1688, Jan remarried 4 Jan 1690 to Elizabeth, widow of Peter Smith of Jamaica, L. I. (HSNY 1898:93), who survived him. An article from the Genealogical Dictionary of New Jersey, however, states that his first marriage was contracted in the 1660s to an unnamed woman, a union that produced a son John, born, therefore, between 1661 when he arrived in America and 1672 when he remarried. Son John later married Ida Suydam (1678- ), daughter of Hendrick & Ida (Jacobs). Proof that he was son of Jan Aersen is found in Jan's will of 1707 in which he specifically names John as his "eldest son." Nothing further is known of that early marriage. Though he was likely unable to wed immediately upon arrival, at least until his indenture responsibility, if there was one, had been fulfilled, no 1660s marriage is recorded nor is there a baptismal record for son John or for a daughter. There was, nonetheless, sufficient time for a previously unknown second child, Lysbet Aertsen, to have been born into this family.