3899Gerritje Gerrits
Key Facts
Snapshot:lived in colonial New York
Parents:7798Gerrit Thÿszen
Her mother's identity is unknown.
Born:unknown
Last known record:22 December 1695
Kingston, Ulster County, New York
Buried:unknown

3899Gerritje Gerrits' life is known entirely from her children's baptism records, which are summarized in the table below.

Date Town Child Father Mother Sponsors Source
22 May 1676Bergen Hendrickje Tonis ElisenGerritje Gerrits Gerrit Tysen, Pieter Hesselse, Hermptje Hermens
1
23 November 1679Kingston Elias Teunis ElysseGerritie Gerrits Jan Willemsse Jooghtaelingh, Laurents Ackerman, Barber Jans
2
12 March 1682Kingston Gerrit Teunis ElisseGerritie Gerritdr Wessel ten Broek, and his wife, Maritie Ten Eyck
3
10 February 1684Kingston Rebecca Teunis EliaszGerritie Gerritz Gerrit Cornelisz, Chieltie [surname not given]
4
17 January 1686Kingston Rachel Teunis EliaszGerritie Gerritz Benjaming Provoost, Elsie Aelbertz
5
15 January 1688Kingston Jacob Teunis ElissenGeritje Gerits Henderick Beeckman, Cornelia Ten Broeck
6
28 January 1692Kingston Rebecca Teunis ElisenGerritje Gerritsen "Held for baptism by the mother herself."
7
22 December 1695Kingston 1949Rachel Teunis ElissenGerritje Gerrits Willem de Meyer, Anna Wemp
8

Although no document explicitly names 3899Gerritje's father, her children's baptism records imply somewhat strongly that her father was 7798Gerrit Thÿszen. Arthur Kelly's book Names, Names, and More Names: Locating Your Dutch Ancestors in Colonial America states on page 217:

"The typical family [...] seemed to prefer a system of naming the first two children of each sex in honor of the grandparents of the same sex. Usually the father's father was the name chosen for the first male child. The second male child would then be named for the mother's father and the succeeding male children were likely to be named for uncles and others whom the family wished to honor. Daughters' names were also selected based upon grandparents' names when this system was used."

Accordingly, then, we see that 3899Gerritje named her second son Gerrit,3 apparently in honor of 7798Gerrit Thÿszen, who previously had sponsored the baptism of her firstborn daughter Hendrickje.1 (Note that 7798Gerrit's wife Harmentje, who is also named as a sponsor for Hendrickje's baptism,1 could not have been 3899Gerritje's mother, since Harmentje and 7798Gerrit had married just 12 years earlier.9 Therefore, the usual Dutch patronymic naming patterns as described by Arthur Kelly may not be relevant for the names of 3899Gerritje's daughters.)

Her children's baptism records also prove that 3899Gerritje married 3898Teunis Elissen, although I have not found an actual marriage record.

Sources Cited:

1: Year Book of the Holland Society of New York: 1913, page 23, entry #40 for the baptism of Hendrickje on 22 May 1676.

2: Roswell Randall Hoes, ed., Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York (De Vinne Press, New York, 1891), page 13, entry #199 for the baptism of Elias on 23 November 1679.

3: ibid., page 16, entry #256 for the baptism of Gerrit on 12 March 1682.

4: ibid., page 21, entry #351 for the baptism of Rebecca on 10 February 1684.

5: ibid., page 25, entry #444 for the baptism of Rachel on 17 January 1686.

6: ibid., page 30, entry #550 for the baptism of Jacob on 15 January 1688.

7: ibid., page 37, entry #693 for the baptism of Rebecca on 28 January 1692.

8: ibid., page 46, entry #882 for the baptism of Rachel on 22 December 1695.

9: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume VI (1875), page 146, entry dated 29 November 1664 for the marriage of Gerrit Thÿszen (Van Amsterdam) and Harmentje Harmens.