In June 2023, my daughter Lara & I (Gary) were in Brooklyn & briefly viewed a few Dutch ancestral locations, including the Jan Martense Schenck house & Nicholas Schenck house in the Brooklyn Museum. Jan was my 8th great granduncle, & Nicholas was Jan’s grandson.
The Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery contains graves of several of our kin. Including my 7th great grandfather Pieter Lefferts (1680-1774). He & his wife Eyje (Ida) Suydam (1676-1777) were parents of Antje Lefferts (1728-1804) who married Garret Kouwenhoven (1726-1777); my 6th greats.
A Lefferts family home was originally located within a mile or so north of the Flatbush Church, was destroyed in 1776 when the British invaded Long Island, was rebuilt, & much later moved into current Prospect Park in Brooklyn. We did not have time to tour the current Lefferts Home. The original house belonged to Lt. Pieter Lefferts (1753-1791), a grandson of my 7th great grandparents Pieter Lefferts & Ida Suydam. Lt. Pieter Lefferts was reportedly in the Flatbush Company of Militia under Col. Van Brunt. See http://dunhamwilcox.net/ny/li_rev_troops.htm for details. Several of my ancestral surnames appear. Col. Richard Van Brunt’s Kings County command reportedly included Lt. Col. Nicholas Covenhoven. Both commissioned March 11, 1776. Captains included Johannes Vanderbilt, Lambert Suydam (1743-1833; DAR # A111437), Cornelius Vanderveer, & Bernard Suydam. The Flatbush section included Capt. Cornelius Vanderveer & 1st Lt. Pieter Lefferts, my 1st cousin, 7 times removed. DAR also lists Hendrick Suydam (1751-1819), who was in a troop of horse under Capt. Lambert Suydam.
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| Map of Flatbush |
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| Flatbush Church |
The largest battle of the Revolutionary War was the August 1776 Battle of Long Island. On August 22, thousands of British & Hessian troops were landed on Long Island. Cornwallis’ advanced guard pushed inland 6 miles & established an initial camp at Flatbush. It was around this time, apparently, that the original Lefferts House was burned.
The Battle of Brooklyn Heights included the current area of Greenwood Cemetery, where there is a high point with vistas as far as New Jersey & upper Manhattan. Friends showed us Cedar Dell, where there are some relocated Dutch graves, some with my ancestral surnames. At that time, I did not know that this cemetery holds the grave of Gertrude Phebe Lefferts Vanderbilt (1824-1902), my 3rd cousin, 5 times removed, of Flatbush. Gertrude was an historian, published author, & social activist. One of her helpful tasks was to inventory the graveyard at Flatbush Dutch Church. And to write a Social History of Flatbush. And to push for education of African-Americans. Gertrude was a granddaughter of Lt. Pieter Lefferts.
Gertrude Lefferts married Judge John Vanderbilt (1819-1877). His 2nd great grandmother was Pieternella Wyckoff Vanderbilt (1692-1750), no doubt kin to my Wyckoff ancestors. There was no time on the June 2023 trip to visit the Wyckoff House on Long Island. My 9th great granduncle Pieter Wolfertse Van Kouwenhoven (1614-1689) employed an indentured servant who was ancestral to the Vanderbilts: Jan Arentszen (1627-1704).
Garret Wolfertsen Van Couwenhoven (b. 1610) & Aeltje Cornelis Cool, my 9th great grandparents, appear to have been the Most Recent Common Ancestors for myself (Kit A693287 at GEDmatch) & Kit CL6751961. Several kits show true triangulation with these 2 kits on the P-Arm of Chromosome 7. Of those who lists detailed trees on GEDCOM files, Couwenhoven/Conover appears to be the common ancestry. Many of my atDNA cousins who share with me Dutch & French Huguenot ancestries appear to have more than one Most Recent Common Ancestor, so that it is difficult to discern which common ancestor sent down the shared chromosomal segment.
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