Wolpherts Sons

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Wolphert's Sons

Gerret, oldest of the three sons, settled in Midwout (Flatbush) near Achterveldt on 50 morgens of land. deeds for which are dated January 26, 1638 and September 16, 1641. In 1643, Gerret was one of a group sent to the Staats General in Holland to present the forlorn and defenseless condition of New Netherlands settlers due to Director Wilhelmus Kief's inciting war amongst the Indians. Grandsons of Gerret; Cornelius, Albert, Peter, and Jacob--settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey about 1700. Another grandson, William, remained in Flatlands.

Another son, Jacob was taken into the Dutch West India Company as an assistant by Governor Van Twiller and later became a tobacco planter and brewer. In 1664 he was licensed by Governor Nichols to trade in his sloop with the Indians along the Hudson River. Jacob marrried Hester Jansen in Amsterdam, Holland, on December 1, 1636, and they were the parents of six children. On March 4, 1643, Jacob and David de Vries volunteered to go out of Fort Amsterdam to the Rockaway Convention to spend the night with the Indians to make peace. In 1649 and 1650 under Pieter Stuyvesant, Jacob was a member of the Court of Arbitrators. On June 26, 1649, Jacob was sent to Holland as one of three men to represent New Netherlands at the Hague. On July 3 1643, the West India Company granted land to Jacob in Brooklyn on the East River including what is now the New York Navy Yard, City Park and the Fifth Ward.

Pieter, youngest son of Wolphert, became a miller and a brewer. His bewery was at what later was the corner of Pearl and William Streets, New York City, After New Amsterdam was incoporated in 1653, a court of Schout (sheriff), Burgomaster, and Schepens (sheriffs or Aldermen), was established. On February 2, 1653, Pieter and four others were appointed to sit in court from October 19, 1655 until 1660. In September, 1655, Pieter was one of three men who went among and negotiated with the marauding Indians fot the return of Christian captives, he being an interpreter of the Indian Language. In 1663, as Lieutenant, he was sent by Stuyvesant to retaliate against the Indians at Esopus (Now Kingston, New York). On March 12, 1665, he was appointed City Surveyor.

Peter Cownover, son of Lt. Pieter Wolphersen Couwenhoven, was the first of the name to settle in Southeastern, New Jersey. His deed for land in Great Egg Harbor is dated November, 1695. Peter Cownover's sons, Peter and John were among the first owners of Absecon Beach, now Atlantic City, New Jersey.

 



Compiler:
David Kipp Conover
9068 Crystal Vista Lane, West Jordan, Utah 84088