Nicholas de Witt

Claes Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Vital Records, 1600-2000 Name: Claes Event Type: Baptism Event Date: 01 Jun 1597 Event Place: Dordrecht, Zuid-Holland, Nederland Event Place (Original): Dordrecht Father's Name: Jan Willemsz de Witt Mother's Name: Jaquemijne .... Affiliate Image Identifier: /show.php?archive=rad&identifier=FF13163D-3A7D-4854-AD7B-DF123B70E9CB Nederland, Indexen van de Archieven, Primaire Archiefstukken (BS en DTB), 1600-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLDJ-SFG2 : 23 August 2017), Claes, Baptism 01 Jun 1597, Dordrecht, Zuid-Holland, Nederland; from database, openarchives (https://www.openarch.nl : 2016); citing Doopakten Dordrecht, archive 1572-1702-WIL-YVA, inventory number 1-7, folio; Doopakten Dordrecht; Regionaal Archief Dordrecht.

Accompanied Hendrick Hudson to America on the "Half Moon" in 1609, which "discovered" and subsequently named the Hudson River. [DeWitt 5-99.FTW]

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Origins

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/De_Witt-107

Son of Son of Johan Willemsz de Wit and Jaepken Jansdr van Baresteijn

Claes Jansz de Witt was baptized on 1 June 1597 in Dordrecht, the Netherlands [1] or was he the Witte Claß from Germany, as it was spelled in the church book of Esens at the birth of the illegitimate Tiade in 1647, whose father was said to be Tiark Claeßen, son of Witte Claß.[2]

Claes Nicholas DeWITT b. abt 1594, Holland, Netherlands, m. abt 1618, Taatje VAN LUEVEN, b. abt 1596. Claes died Esens?, East Friesland, Ger. He lived at Grootholdt, Zunderlandt, Holland, the most southerly of the three natural divisions of the old Dutchy of Westphalia, consisting of hills and vales, woods and meadows, suited for grazing and dairying.

Children:

• 1. Jan DEWITT
• 2. Emmerentie DEWITT
• 3. Tjerck Claessen DEWITT b: 1620 in Grootholt, Sunderland, Holland, Netherlands

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Nicholas discovered New York (New Amsterdam) on a trip with Hendrick Hudson on the ship the 'Half Moon' in 1609. They had three children. Nicholas had the title of Doctor.

Ben M. Angel notes: Given the importance of the Dutch "discovery" of Manhattan Island, it's rather surprising to find so little official documentation on the event. Mostly, the supposed discovery by the 15-year-old (at most) Nicholas de Witt is passed along by what appears to be word-of-web.

One would have to presume that his doctorate was achieved after the event. He doesn't figure prominently in any of the Wikipedia articles (in any language) on the 1609 voyage of the Halve Maen under Henry Hudson.

This is what is given in the English Wikipedia article (which differs little from the Dutch, German, and French articles):

In 1609, Hudson was chosen by the Dutch East India Company to find an easterly passage to Asia.[19] He was told to sail through the Arctic Ocean north of Russia, into the Pacific and so to the Far East.

Hudson departed Amsterdam on April 4 in command of the Dutch ship Halve Maen.[20] He could not complete the specified route because ice blocked the passage, as with all previous such voyages, and he turned the ship around in mid-May while somewhere east of Norway's North Cape. At that point, acting entirely outside his instructions, Hudson pointed the ship west to try to find a passage in that direction.[21]

Having heard rumors of a passage to the Pacific, by way of John Smith of Jamestown and Samuel de Champlain, Hudson and his crew decided to try to seek a westerly passage through North America. The Native Americans who gave the information to Smith and Champlain were likely referring to what are known today as the Great Lakes (and which could not be reached via any navigable waterways).

They reached the Grand Banks, south of Newfoundland, on July 2, and in mid-July made landfall near what is now LaHave, Nova Scotia.[22] Here they encountered Native Americans who were accustomed to trading with the French; they were willing to trade beaver pelts, but apparently no trades occurred.[23] The ship stayed in the area about ten days, the crew replacing a broken mast and fishing for food.

On the 25th a dozen men from the Halve Maen, using muskets and small cannon, went ashore and assaulted the village near their anchorage. They drove the people from the settlement and took their boat and other property (probably pelts and trade goods).[24]

On August 4 the ship was at Cape Cod, from which Hudson sailed south to the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay. Rather than entering the Chesapeake he explored the coast to the north, finding Delaware Bay but continuing on north.

On September 3 he reached the estuary of the river that initially was called the "North River" or "Mauritius" and now carries his name. He was not the first to discover the estuary, though, as it had been known since the voyage of Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524.

On September 6, 1609 John Colman of his crew was killed by Indians with an arrow to his neck.[25] Hudson sailed into the upper bay on September 11,[26] and the following day began a journey up what is now known as the Hudson River[27] Over the next ten days his ship ascended the river, reaching a point about where the present-day capital of Albany is located.[28]

On September 23, Hudson decided to return to Europe. He put in at Dartmouth on November 7, and was detained by authorities who wanted access to his log. He managed to pass the log to the Dutch ambassador to England, who sent it, along with his report, to Amsterdam.[29]

While exploring the river, Hudson had traded with several native groups, mainly obtaining furs. His voyage was used to establish Dutch claims to the region and to the fur trade that prospered there when a trading post was established at Albany in 1614. New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island became the capital of New Netherland in 1625.

References:

19.^ Willard Sterne Randall "First Encounters," American Heritage, Spring 2009.

20.^ Hunter, Douglas (2009). Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the voyage that redrew the map of the New World. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 1-59691-680-X, p. 11.

21.^ Hunter (2009), p. 56-7.

22.^ Hunter (2009), p. 92-4.

23.^ Hunter (2009), p. 98, and Juet (1609), July 19th entry.

24.^ Hunter (2009), p. 102-105, and Juet (1609), July 25th entry.

25.^ Roberts, Sam (September 4, 2009). "New York’s Coldest Case: A Murder 400 Years Old". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-04.

26.^ Nevius, Michelle and James, "New York's many 9/11 anniversaries: the Staten Island Peace Conference", Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2009-05-31.

27.^ Juet, Robert (1609), Juet's Journal of Hudson's 1609 Voyage from the 1625 edition of Purchas His Pilgrimes and transcribed 2006 by Brea Barthel, "Juet's Journal of Hudson's 1609 Voyage".

28.^ Hunter (2009), p. 230-5.

29.^ Shorto, Russell (2004). The Island at the Center of the World. Vintage Books. ISBN 1-4000-7867-9, pg.31

Nicholas "Claes" de Witt also received no mention in Juit's Journal. These are the entries surrounding 3 September, the day of discovery:

The second, in the morning close weather, the wind at south in the morning, from twelve until two of the clock we steered north northwest and had sounding one and twenty fathoms, and in running one glass we had but sixteen fathoms, then seventeen, ans so shoalder and shoalder until it came to twelve fathoms. We saw a great fire, but could not see the land, then we came to ten fathoms, whereupon we brought our tackes aboard, and stood to the easteward east southeast four glasses. Then the sun rose and we steered away north again and saw the land from the west by north to the northwest by north, all like broken islands, and our soundings were eleven and ten fathoms. Then we loost in for the shore, and fair by the shore we had seven fathoms. The course along the land we found to be northeast by north. From the land which we had first sight of, until we came to a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be, being drowned land, which made it rise like islands which was in length ten leagues. The mouth of that lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it. And from that lake or bay, the land lyeth north by east, and we had a great stream out of the bay, and from thence our sounding was 10 fathoms, two leagues from the land. At five of the clock, we anchored, being little wind, and rode in eight fathoms water, the night was fair. This night I found the land to hall the compass 8 degrees. For to the northward of us we saw high hills. For the day before we found not only above 2 degrees of variation. This is very good land to fall with, and a pleasant land to see.

The third, the morning misty until 10 of the clock, then it cleared and the wind came to the south southeast, so we weighed and stood to the northward. The land is very pleasant and high, and bold to fall withall. At three of the clock in the afternoon, we came to three great rivers. We stood along to the northernmost, thinking to have gone into it, but we found it to have a very shoald bar before it, for we had but ten foot water. Then we cast about to the southward, and found two fathoms, three fathoms, and three and a quarter, til we cam to the souther side of them, then we had five and six fathoms and anchored. So we sent in our boat to sound and they found no less water than four, five, six and seven fathoms, and returned in an hour and a half. So we weighed and went in, and rode in five fathoms. Ozie ground, and saw many salmons, mullets, and rays very great. The height is 40 degrees, 30 minutes.

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Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. GenealogieOnline 1,9289::0

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1,9289::14839721

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@R-1681732659@ Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Gale Research Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 1,7486::0

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Place: New York, New York; Year: 1656; Page Number: 46 1,7486::1719860

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@R-1681732659@ Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Gale Research Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 1,7486::0

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Place: New York, New York; Year: 1656; Page Number: 46 1,7486::1719860

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Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. GenealogieOnline 1,9289::0

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1,9289::14839721

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Web: Leiden, Netherlands, Birth Index, 1670-1913 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Personen 1,70754::0

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1,70754::4760684

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Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. GenealogieOnline 1,9289::0

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1,9289::14839721

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Web: Leiden, Netherlands, Birth Index, 1670-1913 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Personen 1,70754::0

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1,70754::4760684

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@R-1681732659@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

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Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=52097811&pid...

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@R1050710867@ Web: Netherlands, Genlias Marriage Index, 1795-1944 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

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1,70463::4591994

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@R1050710867@ Millennium File Heritage Consulting Ancestry.com Operations Inc

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1,7249::108913254

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@R1050710867@ Web: Netherlands, Genlias Marriage Index, 1795-1944 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

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1,70463::4591994

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@R1050710867@ Millennium File Heritage Consulting Ancestry.com Operations Inc

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1,7249::108913254

GEDCOM Note

Prior to his immigration to America near the end of his life, predicated upon his reported death on 7 June 1663 at Wyldwick, New York, Claes (Nicholas) De Witt, based on the information provided by A. J. F. Van Laer, resided in Groatholdt by Esens in Emberland, which was just a few miles northeast of Emden, the sea port in East Friesland, Netherlands. This East Friesland is not to be confused with the East Friesland in Germany. Please see the notes under Tjerck Classen De Witt for further clarification. RAJ

"Nicholaas or Claes De Witt is known to have resided in Grootholt, Oosterbeus & Esens... His wife was Tjeatje Cornelisz, daughter of Cornelis Pieterz..." (material received 16 August 2001 from Vona E De Witt Smith, 2288 Gale Avenue, British Columbia, V3K 2Y8, Canada)

Ancestral File gives the parents of Nicholaes De Witt to be Jan De Witt, born about 1565 and Jacomina Van Barestijne, married on 18 February 1590 in Dordrecht, Zuid Holland, Netherlands. RAJ

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From note on son

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OCCUPATION: doctor

OCCUPATION: doctor

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1. IGI. 2. Ancestral File.

1. IGI. 2. Ancestral File.

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!Source is PC (Doc. #318) and AF #8JL6-6

!Source is PC (Doc. #318) and AF #8JL6-63 (Doc. #1774). Marriage: He m. Tjaatje ______ per AFN89-000521 on film #1512604 subm. by Harold E. MONTGOMERY, 7000 Valley Brook Dr., Charleston, WV 25312. Line in Record @I2395@ (RIN 2394) from GEDCOM file not recognized: ADDR

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Dr. Nicholas Claes Dewitt sailed with Henry Hudson His account is below: In 1609. I traveled with Hendrick Hudson to America on the ship “Half Moon” as part of his staff. Once we arrived in America, we traveled up the “River of the Mountains” to try t

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!TIB, GS, LDS CHURCH, SLC

!TIB, GS, LDS CHURCH, SLC

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!Birth: !Marriage: !Death: Esens w/

!Birth: !Marriage: !Death: Esens w/? in ANCESTRAL FILE !Ancestral file; came from

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Line in Record @I4901@ (RIN 4892) from G

Line in Record @I4901@ (RIN 4892) from GEDCOM file not recognized: _PRIMARY Y

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Henry Hudson’s Voyage on The Halve Maen From Nicholas de Witt

In 1609, Hudson was chosen by the Dutch East India Company to find an easterly passage to Asia.[19] He was told to sail through t

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!The Ziegler and Related Families of Pen

!The Ziegler and Related Families of Pennsylvania by Gertrude Ziegler.

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Ancestral File - AFN: 8JL6-63

Ancestral File - AFN: 8JL6-63

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Halve Maen is mentioned in the story of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving Halve Maen is mentioned in the story of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, when the protagonist ventures into the Catskill Mountains and discovers Henry Hudson and the ship's crew.

More information

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Name Prefix:<NPFX> Dr.

Name Prefix:<NPFX> Dr.

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!Source: Archive Record (name of spouse

!Source: Archive Record (name of spouse was determined from United Ancestries pedigree chart)

!Source: Archive Record submitted by John Willard Johnson, 6725 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, UT. (name of spouse was determined from United Ancestries pedigree chart)

!Source: Archive Record (name of spouse was determined from United Ancestries pedigree chart)

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http://www.mrjumbo.com/contents/genealog

http://www.mrjumbo.com/contents/genealogy/dewitt/tjerck/index.html

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From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 5 J

From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 5 JAN 1998.

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Life Sketch

See Jan De Witt in the 2005 book "The Island at the Center of the World," by Russell Shorto. Jan De Witt's legacy of leadership in New Netherlands is stated. Even at the age of 27 years, Jan De Witt is called "one of the two great statesmen in the Dutch government."

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Nicolas, as a young man, was a crewman o

Nicolas, as a young man, was a crewman on Henrik Hudson's 1609 voyage of discovery on the Half Moon which discovered and explored the "River of the Mountains," later named the Hudson Riverr. Three of his children later immigrated to the New World. Tjerck Clausen, Jan Claessen, and Emmerentje