Crime and Punishment in 17th Century New Netherland

Seal of New Netherland

In 17th century New Netherland (New York) the punishment for adultery was harsh, as Lauren Duyt's wife Ytie Jansen found out in November 1658 in New Amsterdam (present day New York City). This young Dutch woman had been sold to an Englishman, Jan Parcel, at the request of her husband. Laurens himself was accused of having had illicit intercourse with Geesje Jansen who he apparently preferred over his wife Ytie. Despite the mitigating circumstances of being sold the court sentenced Ytie to be whipped and banished.

In New Netherland -- unlike New England -- this sentence of whipping seldom got further than a symbolic flogging in the case of women, which meant that the offender was led to the stake, partly stripped, and given two rods on her hands, after which she was untied and banished." Source: "Sweet and Alien Land," by Van der Zee [New York.The Viking Press, 1978], Chapter, 'Law and Disorder,' p. 356.

The records reveal a great deal about this episode in Council Minutes Vol. VIII, Dutch Manuscripts (1658):

18 Nov. Order for the examination of Geesje Jansen, accused of having had illicit intercourse with Laurens Duyts  [ p. 1038 vol. VIII]

25 Nov. Sentence of whipping and banishment pronounced against Ytie Janse for living in adultery with Jan Parcel, alias Botcher [ p. 1049 vol. VIII]

25 Nov. Sentence. Laurens Duyts of Holstein, for selling his wife Ytie Jansen, and forcing her to live in adultery with another man, and for living himself also in adultery, to have a rope tied around his neck then to be severely flogged, to have his right ear cut off and to be banished for 50 years   [p. 1051 vol. VIII]

25 Nov. Sentence John Parcell, alias Botcher, of Huntingdonshire, England for living in adultery with Ytie Jans, to be placed at the whipping post with two rods in his arm, to be banished for 20 years, and pay a fine of 100 guilders with costs  [ p. 1053 vol. VIII]


When Ytie and Jan --"two sorrowful sinners" -- appeared two weeks later in court to ask for permission to marry, the magistrates were unrelenting and gave them three months to pack, telling them to "separate from each other at once."  

25 Nov. Sentence Geesie Jansen, for living in adultery with Laurens Duyts, to be conducted to the whipping post, and fastened thereto, the upper part of her body being stripped naked, and two rods placed in her hand, to be afterwards conducted, in that wise, outside the city gates, and banished from the province the term of 30 years, with costs [ p. 1055 vol. VIII]

30 Nov. Sentence. Iva Dircksen, for adultery, to be conducted to the place where justice is executed, and there to witness the punishments inflicted this day, and then be banished for the term of 50 years [p. 1057 vol. VIII]

10 Important Characteristics of a Good Genealogist

We all want to be good genealogists, don't we. We want to know that we did our best to find our ancestors and that what we found is accurate. We don't want to spend time searching an individual's ancestors and adding them to our family tree only to find out it was the wrong person!

That means we need to be thorough and methodical and very very cautious about accepting documents and individuals without verifying and double-checking every fact we find. 

I've come up with a list of the 10 most important characteristics that will tell you if you're on the right track to being a good genealogist.

A good genealogist

1. Finds every document possible on an ancestor. He/she does not stop at census and vital registrations but looks beyond to records such as land records, court records, military records, church records, immigration records, education records, newspaper articles, tax and assessment records, etc. Checks for more obscure records such as coffin plates, funeral cards, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to the time and location of his/her search.

2.  Learns what records have survived for the location and time period for each ancestor's life.

3. Copies documents exactly as found, not as he/she thinks it should be. Example: You know your Grandmother's name to be Mary but in one census she is record as Marie. A good genealogist copies her name exactly as found in the original record, not as he/she knows it. A good genealogist notes the discrepancy in names but does not alter what was found in the original document.

4. Cites sources for all facts found.

5. Never relies blindly on family stories or online family trees but searches out a source for each. Verify, verify, verify! Example: If great aunt Harriet told you Great-Grandpa was a trapeze artist who deserted his wife and children, make note of this in your notes with the source and date you were given this information, then hunt for proof of her statement.

6. Makes an accurate copy of all records found. Carefully notes spelling of names while copying and does not make changes. Example: my name (Lorine) is often carelessly copied from my websites, blogs or emai by genealogists who write to me and address me as Lorrine, Lorraine or Lori.This makes me wonder how good a genealogist they are if they are unable to copy a name correctly.

7. Keeps a research log of all sources checked, and notes if the search was successful or not.

8. Analyzes each record and document carefully in order to spot clues that may lead to other areas of research and to accurately understand what the record is  and is not. Example: A woman who asked me for help told me she knew when her grandfather arrived in N. America and had his immigration record. She provided a complete date - day, month and year. But when I looked at the original document it was not an immigration record but rather his naturalization paper.

9. Searches siblings of a challenging ancestor in order to find more documents that may hold clues pertaining to his/her ancestor.

10. Leaves no stone (record) unturned. Extends his/her search to records not found online such as in local courthouses or archives. 

There are more characteristics of a good genealogist and the list could be extended. But these may be the 10 most important and if we make sure we are following these characteristics, we are definitely on the way to being a good genealogist.

What would you add to the list? 

Lambert Van Valkenburg in the New World

Official Seal of New Netherland

My 9th great-grandfather Lambert Van Valkenburg was born in the Netherlands circa 1614. With his wife Annetje Jacobs, Lambert sailed for the New World of New Netherland (present day New York state). 

From his son Jochem Lambertse Van Valkenburg, there are 10 recognized branches of the Van Valkenburg family (one for each of Jochem's children with his wife Eva Vrooman) and I descend from two - his son Isaac Jochemse (with wife Lydia Van Slyke) and Isaac's sister Jannetje Jochemse (with husband Isaac Van Alstyne)
Records found for Lambert indicate he was in New Amsterdam as early as Jan. 1644. Since it is unlikely the ships sailed in the winter, he was probably in New Amsterdam in the summer or fall of 1643. Existing records indicate he purchased land in July 1644. That 1644 plot of land  is now the site of the Empire State Building in New York City.

29 July 1644: Deed. Jan Jacobssen to Lambert van Valckenburgh, of house and plantation on the island of Manhattan, near Fort Amsterdam. [Register of Provincial Secretary Vol. II p. 121] [Source: Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany NY edited by EB O'Callaghan]

16 March 1647: Patent. Lammert van Valckenborch; lot south of Fort Amsterdam, Manhattan Island. [Land Papers Vol. G.G. p. 192] [Source: Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany NY edited by EB O'Callaghan]

Court records are a wonderful resource. Those of us with ancestors in early New Netherland are lucky for the Dutch kept meticulous records. It was a litigious time period and settlers were frequently in court suing their friends and neighbours. Lambert is found many times in the court records for New Netherland. Here is one of the more volatile examples:

Source:"Minutes of the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck 1657-1660", translated and edited by A.J.F. Van Laer, Vol.2, Albany, 1923. Page 9:
"Ordinary Session held in Fort Orange, January 9 Anno 1657

"President, J. La Montagne, Rutger Jacobsen, Jacob Schermerhoorn, Andries Herbertsen, Philip Pietersen

"Lambert van Valckenborch, plaintiff, against Henderick Claessen and Gerrit Willemsen, defendants.The plaintiff complains that the defendants beat him and his wife in his own house. The defendants deny it and claim that the plaintiff chased them with a naked rapier out of his house and pursued them to the center of the fort. The court orders the parties respectively to prove their assertions."

In 1659 Lambert was appointed to the Rattle Watch. The Rattle Watch was responsible for walking the streets at night, watching for crimes or fires and from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. they called out the hour every hour as well as ringing their rattles.

Source:"Minutes of the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck 1657-1660", translated and edited by A.J.F. Van Laer, Vol.2, Albany, 1923: Page 209-210:"Extraordinary Session held in Fort Orange, August 8 Anno 1659

"Instructions issued by the honorable commissary and magistrates of Fort Orange and the village of Beverwyck for the rattle watch, appointed at the request of the burghers to relieve them of night-watch duty; to the rattle watch of which place Lambert van Valckenborgh and Pieter Winnen were appointed the 6th of July of this year 1659, on condition that they together are to receive for the term of one year one thousand and one hundred guilders in seawan and one hundred guilders in beavers.

Read more about Lambert from the Court Records online at Lambert Van Valkenburg in The New World This was first published as "Lambert Van Valkenburg: His Life in the New World as Revealed in Court Documents and Other Primary Source Records From 1644 - 1664" by Lorine McGinnis Schulze in The National Association of the Van Valkenburg Family of America serialized beginning in the Fall of 1999

Don't Miss a Research Trip to Albany New York October 2014

Olive Tree Genealogy received the following information from  The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society's research trip to Albany New York

The NY&GB's research trip to Albany, New York, is scheduled for October 29-November 1, 2014. 

 Both the Library and the Archives are rich in material available nowhere else that pertains to people who have lived throughout New York State. The Library's extensive collections include family genealogies, local histories, DAR records, church records, census records, early newspapers on film, and city directories, as well as archives and manuscripts. The holdings of the Archives include State records relating to military service (War of 1812 through World War I); land records (mostly transactions involving the Colony or State of New York); court records (including colonial wills and early 19th-century civil cases); records of some correctional and custodial institutions; and indexes to vital records (excluding New York City). 

REGISTRATION: Register via our online store or call 212-755-8532, ext. 211. The program fee is $275 for members and $350 for non-members. 

 ACCOMMODATIONS: We have arranged a special room rate at the Albany Hilton of $126 per night, single or double. To make a reservation, please call the hotel directly at 866-691-1183 and mention conference code 1NYGBS to get this rate.

Sometimes the Best Find Comes When You Least Expect it!

About 25 years ago a woman I corresponded with about my PEER family in Guelph Ontario Canada told me an intriguing story. According to her she found a newspaper article about my great-grandfather Stephen Peer being attacked and killed by an axe-wielding neighbour. She didn't provide a date or any other details. No amount of pleading or coaxing on my part could get a source from her, not even the name of the newspaper. Stephen was not her ancestor and my Peer ancestry was of no interest to her so even my offers to share everything I had on the family held no interest.

So for 25 years I've tried to find this reference. Some time ago I found Stephen's death registration for 1897 but the cause of death was listed as Typhoid Fever not murder. Nonetheless I checked  Guelph newspapers for several months prior to his death just in case. But nothing turned up. These newspapers are not indexed so searching meant a long laborious read of every issue. Eventually I put this on the back burner as a curiousity, as a story that might have a little truth to it.

Searching Online Newspapers

A few days ago while searching through some online Ontario newspapers as I do periodically, I came across this extract of a larger story.

It was published in The Lethbridge News (Alberta) on June 5, 1895 and was noted as a condensed story. I was pretty excited to find this but of course now I want the full story. Why was this pump so important? Who was Walter Hyde and his father? And why would an Alberta newspaper publish this?

Looking for Walter and the Full Story

A search of Ancestry.com census records turned up some information on Walter Hyde. He was born ca 1874 to Alfred & Sarah (Farrow) Hyde. It struck me that Walter was quite a bit younger than my great-grandfather who was born ca 1853.  I don't know if Walter went to jail or any other details of this incident but am determined to find out.

Since getting to Guelph to hunt through the filmed newspapers is difficult for me I decided to hire the Guelph Public Library Research Services to look for any references to this event. Fingers crossed that I find out exactly what happened.  Of course if any of my readers live in Guelph Ontario and would be willing to have a look in the Guelph Mercury in first week of June 1895 for this story, please let me know!

The Moral of This Story

The moral of my story is NEVER GIVE UP! Okay I have two morals - never give up and never ever dismiss a "story" as untrue until you've found evidence to either prove or disprove it.

UPDATE: Full news article found! Read about what happened at 52 Ancestors: Found Details re Great-Grandpa Peer Attacked By Axe-Wielding Neighbour in 1895

Update FamilySearch Collections: Bolivia, Germany, USA, Billion Graves

Sample Page from N.C. Civil Action Court Papers

Here is the December update from FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch has added more than 1.2 million indexed records and images to collections from BillionGraves, Bolivia, Germany, and the United States. 

Notable collection updates include the 512, 388 indexed records and images from the BillionGraves Index, the 230,873 images from the U.S., North Carolina, Civil Action Court Papers, 1712–1970, collection, and the 79,078 indexed records from the Germany, Prussia, Pomerania Church Records, 1544–1945, collection. 

Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. 

Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 2 Brings Back Memories of My Father

Last night I watched Who Do You Think You Are? with Christina Applegate following her grandmother in hopes of giving some peace to her father. 

If you missed Episode 2 you can tune in next Tuesday on TCL as they, in partnership with Ancestry.com , present Episode 3. In the next episode, Chelsea Handler unearths Nazi roots in Germany.

The series is powerful this year with some gritty stories emerging. I like that so far they are focusing on one ancestor and really digging into records such as newspapers, court records and census records to add details to the ancestor.

Last night's episode was very moving. I don't want to spoil it for those who have not yet watched so all I will say is that Christina's father never knew his mother, not even her name. He was raised by his paternal grandmother until age 14 when he went to live with his father. You will not want to miss this episode and the unsettling truths that are revealed. But in the end there is closure for her dad.

 Watching this last night brought to mind my discovery of my father's gravesite 50 years after he died. I was the only one in the family who knew what cemetery he was in, but the cemetery had told me he was in potter's field with no marker and they had no way of knowing exactly where he was. I lived with that sadness for 44 years and then a very kind man found the record showing the exact location of Dad's ashes. 

I was told I could add a simple marker, but I decided he should be with his family so had him re-interred in his home town where his parents, brothers, grandparents and great-grandparents are buried. A small plaque with his name and dates of birth and death was added to the existing marker where he now rests. It was not possible to bury him with his mother or father so I opted to place him with my mother and her parents.  I cannot describe the immense feeling of closure I felt when that marker was put on the base of the existing stone. I visit as often as I can and leave a memento to show Dad I was there. 

It took 50 years but my dad now rests with his family and family members can visit his grave. It took Christina's dad 70 years to find his mother and I'm so happy that he did.

Court Ledger Book 1883-1937 Wythe Co. Virginia online

AncestorsAtRest has a new Court Records ledger book online for Wytheville, Wythe County Virginia. This Court ledger book belonged to William C Pendleton.

At the top of the first page of court records we read Wm [William] C. Pendleton, Clerk Court of Appeals at Wytheville, The Commonwealth Of Virginia. 

William C. Pendleton was born in Marion, Virginia, in 1847 and served in the 8th Virginia Cavalry in Tazewell County. After the Civil War he studied law and practiced in Richmond, Virginia.

He was the author of the History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia 1748-1920 . This volume has long been recognized as the definitive history of Tazewell County Virginia.

This court ledger book is full of entries starting in 1883 and ending in 1937. From 1883 to 1897 the book contains a record of what appear to be court cases in the Court of Appeals at Wytheville.

The second part of the ledger is a list of several hundred people who purchased his book History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia 1748-1920. 

Book Review: Crime & Punishment in Upper Canada

Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher's Guide (Genealogist's Reference Shelf)  by Janice Nickerson is a very detailed, well-researched reference book for genealogists.

Janice delves into the history of the Justice System in Upper Canada (present day Ontario) and walks the reader through the often confusing maze of available records. Her focus in this book is 1791 to 1841 and even that seemingly brief time span provides the genealogist with 243 pages of material.

Each section (topic) has a history and explanation, followed by examples both in text and images, and then Janice's inventory of what records have survived, where they are housed, and what we might expect to find in them.

It is a challenge for genealogists to find early Ontario (Upper Canada) records and Janice's book is a treasure trove. The examples are fascinating reading for historians or those interested in the circumstances of various crimes and their meted out punishments. Case studies are of actual individuals whose court cases were heard or who were charged with crimes.

The inventory list of resources made me drool! I am at a stage in my Ontario research where I need to find more obscure records - those that are challenging to discover. Janice's book has given me so many new leads and so many new avenues of research to investigate that I will be busy for quite some time.

 Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher's Guide (Genealogist's Reference Shelf) is a must-have for any serious genealogist or anyone struggling to find an ancestor in early Ontario.

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Dundurn Press (September 20, 2010)
Co-published by: Ontario Genealogical Society
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1554887704
ISBN-13: 978-1554887705

England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 online

England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 has just gone online on Ancestry.com

This database contains criminal registers from England and Wales for the years 1791-1892. The criminal registers are a listing of individuals charged with crime. The registers provide information about the charged individual, their trial, and sentence (if convicted) or other outcome. Information listed may include:

* Name of criminal
* Age
* Birthplace (not often listed after 1802)
* Crime
* When and where tried
* Sentence (death, transportation, imprisonment, acquittal, etc.)
* Where and when received
* Date of execution or release
* By whom committed, to whom delivered



Here is an example from an 1865 record. 5th name down is Thomas Down charged with embezzlement. He was sentenced to one month's imprisonment at Redhill. There is a notation in the Discharge column stating that when he is freed he is to be sent to a Reformatory School for four years. Think how exciting this would be if Thomas were your ancestor! You'd be hunting for information on Redhill and checking the 1871 census to see if perhaps Thomas was in a Reform School somewhere.

Information obtained from these registers may be able to lead you to other records. For example, if you have a date and place of trial, you will know when and where to search for court records. Other criminal records to consult include:

* Calendar of Prisoners
* Prison Registers
* Court records such as depositions, indictments, and case files
* Warrants, including pardons, reprieves, and transfers of prisoners
* Transportation records

Waterloo County GenWeb new data

I just took over as the new host of the Waterloo County GenWeb site (part of Ontario GenWeb)

Thanks to the former hosts, there was already genealogical material there, and I've added more. For example I uploaded a list of Waterloo County Individuals in the Criminal Assize Clerk criminal indictment files, 1853-1929. I hope this helps everyone with Waterloo County ancestors!

Waterloo County is interesting because it was settled by blacks and Mennonites from Pennsylvania, as well as a large German population.