Margrietje Van Keuren (Hendricks) - Margrietje Hendricks date of birth

Started by Alex Moes on Tuesday, November 16, 2021
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11/16/2021 at 12:05 AM

The profile currently has a DOB of 1624 while text in the About states 1622, internet trees have 1618 as a popular alternative.

I would argue that all these dates are too late and we should change her birth to circa 1615:

  1. I do not have a copy of the original but numerous trees refer to a baptism in Reciffe, Brazil on May 16, 1637. This baptism, as well as others in following years, is used to justify making Margrietje Van Keuren a daughter of Hendrick Van Gout.
  2. Mathijs Jansen van Keulen and Margriet most likely were married in Brazil, 1640 to mid 1641. Mathijs left Brazil to resettle at Fort Orange in the summer of 1641. Mathijs was last recorded in Brazil in March, 1641, and was present in NY by fall of 1641. Their daughter Catryn was likely born 1641 to early 1642, and probably in New York as she was over 18 when she married in Oct, 1660. Since Mathijs and Margriet didn't baptize any children in Brazil, it is assumed the children were all born in New York.

As a witness at a baptism (#1) Margrietje must have been at least 21 years of age, making her DOB < 1616.

As a new mother in 1642 (per #2) a DOB of 1616 would make her 26 years, a very respectable age for a first time bride in this era. Whereas a first marriage any later than mid-20s would be very odd in a colony where some girls were being married off in their early teens,

11/16/2021 at 12:11 AM

As for location, she can't have been born in Fort Orange/Albany prior to 1625 as Sara Jorise Rapelje is universally recognised as the first European girl born in the colony while there is no evidence that Margrietje was in the colony before 1641.

11/16/2021 at 12:25 AM

Very interesting Alex Moes. I hadn't realized or had forgotten that some of them went to Recife where is where the first Jews in the New World went I think too. Likely also from the Netherlands.

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