Bergen – New Jersey Genealogy

The Vandelinda Family of Bergen County

Genealogical history of Hudson and Bergen counties, New Jersey

Pieter Linde was a native of Belle, a town on the road from Bruges to Ghent in Flanders. He was a physician, and came to America in 1639 with his wife, Elsie Barents. The shipping records show that, on April 18, 1639, he paid to David Pietersen de Vries and Frederick Pietersen de Vries 140 Carolus gelders ($56) for passage for himself and wife to New Amsterdam, where he settled and followed his profession until the death of his wife in 1643. On July 1, of the following year (1644), he entered into a marriage contract with Martha Chambers, or … Read more

Biography of Jan Adrainse Sip of Hudson County

Jan Adrainse Sip was at Bergen as early as 1684, where, on April 22 of that year, he married Johanna Van Voorst He bought several lots at Bergen during the next fifteen years, and became an important and influential person in the town. His issue were eleven children, among whom were Ide, John, Cornelius, Abraham, Henry, and Helena. Most of them married and became residents of Bergen. Their descendants are still numerous in Hudson County.

The Sickles Family of Bergen and Hudson County

The Sickles Family had much to do with the early settlement of Hudson and Bergen Counties. Zacharias Sickles, the common American ancestor of the family, was a native of the City of Vienna, Austria, who soon after reaching manhood drifted to Amsterdam, Holland, where he entered the military service and was sent with a fleet on a cruise to Curacoa, where he remained until 1655. In the service he attained the rank of Adelborst or Cadet. In 1655 Governor Stuyvesant paid a visit to the island where Sickles was on duty. The latter accompanied the Governor to New Amsterdam and … Read more

Biography of Daniel Rutan of Bergen County

Daniel Rutan was located at Esopus on the Hudson River prior to 1700. The place of his nativity does not appear, but he was no doubt a Hollander. His sons, Abraham, Daniel, Jr., and Peter, came to New Jersey and located at Aquackanonck (Passaic) as early as 1702. In 1703 Abraham married, at Hackensack, Mary Rutan, probably a near relative of his. In 1710 Daniel married Ann Hanse Spier, of Bergen, whose parents were then living at Passaic. In November, 1713, Daniel’s brother Peter located at New Barbados (west of Hackensack), here he married Gertrude Vanderhoff. The Vanderhoffs and Rutans … Read more

The Powless Family of Bergen County

The Powless Family, still very numerous in Bergen County, trace their descent from Paulus Pietersen, who was born at Merwen, Holland, in 1632, and emigrated to this country in 1656. His wife, Tryntie Martens, was among the emigrants who came over from Holland in the ship “Gilded Beaver,” in 1658. The marriage of Paulus Pietersen and Tryntie Martens is that announced on the records of the old Dutch church in New York: “Paulus Pietersen, j.d. Van Merwin int Stiff Aken in lant van Gilbert Sept 1, 1685.” Merwin is a small town in Holland, and Aken a town in Prussian … Read more

Genealogy of John H. Post of Bergen County

Captain Adriaen Post first came to America from Harlengen, Holland, about 1653, as agent or manager of Baron Van der Cappellan’s colony on Staten Island. Upon the destruction of that colony by the Indians early in 1655, Mr. Post fled to Bergen (Jersey City), whence, in September following, he, with his wife, five children, two servants, and one girl, were taken prisoners by the Indians at what is known as the second massacre of Pavonia. The family escaped by the payment of a heavy ransom, and Post was thereupon dispatched by the Bergen colonists to treat with the sachems of … Read more

Genealogy of Abraham Oothout Zabriskie of Bergen County

Abraham Oothout Zabriskie belonged to one of the most numerous and eminently conspicuous families of Bergen County. In Poland the name was “Sobieska,” and Albrecht Sobieska was the first of the family in America. It has been claimed by many of his descendants that royal blood coursed in Albrecht’s veins, because he was a brother of John III., the last king of Poland. The facts do not sustain such a claim. Albrecht Sobieska was not a brother of the last king of Poland. James Sobieska (the king’s father) and his wife, Theophila, had but three children: Mark, John (the king), … Read more

The Gautier Family of Bergen County

The Gautier Family, at one time numerous in Hudson County, was a French Huguenot family who came to America after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. By intermarriage a considerable landed estate in Bergen, N. J., came into possession of the family. This property, at what is now Greenville, is known as the “Gautier farm,” descended through one Captain Thomas Brown. Jacques Gautier, of Saint Blancard, in the Province of Languedoc, France, is said to have been the first American progenitor of the Gautiers. He settled in New Amsterdam, and left issue two sons, Daniel and … Read more

The Garrabrant Family of Bergen County

The Garrabrant Family, the inter members of which are numerous in the western part of Bergen and Hudson Counties, claim descent from Gerbrand Claesen, a Dutch emigrant, who, at one time, had much influence over the early affairs of Bergen. Claesen was from Amsterdam, and was at Bergen probably two or three years before he married Maritie, only daughter of Claes Pietersen Cos, which was August 25, 1674. He became a large property owner and held many official positions. In 1689 he obtained permission of Governor Leisler to purchase a tract of land now in Putnam County, N. Y., and, … Read more

The De Groot Family of Bergen County

The De Groot Family, still numerous in Bergen and Hudson Counties, are of Holland descent. William Pietersen de Groot came to America in 1662, on board the ship “Hope,” with his wife and five children. They were from Amsterdam, Holland. Dirck Jansen de Groot, a native of Rylevelt, in Holland, came to New Amsterdam as a soldier in the Dutch service, on board the ship “Spotted Cow,” April 15, 1660, leaving behind him his wife, Grietie Gerrets, and two children. In April, 1663, Dirck’s brother, Staats de Groot, who, the ship’s register says, was a resident of Tricht, Holland, came … Read more