John Helms came from Barlt, North Brabant Holland

John Helms from Bartl, North Brabant Holland

In 1642, John Helms came from Bartl, North Brabant Holland to PA, probably, according to The Ketelhuyn Chronicles 1451-1899 and The Swartwout Chronicles 1338-1899. Below is the Holstrin item:

Jan Helmsz(en) (Jan de Bock) from Bartl in Holstein, arrived at New Amsterdam by "den Houttuyn" on August 4, 1642
We do not know for sure where he originated.

It is said that the Helms surname originated in Austria. Well, North Brabant was divided into a territory that later became part of Austria, but later it was part of the Netherlands. Therefore, it is a possibility that John Helms was a German (Austrian). who was actually in a Holland location. We do not find a Bartl in old or new maps of Holstein, but we do find N. Brabant in Holland: See attached map below

North Brabant, Holland

Noordbrabant province (1994 pop. 2,259,800), c.1,920 sq mi (4,970 sq km), S Netherlands, bordering on Belgium in the south and on Germany in the east. The capital is Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch); other cities include Tilburg, Eindhoven, and Breda. The province has fertile soil near the Maas (Meuse), which is its northern boundary, but elsewhere is comprised mainly of sandy heathland. Wheat and sugar beets are grown, cattle are raised, and dairying is pursued. Among the chief manufactures of the province are textiles, motor vehicles, electrical appliances, shoes, and pharmaceuticals. The history of the province was that of Brabant Brabant, duchy of until the late 16th cent., when the Dutch revolted against the harsh Spanish rule. As a result of the Spanish reconquest of the larger part of the duchy, Brabant was divided by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) between the Spanish (later Austrian), Netherlands and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. North Brabant, the smaller part occupied by the United Provinces, remained Catholic. It was administered by the United Provinces as a territory and was not granted a seat in the States-General. In 1795, North Brabant became a province of the Netherlands. During the 19th cent. certain heathlands were reclaimed and settled; after 1900, settlement subsided. Nearly 50% of the population has since become urban.

In Present day North Brabant, Holland, there is no place called Bartl. However, the name is associated with a 1st Baronet and others - see the list below:

NAME	Relevance
Bartle Frere	100.0%
Bartle Frère	100.0%
Zlata Bartl	91.9%
Richard Bartle	91.7%
Bartles & Jaymes	91.1%
Sir Bartle Frere	82.6%
Henry Bartle Edward Frere	82.6%
Sir Bartle Frère	82.6%
Richard Allan Bartle	82.6%
Bartle, 1st Baronet Frere	82.6%
H. Roe Bartle	82.6%
Bartles and James	82.6%
Bartles and Jaymes	82.6%
H roe bartle	82.6%
Richard A. Bartle	82.6%
R. v Bartle	82.6%
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere	73.9%
Frere, Sir Henry Bartle Edward	73.9%
Mount Bartle Frere	73.8%
Harold Roe Bartle	73.4%
Jean Ashworth Bartle	.

Just why the location Bartl would have been associated with an Englishman is not presently known. Yet, Bartl is more likely than any location we have found in Holstein.

IMPORTANT FALKENBURG MATERIAL

Falkenburg is an allied name for the NC Helms because of the marriage of George Helms to Mary Margaret Falkenbug.

Mentions in NY records: The" Documentary History of of the State of NY Vol I" which contains data for Albany, NY, lists the free holders in 1720 in the City and County of Albany. There as big as life in the Colone Renseleeks Wyck section are several Falkenburghs and Valkenburghs, (Johannes, Hendy, and Jacob Valkenburgh) and Jaac Falkenburgh. Later, we find Henry, Jacob and Isaac Falkenborougjh in the Valley of Va (with George Helms) and some of them later in NC and SC. So, now, it appears that we have the trace upwards of the Falkenburg's to NY colony in 1720.

Our Sue Martinson found a J. Holme in Denmark references (but no details), and in the Albany NY records in Genealogy Quest. Helm and Holm are often confused, and the Falkenburg name was often misspelled.

Below are more details on the Albany records which places him on a farm there.

Jan Helmsz(en)

Jan Helmsz(en) (Jan de Bock) from Barlt in Holstein, arrived at New Amsterdam by "den Houttuyn" on August 4, 1642, and drew wages from August 13, 1642, in the colony of Rensselaerswyck. From about 1650 to 1658 he is charged with an annual rent of fl. 445 for a farm at BETHELEM, which he appears to have taken over from Jan Dirksz from Bremen. In 1651 he had on this farm six horses and seven cattle.

On October 9, 1650, he acted as sponsor in New Amsterdam at the baptism of Arent, son of Barent Jacobsen.

A letter of May 5, 1660 from Stuyvesant to Ensign Smith of Esopus, seems to refer to Jan or maybe Isaac Helms : "At the request of I .....Helms, made to us, we have given him permission to bring twenty or twenty-five schepels of bread from the Esopus."

It appears that the Esopus is a ship and a Helms is taking bread from a ship perhaps to sell at market. The I.... suggests Isaac rather than Jan or John. However we are just as interested in Isaac as we are in John since some NC HELMS stories indicate that our founder may have been Isaac Helms. Jan de Bock may indicate "of" or "from" Bock. Maybe that is how some say he was from Holstein

This material placed that Jan well up the Hudson at Renssaeler which is really at Albany. Ridpath, in his History of the USA, traces the steps of the Dutch from the time of the explorations of Henry Hudson until a Dutch Colony was set up in 1623-24.

In 1629 the Dutch established 5 estates in the NY area. Three were contiguous and located up the Hudson River at Ft Orange. That was what the article meant as Renssaeler. Thus, Jan was up the Hudson in what is now Renssaeler County. Just which of the estates Jan was on is not known, presently. The Patroon who was assigned an estate had to place 50 settlers there within 4 years, and meet some other conditions, like buying the land from the Indians. There was a Bethlehem TWP near Albany.

From 1640 to about 1646 the Indians attacked that colony, and was eventually overrun by the Indians and the inhabitants were scattered. By then, the English had settled some of the Palatines to that area.

Thus, we have fixed Jan at Renssalear in 1642. So he was engulfed in war. I don't have any of the names of settlers from other sources.
The bread could have been taken off the ship in the NY harbor or up the river ar Ft Orange. That was in 1660, which is nearly 20 years later. The English took over the Dutch NY colony in 1664. So, presumably, it was still Dutch in the case of <I... Helms> in 1660. That <I... Helms> could be an entirely new line or a son of Jan. Isaac is logical for <I.... >.

There was also a Bethlehem TWP in West New Jersey, and in the History where the Bethlehem TWP in NJ is mentioned there was supposed to have been a German Baptist (Moravian) settlement there at a place labeled Helm on old maps . (The Dutch settlers in NY had been the same as the French Huguenots so far as religion was concerned. The Palatines were if mixed religion, but had to swear to accept the English preferred church.)

Jan is not a usual German given name but is a Swedish or Dutch name. Isaac is a frequent German given name. Johan or Joh is also a frequent German fore-name, but does not fit this case. Janz or Jansz have connotations in Holland, (Son or grand son of._) One often sees names like Janson (Jans son), probably originally Jan's son.

The Dirksz was really a last name created from Dirk's son or Dirk's Grandson, (in the Dutch way.) Of course,since these are probably derived from Dutch records, they may have Dutchicized them, as we think the English records Anglicized names. For instance, each of the Swedes in the Swedish colony on the Delaware had aliases which were Anglicized adaptations. Sometimes a person's records were in the Swedish way, with the alias being Anglicized.

So we have more than casual interest in this line of Helms. And as pointed out In the SC Hellums section under Other Helms, that Jan/John may have been their originator, as well as the originator of the NC Helms lines. This may be how they entered and migrated in America.

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