Roelof Janse Sebring

He was one of the founders of the First Dutch Church in New Brunswick, NJ in 1717 and held a pew jointly with John Aeten, Sr. which no doubt led later to the intermarriage of their children. He was deacon of the church 1717-1718, 1733.

He signs his name Roelof Sebering.

Roelof's will entry appears in the Index of Wills & Inventories, Vol. III, Somerset County, on page 1270 [see genealogylibrary.com].

Roelof Jan signed his will as Roelof Sebering. The will states that his plantation was bounded on the north by the Raritan River, on the west by land of Dirck Volkertse, his brother-in-law. It was inherited by Roelof's son, Cornelis, with provisions to pay "certain sums of money of the province" to the other heirs."

Roelof's wife was to be given choice on any room in the house and to be furnished with a garden and firewood and the "Life and service of my negro slave, Bess, as long as she remains my widow."
He was in the first generation of his family to be born in the US in what is now Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY. His father immigrated from the Netherlands by 1659 and probably earlier.

It is assumed he was buried here because he was one of the founding members of this "Dutch Church" before 1717, he served as a deacon, and his son's family were members until c. 1760. Four of his grandchildren were baptized here.

He moved from Flatbush, NY to Somerset Count, NJ by 1707 and his youngest children were baptized at the Raritan Dutch Reformed Church, near what is now Somerville. His parents moved c. 1680 to Bergen, NJ, but since his oldest children were baptized in Flatbush, it appears that he did not move with them.

His will was probated in Somerset County.

More pending.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 7 2022, 17:00:57 UTC

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 12 2022, 12:42:57 UTC