Penelope Stout

Penelope (van Princis) Stout emigrated in 1644 from Amsterdam, Netherlands to the New Netherland Colony with her first husband, John Kent. They were shipwrecked at Sandy Hook on the New Jersey shore, then suffered an attack from the natives and her husband was killed. Penelope was critically wounded (partially disemboweled), hid in a hollow tree; but was taken by an Indian to camp and nursed back to health. He then took her across the bay to New Amsterdam and demanded a ransom for Penelope.

It is said that Penelope had 502 direct descendants when she died at the age of 110. In honor of her being a pioneer in Middletown, NJ, Penelope Lane off of Kings Highway is named after her.

Family

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope_Stout retrieved 7 May 2019

Her first husband was John Kent, died 1644.

In New Amsterdam in 1644 at the age of 22, Penelope then married Richard Stout (1615 - 1705), son of John Stout (1584 - 1620) and Elizabeth Bee (1591 - 1685) of Nottinghamshire, England. They had a large family (7 sons and 4 daughters) mostly born at Gravesend in the current area of Coney Island, Brooklyn. They moved to Middletown Township, New Jersey around 1665.

Their children

1. John Stout (1645 - 1724) m. Elizabeth Crawford (1655 - 1730)
2. Richard Stout II (1646 - 1717) m. Frances Heath (1646 - 1730)
3. James Stout (1648 - 1715) m. Elizabeth
4. Mary Penelope Stout Bowne (1650 - 1675)
5. Alice Stout Throckmorton (1652 - 1703)
6. Peter Stout (1664 - 1703) m. Mary Bolen (1655 - 1692)
7. Sarah Elizabeth Stout Pike (1656 - 1714)
8. Jonathan Stout (1665 - 1722) m. Anna Bullen
9. David Stout (1667 - 1732) m. Rebecca Ashton
10. Benjamin Stout (1669 - 1734) m. Agnes Truax
11. Elizabeth Stout (1670)

Names

The surnames for Penelope are quite variable in several references; Van Princis, Princis, Prince, Princes, Princess, Van Prinzen, Prinzen, Kent. The Gravesend Town Records[5] as written by Englishmen at the time of a slander trial in September 1648 name the defendant as 'Penelope Prince'. However, this does not necessarily mean that she had not yet married Richard Stout, as married Dutch women in that time period traditionally used their maiden names.

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http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hoxieschenck/Stuart_10_08_...
--------------------------
Penelope's place of birth is written "Noord Amsterdam, Holland". There is much literature written on Penelope and her horrific trip to America.

-TonyBloom

---

See Thomas H. Street's "Story of Penelope Stout." (pages scanned)

information from (p. 1, footnote 1) Stout and Allied Families: Volume One, 1951, Harold F. Stout, The Eagle Press, Dover, Ohio

Below from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brookefamily/vanprincispen...

The story of the Stout family and Penelope Van Princes, as handed down in the Stout family, is that Richard Stout, the first of the name in America, came from Nottinghamshire, England, a son of John. Richard served for some years in the English navy and was finally discharged at the port of New Amsterdam, N. Y. About this time a ship from Holland, with many Dutch immigrants, was driven ashore during a severe storm, on the Jersey coast near Middletown, Monmouth Co. The crew and passengers reached shore safely, but were soon attacked by a band of Indians, who it is said, massacred the entire party. Among the passengers was Penelope Van Princes and her husband. The husband was killed outright, and Penelope, badly bruised, ripped open and unconscious, was left for dead. Recovering consciousness she crawled to a hollow tree for some protection and seclusion where she was discovered by a friendly Indian. Compassionately he carried her to his wigwam, nursed her back to life and eventually carried her in his canoe to New Amsterdam and sold her to the Dutch. Later, Penelope met and married Richard Stout in 1663, in N. Y. City, and settled in Monmouth County, N. J. The name of Penelope's father was Van Princes; her husband's name uncertain. (First publication of the story was in "Proceeds," 1st Series, vol. 1:162-3, pub. 1845-6.)

From Benedicts History of Baptists: Penelope's first husband was hurt in boat wreck when they were stranded in Sandy Hook, NJ and she stayed with him. Indians came and killed them and stripped them to skin but Penelope came to even though her skull was fractured and left shoulder hacked. She was cut across the abdomen and her bowels appeared and she kept them in with her hand. She continued in this condition for 7 days, taking shelter in a hollow tree and eating the excresence of it. Then saw a deer with arrows sticking out and 2 Indians appeared, whom she hoped would put her out of her misery. One went to knock her on the head but the other, an elderly man, prevented him and throwing his matchcoat about her carried her to his wigwam and cured her of her wounds and bruises. After this the Indian took her to New York and made a present of her to her countrymen, viz. an Indian present, expecting 10 times the value in return. In NY Richard Stout married her. He was a native of England and of a good family and Penelope was now in her 22nd year and he in his 40th. She bore him 7 sons and 3 daughters.

Birth dates seem to vary. Some say that dates should be 20 years later i.e. birth 1622 and death 1732. Some stories state that her 1st husband's name was Van Princen born in late 1500's in Holland and died in 1620 (or 1640). Various records regarding Penelope's father. One states that he is Rev. Prince who was banished from his church in Sheffield, England and moved to Holland where Penelope was born. Others say he was Baron Van Princis. Penelope's maiden name was Kent.

---

• http://womenhistory.blogspot.com/2007/11/penelope-van-princis-stout...
• http://www.johnpratt.com/gen/a/0/9.penelope.html

Penelope Kent was born in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1622. She married a Mr. Van Princen in 1642 and they set off to make their fortune in the New World. The ship bringing them wrecked just off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in 1643. Her husband had been very ill on the journey, and was seriously injured in their attempt to reach land. When they did reach land, those who had survived feared an Indian attack. They decided to hasten to New Amsterdam, but Mr. Van Prince was in no condition to travel, so the group left Penelope and her husband behind to fare for themselves. Soon afterward in the woods the dreaded attack materialized and both of them were hacked up and left for dead. Penelope survived, having had her skull fractured, and left shoulder so badly cut that she never regained full use of her arm. Her abdomen was also slit open so that her intestines appeared, so she held them in with hand. She took shelter in a hollow tree, trying to recover. After seven days, she saw a deer with arrows sticking in it, and soon two Indians appeared. The younger was going to kill her, but the other more elderly man prevented him. He carried her to his wigwam and cured her of her wounds. Then he took her to New Amsterdam, and returned her, collecting a reward for her.

The young widow met Richard Stout in New Amsterdam and they were married in 1644. Later she prevailed on him to move to Middleton, New Jersey in 1648. They had ten children, and she lived to be 110 years old and lived to see 502 total offspring before she died in 1732.

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Articles about Penelope Stout:

• http://www.getnj.com/storiesofnewjersey/sojpg57.shtml

Penelope Stout - First Lady of Monmouth

• http://www.geocities.com/moedini2001/Legendary_Lady.html?996639059010

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Dutch Roots

Biography

"In 1643 Penelope and her husband took a ship from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam. Their ship foundering, she and her husband and several others made land at Sandy Hook. Her husband, John Kent, was not able to travel due to illness and she remained with him. After the couple was abandoned, they suffered an attack from the natives and her husband was killed. She survived the attack and sheltered in a hollow tree until she, due to hunger she said, felt compelled to make herself known to the Navesink tribe of Leni Lenapi. They bound up her wounds, and when she was well enough to travel she was, perhaps sold, to the Dutch atNew Amsterdam. There she married Richard Stout."

Wikipedia Penelope Stout

"Some time during the seventeenth century, probably about 1680 or '90, a young couple just married in Holland, embarked on a vessel bound for America. The voyage was prosperous until they were nearing the port of New Amsterdam, now the city of New York. The vessel was wrecked off what is now the coast of New Jersey, and nearly all on board drowned. The young couple of Hollanders, escaped drowning and with a small number of the passengers and crew succeeded in reaching the shore. Upon landing they were attacked by Indians, who lay inambush awaiting their arrival. The whole party were tomahawked, scalped and otherwise mutilated, and left for dead. All were dead except the wife, from Holland.

The name of her husband is not known, neither is her own family name, nothing but her first or given name, Penelope; a name that has stood for more than twenty-five centuries, in tradition and literature, as the highest ideal of a true and loyal wife.After her recovery, she became acquainted with and married an Englishman by the name of Richard Stout. They then went over into New Jersey, made themselves a home and raised a family of twelve sons.

Source: History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois : "centennial record" Author Power, John Carroll, 1819-1894, Power, S. A. (Sarah A.), b. 1824 pg 691-692

Name

: Name: Penelope /Kent

Birth

Birth: Date: 1601 Place: , , Noord-Holland, Netherlands Source S-1456332795 Repository:R-1970108132 Title: Public Member Trees Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Familytrees submitted by Ancestry members.Text: Ancestry

:Penelope was born in 1601. Penelope Kent ... She passed away in 1698.

Sources

• History of American Women Blog written by Maggie MacLean (2007-2018) Penelope van Princis (Stout)

Retracing Our Family Legacy

NOTES
Penelope Stout

(c1622 - 1732)

(Personal note: From the various stories and information I have read there are differences of opinion on Penelope's date of birth, if her last name Pricness is "Princess or Van Princes" and I see in the bottom note on this page this author puts her marriage date at 1622. Inspite of this confusion, the fact remains that Penelope did exist, she did suffer the Indian attack and survived and she lived to the old age of 110. Her life played a huge inpact in Early American History being the emmigrant ancestor of many. I find her story very interesting.)

See excerpt of
Richard and Penelope Stout, A Critical Analysis of an Important Period of American History

---

The Story of Penelope Stout

Penelope's father's name (or this may have been her first husband's name), was VanPrinces or Princis, a Dutchman. Her birth occurred at Amsterdam, Holland, about 1602, or more probably 1622. She and her first husband, whom she married in Holland, and whose name we do not have, (unless it was VanPrinces or Princis), sailed for New Amsterdam about 1620? (or 1640) in a vessel that was stranded at Sandy Hook. The passengers and crew of the vessel, however, all got safely ashore, although Penelope's husband was hurt in the wreck, and was so sick after landing that he was helpless. The rest, except his wife, on account of the hostile Indians in the vicinity, did not feel like remaining with the sick man, but made him and his faithful spouse as comfortable as they could, and started at once overland to the place of their destination, promising to send for their companions in the voyage, as soon as they arrived and could make arrangements.

But Penelope and her husband had not been in the woods very long before the Indians came upon them, and, as they supposed, killed them both, stripping them to the skin. However, as it turned out, the woman was not killed,--only stunned. She was horribly cut and mangled, of course, her skull being fractured, her left shoulder so hacked that she could never afterwards use that arm like the other, while a great cut across the abdomen, which caused her bowels to protrude, left her in such a situation, that there was practically little hope of her ever recovering. Nevertheless, with all her injuries, she did really survive, or the history of New Jersey in subsequent times would have been very different from what it is, to say nothing of the existence of multitudes who otherwise would never have lived.

Penelope, after the Indians had gone, coming to, kept her bowels in place with her hand, and managed to crawl for shelter into a hollow log or tree near by, eating the excrescence of it for nourishment, and remaining there in that condition until the seventh day; when she saw a deer pass with arrows sticking in it, and soon after two Indians came along, one a young man and the other an old man, whom she was glad to see, hoping they would put her out of her misery. The young man indeed made toward her to knock her on the head and would have done this, had not the elderly man prevented him, who, throwing his match coat about her, carried her to his wigwam, where he dressed her wounds and soon cured her. After this the old Indian took the woman to New Amsterdam, and made a present of her to her countrymen,--an Indian thus, when making a present, expecting a large reward.

It was in New Amsterdam, somewhat later, that one Richard Stout, formerly of Long Island, an Englishman, born in Nottinghamshire, the son of John Stout, who was of excellent family, married Penelope. She was now in her 22nd year, and her husband was in his 40th. The newly married couple eventually settled in Middletown, N. J., and, in our usual way of speaking, were prosperous. The family in due time increased to seven sons and three daughters. Penelope, said to be the mother of all the Stouts, lived to the age of 110, and saw her offspring in about 88 years at the time of her death, either in 1712 or 1732 or thereabouts, multiplied into 502 persons,--surely a multitude, who, along with all their descendants, would never have lived had she not recovered from her wounds.

The uncertainty in regard to dates as given above is due to the author's having seen an article entitled "The History of Penelope Stout," by Thomas Hale Streets, surgeon U. S. N., who believes the time of the shipwreck was in 1640 and not in 1620, as the whites and Indians were at war at the latter date, and until 1644 (Pequod War), while they were at peace in 1620. The Pequod War in New England somehow seems to have stirred up the Indians in the Dutch colony in New Jersey at the same time.

As we have said, when Penelope married Richard Stout, she was in her 22nd year, and he in his 40th. This was about 1644. In about a year they went to Graves End., L. I., where Richard Stout was a prominent land owner as late as 1657. In 1667 they moved across the Lower Bay into Monmouth Co., N. J., at which time two of their children were of age, and three were yet unborn, viz.: Jonathan, David and Benjamin. The career of the family, after the above date, has had very much to do with the settlement of Monmouth Co. They settled there among Dutch families where Penelope especially

• **SOURCE INFORMATION***

A Genealogy of the

Warne Family in America

Principally the Descendants of Thomas Warne, born 1652, died 1722, one of the Twenty-four Proprietors of East New Jersey, one of the 24 proprietors of East New Jersey.

BY REV. GEORGE WARNE LABAW

PASTOR OF THE REFORMED CHURCH

OF PREAKNESS, NEW JERSEY

Frank Allaben Genealogical Company

Three West Forty-Second Street, New York

Copyright, 1911, by

FRANK ALLABEN GENEALOGICAL COMPANY

Page 591 - 592

STOUT.--Richard Stout, of Nottinghamshire, England (son of John Stout), settled on L. I. about 1645, in which year he was one of the 39 original patentees of Gravesend. He m., about 1622, Penelope van Princes, a widow, and a Holland lady, who, as Penelope Stout, became noted for her escape from the Indians, after great mutilation, and for living, it is said, to the great age of 110. Richard Stout is said to have been the first English settler of New Jersey, locating at Middletown, Monmouth co., about 1665; d. in 1703. Sons were John, Richard, James, Peter, Benjamin and David, and all Somerset Stouts descend from one of these sons.

• **SOURCE INFORMATION***

Somerset County Historical Quarterly

EDITOR:

A. VAN DOREN HONEYMAN

PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY

Vol. VI.--1917

---------------------------

Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bstout2&i...

ID: I411
Name: Penelope PRINCE

Given Name: Penelope
Surname: PRINCE
Name: Penelope VAN PRINCIS
Given Name: Penelope
Surname: VAN PRINCIS
Sex: F
Birth: Abt 1622 in Netherlands
Death: 1712 in Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ, USA

_UID: 4B8DCDDEC5E947C19F42D88678DF88D52C13

Change Date: 19 Feb 2008 at 10:17
Note:
Newspaper article - Newspaper name and time of publicatio n unknown, author was John T. Cunningham

---

THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT -----------

There is cause to dispute the traditional claim that P enelope vanPrincis Stout of Monmouth County lived to a matu re 110 years before she died in 1712, but no one can deny t hat for indomitable will to live and in number of descendan ts Penelope has had few equals.

Penelopes's story is obscured slightly by discrepancei es in the dates of her birth and other occurrences in her l ife, but consider first the narrative as it is usually told.

Born in Holland (in 1602 according to the usual versio n,) Penelope vanPrincis joined her young husband and othe r Dutch settlers headed for New Amsterdam in 1620. Violen t storms caught their ship, drove it off course and finall y wrecked it off Sandy Hook.

--- ON THE BEACH ---

All survived, and the passengers and crew set off fo r New Amsterdam on foot, leaving Penelope on the beach to n urse her desperately ill husband (whose name was never reco rded by Penelope and all of the large brood she would late r rear.) Indians found the Dutch couple on the beach, kill ed the husband and left Penelope viciously hacked.

The young widow lay unconscious, her skull fractured , her left arm so mangled that it would never again be norm al and her abdomen slashed open. Somehow she revived and c rawled into a hollow tree, where two Indians found her seve ral days later.

---

SHE PRAYED ---

Penelope prayed that they might end her misery and th e younger Indian was willing to oblige. The older Indian d issented, carried her over his shoulder to camp, and ther e nursed her back to health. She stayed with the Indians , working, learning their language and their ways.

Some of her shipwrecked friends returned after a tim e and asked the Indians to give her up. Penelope's India n benefactor said he would let the young woman decide for h erself. Penelope decided to leave, "very much to the surpr ise of this good Indian," according to Frank Stocktons's ve rsion.

About two years later Penelope met Richard Stout who h ad left Nottingham, England, because of parental disapprova l of his love affair with a girl they considered socially i nferior. He enlisted in the navy, served for seven years a nd left ship in New Amsterdam when his enlistment ended.

Penelope vanPrincis and Richard Stout were married i n 1624 (according to tradition), when she was 22 and Richar d was 40. Some time after, they moved to Middletown, wher e through the years their family grew and prospered.

Several years after the Stouts came to Middletown, Pen elope's old Indian benefactor called on her to warn of an i mpending attack by his tribe. Penelope and her children fl ed in a canoe, but Richard Stout and his neighbors stood u p to the Indians and argued them out of an attack. So the S touts lived on into the 18th century.

Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questioned the time sequence i n a study he made of the Delaware branch of the Stout famil y in 1915.

He said that all dates in recorded accounts were abou t 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwrec k about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the ma rriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624. Thi s logic seems sound.

For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620 and ce rtainly there was no Middletown at the time when the Stou t allegedly moved over. Advancing all dates 20 years, howev er, makes New Amsterdam, Middletown and all else fall in li ne.

His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birh dat e of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669 . That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and R ichard a father at 85. Speaking of the mother, Dr. Street s commented drily:

"No medical man, it is safe to say, ever knew of suc h a case."

Penelope vanPrincis Stout died in 1712, either at th e age of 110, if you believe traditional accounts, or at th e age of 90 if Dr. Streets is correct.

Before dying, Mrs. Stout saw her seven sons and thre e daughters multiplied into 492 other descendants.

One son, Jonathan, bought a large tract of land at Hop ewell in 1706 and quickly the number of Stout descendants i n and near Hopewell became almost as numerous as those in M onmouth. Today huge numbers of Stout descendants cheris h a noble name; they recognize that without Penelope vanPri ncis, a stout-hearted woman if ever there was one, they wou ldn't be here at all.

• * * * * * * *

12 Sep 1648": Ambrose London plaintive agt:ye wife of Tho : Aplegate defent in an action of slander for saying his wi fe did milke her Cowe"

"The defent saith yt shee said noe otherwise but as Penello pey Prince tould her yt Ambrose his wife did milke her Cowe"

"Rodger Scotte being deposed saith yt being in ye house o f Tho: Aplegate hee did heare Pennellopy Prince saye yt y e wife of Ambrose London did milke ye Cowe of Tho: Aplegate"

"Tho: Greedye being deposed saith yt Pennellope Prince bein g att his house hee did heare her saye yt shee and Aplegate s Daughter must com as witnesses agat: Ambrose his wife mil king Aplegates Coew"

"Pennellope Prince being questationed adknowled her fault e in soe speaking and being sorrie her words she spake gav e sattisfaction on both sides."

Source: Gravesend Town Book, vol. 1, Sept 12, 1648.

• * * * * * * * Excerpts from a STOUT-L posting by Linda St out Deak:

I traveled today to Amsterdam and went to the Scheepsvaar t (maritime or Ship Navigation, esp. Atlantic) Museum. I t is a splendid old granite building on the water a fiftee n minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. I was lookin g for Penelope's name on a passenger list. I had to find th e ship upon which she sailed.

107.1 Kath Hans Jelisz. (owner) Jacht (yacht or sailboat ) WIC (West Indies Company) 1647 Nieuw Amsterdam voor 06-06 -1647

Kreeg in Juni 1647 de opdracht tot kaapveren. November 164 8 bij Sandy Hook gestrand. Did not return

This has to be Penelope's ship. I scanned the doctoral thes is (in Dutch) of a J.A. Jacobs from Leiden University on th e ships sailing to the new world from Holland between 1609- 1675. The average was 3.75 ships per year, about five ship s per year in the period 1639-1648. It is very unlikely tha t a ship other than the Kath was beached at Sandy Hook.

---

ID: I2206
Name: Baron Van Printzen
Surname: Van Printzen
Given Name: Baron
Sex: M
Birth: ABT 1598 in Holland 1
_UID: 412DC7839110E84A90ABB10271C8A682DAA9
Change Date: 14 Oct 2001 at 23:06:14
Marriage 1 Spouse Unknown
Children

Penelope Van Princis b: 1622/1623 in Amsterdam, Holland

Sources:
Title: "Stout Family"
Author: Charles Dean Pruitt
Publication: online <www.mathematical.com>, downloaded 14 Oct 2001.

---

ID: I2206
Name: Baron Van Printzen
Surname: Van Printzen
Given Name: Baron
Sex: M
Birth: ABT 1598 in Holland 1
_UID: 412DC7839110E84A90ABB10271C8A682DAA9
Change Date: 14 Oct 2001 at 23:06:14
Marriage 1 Spouse Unknown
Children

Penelope Van Princis b: 1622/1623 in Amsterdam, Holland

Sources:
Title: "Stout Family"
Author: Charles Dean Pruitt
Publication: online <www.mathematical.com>, downloaded 14 Oct 2001.

---

from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brookefamily/vanprincispen... :
Penelope Van Princin Immigrant Ancestor see FAMILY TREE
Born: 1622 Netherland
Married: 1645 Gravesend, Kings co., NY
HUSBAND
Richard Stout
CHILDREN

1. John Stout b: 1645 in Gravesend, Long Island (New Amsterdam), NY, USA
2. Richard Stout b: 10 Mar 1646 in Gravesend, Long Island (New Amsterdam), NY, USA
3. James Stout b: 1648
4. Mary Stout b: 1650
5. Alice Deliverance Stout b: 1652
6. Peter Stout b: 1654
7. Sarah Stout b: 1656
8. Jonathon Stout b: 1660
9. David Stout b: 1667 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey
10. Benjamin Stout b: 1669

The story of the Stout family and Penelope Van Princes, as handed down in the Stout family, is that Richard Stout, the first of the name in America, came from Nottinghamshire, England, a son of John. Richard served for some years in the English navy and was finally discharged at the port of New Amsterdam, N. Y. About this time a ship from Holland, with many Dutch immigrants, was driven ashore during a severe storm, on the Jersey coast near Middletown, Monmouth Co. The crew and passengers reached shore safely, but were soon attacked by a band of Indians, who it is said, massacred the entire party. Among the passengers was Penelope Van Princes and her husband. The husband was killed outright, and Penelope, badly bruised, ripped open and unconscious, was left for dead. Recovering consciousness she crawled to a hollow tree for some protection and seclusion where she was discovered by a friendly Indian. Compassionately he carried her to his wigwam, nursed her back to life and eventually carried her in his canoe to New Amsterdam and sold her to the Dutch. Later, Penelope met and married Richard Stout in 1663, in N. Y. City, and settled in Monmouth County, N. J. The name of Penelope's father was Van Princes; her husband's name uncertain. (First publication of the story was in "Proceeds," 1st Series, vol. 1:162-3, pub. 1845-6.)

From Benedicts History of Baptists: Penelope's first husband was hurt in boat wreck when they were stranded in Sandy Hook, NJ and she stayed with him. Indians came and killed them and stripped them to skin but Penelope came to even though her skull was fractured and left shoulder hacked. She was cut across the abdomen and her bowels appeared and she kept them in with her hand. She continued in this condition for 7 days, taking shelter in a hollow tree and eating the excresence of it. Then saw a deer with arrows sticking out and 2 Indians appeared, whom she hoped would put her out of her misery. One went to knock her on the head but the other, an elderly man, prevented him and throwing his matchcoat about her carried her to his wigwam and cured her of her wounds and bruises. After this the Indian took her to New York and made a present of her to her countrymen, viz. an Indian present, expecting 10 times the value in return. In NY Richard Stout married her. He was a native of England and of a good family and Penelope was now in her 22nd year and he in his 40th. She bore him 7 sons and 3 daughters.

Birth dates seem to vary. Some say that dates should be 20 years later i.e. birth 1622 and death 1732. Some stories state that her 1st husband's name was Van Princen born in late 1500's in Holland and died in 1620 (or 1640). Various records regarding Penelope's father. One states that he is Rev. Prince who was banished from his church in Sheffield, England and moved to Holland where Penelope was born. Others say he was Baron Van Princis. Penelope's maiden name was Kent.

Universal Identifier C4580F47A0B59F4589E00C7CACD2D4AA9853

from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bdollar/p157.htm :

The Saga of Penelope Stout

The Richard STOUT family was one of the first white families who helped settle in old Monmouth, New Jersey. But the following story which is documented in New Jersey history books concerns the near disasterous arrival of Penelope in the new land.

Penelope VAN PRINCIN and her first husband sailed from Amsterdam on a Dutch ship, headed for New Amsterdam, now New York. But off the coast of New Jersey the ship wrecked. All managed to disembark but Penelope's husband who had been sick the whole journey and was too ill to travel. Everyone was fearful of an Indian attack so they left him and promised to send help. Penelope refused to leave her husband alone on the beach.

Soon a band of Indians found them there. They promply killed the man. Then they cut , mangled and partially scalped the woman in such a manner that they left her for dead. She had strength enough to crawl to some logs not far distant and getting into a hollow one stayed within it for several days, subsisting in part by eating the mushrooms that grew from it. The Indians had left some fire on the shore which she kept together for warmth.

Penelope survived alone and gravely wounded for eight days. At that time two Indians appeared and started discussing her fate. The younger Indian wanted to finish her off but the older Indian wrapped her in a blanket, tossed her over his shoulder and took her to his wigwam where he nursed her back to health.

After some time the Dutch of New Amsterdam, hearing of a white woman among the Indians, concluded who it must be and some of them came to her relief. She was given the choice of staying with the Indians or returning to the white people. She chose to return but remained friends with the old Indian for many years to come. On one occasion he came to see her and after some time told her of an impending Indian attack on her people. She told her husband but he did not want to believe her. She said that her Indian friend had never lied to her so she gathered her children and found a canoe the Indian had left for her. Richard then considered what she had told him and gathered together all of the neighbors. They set up guard and about midnight heard the dismal war hoop, presently they come upon a company of Indians. They told the indians that if they persisted in their bloody designs, they would sell their lives very dearly. Their arguments prevailed, the Indians desisted, and entered into a league of peace, which was kept without violation for many years.

From this woman, thus remarkably saved, with her scars visible, through a long life, is descended a numerous posterity of the name Stout. Penelope went on to have a total of 10 children, seven sons and three daughters. She lived to reach the age of 110 with more that 500 descendants.

From http://genforum.genealogy.com/ackman/messages/11.html

16. Richard STOUT was born 1615 in Burton Joyce, Nottingham, Shire, England, and died 23 Oct 1705 in Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ. He was the son of 32. John STOUT and 33. Elizabeth BEE.

17. Penelope Mrs VAN PRINCESS KENT was born 1622 in Amsterdam, Noord, , Holland, and died 1732 in age 110, Somerset, , NJ.

Children of Penelope Mrs VAN PRINCESS KENT and Richard STOUT are:

i. John STOUT was born 1645 in Gravesend, Long Island, , NY, and died 11 Feb 1724 in Middletown, Monmouth, , NJ. He married Elizabeth CRAWFORD 12 Jan 1671/1672 in Middletown, Monmouth, Co, NJ. She was born ABT 1647 in of New Amsterdam and NJ.

ii. Richard STOUT was born 10 Mar 1645/1646 in Middleton, Monmouth Co., NJ, and died 16 Jul 1717 in Middletown, , , NJ. He married Frances Heath WEST ABT 1668 in Middleton, Monmouth Co., NJ. She was born ABT 1647 in Middleton, Monmouth Co., NJ, and died AFT 1680. He married Mary Frances SEYMOUR ABT 1680 in Shrewsbury, Red Bank, NJ. She was born ABT 1644, and died ABT 1668 in , Monmouth Co., NJ, USA.

iii. Mary STOUT was born 1650 in Gravesend, Long Island, , NY, and died 1672/1681. She married James BOWNE Judge 31 Dec 1664 in Gravesend, Kings Co., NY, Licnse 26 Dec 1664, son of William BOWNE and Mary HAVERLAND. He was born 25 Aug 1636 in Salem, MA, and died Feb 1694/1695 in , Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ, USA.

iv. Deliverance Alice STOUT was born 1652 in Middletown, Monmouth, , NJ. She married John THROCKMORTON 12 Dec 1670 in Middleton, NJ, son of John THROCKMORTON and Rebecca COLVILL. He was born ABT 1642 in Providence RI, and died 22 Aug 1690 in Middleton, NJ. She married Robert SKELTON 10 Oct 1691.

v. Sarah STOUT was born 1656 in Middletown, Monmouth, Somerset, NJ, and died 13 Aug 1714 in Woodbridge, , , NJ. She married John of Woodbridge PIKE 2 Feb 1674/1675. He was born ABT 1650 in of Hunterdon Co. NJ, and died 1714 in Hunterdon Co. NJ.

8. vi. Jonathan STOUT Capt was born 1650 in Gravesend, Long Island, King, NY, and died 24 Nov 1722 in Hopewell, Hunterdon, Co, NJ. He married Hannah Anna BOLLEN 27 Aug 1685 in Middletown, Monmouth, Co, NJ, daughter of James BOLLEN and Anne VAUQUILEN. She was born ABT 1664 in Woodbridge, Middlesex, Co, NJ, and died 1749 in Hopewell, Hunterdon Co, NJ. He married Elizabeth CRAWFORD 2 Jan 1670/1671 in Gravesend, Long Island, Dutch ref Church, NY. She was born ABT 1652 in of, Long Island, and died in Likely confusion with RIN 774 bro John.

vii. Peter STOUT was born 1664 in Gravesend, Long Island, , NY, and died 14 Apr 1704 in Middletown, Monmouth, , NJ. He married Mary BULLIN or BOLLEN 12 Dec 1670 in Monmouth, Hunterdon, Co, NJ, daughter of James BOLLEN and Anne VAUQUELLIN. She was born 1655 in Isle Of Jersey, England, and died 1692 in Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ, USA. He married Mary SEYMOUR 1703. She was born ABT 1666 in Of NJ.

viii. David STOUT was born 1665 in Middletown, Monmouth, , NJ, and died 1732 in Amwell twp, , , NJ. He married Rebecca ASHTON 1688, daughter of James ASHTON Jr. and Deliverance THROCKMORTON. She was born 1670 in of, Freehold, Monmouth, NJ, and died 1707 in Amwell twp, Hunterdon, , NJ.

30. ix. James STOUT was born ABT 1668, and died BEF 1697 in Monmouth, , , NJ. He married Elizabeth TRUAX ABT 1694. She was born 5 Nov 1675 in Gravesend, Kings Co., NY, USA, and died 5 Nov 1718 in , New Castle Co., DE, USA.

x. Benjamin STOUT was born 1669 in Middletown, Monmouth, , NJ, and died 1734 in Newcastle, , , Del. He married Mary LEONARD. He married Agnes TRAUX.

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This is definitely a work in progress. I have found many conflicting dates given regarding her birth and the shipwreck. I also have found researchers who thought her maiden name was Kent and others who said Van Princess and that her first husband was the Kent. According to several accounts, she lived to be 110!

Penelope VAN PRINCISS was born in 1602. She was shipwrecked in 1620 in Sandy Hook, New Jersey.(301) Penelope survived a shipwreck at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the first shipwreck on record in 1620. Penelope's husband, a young Dutchman who had been sick most of the voyage, was taken so bad after landing, that he could not travel. The other passengers being afraid of the Indians, would not stay till he recovered, but made what haste they could to New Amsterdam; his wife however would not leave him. The Indians came down to the water side, discovered them on the beach, and hastened to the spot, soon killed Penelope's husband, and cut and mangled her in such a manner that they left her for dead. Penelope crawled into a hollow tree, lived in it mostly for several days, subsisting in part by eating excrescences that grew from it. An old Indian found Penelope and nursed her back to health. She was born about 1622 in Netherlands. She was part of a Lawsuit in 1651 in Gravesend, Long Island, New York.(245) In a suit at Gravesend, 1651, the name of Penelope P{rice is introduced as a witness. This was probably the Penelope who married Richard Stout, as the tradition of the Stout Manuscript says her name was Penelope Van Princes, which the English clerk, of Gravesend, John Tilton, gave as Penelope Prince, (Note if this is the same Penelope then Richard Stout and Penelope were married after 1651 or the date is wrong.) She died in 1712.(302) Penelope had fostered five hundred and two progeny at the time of her death at the age of 110. She died about 1732 in Monmouth Co., NJ. She was Testifies. (303) "Among the early settlers appear Richard Stout, Samuel Holmes, and others whose descendants in New York and New Jersey have number by thousands. The famous Penelope Price appears on the records as having remarked that "the wife of Ambrose London did milk the cows of Thomas Applegate." "She" being questioned knowledged her fault in so speaking, and being sorry for her words, she spoke satisfaction on both sides. She was also known as Penelope Kent. Penelope's origins are in some doubt. It is conjectured that her father was a Baptist Puritan who left England for Holland where she was born. Also it is thought that her first husband's last name was Kent. Upon her arrival in the New World her ship was wrecked off the coast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. It is not known for sure what happened to all the survivors but Penelope was attacked & scalped by Indians & her husband was killed. She was rescued by another Indian & stayed with them for a short time before going to New Amsterdam.

In RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, a syndicated news item, carried in hundreds of papers nation wide during the 1940's and 1950's, there was an article about this ancestor. "PENELOPE VAN PRINCIS (1602 - 1712) After journeying to America from Amsterdam at the age of 18, was attacked by Indians, who killed her husband, fractured her skull, shoved a spear through her body AND LEFT HER IN THE BELIEF SHE WAS DEAD she spent 7 days in a hollow tree, survived to live another 92 years, and had 502 DESCENDANTS WHEN SHE FINALLY DIED AT THE AGE OF 110" The STOUT FAMILY OF DELAWARE continues the story "After the Indians were gone, the wife revived and crawled into a hollow tree or log, where she remained for several days ...two Indians appeared whom she was glad to see, in hope they would put her out of her misery. ... The old man wished to keep her alive; ...and dressed her wounds and soon healed them.... Nathan Stout says he {the Indian} sold her to the Dutch in New Amsterdam."

EMMIGRATION: Penelope sailed for New Amsterdam (Now known as New York City) on a Dutch ship. " The ship was stranded at SANDY HOOK. The story goes on to relate that all the shipwrecked people were safely landed from the stranded ship. But Penelope's husband, who had been sick for most of the voyage, was taken so ill, after getting ashore that he could not travel with the rest. He was hurt in the wreck and could not march. The others were so afraid of the Indians that they would not stay with him...but hastened away...The wife alone remained behind with her husband."

MARRIAGE: 927.273 St76st Stout Family of Delaware

Ledgend has it that her second Husband, Richard Stout, was a British sailor who "jumped ship" at New Amsterdam. Penelope hid him from the British until they were gone. Richard then married his protector.

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Penelope Stout - First Lady of Monmouth

One of the best known chapters of [Monmouth's] early history is the story of Penelope Stout, believed to be the first white woman to set foot on [Monmouth,] county, NJ soil.

During the first half of the 17th century - the exact date is unknown - a ship from Holland was wrecked on Sandy Hook. Among those aboard was Penelope Van Princis, whose husband had become ill on the long sea voyage. The passengers and crew reached shore safely, but hearing of an Indian attack they set out on foot for New York (New Amsterdam), leaving the sick man and his wife behind.

Smith's History of New Jersey, published in 1765, relates that a party of Indians found the couple and immediately killed the man. They then mangled the woman, and left her for dead. After hiding for several days in a hollow tree, Penelope was found by a friendly Indian who nursed her back to health. A rescue party found her and brought her to New Amsterdam - now New York - and a short time later she married an Englishman, Richard Stout.

Penelope and Richard later returned to New Jersey and had 10 children. The nameless Indian who saved Penelope Stout's life was a frequent visitor and friend. According to the tale, he later alerted the community to a potential confrontation with another band of marauding natives, probably from New York. Most accounts agree that Penelope lived to be 110 and had some 502 descendants at the time of her death, in either 1712 or 1732. Many of her descendants still live in the county.

Penelope's story is told at the Spy House Museum Complex in Port Monmouth, New Jersey.

Richard Stout, a son of John and Elizabeth (Bee or Gee) Stout, was born in Nottinghamshire, England about 1615. He joined the British Navy and was discharged at New Amsterdam, now New York, about 1640.

Richard was one of thirty nine people who founded a settlement at Graves End, Long Island, in 1644. That year, he married Penelope (Kent) Van Princin.

Penelope Kent was probably born about 1622 in England. Her father is believed to have been a Puritan Baptist Separatist who was banished from his church and who fled to Holland with his family. Penelope married a man named Van Princin in Amsterdam.

In 1640, Penelope and her husband took ship with a group of emigrants to America. The ship was wrecked at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Many of the passengers traveled overland to New Amsterdam, but Penelope husband was ill and could not travel, so they remained near the wreck site.

The little encampment was attacked by Indians, who killed Penelope's husband and left her for dead with a fractured skull, a hacked shoulder and a gash in her body that allowed her intestines to protrude. Penelope survived alone for several days until two Indian men came by. The older of the two carried her to his village and sewed up her wounds with a fish bone needle and vegetable fibers. Penelope recovered and lived with the Indians, doing squaw's work and sharing their life.

In 1644, a group of white men came to the Indian village and offered to buy the white woman that they had heard of. Penelope's captor asked if she wished to go with the whites and was permitted to do so.

In 1664, an Indian came to warn Penelope of a planned Indian attack on the settlement of Grave's end. The Indians did attack and the forewarned settlers were able to defend themselves and put the Indians to flight. Richard Stout walked into the open and demanded a parley.

After a conference, the whites and Indians agreed to a truce and a two day ceremonial to celebrate the treaty. The white agreed to buy the lands they had settled on and were never attacked again. The date of purchase from the Indians was January 25, 1664.

In 1668, Richard and his family joined with others in forming the first Baptist Church of New Jersey.

Richard's will was approved in October 1705 and is on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, New Jersey. Penelope died in 1732.

Unknown newspaper "The Story of Penelope Stout" copy found at Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728

• ******************************************************

The following sources and information are from: "Early Vital Records of Ohio: - copied by the Daughters of the American Revolution - Complied under the Direction of Miss Irma B. Gobel. This booklet was found at the DAR Library in Washington, DC.

"There are still hollow Buttonwood trees near Middlestown as were there in the time when Penelope is said to have taken refuge in one."

The Op Dyck Genealogy, page 148, "Among the settlers appear Richard Stout, Samuel Holmes, and others whose descendants in New York and New Jersey have number by thousands. The famous Penelope Prince appears on the records as having remarked that, "the wife of Ambrose London did milk the cows of Thomas Applegate." "She" being questioned knowledged her fault in so speaking, and being sorry for her words, she spoke satisfaction on both sides."

• ************************************************************************* *****

The following articles, 1 to 3 pages, that can be found in the Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728. Library is open Wednesday - Sunday : 10 AM to 4 PM - phone 908-462-1466.

Newspaper, "The Monmouth Inquirer", Thursday, 20 May 1886. Article "First Families of Monmouth, Stout Family" by Edwin Salter.

Unknown newspaper and unknown date, "The Story of Penelope Stout"

Asbury Park Press, Aug 10, 1980, page A3, "Stout family marks its 52nd reunion at Middletown Church." Talks about and has picture of Penelope Stout First Lady of Monmouth medallion.

"The Penelope Stout House, also known as the John S. Hendrickson House", Everett Road, Holmdel, NJ. (Note there is a Holmes - Hendrickson House, Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. This house is part of Monmouth County Historical Association Museums and is open May - October.)

"The Mother of the Stouts" by Mrs. Therese W. Seabrook. "My tradition has come through only two persons from Penelope, herself, and I think it more correct than much that is told. The second son, Richard, had a son, John, who was therefore grandson of Penelope. When his grandmother was about 85 years old, he took her on his horse to visit one of her children and when he helped her to alight she insisted upon his putting his hand through the pocket hole of her garment to feel the seam which the Indian sewed up. He was young and bashful but she said, "Johnny, you can tell it to your grandchildren because you will know it's true, and they will tell it to their grandchildren." My grandmother was one of the grandchildren to whom he told the story, and when she told it to me, she would say, "and so I tell it to you in the language, chiefly, in which I heard it."

From website http://www.geocities.com/moedini2001/Legendary_Lady.html?996639059010

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/11219/

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THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT -----------

There is cause to dispute the traditional claim that Penelope vanPrincis Stout of Monmouth County lived to a mature 110 years before she died in 1712, but no one can deny that for indomitable will to live and in number of descendants Penelope has had few equals.

Penelopes's story is obscured slightly by discrepancies in the dates of her birth and other occurrences in her life, but consider first the narrative as it is usually told.

Born in Holland (in 1602 according to the usual version,) Penelope vanPrincis joined her young husband and other Dutch settlers headed for New Amsterdam in 1620. Violent storms caught their ship, drove it off course and finally wrecked it off Sandy Hook.

--- ON THE BEACH ---

All survived, and the passengers and crew set off for New Amsterdam on foot, leaving Penelope on the beach to nurse her desperately ill husband (whose name was never recorded by Penelope and all of the large brood she would late r rear.) Indians found the Dutch couple on the beach, killed the husband and left Penelope viciously hacked.

The young widow lay unconscious, her skull fractured , her left arm so mangled that it would never again be normal and her abdomen slashed open. Somehow she revived and crawled into a hollow tree, where two Indians found her several days later.

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SHE PRAYED ---

Penelope prayed that they might end her misery and the younger Indian was willing to oblige. The older Indian dissented, carried her over his shoulder to camp, and there nursed her back to health. She stayed with the Indians, working, learning their language and their ways.

Some of her shipwrecked friends returned after a time and asked the Indians to give her up. Penelope's Indian benefactor said he would let the young woman decide for herself. Penelope decided to leave, "very much to the surprise of this good Indian," according to Frank Stocktons's version.

About two years later Penelope met Richard Stout who had left Nottingham, England, because of parental disapproval of his love affair with a girl they considered socially inferior. He enlisted in the navy, served for seven years and left ship in New Amsterdam when his enlistment ended.

Penelope vanPrincis and Richard Stout were married i n 1624 (according to tradition), when she was 22 and Richard was 40. Some time after, they moved to Middletown, where through the years their family grew and prospered.

Several years after the Stouts came to Middletown, Penelope's old Indian benefactor called on her to warn of an impending attack by his tribe. Penelope and her children fled in a canoe, but Richard Stout and his neighbors stood up to the Indians and argued them out of an attack. So the Stouts lived on into the 18th century.

Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questioned the time sequence in a study he made of the Delaware branch of the Stout family in 1915.

He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624. This logic seems sound.

For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620 and certainly there was no Middletown at the time when the Stout allegedly moved over. Advancing all dates 20 years, however, makes New Amsterdam, Middletown and all else fall in line.

His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birth date of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669 . That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85. Speaking of the mother, Dr. Street s commented dryly:

"No medical man, it is safe to say, ever knew of such a case."

Penelope vanPrincis Stout died in 1712, either at the age of 110, if you believe traditional accounts, or at the age of 90 if Dr. Streets is correct.

Before dying, Mrs. Stout saw her seven sons and three daughters multiplied into 492 other descendants.

One son, Jonathan, bought a large tract of land at Hopewell in 1706 and quickly the number of Stout descendants in and near Hopewell became almost as numerous as those in Monmouth. Today huge numbers of Stout descendants cherish a noble name; they recognize that without Penelope vanPrincis, a stout-hearted woman if ever there was one, they wouldn't be here at all.

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12 Sep 1648": Ambrose London plaintive agt:ye wife of Tho : Aplegate defent in an action of slander for saying his wife did milke her Cowe"

"The defent saith yt shee said noe otherwise but as Penellopey Prince tould her yt Ambrose his wife did milke her Cowe"

"Rodger Scotte being deposed saith yt being in ye house o f Tho: Aplegate hee did heare Pennellopy Prince saye yt y e wife of Ambrose London did milke ye Cowe of Tho: Aplegate"

"Tho: Greedye being deposed saith yt Pennellope Prince being att his house hee did heare her saye yt shee and Aplegates Daughter must com as witnesses agat: Ambrose his wife milking Aplegates Coew"

"Pennellope Prince being questationed adknowled her fault e in soe speaking and being sorrie her words she spake gave sattisfaction on both sides."

Source: Gravesend Town Book, vol. 1, Sept 12, 1648.

• * * * * * * * Excerpts from a STOUT-L posting by Linda St out Deak:

I traveled today to Amsterdam and went to the Scheepsvaart (maritime or Ship Navigation, esp. Atlantic) Museum. It is a splendid old granite building on the water a fifteen minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. I was looking for Penelope's name on a passenger list. I had to find the ship upon which she sailed.

107.1 Kath Hans Jelisz. (owner) Jacht (yacht or sailboat ) WIC (West Indies Company) 1647 Nieuw Amsterdam voor 06-06 -1647

Kreeg in Juni 1647 de opdracht tot kaapveren. November 164 8 bij Sandy Hook gestrand. Did not return

This has to be Penelope's ship. I scanned the doctoral thesis (in Dutch) of a J.A. Jacobs from Leiden University on the ships sailing to the new world from Holland between 1609- 1675. The average was 3.75 ships per year, about five ship s per year in the period 1639-1648. It is very unlikely that a ship other than the Kath was beached at Sandy Hook.

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The story goes on to relate that all the shipwrecked people were safely landed from the stranded ship. But Penelope’s husband who had been sick for most of the voyage was taken so ill after getting on shore that he could not travel with the rest and for that reason could not march. The others were so afraid of the Indians that they would not remain until he recovered but hastened away to New Amsterdam promising to send relief as soon as they arrived. The wife alone remained behind with her husband. They were left on the beach and the others had not been long gone before a company of Indians coming down to the water side discovered them and hastening to the spot soon killed the man and cut and mangled the woman in such a manner that they left her for dead. They departed after having stripped them of all their clothing. The wife’s skull was fractured and her left shoulder so hacked that she could never use that arm like the other she was also cut across the abdomen so that the bowels protruded these she kept in with her hands. After the Indians were gone the wife revived and crawled to a hollow tree or log where she remained for shelter several days one account says seven subsisting on what she could find to eat. The Indians had left some fire on the beach and this she kept burning for warmth. At length two Indians an old man and a young one coming to the shore saw her. The Indians as she afterward learned disputed what should be done with her the elderly man was for keeping her alive while the younger was for killing her. The former had his way and taking her on his shoulders carried her to a place near where Middletown now stands and dressed her wounds and soon healed them. After this Benedict says he carried her to New Amsterdam and made a present of her to her countrymen.

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Penelope Princes was shipwrecked near the present location of Sandy Hook, NJ in about 1640. She and her bridegroom were with a group of religious pilgrims from the Netherlands. All survived the wreck, but her newlywed husband had been taken with a fever early in the voyage, and was too ill to travel on foot to New Amsterdam. Priscilla refused to leave him, and the others left. Soon after, Indians came and attacked them, braining her husband, cutting her across the abdomen, partially scalping her and maiming her arm. She was left for dead. When she came to, she held her abdomen closed,crawled up the beach and hid in a hollow log or tree, nibbling on fungi inside the hollow for sustenance. Seven days later, two Indians from a different tribe came by, hunting. Their dog found Penelope, and they wrapped her in a robe and carried her to their village. There, they tended her wounds, and she recovered. At that point she was asked if she wanted to stay with the Indians or go to New Amsterdam. She chose New Amsterdam, and was taken there by canoe, where a ransom was paid for her. That is where she met Richard Stout. They married, and had ten children. She and her husband raised their family in the village of Middleton, New Jersey, which they founded. She remained friends with the Indians who had saved her for the rest of her life. She and Richard became fervent Baptists, as did many of their descendants.

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http://www.geocities.com/moedini2001/Legendary_Lady.html?996639059010

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Penelope Stout - First Lady of Monmouth
One of the best known chapters of [Monmouth's] early history is the story of Penelope Stout, believed to be the first white woman to set foot on [Monmouth] county soil.

During the first half of the 17th century - the exact date is unknown - a ship from Holland was wrecked on Sandy Hook. Among those aboard was Penelope Van Princis, whose husband had become ill on the long sea voyage. The passengers
and crew reached shore safely, but hearing of an Indian attack they set out on foot for New York (New Amsterdam), leaving the sick man and his wife behind.

Smith's History of New Jersey, published in 1765, relates that a party of Indians found the couple and immediately killed the man. They then mangled the woman, and left her for dead. After hiding for several days in a hollow tree, Penelope was found by a friendly Indian who nursed her back to health. A rescue party found her and brought her to New Amsterdam - now New York - and a short time later she married an Englishman, Richard Stout.

Penelope and Richard later returned to New Jersey and had 10 children. The nameless Indian who saved Penelope Stout's life was a frequent visitor and friend. According to the tale, he later alerted the community to a potential confrontation with another band of marauding natives, probably from New York. Most accounts agree that Penelope lived to be 110 and had some 502 descendants at the time of her death, in either 1712 or 1732. Many of her descendants still live in the county.

Penelope's story is told at the Spy House Museum Complex in Port Monmouth, New Jersey.

Richard Stout, a son of John and Elizabeth (Bee or Gee) Stout, was born in Nottinghamshire, England about 1615. He joined the British Navy and was discharged at New Amsterdam, now New York, about 1640. Richard was one of thirty nine people who founded a settlement at Graves End, Long Island, in 1644. That year, he married Penelope (Kent) Van Princin. Penelope Kent was probably born about 1622 in England. Her father is believed to have been a Puritan Baptist Separatist who was banished from his church and who fled to Holland with his family. Penelope married a man named Van Princin in Amsterdam. In 1640, Penelope and her husband took ship with a group of emigrants to America. The ship was wrecked at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Many of the passengers traveled overland to New Amsterdam, but Penelope husband was ill and could not travel, so they remained near the wreck site. The little encampment was attacked by Indians, who killed Penelope's husband and left her for dead with a fractured skull, a hacked shoulder and a gash in her body that allowed her intestines to protrude. Penelope survived alone for several days until two Indian men came by. The older of the two carried her to his village and sewed up her wounds with a fish bone needle and vegetable fibers. Penelope recovered and lived with the Indians, doing squaw's work and sharing their life. In 1644, a group of white men came to the Indian village and offered to buy the white woman that they had heard of. Penelope's captor asked if she wished to go with the whites and was permitted to do so. In 1664, an Indian came to warn Penelope of a planned Indian attack on the settlement of Grave's end. The Indians did attack and the forewarned settlers were able to defend themselves and put the Indians to flight. Richard Stout walked into the open and demanded a parley. After a conference, the whites and Indians agreed to a truce and a two day ceremonial to celebrate the treaty. The white agreed to buy the lands they had settled on and were never attacked again. The date of purchase from the Indians was January 25, 1664. In 1668, Richard and his family joined with others in forming the first Baptist Church of New Jersey. Richard's will was approved in October 1705 and is on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, New Jersey. Penelope died in 1732.

Unknown newspaper "The Story of Penelope Stout" copy found at Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728

Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questions the time sequence in a study he made of the Stout family in 1915.

He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624.

For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620.

His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birth date of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669. That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85.

Penelope Van Princis Stout died in 1712, either at age 110 if you believe traditional accounts, or at age 90 if Dr. Streets is correct.

• ******************************************************

The following sources and information are from: "Early Vital Records of Ohio: - copied by the Daughters of the American Revolution - Complied under the Direction of Miss Irma B. Gobel. This booklet was found at the DAR Library in Washington, DC.

"There are still hollow Buttonwood trees near Middlestown as were there in the time when Penelope is said to have taken refuge in one."

The Op Dyck Genealogy, page 148, "Among the settlers appear Richard Stout, Samuel Holmes, and others whose descendants in New York and New Jersey have number by thousands. The famous Penelope Prince appears on the records as having remarked that, "the wife of Ambrose London did milk the cows of Thomas Applegate." "She" being questioned knowledged her fault in so speaking, and being sorry for her words, she spoke satisfaction on both sides."

• ************************************************************************* ***** The following articles, 1 to 3 pages, that can be found in the Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728. Library is open Wednesday - Sunday : 10 AM to 4 PM - phone 908-462-1466.

Newspaper, "The Monmouth Inquirer", Thursday, 20 May 1886. Article "First Families of Monmouth, Stout Family" by Edwin Salter.

Unknown newspaper and unknown date, "The Story of Penelope Stout"

Asbury Park Press, Aug 10, 1980, page A3, "Stout family marks its 52nd reunion at Middletown Church." Talks about and has picture of Penelope Stout First Lady of Monmouth medallion.

"The Penelope Stout House, also known as the John S. Hendrickson House", Everett Road, Holmdel, NJ. (Note there is a Holmes - Hendrickson House, Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. This house is part of Monmouth County Historical Association Museums and is open May - October.)

"The Mother of the Stouts" by Mrs. Therese W. Seabrook. "My tradition has come through only two persons from Penelope, herself, and I think it more correct than much that is told. The second son, Richard, had a son, John, who was therefore grandson of Penelope. When his grandmother was about 85 years old, he took her on his horse to visit one of her children and when he helped her to alight she insisted upon his putting his hand through the pocket hole of her garment to feel the seam which the Indian sewed up. He was young and bashful but she said, "Johnny, you can tell it to your grandchildren because you will know it's true, and they will tell it to their grandchildren." My grandmother was one of the grandchildren to whom he told the story, and when she told it to me, she would say, "and so I tell it to you in the language, chiefly, in which I heard it."

• * * * * * * * Excerpts from a STOUT-L posting by Linda St out Deak:

I traveled today to Amsterdam and went to the Scheepsvaart (maritime or Ship Navigation, esp. Atlantic) Museum. It is a splendid old granite building on the water a fifteen minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. I was looking for Penelope's name on a passenger list. I had to find the ship upon which she sailed.

107.1 Kath Hans Jelisz. (owner) Jacht (yacht or sailboat ) WIC (West Indies Company) 1647 Nieuw Amsterdam voor 06-06 -1647

Kreeg in Juni 1647 de opdracht tot kaapveren. November 1648 bij Sandy Hook gestrand. Did not return

This has to be Penelope's ship. I scanned the doctoral thesis (in Dutch) of a J.A. Jacobs from Leiden University on the ships sailing to the new world from Holland between 1609- 1675. The average was 3.75 ships per year, about five ships per year in the period 1639-1648. It is very unlikely that a ship other than the Kath was beached at Sandy Hook.

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RICHARD2 STOUT (JOHN1) was born 1615 in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, England, and died 1705 in Middleton,Monmouth,N.J.. He married PENELOPE (KENT OR LENT) VAN PRINCIS 1644 in Gravesend, LI, NY. She was born 1622 in Netherlands, and died 1712 in Middleton,Monmouth,N.J..

Notes for RICHARD STOUT: From "History of the Stout Family" by Nathan Stout, 1823

Richard Stout, the first of the name in America was born in Notinghamshire, in Old England, and his father's name was John. The said Richard, when quite young paid his addresses to a young woman that his father thought below his rank, upon which account some unpleasant conversation happened between the father and the son, on account of which, the said Richard left his father's house; and in a few days engaged on board a ship of war, where he served about seven years, after which time he got a discharge at New Amsterdam, now called New York, in America. About the same time a ship from Amsterdam, in Holland, on her way to the said New Amsterdam, was driven on the shore that is now called Middletown, in Monmouth County, in the State of new Jersey, which ship was loaded with passengers, who with much difficulty got on shore. But the Indians not long after fell upon them and butchered and killed the whole crew, as they thought, but soon after the Indians were gone, a certain Penelope Van Princes, whose husband the Indians had killed, found herself possessed of strength enough to creep to a hollow tree, where she remained some days. An Indian happening to come that way, whose dog coming to the tree, occasioned him to examine the inside of the tree, where he found the said Penelope in a forlorn, distressed condition. She was bruised very severely about the head, and her bowels protruded from a cut across her abdomen; she kept them in with her hand. She had been in this fearful condition seven days when the Indian found her. In his compassion he took her out of the tree and carried her to his wigwam where he treated her kindly and healed her wounds, and in a short time conveyed her in his canoe to New Amsterdam, where he sold her to the Dutch, who then owned that city, now called New York.

The man and woman from whom the whole race of Stouts descended, got into the city of New Amsterdam, where they became acquainted with each other and were married. And, not withstanding, it may be thought by some, that they conducted themselves with more fortitude than prudence, they immediately crossed the bay and settled in the above said Middletown, where the said Penelope had lost her first husband by the Indians and had been so severely wounded herself.

There was at that time but six white families in the settlement, including their own, (which was in the year 1648), where they continued until they became rich in prosperity and rich in children. They had together seven son and three daughters, viz: John, Richard, Jonathan, Peter, James, Benjamin, David. The daughters were - Deliverance, Sarah, Penelope. All of which sons and daughters lived to raise large families.

Source: Stilwell"s "Genealogy of the Stout Family", vol. # 4 Immigrant: Stout , Richard Name of Ship: ? Arrival Date: abt. 1643 Origin of Immigrant: Nottinghamshire, England Immigrant's Date & Place of Birth: 1615, Nottinghamshire, England Immigrant's Date & Place of Death: Oct 1705, Middletown, Monmouth Co. NJ Immigrant's Spouse: Penelope VanPrincin Immigrant's Children: John Stout, 1645 Gravesend L.I. New Netherlands, m. Elizabeth Crawford, d. 1724 NJ Richard Stout, 1646 -- 1717, m Frances Heath, Mary Seymour James Stout, 1648 - ? , m Elizabeth Truax Mary Stout, 1650 - ? , m Judge James Bowne 1665 Alice Stout, 1652 - ? m John Throckmorton 1670 Peter Stout, 1654- 1703, m Mary Bollen, then Mary Bowne Sarah Stout, 1656 - ? m John Pike Johnathan Stout, 1660 - 1723, m Anne Bollen 1685 All the above were born in Gravesend Long Island David Stout, 1667 - ? b in Middletown NJ, m Rebecca Ashton 1688 Benjamin Stout, 1669-1734, m Mary Leonard, then Agnes Truax Notes: Married in Gravesend, Long Island in 1644, a member of Lady Deborah Moody's anabaptist settlement. He accompanied her from Massachusetts. In 1664 he moved his family from NY to NJ and was an original patentee of Middletown, Monmouth Co. NJ. (records in the NJ Archives)

Notes for PENELOPE (KENT OR LENT) VAN PRINCIS: Newspaper article - Newspaper name and time of publication unknown, author was John T. Cunningham

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THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT ----------- There is cause to dispute the traditional claim that Penelope vanPrincis Stout of Monmouth County lived to a mature 110 years before she died in 1712, but no one can deny that for indomitable will to live and in number of descendants Penelope has had few equals. Penelopes's story is obscured slightly by discrepanceies in the dates of her birth and other occurrences in her life, but consider first the narrative as it is usually told. Born in Holland (in 1602 according to the usual version,) Penelope vanPrincis joined her young husband and other Dutch settlers headed for New Amsterdam in 1620. Violent storms caught their ship, drove it off course and finally wrecked it off Sandy Hook. --- ON THE BEACH --- All survived, and the passengers and crew set off for New Amsterdam on foot, leaving Penelope on the beach to nurse her desperately ill husband (whose name was never recorded by Penelope and all of the large brood she would later rear.) Indians found the Dutch couple on the beach, killed the husband and left Penelope viciously hacked. The young widow lay unconscious, her skull fractured, her left arm so mangled that it would never again be normal and her abdomen slashed open. Somehow she revived and crawled into a hollow tree, where two Indians found her several days later.

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SHE PRAYED --- Penelope prayed that they might end her misery and the younger Indian was willing to oblige. The older Indian dissented, carried her over his shoulder to camp, and there nursed her back to health. She stayed with the Indians, working, learning their language and their ways. Some of her shipwrecked friends returned after a time and asked the Indians to give her up. Penelope's Indian benefactor said he would let the young woman decide for herself. Penelope decided to leave, "very much to the surprise of this good Indian," according to Frank Stocktons's version. About two years later Penelope met Richard Stout who had left Nottingham, England, because of parental disapproval of his love affair with a girl they considered socially inferior. He enlisted in the navy, served for seven years and left ship in New Amsterdam when his enlistment ended. Penelope vanPrincis and Richard Stout were married in 1624 (according to tradition), when she was 22 and Richard was 40. Some time after, they moved to Middletown, where through the years their family grew and prospered. Several years after the Stouts came to Middletown, Penelope's old Indian benefactor called on her to warn of an impending attack by his tribe. Penelope and her children fled in a canoe, but Richard Stout and his neighbors stood up to the Indians and argued them out of an attack. So the Stouts lived on into the 18th century. Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questioned the time sequence in a study he made of the Delaware branch of the Stout family in 1915. He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624. This logic seems sound. For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620 and certainly there was no Middletown at the time when the Stout allegedly moved over. Advancing all dates 20 years, however, makes New Amsterdam, Middletown and all else fall in line. His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birh date of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669. That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85. Speaking of the mother, Dr. Streets commented drily: "No medical man, it is safe to say, ever knew of such a case." Penelope vanPrincis Stout died in 1712, either at the age of 110, if you believe traditional accounts, or at the age of 90 if Dr. Streets is correct. Before dying, Mrs. Stout saw her seven sons and three daughters multiplied into 492 other descendants. One son, Jonathan, bought a large tract of land at Hopewell in 1706 and quickly the number of Stout descendants in and near Hopewell became almost as numerous as those in Monmouth. Today huge numbers of Stout descendants cherish a noble name; they recognize that without Penelope vanPrincis, a stout-hearted woman if ever there was one, they wouldn't be here at all.

• * * * * * * * 12 Sep 1648":Ambrose London plaintive agt:ye wife of Tho: Aplegate defent in an action of slander for saying his wife did milke her Cowe"

"The defent saith yt shee said noe otherwise but as Penellopey Prince tould her yt Ambrose his wife did milke her Cowe"

"Rodger Scotte being deposed saith yt being in ye house of Tho: Aplegate hee did heare Pennellopy Prince saye yt ye wife of Ambrose London did milke ye Cowe of Tho: Aplegate"

"Tho: Greedye being deposed saith yt Pennellope Prince being att his house hee did heare her saye yt shee and Aplegates Daughter must com as witnesses agat: Ambrose his wife milking Aplegates Coew"

"Pennellope Prince being questationed adknowled her faulte in soe speaking and being sorrie her words she spake gave sattisfaction on both sides." source: Gravesend Town Book, vol. 1, Sept 12, 1648.

• * * * * * * * Excerpts from a STOUT-L posting by Linda Stout Deak:

I traveled today to Amsterdam and went to the Scheepsvaart (maritime or Ship Navigation, esp. Atlantic) Museum. It is a splendid old granite building on the water a fifteen minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. I was looking for Penelope's name on a passenger list. I had to find the ship upon which she sailed.

107.1 Kath Hans Jelisz. (owner) Jacht (yacht or sailboat) WIC (West Indies Company) 1647 Nieuw Amsterdam voor 06-06-1647

Kreeg in Juni 1647 de opdracht tot kaapveren. November 1648 bij Sandy Hook gestrand. Did not return

This has to be Penelope's ship. I scanned the doctoral thesis (in Dutch) of a J.A. Jacobs from Leiden University on the ships sailing to the new world from Holland between 1609-1675. The average was 3.75 ships per year, about five ships per year in the period 1639-1648. It is very unlikely that a ship other than the Kath was beached at Sandy Hook.

More About RICHARD STOUT and PENELOPE VAN PRINCIS: Marriage: 1644, Gravesend, LI, NY

Children of RICHARD STOUT and PENELOPE VAN PRINCIS are: 3. i. JOHN3 STOUT, b. 1645, Gravesend, Long Island, NY; d. 24 Nov 1724, Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ. 4. ii. RICHARD STOUT, b. 1646, Gravesend, LI, NY; d. 10 Jul 1717, Middletown, Monmouth, NJ. 5. iii. JAMES STOUT, b. 1648, Gravesend, Long Island, NY; d. Aft. 1714, Amwell twp, Hunterdon Co., NJ. 6. iv. MARY STOUT, b. 1650, Gravesend, Long Island, NY. 7. v. ALICE STOUT, b. 1652, Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ. 8. vi. PETER STOUT, b. 1654, Gravesend, Kings County, NY; d. 14 Apr 1704, Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ. 9. vii. SARAH ELIZABETH STOUT, b. 1656, Gravesend, LI, NY; d. 29 Dec 1714, Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., NJ. 10. viii. JONATHAN STOUT, b. 1658, Gravesend, LI, NY; d. Bef. 25 Mar 1723, Hopewell, Hunterdon, NJ. 11. ix. DAVID STOUT, b. 1667, Middletown, Monmouth, NJ; d. 1732, Amwell, Hunterdon, NJ. 12. x. BENJAMIN STOUT, b. 1669, Middletown, Monmouth, NJ; d. 1734, Georges Creek, Delaware. Birth: 1622 Amsterdam Noord-Holland, Netherlands Death: 1732 Middletown Monmouth County New Jersey, USA

The early Dutch settler Penelope Van Princis Kent Stout, dubbed the "Mother of Middletown", may also be New Jersey's most famous survivor. The daughter of Baron Van Princis (a.k.a. Van Prinzen), she was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1622. After her marriage to John Kent c.1640, bride and groom set sail for New Amsterdam (present day New York), but near the end of the journey their ship ran aground near what is now Highlands in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Although the other stranded passengers resumed their journey on foot, Penelope stayed behind in the Navesink woods with Kent, who had become too ill to travel. There the couple fell prey to hostile Indians who, after killing her husband, left Penelope to die. Partially scalped and bleeding from an abdominal wound, she was rescued by friendly Indians and eventually recovered from her injuries. After her return to the European settlements, Penelope married an English-born colonist, Richard Stout, with whom she had a large family. In time the Stouts came to settle in Middletown, NJ, where Penelope lived to the ripe old age of 110. Several of the Stouts' colonial era descendants are interred in the Presbyterian Burial Ground off King's Highway in Middletown, and while the exact location of Penelope's grave is unknown, she, too, was buried in this Monmouth County town. (bio by: Nikita Barlow)

Family links:

Spouses:

 John Kent (____ - 1640)*

 Richard Stout (1615 - 1705)*

Children:

 Mary Stout Bowne (1650 - ____)*

 Alice Stout Throckmorton (1652 - 1703)*

 Sarah Stout Pike (1656 - 1714)*

 James Stout (1658 - 1715)*

 Jonathan Stout (1660 - 1722)*

 David Stout (1667 - 1732)*

*Calculated relationship

Search Amazon for Penelope Stout

Burial: Unknown, Other. Specifically: Actual Site in Middletown Unknown

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It is said that her birth occurred at Amsterdam, Holland about 1602, (or more probably 1622). She and her first husband, whom she married in Holland, sailed for New Amsterdam about 1620, by first accounts, (or 1640 by later accounts), in a vessel that was stranded at Sandy Hook. The passengers and crew of the vessel however, all got safely ashore, although Penelope's husband was hurt in the wreck, and was so sick after the landing that he was helpless. The rest, except his wife, on account of the hostile Indians in the vicinity, did not feel like remaining with the sick man. But they made him and his faithful spouse as comfortable as they could, and started at once overland to the place of their destination, promising to send for their companions in the voyage, as soon as they arrived and could make arrangements.

But Penelope and her husband had not been in the woods very long before the Indians came upon them, and as they supposed, killed them both, stripping them to the skin! However, as it turned out, the woman was not killed--only stunned. She was horribly cut and mangled, of course, her skull being fractured, her left shoulder so hacked that she could never afterwards use that arm like the other, while a great cut across the abdomen, which caused her bowels to protrude, left her in such a situation, that there was practically little hope of her ever recovering.

Nevertheless, with all of her injuries, she did really survive, or the history of New Jersey in subsequent times would have been very different from what it is, to say nothing of the existence of multitudes who otherwise would never have lived. Penelope, after the Indians had gone, coming to, kept her bowels in place with her hand, and managed to crawl for shelter into a hollow log or tree near by, eating the excrescence of it for nourishment, and remaining there in that condition until the seventh day; when she saw a deer pass with arrows sticking in it, and soon after two Indians came along. One a young man and the other an old man, whom she was glad to see, hoping they would put her out of her misery. The young man indeed made toward her to knock her on the head and would have done this, had not the elderly man prevented him, who, throwing her over his shoulder, he carried her to his wigwam, where he dressed her wounds. Her wounds were sewn with fish bone needles and vegetable fibre, and soon cured her. Penelope lived with him for some time until the old Indian took her to New Amsterdam, and made a present of her to her countrymen--an Indian thus, when making a present, expecting a large reward. PENELOPE STOUT, IT IS SAID, LIVED TO BE 110! (Which would account for the birth date of 1602.)

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    Newspaper article - Newspaper name and time of publication unknown, author was John T. Cunningham

------------ THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT -----------

   There is cause to dispute the traditional claim that Penelope van Princis Stout of Monmouth County lived to a mature 110 years before she died in 1712, but no one can deny that for indomitable will to live and in number of descendants Penelope has had few equals.

   Penelope's story is obscured slightly by discrepancies in the dates of her birth and other occurrences in her l life, but consider first the narrative as it is usually told.

   Born in Holland (in 1602 according to the usual version,) Penelope van Princis joined her young husband and other Dutch settlers headed for New Amsterdam in 1620. Violent storms caught their ship, drove it off course and finally wrecked it off Sandy Hook.

   --- ON THE BEACH ---

   All survived, and the passengers and crew set off for New Amsterdam on foot, leaving Penelope on the beach to nurse her desperately ill husband (whose name was never recorded by Penelope and all of the large brood she would later rear.) Indians found the Dutch couple on the beach, killed the husband and left Penelope viciously hacked.

   The young widow lay unconscious, her skull fractured , her left arm so mangled that it would never again be normal and her abdomen slashed open. Somehow she revived and crawled into a hollow tree, where two Indians found her several days later.

   <nowiki>----</nowiki> SHE PRAYED ---

   Penelope prayed that they might end her misery and the younger Indian was willing to oblige. The older Indian dissented, carried her over his shoulder to camp, and there nursed her back to health. She stayed with the Indians , working, learning their language and their ways.

   Some of her shipwrecked friends returned after a time and asked the Indians to give her up. Penelope's Indian benefactor said he would let the young woman decide for herself. Penelope decided to leave, "very much to the surprise of this good Indian," according to Frank Stocktons' version.

   About two years later Penelope met Richard Stout who had left Nottingham, England, because of parental disapproval of his love affair with a girl they considered socially inferior. He enlisted in the navy, served for seven years and left ship in New Amsterdam when his enlistment ended.

   Penelope van Princis and Richard Stout were married in 1624 (according to tradition), when she was 22 and Richard was 40. Some time after, they moved to Middletown, where through the years their family grew and prospered.

   Several years after the Stouts came to Middletown, Penelope's old Indian benefactor called on her to warn of an impending attack by his tribe. Penelope and her children fled in a canoe, but Richard Stout and his neighbors stood up to the Indians and argued them out of an attack. So the Stouts lived on into the 18th century.

   Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questioned the time sequence in a study he made of the Delaware branch of the Stout family in 1915.

   He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624. This logic seems sound.

   For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620 and certainly there was no Middletown at the time when the Stout allegedly moved over. Advancing all dates 20 years, however, makes New Amsterdam, Middletown and all else fall in line.

   His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birthdate of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669 . That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85. Speaking of the mother, Dr. Street s commented drily:

   "No medical man, it is safe to say, ever knew of such a case."

   Penelope van Princis Stout died in 1712, either at the age of 110, if you believe traditional accounts, or at the age of 90 if Dr. Streets is correct.

   Before dying, Mrs. Stout saw her seven sons and three daughters multiplied into 492 other descendants.

   One son, Jonathan, bought a large tract of land at Hopewell in 1706 and quickly the number of Stout descendants in and near Hopewell became almost as numerous as those in Monmouth. Today huge numbers of Stout descendants cherish a noble name; they recognize that without Penelope van Princis, a stout-hearted woman if ever there was one, they wouldn't be here at all.

* * * * * * * *

   12 Sep 1648": Ambrose London plaintive agt:ye wife of Tho : Aplegate defent in an action of slander for saying his wife did milke her Cowe"

"The defent saith yt shee said noe otherwise but as Penello pey Prince tould her yt Ambrose his wife did milke her Cowe"
"Rodger Scotte being deposed saith yt being in ye house o f Tho: Aplegate hee did heare Pennellopy Prince saye yt y e wife of Ambrose London did milke ye Cowe of Tho: Aplegate"
"Tho: Greedye being deposed saith yt Pennellope Prince bein g att his house hee did heare her saye yt shee and Aplegates Daughter must com as witnesses agat: Ambrose his wife mil king Aplegates Coew"
"Pennellope Prince being questationed adknowled her fault e in soe speaking and being sorrie her words she spake gav e sattisfaction on both sides."
Source: Gravesend Town Book, vol. 1, Sept 12, 1648.
* * * * * * * * Excerpts from a STOUT-L posting by Linda St out Deak:
I traveled today to Amsterdam and went to the Scheepsvaar t (maritime or Ship Navigation, esp. Atlantic) Museum. I t is a splendid old granite building on the water a fiftee n minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. I was looking for Penelope's name on a passenger list. I had to find the ship upon which she sailed.
107.1 Kath Hans Jelisz. (owner) Jacht (yacht or sailboat ) WIC (West Indies Company) 1647 Nieuw Amsterdam voor 06-06 -1647
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/a/r/Rachelle-Hartsfiel...
This has to be Penelope's ship. I scanned the doctoral thesis (in Dutch) of a J.A. Jacobs from Leiden University on th e ships sailing to the new world from Holland between 1609- 1675. The average was 3.75 ships per year, about five ships per year in the period 1639-1648. It is very unlikely that a ship other than the Kath was beached at Sandy Hook.

---

In 1643, Penelope and her husband took a ship from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam. Their ship foundering, she and her husband and several others made land at Sandy Hook. Her husband, often identified as Jan Van Princin, was not able to travel and after the couple were abandoned. There the couple fell prey to hostile Indians who, after killing her husband, left Penelope to die. She was horribly cut and mangled, her skull fractured, her left shoulder hacked, and a great cut across the abdomen caused her bowels to protrude. She took shelter in a hollow tree until seven days later she felt compelled to make herself known to two members of the Navesink tribe of Leni Lenape. Penelope prayed that they might end her misery, and the younger Indian was willing to oblige, but the elder stopped him.

Throwing her over his shoulder, the elder Indian carried her to his camp, where he sewed up her wounds with fish bone needles and vegetable fiber. Penelope lived with the aged chief until she recovered.

When she was well enough to travel she was perhaps sold to the Dutch at New Amsterdam. There she married Richard Stout. They had a large family (7 sons and 3 daughters) mostly born at Gravesend in the area of Coney Island, Brooklyn. They moved to Middletown Township, New Jersey around 1665. This was where the Leni Lenapi who had earlier helped her were living, and they were still living there when the Stouts arrived. In some versions of the story, the Indian who rescued Penelope many years earlier warned her of an Indian attack in the planning stages, and she was able to thwart it.

The dates and surname for Penelope are quite variable in the several references. The Gravesend Town Records, as written by Englishmen at the time of a slander trial in Sept 1648 name the defendant as Penelope Prince However, this does not necessarily mean that she had not yet married Richard Stout, as married Dutch women in that time period traditionally used their maiden names. In honor of her being a pioneer in Middletown, Penelope Lane off of Kings Highway is named after her.

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The early Dutch settler Penelope Van Princis Kent Stout, dubbed the "Mother of Middletown", may also be New Jersey's most famous survivor.

Circa 1622, Penelope Kent was born in Amsterdam, Holland, the Dutch Republic (now called the Netherlands). Some sources claim that Penelope was a daughter of Baron Van Princis (a.k.a. Van Prinzen).

Circa 1640 -- Penelope van Princis and John Kent married at England. They sailed for New Amsterdam (present day New York), but near the end of the journey their ship ran aground near what is now the Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Although the other stranded passengers resumed their journey on foot, Penelope stayed behind in the Navesink woods with her husband who had become too ill to travel. There the couple were attacked by hostile Native Americans who, after killing her husband, left Penelope to die. Partially scalped and bleeding from an abdominal wound, she was rescued by friendly Native Americans and eventually recovered from her injuries. Penelope was trying to hide and survive on her own when she was taken in by the Navesink tribe of Leni Lenapi who returned her to the Dutch at New Amsterdam.

After the Native Americans took her to New Amsterdam, Penelope married an English-born colonist, Richard Stout, with whom she had a large family. Around 1669 the Stouts settled at Middletown, Monmouth county, New Jersey where Penelope lived to the ripe old age of 110.

Several of the Stouts' colonial era descendants are interred in the Presbyterian Burial Ground off King's Highway in Middletown, and while the exact location of Penelope's grave is unknown, she, too, was buried in this Monmouth County town. (bio by: Nikita Barlow)

Commemorative medallion depicting the rescue of the gravely wounded Penelope Van Princis Kent by a compassionate Lenni Lenape chief. Attacked by hostile Indians in the woods off the New Jersey shore, Penelope had been left for dead & her first husband, John Kent, killed.

Commemorative medallion depicting Penelope's return to New Jersey with her second husband, Richard Stout, one of their 10 children, & a welcoming Lenni Lenape chief. Dubbed the "Mother of Middletown" & the "First Lady of Monmouth County", more than 10,000 Americans are among her descendants.

1644 -- At New Amsterdam, widow Penelope (Kent) van Princis married Richard Stout and settled at Gravesend which is across the bay from Coney Island, Brooklyn, Kings County.

September 9, 1664 -- New Netherland Director-General Peter Stuyvesant signed the treaty surrendering New Netherland, including New Jersey, to British Commander Colonel Richard Nicholls.

Circa 1665 -- Richard and Penelope Stout moved from Gravesend (now Brooklyn, Kings County, New York) to what became Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

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GEDCOM Note

Biography

Category:Kings County, New York Category:Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:Famous People of the 17th Century New NetherlandSettler Known in the New World as Penelope Stout, she became famous after arrival in early New Netherlands, then as an early European settler of Monmouth County, in early British New Jersey. Penelope Kent Van Princin Stout was born about 1622 and died about 1732. Her maiden name essentially is uncertain and has been cited as Kentwith the suggestion she had married a John Kent and came to New Amsterdam with her, or van Princin/van Princes, daughter of the Baron Van Princin/Van Princis,<ref>Ogden, Evelyn, Compler. Descendants of Founders of New Jersey. Penelope Van Princis (Kent, Stout) http://www.njfounders.org/node/210</ref> or Thompson. For the purpose of consistentmerging in this profile, the LNAB of Kent will be used since most sources in the following records of her marriage to Richard Stout use VanPrincis/Van Princin. The Thomson maiden name is an Ancestry referenceS3 and names her as Thomson with her Stout children. 1643 -- Penelope and her husband sailed from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam. Their ship foundered and was attacked by the natives. Afterhiding and surviving on her own, Penelope was taken in by the Navesink tribe of Leni Lenapi, who later returned her to the Dutch at New Amsterdam. The following source discusses and cites varied accounts of this story which includes the account by Mrs. Henry (Theresa) Seabrook, granddaughter of Helena Huff that John Stout, her grandfather had felther wounds and only two hands between her and Penelope.<ref> Stillwell, John E. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Early Settlers ofNew Jersey and their Descendants. Vol. IV. New York:1916. p. 295, 309 https://archive.org/stream/historicalgeneal04stil#page/295/mode/1up</ref> 1645--After their marriage Richard Stout and Penelope settled at Gravesend, Long Island when he was named as one of the patentees for the settlement of Gravesend December 19 1645.<ref>Hornor, William S. This Old Monmouth of Ours. Freehold, New Jersey. Moreau Brothers:1932. "Penelope VanPrinces." Pages 146-148. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cy88CpankH8C&q=jonathan+stout#v=s...</ref><ref>Salter, Edwin. "Stout". A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Bayonne, NJ. E. Gardner & Son:1890. Page 13. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=QYQ-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=front...</ref><ref>Streets, Thomas Hale. The Stout Family of Delaware. The author. Philadelphia, Pa.:1915. Page 9-10. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002005646956;view=1up...</ref><ref>Benedict, David. A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America, and Other Parts of the World. New York. Lewis Colby and Company: 1813. Footnote page 585. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=dxoyrRw1u6sC&hl=en&pg=GBS.P...</ref><ref>Stillwell, John E. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants. Vol. IV. New York:1916. p. 295 http://archive.org/stream/historicalgeneal04stil#page/305/mode/1up</ref><ref>Stout, Nathan. History of the Stout. Monmouth Co., N. J. The Author:1823. Page 4. http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/monmouth/history/family/stout01.txt</ref> Another note of interest is that Penelope Princis was a witness in a slander trial in Gravesend September 12 1648. One note on the account says that the custom that married Dutch women continued to use their previous name. The record is typed in the article.<ref>McFarlane, Jim.Searching for Penelope Stout. The Slander Trial of 1648. Sunday, June 20 2013 http://searchingforpenelopestout.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-1648-slan...</ref> However, the a counter is the Rights of land, age of Mary in them, marriage of older brother John as found in both Stillwell's and Street's account of their ages at the time the family moved to Middleton, Monmouth County, New Jersey as follows. December 1663-The plans to leave crowded Gravesend and accept that theEnglish would acquire New Amsterdam. With the proclamation of Richard Nicolls, successor to Governor Stuyvesant, concessions were given and Richard Stout was one of the twelve patentees. The Rights of Lands names Richard, his wife and children and some of their spouses. January 1665-Richard and Penelope Stout moved from Gravesend to what became Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Rights ofLands names Richard, his wife and children and some of their spouses.<ref>Stilwell, John E. 1916. Vol IV. Page 302-3 https://archive.org/stream/historicalgeneal04stil#page/302/mode/1up</ref><ref>Streets, Thomas Hale. 1915, Page 11. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002005646956;view=1up...</ref> Children of Richard and Penelope Kent/VanPrincin Stout were:<ref>Calendar of New Jersey Wills, William Nelson, 1902, Vol I 1670-1730, page 446 https://archive.org/stream/calendarofnewjer00newj#page/446/mode/1up</ref>

1. John b 1645, d Feb 11 1724, m Elizabeth Crawford Jan 12 1762
2. Richard II b 1646, m (1) Frances Heath West, (2) Mary Seymour
3. James b 1648, d ~1714
4. Mary Penelope b 1650, d 1730, m Captain James Bowne Dec 26 1665#Alice Deliverance b 1652, d ~1717, m (1) John Throckmorton Jr Dec 12 1670<ref>The abridged compendium of American genealogy : first families of America Frederick A Virkus, 1928, Vol III. page 519 (bottom left hand column)https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015043281370;view=1up;...</ref> m (2) Robert Skeleton Oct 30 1691, m Mr. Jones ~1698. <ref>Stilwell, John E. https://archive.org/stream/historicalgeneal04stil#page/328/mode/1up...</ref>#Peter b 1654, d 1703, m Mary Bullen<ref>Stout, Nathan. 1823. Page 15 http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/monmouth/history/family/stout01.txt</ref><ref>Stilwell, John E. 1916. Pages 330-331 https://archive.org/stream/historicalgeneal04stil#page/329/mode/1up</ref>
5. Sarah b 1656., d De 29 1714, m John Pike Feb 2 1675
6. Jonathan b 1665, d Nov 24 1722, m Anne Bollen Aug 27 1685#David b. 1667, d Apr 1732, m Rebecca Ashton, daughter of James and Deliverance Throckmorton Ashton, 1688<ref>The abridged compendium of American genealogy : first families of America Frederick A Virkus, 1928, Vol III page 300 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015043281370;view=1up;... </ref>
7. Benjamin b 1669, d Jun 10 1734, m (1) Mary Leonard, (2) Agnes Truax.

Other supporting sources: Baer, Mabel V. D. "Richard Stout and Some Descendants." National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Volume 52. 1964. Pages 86 - 94. https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco... Maintained by: Find A Grave, Originally Created by: Nikita Barlow, Added: 11 Jan 2002, Find A Grave Memorial 6082496 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6082496 Raum, John O. History of the City of Trenton. Trenton, NJ: W T Nicholson & Co, 1871. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000004363415;view=1up;se...

Sources

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The early Dutch settler Penelope Van Princis Kent Stout, dubbed the "Mother of Middletown", may also be New Jersey's most famous survivor. The daughter of Baron Van Princis (a.k.a. Van Prinzen), she was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1622. After her marriage to John Kent c.1640, bride and groom set sail for New Amsterdam (present day New York), but near the end of the journey their ship ran aground near what is now Highlands in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Although the other stranded passengers resumed their journey on foot, Penelope stayed behind in the Navesink woods with Kent, who had become too ill to travel. There the couple fell prey to hostile Indians who, after killing her husband, left Penelope to die. Partially scalped and bleeding from an abdominal wound, she was rescued by friendly Indians and eventually recovered from her injuries. After her return to the European settlements, Penelope married an English-born colonist, Richard Stout, with whom she had a large family. In time the Stouts came to settle in Middletown, NJ, where Penelope lived to the ripe old age of 110. Several of the Stouts' colonial era descendants are interred in the Presbyterian Burial Ground off King's Highway in Middletown, and while the exact location of Penelope's grave is unknown, she, too, was buried in this Monmouth County town.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 28 2022, 21:15:33 UTC