The Ancestry of Catherine Ouderkerk wife of Elijah Cronkhite

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE OUDERKERK FAMILY

Josie Cronkhite Jones’s grandmother was Catherine Ouderkerk wife of Elijah Cronkhite. She descends from a Dutch settler of Fort Orange in the Hudson River Valley of New Netherland.

JAN JANSE ODERKERK and ANNATJE NIN

5^th Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Jan Janse Ouderkerk was born circa 1635 in all probability, in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel which is five miles south of Amsterdam on the Amstel River. In his early twenties Ouderkerk immigrated to New Netherland Colony and setttled in the area of Fort Orange, near the village of Beverwyck. It has also been very difficult to trace the exact date of Jan Janse's arrival in the New World Early records a few with many being lost through the years.

Beverwyck was a fur-trading community north of Fort Orange on the Hudson River in New Netherland that was to become Albany, New York when the English took control of the colony in 1664 and is one of the oldest European cities in North America: a permanent settlement was established in 1614 on Castle Island and continuous settlement began in 1624 with the establishment of Fort Orange. During the 1640s, the name Beverwyck began to be used informally for the settlement of fur traders north of the fort. In 1652, the Dutch West India Company took control of that area and made the name official.

By 1660, a palisade was built around Beverwyck and it had become economically and politically successful, with large families residing in the community. The name may translate to "Beaver town", and refer to the many beaver pelts that the original settlers shipped back to the Netherlands. Ouderkerk lived nearly 150 miles up the Hudson River and was known as the "smalle cuyper" or cooper who made barrels for use by the villagers who numbered fewer than 200 people.

In 1664, New Netherland fell to the English and was renamed New York for the king’s brother the Duke of York. Fort Orange was renamed Albany after Albion an old word for England. The Beverwyck court was continued as the court of Albany, Rensselaerswyck, and Schenectady. In 1673, New York was retaken by the Dutch and Albany was called "Willemstadt." The English regained jurisdiction in 1674 and the community has been called Albany ever since.

Jan Outerkerk was married to Annatje (Aariantje) Nin [1637–1706] and owned a small farm and had at least six children that were mentioned in his will. His wife died prior to the making of the will and he died sometime afterwards.

The Will of Jan Janse Ouderkerk, written and signed on October 10, 1712, follows: IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. The Tenth Day of October in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of our Soverign Lady Anne, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland in the year of our Lord God, One Thousand Seven Hundred Twelve, I John Ouderkirk, of the County of Albany, being of good health and perfect memory, thanks be to Almighty God for the same, but calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to dye (sic), do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament - that is to say principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it and my body to the earth from whence it came to be buried in a decent and Christian manner, nothing doubting but at the general resurrection, I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God and as touching frees worldly estate where with it hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form.

• Imprimis, I do give and bequeath unto my eldest son Johannes [John] Ouderkirk, the sum of six shillings in Right of Primogeniture, whom I will, shall make no further claim upon what’s hereafter bequeathed to him.

• Secondly, I do give unto my grandson, John Ouderkirk, son of my son Abraham Ouderkirk, before any division of my Estate, the sum of Six Pounds, current money of New York, and

• Thirdly, I will that the remainder of my Estate be equally divided amongst my six children, that is to say both real and personal Estate, first to my said son Johannes Ouderkirk or his heirs one sixth part thereof, to my son Eldert Ouderkirk a sixth part, to Susannah, the wife of Cornelius Claese (sic), or her heirs another sixth part, to Isaac, Abraham and Peter Ouderkirk, they or their respective heirs, each a sixth part, so equally to be divided in sixths no one no more than the other.

• And Lastly, I do ordain, constitute and appoint all and every of my above named children to be executors of this my Last Will and Testament, in Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and sealed in the City of Albany the day and year first above written, yet before I have signed and sealed this my Last Will and Testament I do will that the six pounds bequeathed to my grandson as above mentioned, if happens to be his minority, that the sum be paid to Mr. Robert Livingston, Jr. and Anthony Coster; they to put it out to earn till such time he marrys (sic) or becomes of age, thence with the interest thereof to be paid to said grandson on his order. Signed, Sealed & Published in presence of Robt. Livingston Jun., Samuel Babington David Schuyler- Jan Ouderkirk Seal

ISAAC OUDERKERK and MAYKEN VAN NESS

4^th Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Isaac Ouderkerk was the son of Jan Ouderkerk

• Birth 1675 • Beverwyck, Albany, New York Colony

• Death 20 OCT 1747 • Albany, Albany, New York, USA

Wife Mayken VanNes 1674–1747 daughter of Jan Van Esch (Van Ness)

JACOB OUDERKERKand NEELTJE CLUTE

3^rd Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Jacob Ouderkerk son of Isaac Ouderkerk

• Birth 3 APR 1720 • Albany, Albany, New York Colony

• Death 30 OCT 1802 • Hoosick, Rensselaer, New York, United States

Wife Neeltje Clute 1719–1762 daughter of Jacob Clute

Jacob Ouderkerk moved 33 miles northeast of Albany as early as 1750. His homestead consisted of 424 acres of choice land lying on the west bank of the Hoosick River, two and half miles from Hoosick Falls. He left a numerous family and the name has been prominent in this and neighboring towns for several generations. Jacob served as a private under Captain Lansing and Colonel Philip Schuyler in the Albany County, Militia during the Revolutionary War. He died intestate and his son Isaac was appointed administrator of the estate in 1803.

ISAAC A OUDERKIRK and ANNATIE ROGERS

2^nd Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Isaac A Ouderkirk son of Jacob Ouderkirk and Neeltji Clute.

• Birth 08 OCT 1749 • Hoosick, Albany, New York, Colony

• Death 06 FEB 1837 • Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Wife Annatie Rogers 1744–1793 daughter of William Rogers and Mary Wieth [White]

Isaac Ouderkerk was a patriot and served in the Revolutionary War as an Ensign in the New York 17th Regiment. He fought at the Battle of Bennington of the American Revolution which occured northeast of Hoosick. His father in law William Rogers was executed by American Rebels in Albany in 1778. The Rogers family relocated to Quebec Canada with other loyalists after the war was lost to the Americans. Isaac Ouderkirk and Annatie Rodgers were the parents of 15 children.

JACOB ODERKIRK and CATHERINE WYGANT

Great grandparents of Josie Cronkhite Jones

Jacob Oderkirk son of Isaac Ouderkirk

• Birth 1 April 1772 Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer, New York Colony

• Death 1853 • Boyleston, Oswego, New York, USA

Wife-Catherine Wygant 1775–1861 daughter of John Uri Wygant (Wigent) who was a sergeant in Stephen Case’s Company and Col. Johannes Jansen’s Regiment Ulster County, New York Militia. This Wygant family descends from George Jurey Weigand a Protestant Palatine immigrant from the Rheinland-Pfalz area of Germany. Jacob and Catherine had at least 8 children and possibly more. He moves from eastern New York to Western New York between 1820 and 1830 and settled in counties that bordered Lake Ontario. One of Jacob’s sons, Isaac, joined the Mormon Church in 1837 and was a body guard for Joseph Smith. He immigrated to Utah in 1852. His eldest daughter Catherine Ouderkirk married Elijah Cronkhite and moved to Hamilton County Ohio and later to Warren County Indiana where she died in 1839.