Catharine Ham was NOT the mother of Jonathan Dubois' children.

Jonathan Dubois’ FamilySearch ID L4MV-C6J has two mothers for the same children. There are some 202 Ancestry Family Trees that use Jonathan, some with Elizabeth Ham as the mother of his children, some with Catherine Ham, some with both! What follows in the "Read more for evidences and proof" is a careful examination of christening records and wills, along with family records, which should put to rest the idea that Catherine was the mother of his children.

The confusion stems in large from an incorrect membership record in the East Greenbush Dutch Reformed Church: “28 Sept 1799: Conradt Ham, c. (certificate), and wife Christina Stryd, c., and their daughter Catharina Ham, c., wife of Jonathan DuBois.” (Footnote: Pockman, P. Theo.. History of the Reformed Church : at East Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York. New Brunswick, N.J.: J. Heidingsfeld, printer, 1891.,
at Ancestry.com. History of the Reformed Church : at East Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York [database on-line] - Image 246 ) Likely the most used reference that created the confusion is the 1969 Heidgerd work on the descendants of Chrétien Dubois which puts Catharine as the mother of the first four children and the last three the daughter of Elizabeth. (Footnote: Heidgerd, William, The American Descendants of Chretien DuBois of Wicres, France (Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, NY., 1969), page 257, E-1047. ) Christening records put Heidgerd's mistake to rest. And the church records establish the fact that Catharine, or “Caty”, and Elizabeth Ham were sisters.

Researchers and Family Records

As we see in the will records, Peter A. Ham was the deponent in the 1835 probate of his uncle Conrad C. Ham's estate as well as the executor. Peter was Jonathan’s son-in-law, having married his first cousin, Jonathan’s first born, Margaret “Peggy” Dubois. In the early 1850s Peter moved his family to Vinland township in Wisconsin. They had six children, the youngest being John Dubois Ham (1841-1937). They took with them the family Bible of Jonathan Dubois which was in turn passed down to his son Earl Ham (1891-1965) who lived near Elizabeth "Bessie" Mott (1879-1972), my great aunt. In 1938, Bessie’s brother, my grandfather Mayhew Mott, copied this entry from the Jonathan’s Bible.

Another handwritten record in the my family archives has Rachel's birth year as 1819. The baptism record below shows that 1811 for Eliza was correct.

Children of Jonathan Dubois and Elizabeth Ham Dubois

1-Margaret "Peggy" Dubois b. 23 Aug 1802, East Greenbush, Rensselaer Co., NY, d. 1 Mar 1875, Oshkosh, Winnebago Co., WI

m. Peter A. Ham b. 15 Dec 1805, Nassau, Rensselaer Co., NY, m. 7 Jan 1828, Brunswick, Rensselaer Co., NY, d. 5 Aug 1885, Winnebago Co., WI

2-Charity Dubois b. 4 Jun 1804, Catskill, NY, d. 12 Sep 1877, Chittenango, Sullivan Township, Madison Co., NY

m. Medad Porter Jr. b. 5 Jan 1802, Waterford, Saratoga Co., NY, m. 9 Feb 1826, d. 12 Sep 1863, Chittenango, Sullivan Township, Madison Co., NY

3-John Rohrbach Dubois b. 20 Apr 1806, (Nassau, Rensselaer Co., NY)*

Either died young or m. Christine Devit b. Abt 1808, Nassau, Rensselaer Co., NY, m. Abt 1832, Nassau, Rensselaer Co., NY

4-Christina G. "Tine" Dubois b. 1 Mar 1809, (Gilboa, Schoharie Co., NY), d. 28 Aug 1864, Oshkosh, Winnebago Co., WI

m. Henry Gardinier b. Abt 1804, Troy, Rensselaer Co., NY, m. Abt 1830, Greenbush, , NY

5-Eliza Emiline Dubois b. 11 Jul 1811, Ballston Spa, Saratoga, New York, USA

m. William Belden Scott b. 1813, Greenfield, Saratoga, New York, United States, d. 1870, Fitchville, Huron, Ohio, United States

6-Cornelius E. Dubois b. 30 Jun 1813, Ballston Spa, Saratoga, New York, USA, d. 17 Jan 1908, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

m. Emily Gertrude Johnston b. 10 Jul 1826, Palatine Bridge, Montgomery Co., NY, m. 2 Jan 1845, Galway, Saratoga Co., NY, d. 3 May 1852

m. 2^nd Augusta Alexander b. 1823, Rhode Island, d. 3 Feb 1899, Brown Co., Wisconsin

7-Rachel Ann Dubois b. 10 Mar 1816 or 1819 d. After 1846.*

* Little is known about either John or Rachel. Some maintain they died young, but written on the back of a picture in my possession is that Rachel, following her first cousin Harriet Dubois, went to Oberlin college. Rachel Ann Dubois of Ballstown Springs, N.Y. (sic) does appear as a third year student at Oberlin. (Footnote: Ancestry.com Online Database, U.S., College Student Lists, 1763-1924 > Ohio > Oberlin College > 1845 > Image 21. ) Harriet is indeed in the catalog of students for three years from 1842-1844. Nothing more about Rachel or John is in the family records.

My grandfather's family, especially his sister Bessie, was always interested in the family’s history. Bessie collected copious notes in conversation with her aunt “Libbie”, Elizabeth Porter (1827-1916), who lived with her the last five years of Libbie’s life. Among those notes are not only Libbie’s recollections but biographies of her parents and grandparents. One of those biographies was of Libbie’s great-aunt Elizabeth Dubois Ham, Jonathan’s sister and wife of Coenrad C. Ham, who lived until 1862, overlapping Libbie’s life by 35 years although they did not live in proximity. (Footnote: Jonathan’s grave is in Rock City Falls Cemetery in Milton, Saratoga County. I believe Elizabeth is buried there as well although the headstone is degraded and half buried. At the time of this writing (2020) I am pursuing avenues to get the stone, which I saw in 1997, restored. )

Baptism records

Conclusive evidence is in the baptism records of their children. All but the last two have documented church records. The East Greenbush Dutch Reformed church (Peggy and Charity), the Nassau Reformed Dutch church (John R.) and the Gilboa Dutch church (Christina and Eliza) clearly indicate that the parents are Jonathan Dubois and Elizabeth Ham. Only Cornelius and Rachel, who were born in Ballston Spa, have christening records not yet found. As the christening records reveal, the family moved over the course of 10 years, first some 40 miles west into Schoharie County, then about 50 miles northeast into Saratoga County.

• For Margaret and Charity (East Greenbush) click here.
• For John R. (Nassau) click here. Spellings of his middle name vary. I use Rohrbach in line with The Rohrbach Genealogy by Lewis Bunker Rohrbach and the spelling that Hank Z. Jones uses.
• For Christina and Eliza (Gilboa) click here.

Wills

Then there are the highly conclusive wills. The 1808 will of Elizabeth and Caty’s father, Johann Coenraet Ham names sons Frederic, Conrad C., Casper; daughters Elizabeth, Rachel, Hannah, Caty, Lana, Christina, Mary.(Footnote: Rachel may actually have been his brother’s daughter since her baptism can be found only with parents Jacob Ham and Cathrine Smit. Jacob is considered to have died between 1790 and 1800. Mary is Polly Ham who was born Anna Maria. ) Names sons Frederick and Conrad along with Robert Woodworth as executors. Unfortunately, it does not have the married names of the daughters.

Johann Conenraet's son Conrad C. Ham died in 1835 leaving a tidy sum to his wife Elizabeth, Jonathan Dubois’ sister, and “…all my Real estate of every description…” to his nephew Peter A. Ham who was also made executor along with his cousin Isaac Ham. Being required to notify all the heirs-in-law of his uncle’s will, Peter filed with the court a deposition that he had personally delivered proof of the will to those heirs-in-law. In 1837 he further filed with the court the inventory and deposed that he had personally delivered the will to all the heirs-in-law except Catherine Ham, sister of the deceased, and Christine Ham, his own sister and neice of the deceased. The deposition filed in April of 1835 named not only the heirs, but also their relationship to the deceased:

• Elizabeth Ham (widow of deceased)(and brother of Jonathan Dubois)
• Frederick Ham, (brother of deceased)
• Casper Ham, (brother of deceased)
• Christina Salisbury, (sister of deceased, w/o John)
• Elizabeth Dubois, (sister of deceased, w/o Jonathan Dubois)
• Catherine Best, (sister of deceased, w/o George – location in Michigan.)
• Anna Maria “Polly” Ham Smith, (sister of deceased, w/o Michael T. Smith)
• Anna Snyder (sister of deceased, w/o Peter Snyder – Annatje “Hannah.”)

• Children of the deceased sister Magdalena “Lany” Ham being then neices and nephews of the deceased and heirs-in-law:
  • Peter A. Ham (Deponent)
  • Henry Ham
  • Coenrad Ham
  • Christine Ham (location unknown to Peter in 1837.) (She had married James Winters in 1827 at Nassau, and sometime in the 1830s moved to Niskayuna in Schenectady county.)

• Also named but relationship not clear:
• “Naulche” Snyder (very likely sister, Hannah)
• Paul Smith, (likely son of deceased sister Rachel.)
• Frederick Smith, (likely son of deceased sister Rachel.)

Transcription of Peter's 1835 deposition:

                            In the matter of proving the
                            last will and testament of Conrad
                            C. Ham deceased as a (?) of
                            his personal estate.
                            

Rensselaer County I Peter A Ham being duly sworn upon his oath begs that he personally proved the announced citation by showing the original and delivering a copy thereof to Elizabeth Ham the widow of the deceased on the (?) day of April (???). Christina Ham, Frederick C. Ham and Casper C. Ham, Paul Smith, and Henry by showing said original and delivering a copy thereof to each more than (six?) days before the (?) thereof and this (def ? xxx) further says that the (abovenamed ??) are all the next of kin of the deceased who (vinor?) in the County of Rensselaer ((?????)) and that (21 more words very hard to read.) thereof - And this deponent further says that the above named persons + Polly Smith wife of Michael T. Smith + Catherine Best sisters of the deceased. Elizabeth Dubois wife of Jonathan Dubois + a sister of the deceased. Frederick Smith , Chistina Salisbury wife of John Salisbury + children of Rachel Smith deceased, Anna Snyder wife of Peter Snyder + sisters of Conrad C Ham deceased + Conrad Ham Christina Ham children of Magdalena Ham deceased together with this deponent are the only next of kin of the deceased among whom the personal property of the deceased (?) by law if distrubuted if the said Conrad C Ham had died intestate + further did not.

                            Sworn this 24th day
                            of April 1835 before
                            J (Parson?) Surrogate
                   

Click to see the original.

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The repetition of the given names like Conrad, Cornelius, Casper, Elizabeth, Christina, Catharine, Peter, and others among both the Ham families and the Dubois families make research into them during this period daunting. No wonder they used nicknames. Hopefully these evidences will put to rest the idea that Catherine was the mother of Jonathan Dubois’ children.

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Charity’s mother, Elizabeth Ham, was of pure Palatine stock, tracing back to those refugees from the Palatinate region of Germany in the first decade of the 1700s.

The Palatines

Sometime in the spring of 1709 three young men, Peter, Conrad and Caspar Hamm, accompanied by their mother Gertrude (Footnote: Both Hank Jones and David Kendall Martin conclude that it is "most probable" that Gertrude Hammin was the mother of Peter, Conrad and Caspar Ham, or Hamen as they appear on the immigrant registers of 1716/1716. However, their European origins have escaped firm detection. What is known of the family is detailed by Hank Jones on pages 329 to 336 in his Palatine Families of New York. See the bibliography at the end. ), left their homeland in southern Germany for a 6-8-week journey down the Rhine river to Rotterdam and then to London seeking new life in the “new world.”

After decades of war and desolation, accompanied by crushing taxes, poverty was the primary reason for their becoming refugees. The final straw was the crushingly cold winter of 1708-1709. The British government had encouraged this emigration with leaflets offering a chance at a new life in America.

Eventually arriving in London with thousands of other refugees, they realized that the British had no organized plan to relocate them, but after what would be another agonizing winter in England, six ships loaded with refugees sailed for New York. Crowded and unsanitary conditions aboard resulted in a number of deaths on the two-month trip.

After being unloaded on what is today Governors Island, the plan was to relocate them up the Hudson river to harvest and process tar from the extensive pine forests north of New York. Tar was an essential material for the British navy and it had been reliant on the tar processed and sold by Sweden.

In October of 1710 the refugees were settled into two “camps” either side of the Hudson river some one-hundred miles north of New York: East Camp and West Camp. There, living on subsistence provided by the government, they began, in the midst of another brutal winter, killing trees to process the tar. Within two years the navy decided that the tar processed was not the right type and the Palatinates were abandoned to their own devices without support, supplies or subsistence help. Many fled west to Scholarie County where they were kept alive by gifts of food from local Indians.

The Hams’ stayed in the area of East Camp, in debt to Robert Livingston for the lands they rented from his manor. Peter and Conrad were also conscripted into a small army organized by Livingston for punitive raids against the Indians who were harassing the Manor from the north.

It is from my 5th Great Grandfather, Conrad Ham, and Charity Dubois’ Great-Grandfather, that I am descended. His son Johann would have at least ten children with his wife Christina Streit, one of whom, Elizabeth, was born in Claverack in 1778 just north of East Camp. Both Conrad and his son Johann married women with roots in the Palatine immigration of 1710.

The Family Converges

While Charity Dubois married a Porter, her sister Margaret Dubois married a Ham, Peter A. Ham, who was Margaret’s first cousin AND her third cousin.
     Both were the grandchildren of Johan and Christina Ham making them first cousins.
     Both were great-grandchildren of two of the aforementioned immigrant brothers, Casper and Conrad, making them third cousins. Confused? I don’t blame you. I’ve included two relationship charts.

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As mentioned elsewhere on this genealogy website, Margaret and her husband Peter A. Ham were neighbors of Mayhew D. Mott in Ballston Spa, Saratoga county in 1850. Mayhew’s son Wesley would marry Charity’s daughter Harriet in 1871. (They were NOT cousins…whew!) Wesley Mott is my great-grandfather.

Peter Ham is buried in Ellington Cemetery in Stephensville, Outagamie County along with his son John Dubois Ham and his daughter-in-law Sarah. Margaret is buried with her sister Christina in Brooks Cemetery just north of Oshkosh, Winnebago County. Peter's Find-a-Grave Memorial
Margaret's Find-a-Grave Memorial.

For the descendants of Charity Dubois Porter see Charity and Medad Porter's Descendants.

For a 3 generation descendancy report on Johann Conrad Ham and Christina Streit see this report.

Charity’s father, Jonathan Dubois (1778-1851)

Charity’s father’s surname extends to the Huguenot ancestry of Chrétien Dubois who was born in France at the end of the 16th century. Jonathan’s mother, Charity Griffin, was a mix of English and Dutch; his father’s mother, Ariaatje Oosterhout, was of strong Dutch descent going back to the mid-1660s New York.

Huguenots

Much has been written on the history of the Huguenots, French protestants who embraced Calvinism and were at odds, sometimes violently, with the Catholic Church. If you are interested in that history a good place to start might simply be the Wikipedia article on the Huguenots.

Chrétien, whose ancestry has been traced, very circumstantially, to Charlemagne, had two sons, and a daughter, who emigrated and have been extensively studied and documented. Jacques Dubois followed his older brother to America in 1675 with his wife and children and settled near Esopus on the west bank of the Hudson some 75 miles north of New York City, then New Amsterdam.(Footnote: Esopus, on the river, is just a few miles from New Paltz where the Huguenot Society has created "Historic Huguenot Street," a ten acre historic district that includes the house of Louis Dubois. In 1995 I visited this wonderful location.

DuBois House of Louis DuBois on Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, New York

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Jacques’ fourth son, Pierre (1674-1738), became one of the founders of the Dutch Reformed Church in Fishkill, across the river and some 15-20 miles south of Esopus. He also purchased a large tract of land that is now Beacon, New York and built a residence there. A descendant, another Peter, built in 1840 a brick Greek Revival home that still stands.

While Jonathan’s Great-Grandfather, Pierre, was a man of means – the whole family was fairly wealthy – time and dissipation of wealth led Jonathan’s father Cornelius to move his family north to Schodack, just south of Albany across the river, where his wife Charity Griffin was from.

Jonathan had been christened in Fishkill in his great-grandfather’s church. After his move at age 12 with his family to Schodack, he met and married Elizabeth Ham about 1801 and together they raised a family eventually in Saratoga County near Ballston Spa.

English

Charity Griffin, Jonathan’s mother, was of English descent. Her great-great grandfather, Edward Griffin, was long thought to be Welsh, but recent research holds that all that can be said is he came from Britain. Richard Griffin, (Footnote: His brother, Col Jacob Griffin, operated a Tavern in East Fishkill which was a rendezvous point for patriot generals and militia. The tavern is currently the focus of a restoration and preservation project. Check out their efforts on their Facebook page. Richard himself is on a 1780 list of subscribers who contributed money to the war effort. ) Charity’s father, the 3rd generation of Griffins in America, married a woman of Dutch descent, Catharine Vanderhoof.

Dutch

There is a great deal of Dutch ancestry in the family. Charity Griffin’s mother was a Vanderhoof, a descendant of Geertje van Vulpen and her husband, Cornelis Gijsbertsen van der Hoeven and they were the first family of Vanderhoof’s in America. There is so much on this family at the Vanderhoof Family History Project that it is even difficult to summarize here.

Jonathan’s grandfather, his namesake Jonathan, married into the Dutch family Oosterhout, marrying Ariaantje Oosterhout in the Dutch Reformed Church of Kingston in 1732.

To back up a bit, the aforementioned Pierre Dubois married into a Dutch family that in a way is the most fascinating. He married Jeannetje Burhans in 1697 in Kingston and she was the daughter of Helena Traphagen and Jan Burhans. While the Burhans genealogy is extensive, it is the Traphagen family that always fascinated and amused me.

Helena Traphagen’s father was Willem Jansen Traphagen by his first wife. Willem emigrated from Amsterdam sometime between 1651 and 1657 to New Netherland. Times were lean: he appears in the court records to plead his debts. In 1661 he was one of 23 men who applied for town rights in the newly chartered town of Bushwick, across the East river on Long Island. There he and a colleague got in trouble with the local magistrates in 1664. His friend wrote an insolent letter to the magistrates and Willem delivered it. Both of them were ordered banished after being tied to the stake and labeled “false accusers and defamers of the magistrates.” While he still appears on the records of Bushwick as late as 1666, he moved to Kingston sometime in the next few years. There he farmed a small piece of land until he died, likely shortly after he wrote a will in February of 1685.

Major Settlements

1768 Map of the area of settlement

NYC to Albany today

Where Bushwick is today

The Louis DuBois house in New Paltz

Dutch Reformed church in Fishkill

Fishkill plaque to Peter Dubois

Jonathan Dubois' headstone - Rock City Cemetery, Saratoga