Willem Jansen Traphagen ^532,533

   Find a Grave ID: 148242714.

  General Notes:

There is some conflict in published biographies of Willem and his descendants as to his first marriage and subsequent emigration to America. There is also some dispute whether he was German or Dutch, but he was born in a place that is now Germany, but in the 1620s a very fluid place and very possibly may have been either Dutch or German. Some maintain that his first marriage, which bore him three children, two of whom died young, took place in New Amsterdam, while others have it that the children were born in Amsterdam and he likely emigrated with his daughter, Helena, after the death of his first wife.The fact that he granted power of attorney to his uncle and cousin in 1647 have led to speculation that he intended to emigrate, but baptism records in Amsterdam in 1647 and 1651 would seem indicate that he didn't leave right away.

He appears to have been a rather fiery man of some means who left possessions in Lemgo, in the old German County of Lippe, to settle in the new world sometime between the years of 1647 and 1658. In his dispositon made in Kingston in 1671 he stated that he recieved an annual income from fiefs held in Lemgo that had probably been granted to his father and then on to him. The death of his first wife Jannetje about 1657, whether in Amsterdam or New Amsterdam, led to a second marriage to Aeltje Dirksen, in New Amsterdam, soon after. The first mention of Willem in New Netherlands is January 21, 1658.

In 1661, at the urging of the Dutch governor to outlying farmers who were subject to Indian attacks to form towns, Willem joined with twenty-two other men to form the town of Bushwick, which was on Long Island not far across the river from New Amsterdam. (Today Bushwick Ave. runs east and west in New York City sort of dividing Brooklyn and Queens.) By 1664 Willem was in trouble with the local magistrate for calling him a 'false judge' and later that year his further trouble with the same judge resulted in his being banished from the town.

From a History of the City of Brooklyn by Henry Reed Stiles drawing on the Dutch manuscripts: "In February, 1664, William Traphagen, for insulting one of the magistrates of Bushwyck by calling him a false judge, was sentenced by the governor and council, to appear with uncovered head before the court of Bushwick, and, in the presence of the fiscal, to beg pardon of God, justice and the insulted magistrate; and to pay, in addition, thirteen guilders to the overseers of the poor of the town, with costs."

It wasn't over, for "In May, of the same year, Jan Willemsen Van Iselsteyn, commonly called Jan of Leyden. for using abusive language and writing an insolent letter to the magistrates of Bushwick, was to be fastened to a stake at the place of public execution, a bridle in his mouth, a bundle of rods under his arm, and a paper on his breast bearing the inscription: 'Lampoon writer, accuser and defamer of its magistrates.' After this ignominy he was to be banished with costs.

"On the same day, William Jansen Traphagen, of Lemgo, for being the bearer of the above insolent letter to the magistrates of Bushwick, as well as for using very indecent language towards them, was also sentenced to be tied to the stake, in the place of execution, with a paper on his breast inscribed 'Lampoon carrier.' His punishment also was completed with banishment and costs."

Willem headed north.

Not much is known about him for several years until he appears in Kingston, NY in 1671 where he gives a despostion which outlines his family connections in sort of a will, ..'whereas the aforesaid Willem Trophagen is Considering the approach of death, therefore he has deemed it proper to make known the Conditions of his family....'. If he was close to death, he beat it and survived, apparently, another 28 years, although his deathdate of 1699 is not conclusive. He appears a number of times in the court and land records of Kingston from 1671 to 1688 and his will survives dated February 16, 1685.

Perhaps the disposition that he made in 1671 in Kingston is the most telling of his history in his own words.There have been a number of translations made which appear in the Wardlow document. The following is a translation by the late Jonathan Hasbrouck, of Kingston, N.Y. that appears in the Burhans genealogy:

"Appeared before me W. Montagne, Secretary of the Honorable Justices.

"Willem Traphagen, aged about 55 years, son of Johannes Traphagen, Doctor of Medicine, Officer of the house at Hemelyck, in the Bishoprick of Minnen, under the Duke Van der Lip- and born in the city of Leunichor.

"Hendrick Traphagen, brother of the appearer's father, had a son Anthony Traphagen, minister of the Calvinists at Almina.

"The sister of the appearer's father, Anna Traphagen, married Johannis Willemse, merchant.

"The mother of the appearer was Heledt Delendal. Her sister had a daughter married to a Burgomaster in Lemigo. Her brother, Johannes Delendal, was a Canon at Herfort, and her other sister had a husband named Johannes Nie Hoesy, Councilor in Herfoert. The guardians of the above named Willem Traphagen were Willem Schellinck, Jan Willemse, and Johannes Nie Hoesy. This Willem Traphagen, being at Lemigo in the year 1647, appointed Johannes Nie Hoesy and Johannes Traphagen, Minister, his Attorneys.

"The appearer mentions as having yet two sisters, Elsebus and Catharina Traphagen.

"And whereas I was married to Jannetje Claessen Groenvis, of Meppelt, and had by her a daughter named Helet Traphagen, and she dying, I was married again to a woman called Aeltje Dirricksen Meermans, and begat by her a son, Johannes Traphagen, and she dying I was again married to Joostje Willemse Nooltryck, of Amsterdam, and begat by her a daughter named Rebecca and sons Willem and Hendrick Traphagen.

"And whereas the aforesaid Willem Traphagen has thought of the hour of his death, therefore he has taken this opportunity to state his genealogy, so that when his children arrive at age they can look after a freehold at Merinen called Corpus Christi, bringing an annual income of one hundred rix dollars; a freehold standing in the Church at Lemigo called Maria Virginia, bringing in and annual income of eighty rix dollars; and a freehold at Belleveldt called Maria Salutas, bringing in an annual income of sixty rix dollars.

"Now, therefore, hoping the Good Lord will maintain them in their rights so they may flourish thereby, I have hereunto set my hand this 26th August 1671, at Kingston in America, under the Jurisdiction of his Magesty the King of England.

Willem Jansen Traphagen

"Witness, Albert Jansen "Attesto, W. Montagne, Sec'y." ^529,530,532

  Events

• Burial: Find A Grave Memorial# 148242714.

Willem married Jannetje Claesen Groevnis 20 Oct 1646 in Amsterdam, Holland. (Jannetje Claesen Groevnis was born about 1620 in Mappelt, Drenthe, Netherlands and died before 1 Jun 1658.)

Willem next married Aeltje Dirricksen Meermans 1 Jun 1658 in Drc At New Amsterdam. (Aeltje Dirricksen Meermans died about 1660 in New Amsterdam.)

Willem next married Joosje Willemse Nooltryck 15 Jan 1660/61 in New Amsterdam Or Brooklyn.