GENEALOGY OF THE LEFF ER TS F .;\Ml LY BY TEUNIS G. BERGEN, BAY RIDGE, NEW UTRECHT, N. Y. ALBANY, N. Y.: JOEL MUNSELL. I 8i8, PREFACE. In searching for materials for a genealogy of the Bergen family, much matter was gathered for preservation and future use, relating to the other early settlers of Kings county. In some cases old family records of births, deaths, and marriages, were found to be confined to a single copy contained in an old Dortrecht Bible, which, if lost or de­ stroyed, would have obliterated the dates of the births, etc., of a gencr<1-:ion. At the request of members of the Leffens family, and with their aid; especially with that of Mrs. Gertrude L. Vanderbilt (dau. of John Lefferts deceased); John Lefferts, attorney of Philadelphia;' and J. Carson Brcvoort; and alsp of the Rev. Garret C. Schenck of Marlborough, N. J., and Henry Onderdonk, Jr., of Jamaica; additional information has been obtained, with which and from what has been gleaned from other writings, this genealogy has been compiled, which makes no preten­ sions of perfection, but only presents what has been within s To J~hn Leff~rts of Phibdelpbfa, I am indebted for the m;iin portiun of the information obtained of the Pennsylv:inia br:inch, for which he is entitled to the clanks of the family. IV. PREFACE. the reach of the author and easily attainable; leaving out many branches which have been lost sight of by those who have remained in the locality selected by their paternal a11cestor for his abiding place, in the then wilds of New Netherlands. Within the recollections of the author, there were three large farms in Bedford, one in Flat bush and two in New Utrecht occupied and cultivated by Leffertses, who were among the wealthy, respected and successful cultivators in Kings county: at present there is but one held by an in­ dividual of the name, that of Mr. John Lefferts of Flat­ bush, a worthy successor of his ancestors, occupying pre­ mises held by the family for at least five generations. The males of the family in this vicinity, (although not so in other localities), appear to be decreasing, while those of most of the other European pioneers of this locality con­ tinue to multiply and increase, so that there is a probability that the day is not far distant when the family name of Lefferts will disappear from our midst, and will have to be sought for elsewhere in this country. There is another family among us, that of the Martenses, once numerous, whose males have dwindled down to a single household. This disappearing from our midst may in a measure be owing to the spirit of improvement resulting from our proximity to a vast and rapidly growing city ; which levels hills, fills up valleys, sweeps away forests, swallows farms, and forces the descendants of the founders of this portion of New Nether lands who desire to continue and enjoy that independence and contentment which the cultivators of the PREFACE. v. soil possess in a greater measure than those in the oth~r pur­ suits of life, to abandon the homes of their fathers and seek other more favorable localities removed from the turmoil of cities, where they can peaceably and quietly continue the occupation of cultivators without fear of disturbance. T. G. BERGEN. Kings Co., Bay Ridge, N. Y. ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS WORK. b for born. sup. suppose. sec. secretary. d. died. Doc. Documentary. off. office. m. married. His. History. Sur. Surrogate. hap. baptized. Do. Dominie. Reg. Register. s. son. A. Acres. Con. Conveyances. dau. daughter. ft. foot or feet. rec. recorded. wid. widow. fl. florin. R. D. Ch. Reformed p. page. gl. guilder. Dutch Church. vol. volume. £. pound. co. county. sh. shilling. GENEALOGY OF THE LEFF ER TS FAMILY. FIRST GENERATION. I. LEFFERT PIETERSEN van Haughwout, Hauwert, Houwaard, Houvert or Ravert, or Leffert son of Peter from Haughwout, emigrated in 1660 from Haughwout or Haugh­ wert, a village one and a half hours north of Hoorn in the province of North Holland, containing a congregation of 200 of the Reformed religion of whom forty were church members, attached to the classis of Hoorn. Their church edifice is a small building with a square tower and octogon spire. 1 He settled in Midwout (Flat bush), on Long Island where he was assessed in 1675,2 one poll, two horses, four cows and calves, and seventeen morgens of land ; and in ' It was customary for the early settlers in this country to name their new homes after those they left in the fatherland. Thus Brooklyn was named after "Breukelin" in Utrecht, New Utrecht after the ancient city of Utrecht in the same province, Amersfoort ( now Flatlands) after '' Amersfoort " a city on Eem in the same province, and Gravesend after "'s Gravezande" in South HollanJ. " Midwoud and Oostwoud," the orisinal names of Flatbush and New Lotts were no doubt named after villages of those names in Jliorth Holland. Leffert Peterse coming from the village of " Hauwert " on the " Kromme Leek" in the immediate vicinity of" Midwoud and Oostwoud," may have had some hand in perpetuating these names among us. Probably others of the early settlers of Flatbush came from "Midwoud." • See vol. 1, p. 659 of Doc. His. of N. Y. 8 LEFFERTS FAMILY. 1676, I one poll, two horses, six cows and calves, and seventeen morgens of land. From the records it also ap­ pears that in I 674 he loaned 190 guilders to Bartelt Claessen, one of his neighbors, and that in 1683 2 he was assessed one poll, one horse, two oxen, nineteen cows and calves, and 54 acres of land. Leffert Pieterse' s name appears on the patent for the part of Flat bush known as New Lotts, of Gov. An dross of the 28th of March, 1677, of which the following is an abstract: " Whereas there is a certain parcel of land lying in the "limits of the town of Flatbush," etc., "the which through "the power of my warrant has been laid o:.Jt for several "inhabitants in that place (Flatbush), to wit: for Adriaen "Lambertse, Floor Willemse, Minne Johannis and his son "Albert, Hendrick Strycker, Jan Snedecker, Dirk de Snyder " (Tailor), Pieter Lott, Gerrit Lubbertse, Jan Roelosse "Suebring, Theodorus Polhemius, Willem Jacobse and " his son Hendrick, Jan Strycker, and his son Gerrit, Jacob "Hendrixc (Suydam), Cornelis Barentse, Jan Didmarse, " Cornelis Bogart, Rem Remse, the schoolmaster of the "town at the above date, Pieter Guiljamse, Willem Gui!­ " jamse, Simon Hanse (Van N oortstrand), Cornelis de "Seen, Catharine Hegeman, Aucke Janse (Van Nuyse), "Arian Ryerse, Gerrit Snedecker, Titus Sierx, Dirk Janse, "Aert Janse, Leffert Pieterse, Jan Jansen, Stoffel Probasco, "and Cornelis Berryen; the arable land lies to the East of "the aforesaid Flatbush, to the South of the hills, and to " the West of the limits of Jamaica, stretching along the "road or highway which goes to Jamaica, 724¾ rods, from •· thence in a South line in the woods 31 5 rods, containing "in all 1426 acres and I 36 rods, as by the report of the " Surveyor can be seen. Be it known, all and every one, • See vol. n, p. 47 5 of Doc. His. of N. Y. • See vol. m, p. 504 of Doc. His. of N. Y. FIRST GE!'JERATION. 9 " that through power by his Majestie's letters and patents, "and ti,e commission and the authority to me given through "his Royal Highness, I have given, etc., to the said "Adriaen Lambertse said premises, etc., they yielding and "' paying therefor yearly and e\'en· year for his Royal '' Highness's use as a pure rent one bushel of good winter "wheat in New York for C"ach lot," etc. (Original on file in town clerk's office of Flar:bush.) At the Court of Sessions held in Gravesend on the 2Ist of Jan., 1682, the inhabitants of Bushwkk and Brooklyn made a complaint against " uffard Peterst " and '' Jan Janse ditmas" for cutting wood and timber on their lands, on which the court ordered that Capt. H Richard Stilwell and Capt. Jaques Condlan doe make division of this land by running a line between them, and to make their Report tc the next Sessions, the said line to be run according to their Pattent." This was probably the land referred to in the following survey and deeds, at which period controversies in relation to town boundaries were nor uncommon. From the folJowing translation of a surveyor's certificate in Dutch, the original of which is in possession of Christo­ pher Lott, late of New Lotts, but without date, it is evident that L1fcrt Pieurst owned lands in New Lotts: '' for L1fert Pieteru measured a parcel of land laying on Long Island in the new lots of "Vlackebosch ' ( Flatbush), desig­ nated No. 4r, b~oad 21 rods, extending in length south and north as sl:own by a Holland roos compass; as it lays, in size about thirty acres. }A: CoRTELJAU, sworn surveyor.'~ Aug. 24, 1685, Leffert Pieterse conveyed the above premises co Adriaen Andries~ Onderdonk, in which they are described as lying on the west side of land of Aris Janse Vanderbilt, on the east side of land of Stoffel Probasko, and 2 IO LEFFERTS FAMILY. that Peterse obtained the same by a patent from Gov. Ed­ mond Andross. On the same day Onderdonk conveyed these premises to Stoffel Probasko. Feb. 26, J 698, Jan Jan sen F yn conveyed to Stoffel Probasko 30 acres patented by Gov. Andross to said Fyn, known as No.