Volkert "Folkert" Sebring

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/22591982/person/1265426216

He was born in Widwout/Flatbush in 1705 and came to the Raritan area by 1709 as a young child. He purchased land in the Washington Valley by 1743. He was an executor of his father's estate in 1756 and his cousin's estate in 1771 and witnessed John Aeten, Sr.'s will. In all three cases he signed himself as Folkert Sebring.

Fantastic genealogy write-up here - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154346592/folkert-sebring
First it needs to be said that there are various spellings of Folkert including Volkert, Fulkart, Folkard, Folcard, and Folkart used for this man and his family members. I used Folkert because he signed three legal documents using it. Also Sebring was spelling several ways in the past including Seubring, Sebertmge, Sueberinght, and Sebering, among others, before it stabilized as Sebring. It is also worth noting that the Sebrings, like most of the Dutch, used the same names multiple times, naming children after their relatives. Hence, the many Fulkerts, Corneliuses, Johns/Jans, Roelofs, etc. This can be confusing.

This Folkert Sebring was in the area from early childhood and was one of the early settlers of the Washington Valley between the First and Second Watchung Mountains and north of the Raritan River. This area is now Bridgewater Township and Martinsville, NJ. According to "North of the Raritan Lotts," published in 1975, Folkert purchased 50 acres in 1743 and another 22 acres in 1748, before purchasing 105 acres from Robert Hunter Morris in 1759. A map published in this book shows the position of Folkert's 105 acres as well as those of his cousins Jacob and Isaac Sebring and cousin Lucas Bilyue. Before them his uncle Cornelius Sebring, father of Jacob and Isaac, had purchased 1,000 acres in 1713 from Peter Sonmans. (It is worth pointing out that the 1975 "North of the Raritan Lotts" got the family relationships among these Sebrings wrong. This is clarified by the "Sebring Collections," also published in 1975, which took a more detailed look at the family. The Cornelius Sebring who purchased land in 1713 was a brother of Folkert's father and of Lucas Bilyue/Billew's mother.)

He was a third generation American.

Ancestry

The Sebring family originated in Beilen, Drenthe, Netherlands where variations of the name are found as early as 1284. The earliest ancestor identified was Folkert's great-grandfather, Roelof Lukassen Sebring born about 1595. He remained in the Netherlands, but three of his sons and two of his daughters and their husbands immigrated to New Netherlands in the middle of the 17th century, settling in the village of Midwout, now Flatbush in Brooklyn, NY.

Folkert's grandfather Jan Roelofse Sebring 1631-1703 was born in the Netherlands and immigrated by 1659 when he is found on a list of schepens/magistrates in Midwout/Flatbush. Some think he may have arrived before 1654, and some think he may have been the "Jan Soubanich" who arrived on the De Bonte Koe in 1660. He owned land in Widout/Flatbush between what is now Flatbush and Uttica Avenues near Prospect Park, Brooklyn. He married Adrianna Polhemius (1644-after 1685) shortly after his arrival, and she was the mother of his children. They were members of the Midwout Reformed Church until 1681 and joined the Bergen Reformed Church in 1682 showing that they moved to Bergen in New Jersey. Bergen village was located in what is now Jersey City, NJ. Since grandson Folkert was born in Midwout, it seems that not all of Jan Roelofse's young adult children moved with him at that time or some returned at least temporarily to Midwout.

Children of Jan Roelofse and Adrianna Sebring were:

• Cornelius b. 1660, purchased land in Washington Valley in 1713
• Ida b. 1664, m. 1684 Isaac Billew in Bergen, moved to Raritan Valley
• Lucus b. 1666, remained in Brooklyn
• Johannes b. 1673, apparently alive 1731 if he were the Johannes Sebring involved in the Dutch Reformed Church battles with Rev. Theodorus Frelinghuysen.
• Roelof b. 1675, see below
• Marietje b. 1685 in Bergen, m. 1713 Mordecai McKenney

Folkert's parents were Roelof Janse Sebring 1675-1756 and Chrystyntje/Christina Vokertse 1678-bef 1752. They married about 1701. Their eldest children were born in Midwout and their younger children were baptized at the Raritan Reformed Church, near what is now Somerville, NJ. This is to say that they moved to central New Jersey by 1708. Roelof's will was probated in New Jersey in 1756. At the time of Folkert's father's death his mother was clearly already dead because Roelof was remarried to widowed Angenitje Leboiteux.

Roelof's children were:

• Johannes b. 1702, m. Elinor Aeten/Auten, lived in Somerset, NJ and Bucks, PA
• Folkert b. 1705, m. 1729 Marytje Aeten/Auten in NJ--the subject of this memorial
• Derck b. 1709, m. Maria Van Arsdale in NJ
• Annetje b. 1711, m. 1730 Harpert Pietersen in NJ
• Cornelius b. c. 1713, m 1748 Aeltje Van Arsdale in NJ

Folkert Sebring

As noted above, he was born in Widwout/Flatbush in 1705 and came to the Raritan area by 1709 as a young child. He purchased land in the Washington Valley by 1743. He was an executor of his father's estate in 1756 and his cousin's estate in 1771 and witnessed John Aeten, Sr.'s will. In all three cases he signed himself as Folkert Sebring.

Note the many intermarriages with the Aeten/Auten family.

He married Marytje Aeten/Auten in 1729. Their children were:

• Roelof 1729-1782, a captain during the American Revolution, 1st Battalion, Somerset, perhaps earlier also 2nd Battalion in Capt. Ten Ecyk's company; married Catharine Auten; died in Bridgewater, NJ
• John 1731-1804, a captain during the American Revolution, 1st Battalion, Somerset; married Nellie Van Voorhees; moved to Seneca County, NY
• Folkert 1734-1802, military service unclear; married 1. Mary Van Tuyl and 2. Catherine Van Nest; moved to Seneca County, NY after 1792
• Elizabeth 1736-before 1792; m. UKN; four children mentioned in father's will 1792 but no surname given.
• Cornelius 1738-1816, sergeant in the American Revolution, Capt. John Sebring's company, 1st Battalion; married UKN c. 1770; remained in Bridgewater
• Marya 1740-before 1792; m. Thomas Auten
• Christina 1743-before 1792; m. Abraham Sebring 1738-1813, a cousin, who also served in the 1st Battalion
• Thomas 1745-after 1808; sergeant in American Revolution, Capt. John Sebring's Company, 1st Battalion Somerset; m. Sara Auten; still living in Bridgewater Twp., NJ in 1808

Clearly the family supported American independence from Great Britain.

He died in 1796. His 1792 will left land to his sons. To Roelof 60 acres in Bridgewater "wherefore I have given him the deed." Since Roelof was already dead, this seems odd, but perhaps it was confirming a previous gift for Roelof's heirs. John received 60 acres, and Folkard 64 acres. Sons Cornelius and Thomas got equal shares in the "home plantation." (Cornelius later acquired Thomas' share and passed it on to his son, another Fulkert Sebring.) Grandchildren got money gifts. It appears that his daughters were all dead by this time since they were not specifically mentioned but their children were. The residue of "bills, notes and bonds" were divided among the living sons. Linens were divided among the sons plus Mary Auten (granddaughter) and Catelinty (unclear). Moveables were divided among "all the children or their heirs." The executors were sons John, Folkard, and Cornelius.

(A memorial for him was originally posted in 2009 by Charles & Andrea Massio-Carter without detail or location.)* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 7 2022, 17:00:57 UTC