Hello list,
I would appreciate any advice/help re my ancestor, Gerrit Jansen van Oldenburg, whose antedents and place of birth are unknown. The first evidence of him in the New World (or anywhere) is a document signed in 1632 by Peter Minuet instructing that Gerrit, his farm manager in New Amsterdam, should convey certain property to Killian van Rensselaer. The genealogist who made the documentary link to my line of Garrisons speculates that Gerrit was of German descent in view of the van Oldenburg appelation, citing the fact that Oldenburg is near the Dutch border. However, Gerrit seems to have been closely connected to the Dutch community in New Amsterdam--his children were all baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church--so I question whether he might not have been Dutch rather than German. Any advice or comments about the van Oldenburg appelation would be most appreciated.
Mark Garrison
Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Hello Mark,
I am sure your Gerrit Jansen van Oldenburg was dutch. This can be concluded
from the 2 very dutch names Gerrit and Jansen and the typically dutch word
"van" (from). Jansen means "son of Jan", so his father was called Jan.
Also his being connected to the Dutch Reformed Church, is clear evidence.
The name Oldenburg is not uncommon in the Netherlands, but probably
connected to the german town of that name. So it may be that the ancestors
of Jan van Oldenburg were german.
As you may know for centuries there were a lot of people travelling from
Oldenburg to the Netherlands, to find employment during the summer. Very
often people never returned to Germany.
Regards,
Yair Malachi
Hallo Mark and Yair,
I dont think this Gerrit Jansen whas Dutch, I knowe for my self when you in
Amsterdam search for a birth or dead record off the name Jan or Gerrit Jansen
it cost you day,s so manny Jansens are there.
But in this case I think it whas Gerrit Jansen from the aria Oldeburg and in
the north and west from Oldenburg are the names Henk, Hans, Jan and Gerrit
common.
And mabey he whas speaking plat German so he did not have troubles to
understand the services from the Dutch Church.
In the Churchbooks from L�ningen I have found Janssen/Janzen verry urly(1680)
as surname, in Holland whe write when it is a patroniem Gerrit Janz the z is
from zoon
= son.
When Gerrit whas from Holland I think there whas written Gerrit Jansen from
Amsterdam or Holland.
Greetings Betty Krull
Yair Malachi schreef:
I would suspect that Jansen came from somewhere in
Oldenburg to Holland - such travel not being a rare occasion.
Trouble is that Jansen is like Johnson, a very common name
and you're looking for him from somewhere in the country
(Grafschaft Oldenburg) way back when record keeping was
slim. But I guess you know you're looking for a needle in a
haystack.
Fred
4788 Corian Court
Naples, FL 34114
941-775-7838; 941-269-4781 (FL cell)
or 215-205-2841 (Philly cell)
FredRump@earthlink.net
Mark
Gerrit Jansen van Oldenburg sound very dutch although his origional ancestors could come from Oldenburg.
Mine came from Oldenburg around 1750 and stayed in Amsterdam until now. Both worlds available. Maybe I can be any help when I'm in the Amsterdam Municipal Archives to take a quick look. Gerrit must be one of the first immigrants to New York (New Amsterdam). About those first settlers is some litterature available and I saw a map with all the properties of Manhattan.
Paul.
Thank you very much for your offer to take a look. Gerrit must have been
one of the first, but we don't know when he came to New Amsterdam, only that
he was there working for Peter Minuit as of 1632. He might have arrived
with Minuit in 1626 or came later. Surprisingly little available about
Minuit, considering that he is supposed to have bought Manhattan from the
Indians.
Mark