HISTORY OP THE Lent (van Lent) Family IN THE UNITED STATES GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL From the Time they Left their Native Soil in Holland By NELSON BURTON LENT, NEWBURGH, N. Y. 1-cwburi:h Jounial Printing Howie and Book-Bindery, Cor, Smith and Third Streeta, •QOJ. PREFACE. ~ S time rolls on changes take place that we never dreamed of. To­ e-'"' day family history and tradition are the prevailing topics. Realiz- ing the family of Lents to be a large and patriotic one, the author and publisher of this work attempted to collect information on the Lent family. After about seven years or more of hard work, entailing a large expense collecting the necessary information-both biographical and genealogical-to warrant the publication of a work of this kind, it is now submitted to the reader for his criticism. The family is one of the most widely extended in the United States. This fact made the preparation of the work very difficult. This being the first Lent family history ever got­ ten up, made it a still greater undertaking, but " where there's a will there's a way." So after working diligently and energetically, tired often, dis­ couraged at times, we kept at it. Finally the information came in rapidly, and this gave us new vigor, and at last we came off victor. Several persons had undertaken to publish a book of the Lent Family, but after a time they gave it up. It was too hard an undertaking-the work covering the very long period of two hundred and si~y-five years. As we perused the time-worn leaves from the old records, an impres­ sion was left upon our minds that can never be forgotten. To know the hand that rocked the _cradle of our ancestors, handled the pen that wrote the signature some_ two hundred years ago! Son:e of the names in Dutch had to be interpreted, while others were clear and plain in English. If our forefathers could but arise from their long slumbering places of abode, and know the great multitude that have lived since their time, they would be amazed. The name was originally "Ryck Abrahamson," who took the name of " van Lent." The van signifying of or from the land of Lent in Holland. 4 The Lent Family This name van Lent was retained by some of the family until the last cen­ tury, when it was finally dropped, and they used the plain name" Lent." We find also one or two who spell their name with the final "e "-Lente. The letter was placed there for reasons not known. The last and only one who spells his name "Lente" is the Rev. James Rapelye Lente, a retired Protestant Dutch Reformed minister residing at Washingtonville, N. Y. There may be errors in the book, but we trust not many, as we have been very careful to have it as accurate as possible. If errors are found we wish you would send them to the publisher, so that he can make a record of them, in case he should issue another edition. We trust the book will get into the hands of all the family of Lents, especially here represented, as we think it will be invaluable to them in the way of making known their family lines, &c. Outside of the Lent family we wish to thank Mr. E. M. Ruttenber, the historian ; Mr. Samuel Ritchie, Mr. Frank S. Hull, Mr. Hiram Lozier and Darwin W. Esmond, Esq., of Newburgh, N. Y., and Rev. Mr. Force, of Montrose, N. Y., and Franklin Couch, Esq., of Peekskill, N. Y., for valu­ able assistance given us. To you, one and all of the family, we are indebted for the valuable as­ sistance rendered in the compilation of this work, and my kindliest thanks are extended. NELSON BURTON LENT. Newburgh, N. Y., May 1, 1903. ERRATA. On page 5, at end of 2d line ot first paragraph. the " son " of instead the " father " of. On page 5. in 3d line of 2d paragraph. the " name" was adopted. instead of the •· same." Last line at bottom of page 88. she died July 16, " 1902," instead " 1903." On pages u5-u7, No. 1227, "Orlando D. Lent," instead of "Orlando Lent." On page n9. bottom paragraph. States William Lent " 1289." instead of 0 128S." On pages 1n & ns, No. n5t, James Lent born" 1774," instead" 176~." On page 88, No. 848, Theodore "H." Lent. instead of Theodore P. Lent. THE LENT FAMILY. ~.A:PTAJ.N JACOB SIMONS DE RYCK, a wealthy com merchant of ~ Amsterdam, Holland, was the son of Melchoir de Ryck. His father, Jacob de Ryck, was the father of Abraham de Ryck, who emigrated to the United States in the year 1638. He received in tjw: year an allotment of land from Governor Kieft, for which he afterwards took out a patent, dated August 8, 1640. He died in 1689, leaving his farm by will to his son Abraham. He married Gertie, daughter of Hendrick Hermansen. Children: 1. Ryck Abrahamson, born in 1637. 2. Jacob, born in 1640. Died 1a infancy. J. Jacob, born in 1643, assisted his brc,thers in the purchase of " Ryck's Patent," now part of Cortlandtown, Westchester Count".f, N. Y. 4- Hendrick, born in 1646. Died in infancy. s- .Mary, born in 1649, m. Sybout H. Krankheyt, of the Manor of Courtl:mdt. 6. John. born in 1651. Married Margaret, dau. Jacobus Krankheyt. 7. Aletta. born in 1653, m. Capt. John Hannansen, of the Manor of Courtlandt. S. Abraham, born in 1655. Died about 1690. 9. Hendrick, born 1662, m. Catharina. --. Because of some connection with an old noble family of Brunswick, bearing the name of" Lent," or perhaps, some portion of their family had resided in a place called "Lent" in Holland, it is said, the same was adopted (quite custom­ ary in those days), is a probable reason, as in old records it is found written "Hendrick van Lent," &c. The Dutch "van" signifying "ef'' or "from." Riker, in his "Annals of Newtown," says: "This family is of common origin. (descendants ~om one fainily), with the preceding one being descended from Ryck and Hendrick, the eldest and youngest sons of Abraham Rycken, who, for some reason not clearly ascertained, removed their own cognomen, and assumed that of "Lent." And there is also reason for the belief, that it was their mater- 6 The Lent Family nal grandfather who came from Lent, and that he is the person intended in a. letter to Governor Stuyvesant in 1654, from his superiors in Holland, where allu­ sion is made to one " Hendrick Hermansen van Lent." a soldier sent to Cura.coa, but who Nas not to be found there. A tradition exists, that their ancestors located at a "'ery early period, at what was called the" Poor Bowery," (Bouwerij, Dutch farm) and purchased from the: natives a large tract of land at that pla.<.-~ That having previou.~ly been an armourer in the Dutch service, he was accust~ ·ned to forge tomahawks for tl:ie Indians around about him, but that on a certain occasion, the savages, under a. sudden ex­ citement, assaulted him and one of them ga.ve him a fatal blow, and terminated his life with one of the very instrumencs of death that he had made for him ; that after this his widow re-married and the property was disposed of to the Dutch Church. Hendrick Hermansen, the original proprietor of the farm mentioned, had a. daughter and she married Abra.ham Rycken. Again it is said, the Rikers or Ryck's-Lents and Krankheyts were of common origin in Germany, and located at a very remote period in Lower Saxony, where they enjoyed a. sta.te of a.llodial independence, at that da.y regarded as constituting nobility. They there possessed the estate or Manor of Rycken, from which they took their name then written "van Rycken," indicating its terminal derivation. "Hans van Rycken, the Lord of the Manor and a valiant Knight, with his cou­ sin, Melchoir van Rycken, who lived in Holland, took part in the first crusade to the Holy Land in 1096, heading eight hundred crusaders in the army of• Walter the Penniless.' " Melchoir lived to return, but Hans perished in that ill-fated expedition. In time the descendants of Melchoir van Rycken extended them­ selves from Holland to the region of the Rhine and into Switzerland.~ A tradition, which has been handed down from generation to generation by the Lents, as true, is as follows : " The ship left Amsterdam, Holland, May, 1640, and arrived at New Amsterdam (New York), August, 1640. Peekskill, when first known to the Dutch, was inhabited by a tribe or clan of Delaware or Lenape Indians, and they ca.lied the place "Sachoes." The, Dutch first ca.lied the place" Peak's-kill," from one of their early navigators, Jan Peak, who with his vessel was on his way to join the upper settlement, Fort Orange (Albany), and mistaking the channel ran his vessel on a sand-bar at a very high tide. That when the tide fell away the ship w~ almost on dry land, and it was impossible to The Lent Family 7 get the vessel off without discharging the cargo. This they feared to do on ac­ count of the Indians who came around the vessel in their canoes in large num­ bers, but appeared to be very peaceable and not disposed to do any harm. They brought with them many things to eat, and by signs offered them to those on b.iard the vessel, and very soon a trade was begun by both parties.