The Hegeman Family of New Netherland:

a brief outline of the first three generations

There has long been need for an accurate and coherent presentation of the early generations of the prolific family of Flatbush, Long Island, descended from Adrian Hegeman and his wife Catharina Margetts. With the single exception of an admirable paper by Richard W. Cook entitled “The Tribulations of Denys Hegeman,” Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, 25 (1950): 49-54, we have not seen a treatment of any of Adriaen’s sons which is free of serious error. For this reason, we present here a brief sketch, down to grandchildren, of Adriaen Hegeman’s descendants, with only the most essential genealogical facts being explicitly documented, and the facts of spouses’ parentages omitted. We are concerned mainly with establishing correct lines of descent, and our emphasis is historiographical rather than biographical. Time permitting, this somewhat dry treatment will be fleshed out with more detail at a latter date.

An extraordinary difficulty is caused by the immigrants having seven sons, all of whom had sons named Adriaen; and there are many other instances of repeated names. A dispassionate comparison of the present account with most previous publications will, we believe, reveal that the latter are in need of extensive revision. The root of all the confusion is the Hegeman entry in Teunis G. Bergen’s Register … of the early settlers of Kings County … (1881) [hereafter K.Co.], pp. 134-9, which teems with conflations, repetitions and chronological impossibilities, and in which at least three of the heads of families are assigned erroneous parentages. Many of the shortcomings of this work are due simply to careless handling of source materials, as Bergen had most of the necessary documentation at hand but committed many errors of transcription and interpretation. Indeed, some of his identifications are completely arbitrary, and have no evidence whatsoever in their favor. Several seem biased in the direction of attaching children to the immigrants’ most socially prominent son (Joseph), or to sons whose wives were of more prominent ancestry (Hendrick, Joseph).

Bergen’s reconstruction of the third generation of this family, in particular, is an utterly unsatisfactory piece of work, and has practically had to be abandonned here. Apart from the errors already alluded to, he arrived at false affiliations (of parentage or of marital alliance) for two of the grandsons named Adriaen Hegeman and five of the six granddaughters named Catharina Hegeman. There follows a brief overview of some of his misidentified subjects, alphabetized by first name:

• Adriaen Hegeman, of Flatbush, weaver, whose will was made in 1770 and proved in 1772 (K.Co. 135), was not a son of Isaac Hegeman, but rather of the latter’s brother, Abraham. (Unfortunately, this error was repeated in the present notes through to July 2009.)
• Adriaen Hegeman, who made his will in 1752 (Bergen, K.Co. 135, writes “1755”), was a son not of Hendrick Hegeman, but rather of the latter’s brother Benjamin. (Unfortunately, this error was repeated in the present notes through to March 2002.)
• Aeltje, daughter of Adriaen³ (Hendrick²) Hegeman (K.Co. 135), was really Antje.
• Catharina Hegeman, wife successively of Hendrick Vonck and of Aucke Lefferts, was a daughter not of Benjamin² Hegeman (as stated in K.Co. 136), but of his brother Denys².
• Catharina, called a daughter of Elbert³ Hegeman (K.Co. 136), was actually his sister.
• Catharina Hegeman, wife of Theunis Bogaert, was a daughter not of Joseph² Hegeman (as stated in K.Co. 138), but of his brother Isaac².
• Elbert, called a son of Joseph² Hegeman (K.Co. 138), was really a son of Jacobus² Hegeman.
• Francis/Frans, called a son of Joseph² Hegeman (K.Co. 138), was really the son of Hendrick² Hegeman (note that this man is unnecessarily split into two different persons by Bergen and by Stoutenburgh).
• Hendrick, assigned as a son to Jacobus² Hegeman (K.Co. 137), was non-existant, as proved by the latter’s will.
• Jacobus, alleged son of Hendrick² Hegeman (K.Co. 137), is a chimaera, for whom no contemporary evidence exists.
• Joost, son of Hendrick² Hegeman (K.Co. 137), must be regarded as a duplication or as a chimaera, since Bergen also lists a son with the name Joseph, of which Joost is a nickname.
• “Marragriete,” called a daughter of Adriaen³ (Hendrick²) Hegeman (K.Co. 135), really belongs a generation later (and to a different branch of the family), as she was a daughter of Adriaen Hegeman and Maria Cornel.
• Peter Hegeman, “supposedly a son of Adriaen” (K.Co. 138; he is not listed under the account of his supposed father), would have had to have been an adult in 1656, only three years after (on Bergen’s own showing) Adriaen’s son Jacobus was born (and, as we now know, only seven years after Adriaen was married). In fact “Peter” is a mistake which occurs in several contemporary references to Adriaen himself, as is clear from the context,^[1] and there is no convincing evidence for the existence of any Peter Hegeman in this era.
• Peter Hegeman, who married Antje Hoogland, is variously identified as a son of Adriaen Hegeman and Maria van der Beeck (K.Co. 136) or as a son of Joseph Hegeman and Femmetje van der Beeck (K.Co. 138). In fact he was neither, as he (obviously) belongs to a later generation of the family. This error is noticed in Stoutenburgh’s Oyster Bay, p. 257.
• Phebe, alleged daughter of Hendrick Hegeman (K.Co. 137), is a chimaera.

This represents a high rate of error for an account occupying less than 4½ pages.

Bergen was followed somewhat too credulously by later historians and genealogists, even by Henry A. Stoutenburgh in his valuable Documentary History of the Dutch Congregation of Oyster Bay (1902), pp. 243-59. William A. Eardeley’s Chronology and Ancestry of Chauncey M. Depew (1918) adds some new material but in a rather ill-digested form. The industrious but chaotic Hegeman typescript by the late Laurence La Tourette Driggs (1876-1945) at NYG&BS, which in lieu of a full-length published study of the family enjoys the de facto status of the standard account, uncritically accepts previous statements with little attempt at resolving contradictions, and evinces little understanding of the importance of evidence from onomastics or baptismal sponsorships, the essential foundation of genealogical research on the Dutch for the colonial period. Moreover, all of these works contains serious mistakes which could have been avoided by reference to materials readily available in print at the time of their composition. These authors have each contributed something of value to the discussion, but all depended too heavily on the exaggerated reputation of Bergen’s work.

The account given below of the first generation of the family is adapted from my article “The Amsterdam years of Joseph Margetts, father-in-law of Adriaen Hegeman of New Netherland,” NYGBR 130 (1999): 174-80, which see for further documentation. I have given a much fuller treatment of one of his sons in The descendants of Hendrick Hegeman, of Flatbush, Kings County, Long Island, New York, which may be consulted for further detail. The rest of the material presented here is previously unpublished. Since its first appearance, Charles M. Cook, of Houma, Louisiana, has submitted an important correction on the identification of Adriaen³ (Hendrick², Adriaen¹) Hegeman, and Mike Morrissey has supplied both the parentage of Martha van der Beeck, wife of Adriaen Hegeman (Abraham², Adriaen¹), and a corrected identification of this Adriaen himself. It is hoped that these notes will serve as a stimulus to further research, and I shall be grateful for notice of any additions or corrections.

Adriaen Hegeman (see also his ancestor table), born ca. 1624 at Elburg in Gelderland, living 27 September 1671 (when he was confirmed as an executor of the will of Jan Everts Bout, of Brooklyn,^[2] but died, presumably in the province of New York, by 28 May 1672. He married 7 March 1649 at Sloten, near Amsterdam, by Amsterdam marriage intention dated 29 Jan. preceding, Catharina Margetts, baptized 4 February 1625 in the New Church, Amsterdam, died 1690, before 16 April, and buried from the Dutch Church of Midwout (now Flatbush), Kings Co., Long Island, N.Y. He is described in the marriage intention as “Adriaen Hegeman, of Elburgh, silk-worker (syreder), aged 25 years, having no parents, [living] in Egelantier Straet.” She is recorded as “Catharina Margits, of Amsterdam, aged 21 years [an understatement], living on the Oudesyts Achterburgwall, accompanied by Joseph Margits, her father.”
     Following the births of their first two children this couple left for New Netherland in 1652, settling at Midwout (modern Flatbush), on the west end of Long Island, where Adriaen was appointed Schout of four of the “five Dutch towns” (namely Flatlands, Brooklyn, Flatbush, and New Utrecht) in Kings County. At Catharina’s death in 1690, her heirs were recorded as

Hendrikus Hegeman;
Joseph Hegemans;
Jakobus Hegeman;
Denijs Hegemans;
Abraham Hegeman;
Tobias ten IJek;
Isaack Hegemans;
Benjamin Hegeman.^[3]

Adriaen Hegeman and his wife Catharina are the ancestors of most of the Hegemans of New York and New Jersey.
     Issue (in the order named in the settlement of Catharina’s estate):

1. Hendrick Hegeman, of Flatbush and New Lots (between Flatbush and Brooklyn), farmer, baptized 13 April 1649 in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, Netherlands, as a son of Adriaen Hegeman and Sara (sic) Margers, with sponsor Gualterus Hegeman,^[4] said to have died ca. 1710. He married 26 April 1685 at Flatlands, by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, Adriaentje Bloetgoet, baptized 14 January 1660 in the New York Dutch Church, living 2 December 1733. Bergen’s list of their issue (K.Co. 137) contains a number of chimaerae and is not to be trusted.
        Known issue (order partly inferential):
   1. Adriaen Hegeman, of Jamaica, L.I., of Harlingen, Somerset Co., N.J., and possibly also of Pennsylvania, born at New Lots (according to his marriage record), baptized 14 March 1686 in the New York Dutch Church, died between 8 August 1754 (when he made his will) and 27 July 1762 (when it was proved). He (then of Jamaica) married 1 May 1713 by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, Marritje van der Vliet, “born and residing on the New Lots,” living 1740, and their eldest son, Hendrick, was baptized 24 March 1714 at Jamaica with sponsors were “Hendrickus and Arriaentie Hegaman.” Although we had previously suggested that he was the Adriaen Hegeman of Hempstead who made a will dated 25 April 1752 and proved 25 September following,^[5] this theory has proved untenable, and we are now inclined to attribute this will to a hypothesized Adriaen³ (Benjamin²) Hegeman. In fact, it has long been known that the present Adriaen Hegeman was of New Jersey.^[6] There was issue.
   2. Frans Hegeman, of Jamaica, L.I., and Poughkeepsie, born say 1688 at Oostwoudt (i.e. New Lots), living 1709-43. He (then of Jamaica) was betrothed 29 October 1709 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Antjen Rouard or Ruwaert, born 1 January 1686/7, living 1743. Earlier writers have unanymously made him a son of Joseph Hegeman, but this is certainly wrong, as I have argued at length in my treatment of Hendrick Hegeman’s descendants. There was issue.
   3. Joseph Hegeman, of Flatbush and Jamaica, L.I., born say 1691 at New Lots (according to his marriage record), died 1741, between 1 April (when he made his will) and 5 May (when it was proved).^[7] He (then of Jamaica) was betrothed (as her first husband) 6 February 1714 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Sara van der Vliet, born 7 November 1694 at New Lots, and baptized 14 November following; she married secondly in 1744, as his second wife, Johannes Coerten van Voorhees, died 1755-58, and as his widow made her will dated 4 October 1770, proved 16 November 1773.^[8] Bergen (K.Co. 138) and Stoutenburgh (Oyster Bay, p. 254) confuse this man with his first cousin, Joseph, son of Joseph Hegeman and Femmetje Rems van der Beeck (q.v.), making the latter marry both Adriaentje van Wyck and Sara van Vliet. A correction of this mistake was made many years ago, but it seems to have passed largely unnoticed, and the error has continued to be widely copied.^[9] The fact that Hendrick and Adriaentje Hegeman served as baptismal sponsors for his first, second, and fourth children can leave little doubt as to his paternity. There was issue.
   4. Catharina Hegeman, born ca. 1697-8 at Jamaica, L.I., died 2 April 1757 “in the 60th year of her age.” She (then of Jamaica) married 8 September 1716, Jan Aertse van Pelt, baptized 25 December 1688 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, died 22 October 1766 “aged 79 years.” Her parents served as baptismal sponsors to her eldest child, and her parentage is further confirmed by her and her husband’s presence as baptismal sponsors to a child of her brother Joseph Hegeman in 1719. Catharina Hegeman and her husband removed in 1742 to New Brunswick, N.J. There was issue.
   5. Judicke Hegeman, born say 1699, living 4 November 1726 (when her youngest child was baptized) but died before 1736 (when her husband was remarried). She married before 1720, as his first wife, Gerrit Blom, evidently of Jamaica, L.I. (where all his children were baptized), who was born say 1696, and living 18 October 1760. Evidence of her identity was kindly brought to our attention by Lynn Dielman, of San Diego, California. Subsequently, we discovered that this identification had been previously published by Frank J. Doherty.^[10] We have considered the matter in greater detail in our account of her parents. There was issue.
2. (Capt.) Joseph Hegeman, of New Lots, Flatbush, L.I., baptized 15 January 1651 at Amsterdam, Netherlands, with sponsors Joseph Margits and Gertruit Margits, living 1713 (Bergen says he died ca. 1725). He (then of Flatbush) was married 21 October 1677 at Flatlands, by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Femmetje Rems van der Beeck, born 1 August 1657 at New Albany (now Albany), N.Y., alive in 1687 (Stoutenburgh says she died 1745).^[11]
        The 1698 census shows his household as consisting of 1 man, 1 woman, 4 children, no apprentices, and 5 slaves. For three of the children who have generally been attributed to Joseph Hegeman no records of birth or baptism have ever been found, and onomastic evidence does not support the identifications. It is difficult to see how the figure of five children given for him in the 1698 census could account for the large number of children which have been imputed to him in secondary sources, although Stoutenburgh’s Oyster Bay, p. 254, at least relieves him of the son Peter with whom Bergen absurdly credits him, and Eardeley was aware of Stoutenburgh’s correction.^[12]
        Although Bergen, Stoutenburgh, Driggs, and the Bogaert genealogists all give him a daughter Catharina who married Teunis Bogaert, it is certain that Bogaert’s wife was actually a daughter of Isaac Hegeman, Joseph’s brother. They are also all wrong in giving him sons Elbert (actually a son of Joseph’s brother Jacobus) and Frans (actually a son of Joseph’s brother Hendrick). Once these errors are corrected, five children remain, in agreement with the 1698 census so long as the eldest daughter, Jannetje, had not already married and left the household:
        Known issue:
   1. Jannetje Hegeman, baptized 20 October 1678 in the Flatbush Dutch Church. She almost certainly m., before 1703 and probably by 1697, Cornelis Willemsen alias Cornel, of Three Mile Run, Middlesex Co., N.J., when he made his will, died between 18 February 1739/40 (when he made his will) and 9 September 1756 (when it was proved).^[13] There was issue.
   2. Adriaen Hegeman, of Brooklyn Ferry and Oyster Bay, baptized 31 October 1680 at Brooklyn by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, with sponsors Hendrik Hegeman and Catharina Hegemans; died 28 February 1747, and buried at Cedar Swamp, near Oyster Bay, Queens Co., L.I. He married 29 May 1705, Maria Cornel, born 29 April 1686, died 30 January 1727/8.^[14] There was issue.
   3. Elisabeth Hegeman, baptized 5 November 1682 at Flatlands, by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, with sponsors Jan Remsz and Elisabeth Hegemans. She married by 1702, Laurens Ditmars, of Flatbush, baptized 25 April 1680, died 25 July 1769 (K.Co. 100). There was issue.
   4. Rem Hegeman, of Flatbush, born at Flatbush, baptized 8 February 1685 at Flatlands, by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, died between 17 May 1759 (when he made his will) and 6 April 1767 (when it was proved).^[15] He was betrothed 6 May 1715 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Pieterneltje van Wickelen, born at New Lots. There was issue.
   5. Joseph Hegeman, Jr., baptized 21 August 1687 in the Brooklyn Dutch Church. He married 1 May 1712 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Adriaentje van Wyck, born at Flatbush, baptized 9 September 1688 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, living 1756.^[16] Bergen (K.Co. 138) and Stoutenburgh (Oyster Bay, p. 254) confuse him with Joseph, son of Hendrick Hegeman (q.v.), and give him a “second” wife, Sara van der Vliet. This is impossible because Adriaentje was alive long after 1716, when the other Joseph married Sara van der Vliet, and furthermore the groom of 1716 is specifically designated in the record as having been previously unmarried. The error seems to have escaped notice until pointed out by Dorothy A. Koenig.^[17] There was issue.
3. Jacobus Hegeman, of New Lots, near Flatbush, born apparently in 1652-53, before his parents’ arrival in New Netherland, either in Europe or at sea, baptized 9 March 1652/3 in the New York Dutch Church, living 3 February 1706/7 when he made his will, which was not proved until 29 January 1741.^[18] He (then of Flatbush) married 14 October 1683 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Jannetje Ariaense, born 25 July 1660, living 4 May 1695, but died by 29 January 1741, when her husband’s will was proved. The 1698 census shows him with a household consisting of 1 man, 1 woman, 3 children, no apprentices, and 1 slave. His will, in which he calls himself “Jacobus Hegeman, living at the New Land or East Wood, in Kings County,” mentions “my loving wife, Janettye,” and “my three children, Adrian, Elbert, and Catharine.” When it was proved, “the widow being dead, Elbert Hegeman and Abraham Lott were made administrators.”
        Issue:
   1. Adriaen Hegeman, baptized 27 July 1684 at New Utrecht, by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, with sponsors Hendricus Hegeman and Lijsbeth Hegeman; living 3 February 1706/7 at the making of his father’s will, but no further record found.
   2. Elbert Hegeman, of New Lots, born [1686-87] at Oostwoudt (i.e. New Lots), near Flatbush, died 22 October 1777 “in his 91^st year” [i.e. aged 90 years], and buried at New Lots. He married was 30 April 1710 “in the home of the bride’s father,” by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Maria Rapalje, born 1677 at Brooklyn, probably living 1742. Bergen made him a son of Joseph Hegeman, perhaps because the will of “John van Wickell” (i.e. Jan van Wickelen), of New Lots, dated 17 January 1731/2, makes “my brother-in-law, Rem Hegeman, and Elbert Hegeman, and Joseph Hegeman, executors”,^[19] seemingly suggesting that Elbert was a brother to Rem and Joseph. The same mistake is made by Stoutenburgh and Eardeley.^[20]
   3. Catharina Hegeman, said to have been born 11 November 1691, died 19 November 1741. She married 15 November 1709, Abraham Lott, said to have been born 7 September 1684, and baptized 14 September following at Flatlands by the minister of the Flatbush Dutch Church, died 39 July 1754, son of Engelbert Lott, of Flatbush, by the latter’s wife Cornelia de Lanoy. Abraham Lott was one of the executors of her father’s will, and when his son Engelbert was baptized in 1719 in the New Utrecht Dutch Church, one of the witnesses was “Marytje Hegeman, wife of E. Hegeman.” This evidently refers to Egbert Hegeman, and some dim remembrance of the connections survives in the distorted statement that Catharina was Elbert’s daughter in the eighteenth-century manuscript Lott genealogy.^[21] It should be obvious that no daughter of Elbert Hegeman could have reached marriageable age by 1709, but Bergen (p. 190), perhaps having seen this manuscript, also calls her Elbert’s daughter, as does A.V. Phillips, who was certainly aware of the manuscript.^[22] However, Phillips gives an otherwise useful account of Abraham Lott, and may be consulted for biographical details and a reliable record of Lott’s issue (except for the inexplicable omission of the daughter Cornelia vouched for in the manuscript Lott genealogy).
4. Denys Hegeman, of Flatbush, born say 1658, died by 1713 (Bergen says by 1710).^[23] He married say 1680, certainly before 5 August 1689, and probably in Maine, Grace Dollen (called Lucretia by the Dutch), living 25 October 1719. In the 1698 census of Flatbush his household consisted of 1 man, 1 woman, 5 children, and no apprentices or slaves.
        Known issue (apart from two unnamed children mentioned in the Flatbush burial records):
   1. Dollens (?) Hegeman, of Middlesex Co., N.J., born ca. 1681 at Pequamid, Maine, living 1750. He married Geertruydt ____, and had issue. Although Bergen calls this man “Dallius,” and Cook calls him “Dollius,” it would appear that his name was really Dollens.^[24]
   2. Adriaen Hegeman, of Brooklyn Ferry, born say 1683 at Pemequid, Maine (the record of his marriage says he was born at “Pemequik”), died between 11 August 1762 (when he made his will) and 28 August following (when it was proved).^[25] He married (1) 15 December 1706 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Elizabeth van Wyck, baptized 16 January 1685 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, died before 1719; this marriage is missed by Bergen. He married (2) before 1719, Sara ____, living 11 August 1762 (the date of her husband’s will). There was issue.
   3. Catharina Hegeman, born say 1688 at Pemequid, Maine, living 30 July 1735. The record of her first marriage states that she was born at “Pemequick” but living at Flatbush. She married (1) 12 May 1706 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Hendrick Vonck, born 7 January 1680/1 at Southampton, L.I., baptized 27 November 1681 at Flatbush, living 1727, but died by 1735.^[26] She married (2) (as his second wife) 30 July 1735, Anke Lefferts Haughwout, of Monmouth Co., N.J. Since Catharina clearly must have been born before her parents’ Indian capture, she must either have been taken with them, or escaped and been raised by relatives in New York. Issue by first marriage.
   4. Jane Hegeman (missed by Bergen), born say 1687, captured by Indians and still in their hands in Jan. 1698/9; there is no evidence that she was ever returned.
   5. Joseph Hegeman, of Flatbush, born 4 March 1693 in Québec, Canada, after his parents’ Indian Capture, and baptized the next day in the Roman Catholic church at Quebec City. He later returned to New York and (then of Flatbush) married 4 June 1714 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Alida Andriesse, born at Flatbush.^[27] R.W. Cook says Joseph “removed to Somerset Co., N.J., about 1739.” There was issue.
   6. Jacobus Hegeman, of Hillsborough, Somerset Co, N.J., born 18 January 1699, died 25 September 1736. He married Jannetje van Veghten, baptized 11 June 1701 at Raritan, died ca. October 1778.^[28] According to R.W. Cook, he had There was issue.
   7. Denys Hegeman, Jr., of the Raritan, baptized 29 June 1703 in the Jamaica Dutch Church, living 1762. Bergen, in K.Co. 136 and also in his Bergen Family, 2^nd ed. (1876), p. 407 n., claims that he married “Mary or Maria ____”, and had a daughter who married a Bergen; but this statement is not followed by Cook and we have not found evidence of it.
5. Abraham Hegeman, born say 1662 at Flatbush,^[29] living 15 June 1720. He (then of Flatbush) was betrothed 30 August 1690 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Geertruydt Jans, from Albany, alive in 1720 and possibly in 1729, when a Gertruy Hegeman (sic) appeared as a baptismal sponsor to her granddaughter and namesake, Geertruyd, daughter of Adriaen Hegeman. In the 1698 census of Flatbush his household consisted of 1 man, 2 women, 3 children, no apprentices, and 1 slave. His will mentions wife Gertruy, and “my three children,” itemized as “my eldest son Adrian … who is unmarried,” “daughter Catrina,” also unmarried, and “my youngest son, Jan.”^[30]
        Known issue:
   1. Adriaen Hegeman, of Flatbush, weaver, born say 1695, died between 1 September 1770 (when he made his will) and 16 April 1772 (when it was proved).^[31] Bergen claims he served as “county clerk from 1726 to 1750,” but presents no evidence that this was not Adriaen³ (Joseph²) Hegeman, who also lived at Brooklyn. The town historian Ostrander speaks of him as “town clerk in 1727 … until 1752,” which is not quite the same thing, and we are not sure which author (if either) is correct.^[32] However Ostrander is quite definitely wrong when he guesses that this Adriaen “was doubtless a son of Adriaen Hegeman … schepen or schout in 1661,” for the chronology is obviously very bad and there is not the slightest evidence that the immigrant had such a son.
          Adriaen’s will does not name his wife, who was perhaps already deceased, but does name his children including “Abraham, of Amwell, West Jersey” (who appears to have been the eldest son) as well as the following, not necessarily in order of birth: Petrus, Gertruy, Adrian, and Rem (deceased), and “the children of my son Rem … John, Joseph, Adrian, Catrina, and Rem.” Adriaen is called “unmarried” in his father’s will, dated 15 June 1715. For that reason, and misled by the statement of Bergen (p. 136) that the name of this man’s wife was Adriaentje ____, we failed in earlier versions of these notes to recognize (as pointed out to us by Mike Morrissey) that he was actually the “Adriaan Hegeman, young man, born and residing in Midwood [Flatbush],” who was betrothed on 3 December 1714 in the Flatbush Dutch Church to Martha van der Beeck, born at Flatbush, daughter of Jan Remsen and Metje Janse Damen. The register contains a marginal notation which reads: “married the ____ by me, V. Antonides,” so we know the marriage actually occurred; but the date is left blank. Whether there really was some delay between the betrothal and the marriage, or whether his father’s will is in error or misdated, there is no doubting that this marriage belongs to the testator of 1770, as baptismal records for five of the children of this couple are found in the records of the New Utrecht Dutch Church between 1720 and 1729, and they include two Adrians, a Rem, and two Geertruyds; furthermore the names of the sponsors include a Catryna Hegeman, a Jan Hegeman, and a Gertruy Hegeman. Martha is presumably the Martha van der Beek who with Jan Hegeman served as a baptismal sponsor in the Dutch Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island, for a child of Rem van der Beek and Dorothea “Coteleau” on 2 June 1723.
   2. Catharina Hegeman, born before 1703, unmarried in 1715; probably the Catryna Hegeman who served as a baptismal sponsor to two children of Adriaen Hegeman, above, in 1720 and 1722.
   3. Jan Hegeman, baptized 5 September 1703 in the New York Dutch Church; probably the Jan Hegeman served as a baptismal sponsor to two children of Adriaen Hegeman, above, in 1728 and 1729, and the Jan Hegeman who served with Martha van der Beek as a baptismal sponsor in the Dutch Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island, in 1723.
6. Elisabeth Hegeman, born say 1665, living November 1699. She (then of Flatbush) married (1) (as his second wife) 27 April 1684 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Tobias ten Eyck, of New York City, baptized 21 January 1652/3 in the New York Dutch Church, living 29 November 1699 (when he made his will).^[33] They are attested at New York City (1685-96), at Flatbush (1694-98), and at Newtown (1717). She married (2) after November 1699, her first husband’s brother-in-law, Jacobus Hercks Kranckheyt, of Newtown, baptized 7 September 1659 in the New York Dutch Church, died s.p. 18 February 1729 (per records of Newtown Presbyterian Church), having made a will dated 18 November 1728 and proved 3 March 1728/9.^[34] There was no issue of Elisabeth’s second marriage to Jacobus Kranckheyt, as correctly noted in Riker’s Newtown, p. 316 n. Jacobus Krankheit and Catharina (sic) Hegemans served as baptismal sponsors to a child of Simon Bogaart and Margrietje Ten Eik on 18 October 1719 in the Dutch Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island.
        Known issue (all by first husband):^[35]
   1. Anna ten Eyck, baptized (as “Johanna”) 10 May 1685 in the New York Dutch Church. She is said to have married ca. 1705, Johannes Polhemus, born ca. 1686 at Flatbush, died 1744 at Middletown, N.J.^[36]
   2. Coenradt ten Eyck, of New York City, bolter, baptized 6 March 1686/7 in the New York Dutch Church, died testate, and buried 28 December 1744. He married by 12 September 1711, Sara van Vorst, baptized 24 May 1686 in the New York Dutch Church, died between 16 February 1746/7 (when she made her will) and 8 July 1748 (when it was proved). There was issue.
   3. Adriaen ten Eyck, born in New York City, baptized 30 January 1689/90 in the New York Dutch Church. He (then of Newtown) married 26 April 30 March 1717 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Rebecca van der Vliet, born at New Lots. According to H.W. George they went to Somerset Co., N.J., by 1724. There was issue.
   4. Catharina ten Eyck, born 27 April 1692, baptized 4 May following in the New York Dutch Church, died 11 August 1772 of fever, “aged 80 years, 3 months.” she married (as his second wife) 30 June 1710, Wynant van ’t-Zandt, born 17 December 1683, baptized 23 December 1683 at Albany, died (testate) 6 October 1757 in New York City “in the 73^rd year of his age.”^[37] There was issue.
   5. Aeltje ten Eyck, born at Flatbush, baptized 29 April 1694 in the Brooklyn Dutch Church. She (then of Newtown) married 24 May 1717 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Pieter Nevius, born 28 July 1695, baptized 30 October following at Flatlands, and they removed to Marlborough, N.J.^[38]
   6. Jacob ten Eyck, baptized 1 July 1696 in the New York Dutch Church, living November 1728, but no further record of him found.
   7. Margariet ten Eyck, born at Flatbush, baptized 10 April 1698 in the Brooklyn Dutch Church. She (then of Newtown) was betrothed 16 November 1716 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Symon [Gysbertse] Bogaert, of Staaten Island, born at Brooklyn, baptized 5 November 1693.
7. Isaac Hegeman, of New Lots and Jamaica, L.I., born say 1667 in New Netherland, alive in 1718. He (then of Flatbush) was betrothed 15 February 1687 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Marritje/Marike Roelofse Schenck, born 14 February 1667, who as “Marritje Rulofs” was received into the membership of the Flatbush Dutch Church on 21 March 1684. In the 1698 census his household consisted of 1 man, 1 woman, 3 children, and no apprentices or slaves. He was clearly the father of the known sisters Neeltje and Catharina Hegeman — both of whom named children Isaac and Maria — despite the fact that Bergen assigns them to his brother Joseph. Moreover, “Isaak Hegeman” served as baptismal sponsor to his namesake Isaak, son of Teunis Bogaart and Catharina Hegeman, on 2 November 1718 in the Dutch Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island.
        Known issue:
   1. Adriaen Hegeman, baptized 9 September 1688 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, with sponsors Roelef Martensen and Lijsbet Heeghman. Although in previous versions of these notes we tentatively accepted Bergen’s statement that this Adriaen Hegeman was the one who married Martha van der Beeck, it has since been determined that this Martha’s husband was actually a son of Abram² (Adriaen¹) Hegeman. It may be doubted whether the present Adriaen ever reached adulthood, for he did not appear as a baptismal sponsor to any of the children of his sister Catharina or Neeltje, below.
   2. Catharina Hegeman, born say 1692 at Oostwoudt (i.e. New Lots), presumably died by 2 June 1767 as she is not named in her husband’s will. She was betrothed 20 October 1711 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Theunis Gysbertse Bogaert, of Brooklyn, born 1689 at Brooklyn, died between 2 June 1767 (when he made his will) and 27 April 1768 (when it was proved).^[39] They lived at Fresh Kills, near Port Richmond, Staaten Island. There was issue.^[40]
   3. Neeltje Hegeman, born say 1697 at New Lots (according to her marriage record). She married 19 September 1716 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, Coert [Gerritse] van Voorhees, of Jamaica and Gravesend, died between 3 January 1746 (when he made his will) and 24 July 1750 (when it was proved).^[41] In 1723, “Koert Van Voorhees” served as a baptismal sponsor in the Dutch Church of Port Richmond, Staten Island, for a child of Teunis Bogaert and Neeltje’s sister Catharina Hegeman, and Voorhees appoints as one of the executors of his will “my brother-in-law Teunis Bogart.”
8. Benjamin Hegeman, of Flatbush and New York City, born say 1669 at Flatbush (according to his marriage record), living 1702 but probably died by 1728. In the 1698 census of Flatbush, his household consisted of 1 man, 2 women, 2 children, and no apprentices or slaves. He was probably dead in 1728, when his brother Hendrick served as a baptismal sponsor for his grandson and namesake Benjamin Hegeman, a duty he would surely have performed himself had he been alive. He (then of Flatbush) was betrothed 9 April 1688 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Barentje Jans, from Albany, who was still alive on 12 October 1728, when as “Barentie Heegeman” she served at Jamaica as a baptismal sponsor to her grandson, Benjamin⁴ (Jan³, Benjamin², Adriaen¹) below.
        Known issue:
   1. Adriaen Hegeman, of Jamaica and Hempstead, L.I., born say 1690-94, died between 25 April 1752 (when he made his will) and 25 September following (when it was proved).^[42] He married by 1716 (date of baptisms of first child), Marritje Stringham,^[43] and had the six children baptized at Jamaica between 1716 and 1728, including the following named in his will: “three sons, Benjamin, Peter, and John,” and “[three] daughters, Mary and Anne Hagerman, and … Barche Dorlin.” Although in earlier versions of these notes we had contended, following Bergen (K.Co. 135) that the testator was a son of Hendrick Hegeman and Adriaentje Bloetgoet, it is now obvious that his naming of children Benjamin and Barche (=Barentje) places him as a son of Benjamin Hegeman and Barentje Jans. Furthermore, his son Benjamin, who in his 1772 will mentions “my well-beloved brother-in-law, Carman Dorlon” (presumably husband of the testator’s sister “Barche Dorlin”), also mentions “my well-beloved cousin, Benjamin Hegerman,”^[44] and this is most easily explained as a reference to Benjamin⁴ (Jan³, Benjamin², Adriaen¹) below, who is known to have reached adulthood.^[45]
   2. Catharina Hegeman, baptized 12 February 1696 in the New York Dutch Church. Bergen (K.Co. 136) strangely imagined that she was the one who married (by 1708!) Hendrick Vonck and afterward Anke Lefferts Haughwout; but that woman was clearly a daughter of Denys² Hegeman. Driggs makes her the wife of “Teunis Bogert, of Staten Island,” but that woman was clearly a daughter of Isaac² Hegeman. In fact, we have not discovered a valid marriage for the present Catharina.
   3. Alida Hegeman, baptized 26 October 1702 in the Brooklyn Dutch Church.
   4. Jan Hegeman, of ____, living 1749. He married Marritje ____. His connection with his parents is established by the appearance of his mother as a baptismal sponsor for his only known child, Benjamin (1728), mentioned above.

Unplaced

“Libitje” [i.e. Elisabeth] Hegeman, who on chronological grounds was likely of the third American generation of this family, was born say 1696-1700 at Flatbush. She was betrothed 16 February 1717 in the Flatbush Dutch Church, to Barent Strycker (K.Co. 287), of Flatbush, born at Flatbush. Bergen says they “left Flatbush and settled on the Raritan, N.J.” Bergen (K.Co. 137) makes her a daughter of Isaac Hegeman and Marritje Schenck, but cites no evidence, and the names of her (supposed) children are not suggestive. She is quite definitely excluded as a daughter of Joseph Hegeman (whose daughter Elisabeth is otherwise accounted for) or of Jacobus or Abraham Hegeman (whose wills name no such daughter), but some other paternity for her among their brothers cannot be ruled out.

Notes

Return to main page for HEGEMAN

From the Genealogy Page of John Blythe Dobson
URL = johnblythedobson.org/genealogy/ff/Hegeman.cfm
The contents of this page were completely replaced on 8 April 2001
Last revised 21 January 2017