My great-grandfather, Theodore Clarence Brintzinghoffer, was born in Newark, NJ on September 19th, 1876. Each and every branch of his family tree came to America before the Revolutionary War. I’ve already recounted the story of his paternal grandfather’s line – The Brintzinghoffers. This is the story of his paternal grandmother’s line – The Hays.
Margaret Hays, 3rd great-grandmother
Margaret Hays, the mother of my great-grandfather Theodore, was born in Philadelphia in 1818. She married Washington Andrew Brintzinghoffer at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on March 18, 1838 before moving with her husband to Newark, NJ. She had 2 daughters and a son, but died of tuberculosis at the age of 29. For that reason, I know almost nothing else about her.
Addis & Catherina Hays, 4th great-grandparents
I know precious little about Margaret’s mother, Catherina Lambert – except that she was born around 1779, maybe in Maryland, probably the daughter of George Lambert and Catherina Haas. She married Addis Hays on May 27th, 1798 at the German Reformed Church of Philadelphia, and she died of gastroenteritis at the age of 65.
On the other hand, Margaret’s father, Addis Hay, lived to be 91 years old and left a long trail of records. He outlived his wife by 20 years, and 4 of his 7 children. He lived so long, in fact, that no one could remember the names of his parents for his death certificate, or the fact that he wasn’t actually born in Philadelphia. He was born in 1773, across the river, in Burlington, NJ. and he was in Philadelphia by 1798, when he married there.
Download Addis Hays’ 47 Philadelphia City Directory Listings (1803-1864)
A Philadelphia census in 1800 records him in west Northern Liberties – later he would be counted in Spring Garden, in what would now be called Callowhill. But based on the geography of his 47 city directory listings, I think he only ever had one home in Philadelphia. It was worth about $5000 in 1850, and he owned it. Though the street and neighborhood names changed around him, Addis stayed put for 64 years living and working at 917 Noble St (See on Google maps).
Some of his directory entries reference James St, some Noble St – it’s the same street. It was renamed in 1858. He sometimes says he’s on the corner of James and Charles – Charles was renamed Percy, so now it would be the corner of Noble and Percy. A few times he throws a curveball and says he’s based on Pleasant St – now called Hamilton – but that’s just the rear entry of his property. His home faced onto Noble and backed onto Hamilton.
He was a carpenter by trade and worked for himself with one exception. Between 1829 and 1835, he was the “Superintendent of Spring Garden”, but I don’t know precisely what that means. He may have been responsible for the maintenance of Spring Garden road, he may have been on the Spring Garden neighborhood board – I just can’t tell you.
He died of dysentery and was buried beside his wife on June 17th, 1864 in Monument Cemetery, but his travels didn’t end there. On April 20th, 1895, Catherina, Addis and 5 of their descendants were moved from plots 1, 2 & 3 South, and re-interred together in Lot 186.
Then, in 1956, when Temple University took over the cemetery, they were moved again to Lawnview Cemetery. Of the 28,000 known burials, only about 300 families were successfully contacted and able to pay for their ancestors to be reburied elsewhere with headstones intact. Addis & Catherina were not among the lucky few. Any headstones they may have left behind were sold for riprap, and now sit at the foot of the Betsy Ross Bridge.
Henry & Deborah Hays, 5th great-grandparents
It may comfort you to know that the parents of Addis Hays still lie undisturbed in the Hays Burial Ground across the river in Florence, NJ. They’re 500 feet off the road, adjacent to a truck depot, and in the shadow of the New Jersey Turnpike Bridge – but they’re still there. The cemetery is maintained by a handful of descendents through the Hays Riverview Cemetery Association.
In memory of Deborah, wife of Henry Hays who departed this life June 10th, 1813 aged 72 years. The sweet wonderful hand of the just Shall touch when you sleep hither Remembered.
Addis Hays’ mother was Deborah. Her last name and birthplace are lost in time but we know she was born in 1741 and died on June 10th, 1813. She married Henry Hays about 1765, and together they had 9 children. Though Deborah lived to be 72 and was 20 years younger than her husband, Henry still outlived her – he made it to the age of 100.
He was born sometime in 1721 in Bergen County, NJ and was baptized on May 20th, 1722 under his Dutch name, Hendrik Hees, at the Dutch Reformed Church of Hackensack. When he was about 17, his father Willem Hees (William Hays) moved the family to an area on the Delaware river where Bucks county, PA meets Burlington county, NJ. Henry’s father owned property on both sides of the river and Henry’s younger half-siblings were born in Bucks.
In memory of Henry Hays who departed this life July 26th 1821 aged 100 years. The last parental tribute we can pay to him who owns this silent bed of clay.
Henry was a farmer and settled in Burlington county, where all of his children were born. In 1770 and 1773, he paid a tax on land in Burlington Township – 70 acres, 7 horses/cattle, 0 slaves/servants. Then, in 1774, he paid a tax on 218 acres of land in Mansfield Township – 4 horses, 7 cattle, 3 hogs, 0 slaves/servants. By 1810, he owed tax for 20 acres in Mansfield, as well as 155 acres and a fishery in Burlington Township.
His last farm was purchased in 1785 – just 2 years after the end of the Revolutionary War. It fronted the Delaware river and belonged to John Hays – maybe a relative – but it was purchased at public auction, through assignees, so John Hays was likely dead. At one time, this farm surrounded the Hays Burial Ground and lay adjacent to Peter Schuyler’s land. Schuyler ran a ferry service at a narrow point on the river and that same geography made it a likely spot for the Turnpike Bridge over 200 years later.
We know a lot about this farm – and by extension Henry – not because we have the original deed but because Henry lost the original deed and had to organize multiple depositions in 1819 – some 34 years later – to solidify his claim to the land.
He became grievously ill a year after the death of his wife and, being 92, no one expected he would survive. So his papers were gathered up and locked in a chest. When he pulled through the illness, he asked his son Henry to walk through his documents to see that they were in order – and the deed came up missing.
What followed was a long series of newspaper ads, public postings, sworn testimony – affirmed testimony for the Quaker witnesses – and a general hunt for corroborating evidence to get back legal title to the farm – and he did get it back.
Read Depositions Taken in 1819 Regarding Henry’s Farm Purchased 1785
Henry was 54 when the Revolutionary War broke out – his son Addis was only 3 – and though there were skirmishes all over his patch of Burlington, particularly in 1778, don’t file your SAR/DAR application just yet. To qualify for the Sons & Daughters of the American Revolution, your ancestor must have either: served in the rebel military; paid a tax or rendered a service to the rebel government before the end of the war; or suffered some form of personal or property damage at the hands of the British.
If Henry supported the rebel cause, I haven’t found the proof of it yet. Neither Henry, nor any of his sons, are listed as combatants. One son was a witness to the property damage of his neighbor, but the Hays family filed no damages themselves. Henry paid taxes right up to and right after the war but there is, as yet, no record to prove he supported the rebel cause before it was won.
William Hays & Angenitie Kamminga, 6th great-grandparents
Henry’s father, William Hays, was a German. He came to New York in 1710 from somewhere in the middle Rhine region. Whatever came before that, whatever he left behind, we just don’t know.
That region of Germany was repeatedly invaded by the French and some 13,000 Germans sought refuge in England. Their arrival in England and England’s inability to integrate them caused a raucous debate on the merits of immigration. Only the Irish settlements in Wexford and Limerick had any long term success and, in 1710, England shipped 10 boatloads of refugees to New York. It is reasonable to believe that William Hays was among them.
As a German speaker married to a Dutch speaker living among English speakers, there are many variations of his surname – Hese, Hessel, Hees, Heas, Hayes and Hays – but we can use the names and ages of his children, along with other documentation, to show that we’re talking about one and the same man.
He married Angenitie Kamminga on March 17th, 1716 at the First Reformed Dutch Church in Hackensack and together they had 4 children before she died in about 1723. When he moved south to Bucks and Burlington counties, it was with his second wife Geertye Pietersen.
Open the William Hays’ Land Conveyance, 16 MAY 1738
In 1738, he purchased a property in Burlington City from Robert Ridgeway which identifies him as ‘William Hays of the County of Bergen in the Eastern Division of New Jersey, Yeoman’. There is also a church record in Bergen county saying that he moved to Bucks county in 1739, but an inventory of the property listed in his will shows that he was established on both sides of the river.
1759, Feb. 2. Hays, William, of Burlington City; will of. Wife (not named). Children — William, Isaac (under age), Henry, John, Abraham (under age), Jacob, Mary (wife of James Inglish), Hannah (wife of Lewis Stannerd), Ann (wife of John Reynolds. Grandson, John Hayes. Farm, bought of Richard Rldgway; land bought of Lemuel Oldale; land bought of William Cutler; house, lot and stone quarry in ‘Pensilvania’ bought of Isaac Connero; farm in Willingborough Township, bought of Timothy Thomas. Personal estate. Executors — son, Jacob, and Arent Schuyler, both of said city. Witnesses — Solomon Oldale, Ann Oldale, Fridrick Ham. Proved Feb. 26, 1759. Lib. 9, p. 188. 1759, . Inventory, £355.15.7, inc. bonds, £193.14.4; an old negro man, £2; 40 bush, of wheat, £9.10; 40 do. of buckwheat, £3.10; 16 do. of Indian corn, £1.12; 18 do. of rye, £2.5; made by William Smith and William Miller.
William had 4 properties in Burlington, as well as a house, lot and stone quarry in Bucks county. Using share-of-GDP to calculate value, £1 is equivalent to about $21,700 in today’s money. This shows William to be a wealthy man. It also shows him to be a slave owner – and though I’ve looked, I haven’t found a record documenting the name of the older man who was his slave.
Slavery began in the region as early as 1639 under the Dutch West India Company. In Pennsylvania, Quakers worked in force to abolish slavery, but William Penn himself was a slaveholder, and early Quaker settlers likewise held and traded in slaves. It was not abolished there until 1780.
In 1786, New Jersey banned the importation of slaves but it also banned the settlement of free Blacks from elsewhere. It eventually passed a law gradually abolishing slavery starting in 1804 but by 1830 two-thirds of the slaves still held in the North were held in New Jersey. The last slaves were liberated in 1865, when slavery was abolished nationwide.
The Dutch – 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th great-grandparents in America
As is almost never the case, I can say more about William Hays’ wife than I can say about William Hays himself – and that’s because Angenitie Kamminga was the 5th generation of her family to live in America.
She was born in New Utrecht, in what today would be called Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. At the time, New Utrecht didn’t yet have it’s own church, so she was baptized on May 5th, 1688 at the Dutch Reformed Church in Flatbush.
I sweare by the name of Almighty God, that I will bee a true subject, to the King of Great Brittaine, and will obey all such commands, as I shall receive from His Majestie, His Royall Highnesse James Duke of Yorke, and such Governors and Officers, as from time to time are appointed over me, by His authority, and none other, whilst I live in any of his Majesties territoryes; So Helpe Me God.
Angenitie’s father, Hendrick Janse Kamminga, was born about 1660 in the Netherlands and emigrated in 1679. His surname – spelled every which way you can imagine – seems to be Friesian and suggests that he came from Friesland, in the north west corner of the Netherlands.
Eventually the British, who took over the Dutch colony in 1674, required all Dutch residents to swear an Oath of Allegiance to the King – and Hendrick swore his oath in Kings county sometime between September 26-30, 1687. He settled in New Utrecht and married his first wife Anna Maria Verveelen in 1686. He later married for the second time in Hackensack, but seems to have died back in New Utrecht in 1720.
Angenitie’s mother, Anna Maria was baptized on January 10th, 1666 in New Amsterdam – what would eventually be called New York City. She was the daughter of Daniel Verveelen and Aletta Schaets. Her parents both came to America in 1652 with Aletta’s father, the Reverend Gideon Schaets, and they married 10 years later in Beverwyck.
The Reverend Schaets was born in Leerdam, Holland, in about 1607. He tutored the children of the Count de Treslong and, in 1634, he married their governess, Agnietje Moens Moriaens. For 12 years, they ran a school in Beesd, where their children were born. Then in 1652, Gideon was ordained in the Dutch Reformed Church and accepted a posting in the new world, serving Rensselaerswyck and Beverwyck – essentially, upstate New York and Albany.
Read a translation of Reverend Gideon Schaets’ contract
Read translations of Dutch records mentioning Reverend Gideon Schaets
He emigrated probably on the “Gelderse Blom” to serve out a 3 year contract, and arrived on Jul 24th, 1652 with his wife, 2 sons, his daughter and two teenagers, Anna and Daniel Verveelan. The Dutch-born Verveelen siblings were descended from a combination of German protestants fleeing religious persecution in Cologne and a British military officer who married a Dutch wife.
There was already a small church in place at what today would be the corner of State and Broadway, but the Reverend Gideon Schaets undertook the building of a new church on the same spot in 1656 – and this building would be part church, part fortress. The Blockhouse church, as it was called, was on an intersection at the main road into Beverwyck, and had a pulpit and benches for the ladies on the first floor. The men kept watch during worship, and were stationed by cannons mounted on the second floor balcony.
If you want to get close to Gideon, travel to the First Church of Albany. There, in the James chapel, you will find the oldest pulpit in America, the pulpit that waited for Gideon on his arrival in America. Visit the main sanctuary and you will see the Hour Glass Pulpit. Gideon had that one made of Flemish oak for his Blockhouse church – and that, together with a cock shaped weathervane, were bought by him for 25 beaver pelts in 1656. They are still in use today.
His wife, Agnietje, the governess, made a name for herself in trade. When they arrived in the Beverwyck with a salary of 800 guilders, they failed to take into account that the cost of living was 4x higher in the new world. For a time, the Reverend’s family ended up living in a home Peter Stuyvesant had built for the indigent poor. To make ends meet, she began to trade, and though we don’t know precisely what her business was, it was a town entirely built on the fur trade and the supply of those in the fur trade. She died in Beverwyck in 1666.
Daniel Verveelen, the young man who traveled with the Schaets to America and later married their daughter Aletta, became a trader in Beverwyck and New Amsterdam. Eventually his own parents, Johannes Verveelen and Anna Chatvelt migrated to New Amsterdam possibly with Johannes’ widowed mother, Anna Eelhout – Anna was listed as the baptismal sponsor of her great-grandaughter Anna Maria. Johannes became a partner in the Red Lion Brewery and Daniel later followed him into that business.
The Red Lion was the first brand-named brewery in America and that’s largely because it had multiple partners with different last names. It sat on a large lot on Beaver St – it’s still called Beaver Street – and had its own well. I’ve spotlighted it on this map from 1660, but you’ll notice the map-maker already made it brighter than all the surrounding locations. Perhaps he liked the beer.
Read translations of Dutch records mentioning Daniel Verveelen
The Red Lion Brewery was founded by Isaac de Forest some time around 1645, and he partnered with Johannes Verveelen and Jean de la Montagne. Verveelen eventually pulled in his son Daniel, and bought out the other partners.
In a testiment to the smallness of the world, it turns out I am related to all the partners of the Red Lion Brewery. Daniel Verveelen is my 8th great-grandfather – Johannes Verveelen, my 9th great-grandfather. Jean de la Montagne is my 10th great-grandfather, and Isaac de Forest is his brother-in-law – the brother of my 10th great-grandmother Rachel de Forest.
These last 3 are by a completely different family line but Jean de la Montagne actually boarded with the de Forest family in Leydon before marrying his wife Rachel. They were all French Huguenots fleeing persecution in France.
Read translations of Dutch records mentioning Isaac de Forest
Read translations of Dutch records mentioning Jean de la Montagne
When the Red Lion Brewery burned down in 1675, Daniel and Aletta moved on. He’d been a trader, a brewer and a ferry master in Harlem. After living in Beverwyck, New Amsterdam, and New Utrecht, they finally settled down in Hackensack, where they both died – Aletta in 1680 and Daniel in 1712.
And is there more?
Some of these ancestors, these early American founders, are well known and well documented so, doubtless, there more stories to find. But, for now, my story ends on the docks at New Amsterdam – at the place they chose to start over, leaving off what they left behind.