Titus Syrachs de Vries

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Titus Syrach De Vries, the sire of the North American Dutch line, was born in Holland and died in 1688 at Flatbush, Kings Co., NY. He was a Lieutenant in an infantry Company at Midwont (Flatbush, NY) in 1673. According to the “History of Bucks County” by William W. H. Davis (1905), p. 437 “The pioneer ancestor of the Titus family was Titus Syrachs de Vries, who emigrated from Vries, a village of Drenthe, Holland about 1650, and settled on Long Island, living at different periods at Brooklyn, Flatlands and New Utrecht, and owning considerable land.”

He married Jannetji Teunis (Janette) Nyssen, daughter of Teunis Nyssen and Femmetje (Jans), in 1662 at Flatbush, Kings Co., NY. She was born on Mar. 29, 1648 at Heenstede, Netherlands. Her parents had emigrated from Heemstede, North Holland in 1651. Titus De Vries probably descends from the noble DeVries family of Holland.

There has been some conjecture as to why Titus Syrach De Vries changed his surname to Titus. One possibility was explained rather undelicately by Frank H. Titus, author of The Genealogy of the Dutch Family Titus, when he said: "Probably the change of name was the first nature of protective imitation as practised by various forms of animated creatures lower than the humans: Dutch blood was probably not as highly esteemed just after the land had passed from Dutch to English control as it is in our day, and the Britons have never been specially noted for tender consideration of the susceptibilities of those unwise enough to have been born under others' skies." However, a more likely alternative was put forward by Clarence Edwin Titus in his pamphlet, "A Titus Genealogy, The Direct Line of Descent of Titus Syrachs De Vries," when he writes "Under English rule in America it became compulsory to take a permanent surname. Since the Dutch traditionally used the patronymic naming system (identification by the father's given name), the children and descendants of Titus and Jannetje adopted and kept the surname Titus."

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ID: I00894

Name: [Titus Syrachs DE VRIES]

Sex: M

Birth: in Drenthe, Holland

Death: BEF. 26 JAN 1688/89 in Flatbush, NY

Note:

According to "A Titus Genealogy: The Direct Line of Descent of Titus Syrachs de Vries", by Clarence

Edwin Titus, Jr. (Philadelphia, PA 1979), Titus Syrachs de Vries emigrated from "de Vries" in the

Netherlands about 1659 and settled in the New Amersfoort or Midwout area of Long Island, New York.

"De Vries" is a place-origin name meaning Friesan, or that he came from the Province of Friesland. The

patronymic ending "s" of Syrachs means "son of" or that Titus Syrachs was the son of a man whose first

name was Syrach. There were several English Titus families living in the NY area in the mid-1600's, but it is believed that Titus Syrach de Vries was the first and only one of his ancestral line to come to America. The "Early Settlers of King's County, Long Island", by Teunis G. Bergen, concludes that Titus Syrachs was from de Vries, a Village in Drenthe, Holland, and that it is highly likey that he descended from the noble de Vries family of Holland. Bergen also concluded that the wife of Titus Syrachs was Jannetje Teunise Coevert, daughter of Teunise Janse Coevert and Barbara Lucasse, but these conclusions are contradicted by Clarence Edwin Titus, Jr.. It is somewhat unusual that all of his children dropped the euphonious name of de Vries and adopted the more common surname of Titus, but this was Dutch tradition.

Titus Syrach de Vries and Jannetje Teunis were married on 7 Mar. 1660 in Flatbush, Long Island, NY. At

the time of his marriage, Titus Syrachs was part-owner of a horse-driven gristmill at New Utrecht and the

same year he was instrumental in helping to build the church at Middelwout (or Midwout, but now

Flatbush). For this construction, he was owed 215 florins for masonry work. On 12 Apr. 1669, he sold to

Cornelius Barentse Slecht a house and a lot in Flatbush. Titus Syrachs apparently owned a tavern in

Flatbush as evidenced from "Flatbush Town Records", Liber D, Court Minutes, Vol. 1, p. 413 on 12 Jan.

1670 in Midwout, as follows:

Whereas various complaints have been made to us, Constable and Overeers, by many of the Town's people, that Titus Syrachs is charging for beer two stuyvers more per van than he has done heretofore, and also that he sells wines at a higher price than is done in the City of New York; to prevent this, we order him to sell beer no higher by the van than the former price; that is the ordinary beer brewed here, viz: fourteen stuyvers the van; and wines or distilled liquors at the price that is charged from time to time in the City of New York in ordinary taverns; upon penalty of forfeiting twenty five guilders each time, if he is found to be doing the contrary.

Signed - Jacob Strycher, Constable; Jan Hansen; Heyndrick Jooressen, Adraen Hegeman and Aucke Yans

During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, when the Dutch re-captured New Netherlands from the English in

1673, Titus was appointed Lieutenant of a company of foot soldiers at Midwout (Flatbush). From the

"British Historical Manuscripts", 1664-1776, 138 (b), dated 3 Oct. 1679, Titus was censured for "having

had carnal copulation with Annetje Dircks, a young girl" and fined 25 pounds. For her part in the affair,

Annetje Dircks, daughter of Dirck Jans Hoogland, was "sentenced to be whipped and receive seven

lashes on her bare back at the common whipping post before the City Hall, or pay a fine of five pounds and cost".

On 1 Jan. 1685, Titus Syrachs sold his farm and land to Claes Arentse Vechte and Casparus Van Suuren. He died in either 1688 or 1689 at Flatbush, since "King's County Deed Book 1", p. 73, contains the

inventory ofhis estate taken 26 Jan. 1689. It is not known at this time when or where his wife Jannetje

died.

Under English rule in America, it became compulsory to take a permanent surname. Since the Dutch

traditionally used the patronymic naming system (identification by the father's given name), the children

and descendants of Titus and Jannetje adopted and kept the surname of Titus.

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Marriage 1 [Jannetje Teunis NYSSEN] b: BEF. 22 DEC 1641 in Brooklyn, NY

Married: 7 MAR 1659/60 in Flatbush, Long Island, NY

Children

Tryntje TITUS b: BEF. 23 DEC 1663

Femmetje TITUS b: ABT. 1673 in [Flatbush], NY
[Arays] TITUS b: ABT. 1675 in [Flatbush], NY
[Teunis] TITUS b: ABT. 1677 in [Flatbush, Kings Co.], NY
Syrach TITUS b: BEF. 28 DEC 1679 in Brooklyn, NY
Jannetje TITUS b: BEF. 19 MAR 1681/82
Francis TITUS b: ABT. 1685 in Kings Co., NY
Phoebe TITUS b: ABT. 1687
Contact: Michael K. Hendrix
1. Titus Syrach De Vries. b. in Holland. d. 1688 at Flatbush, Kings Co., NY. He was a Lieutenant in an infantry Company at Midwont (Flatbush, NY) in 1673. According to the “History of Bucks County” by William W. H. Davis (1905), p. 437 “The pioneer ancestor of the Titus family was Titus Syrachs de Vries, who emigrated from Vries, a village of Drenthe, Holland about 1650, and settled on Long Island, living at different periods at Brooklyn, Flatlands and New Utrecht, and owning considerable land.” m. Jannetji Teunis (Janette) Couverts, daughter of Teunis Janse Couverts and Femmetje (Jans), in 1662 at Flatbush, Kings Co., NY. She b. Mar. 29, 1648 at Heenstede, Netherlands. Her parents had emigrated from Heemstede, North Holland in 1651. Titus De Vries probably descends from the noble DeVries family of Holland. Their child (among others):

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http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/TITUS-DUTCH/1998-06/0...

From: <ont.quest@sympatico.ca>

Subject: [TITUS-DUTCH-L] Canadian Connection

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 14:06:22 -0400

Hello from Ontario and the Norfolk County link to the Titus family:

1)Titus Syrachs De Vries m ca 1662 Jannetje

Couverts

2)Francis Titus b. 1670 m. Elizabeth?

3)Johannes Titus b 1736 m ca 1755 Leah

Anderson

4)Maria Titus b 4 Sep 1765 Bushwich, L.I.

m. 17 Sep 1782 Col. Jonathan Williams

5)Titus Williams (Lt. Col.) b 22 Nov

1790, Long Island

m. Elizabeth Ayers McCollum bf 1814

6)Maria Williams b. 7 Dec 1823, Norfolk

Co. ON

m. Abram Brandow

7)George Arthur Brandow b. 26 Jun

1857

m. 29 Jun 1886 Ada Creamer

8)Grace Brandow b.24 May 1890

Strathroy, ON

m. William Berry 10 Aug 1910

in Toronto

9) Muriel Berry b. 1911

m. Alexander Magee 1933

Windsor, ON

10) Linda Magee b. Windsor

Whew! Glad to get to the end of that. I would like to get more

information on Francis Titus and his marriage to Elizabeth ?. Anyone know

who she was?

Linda Magee

London, ON, Canada