Davis Uriah I | Born 1707

WYCKOFF, Pieter Claesen

Male 1625 - 1694  (69 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name WYCKOFF, Pieter Claesen  [1, 2, 3
    Born 6/06 Jan 1624/1625  Boda, Oland Island, Sweden Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 30 Jun 1694  Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I8004  Uriah Davis I - Genealogy
    Last Modified 21 Jun 2018 

    Family VAN NESS, Grietje Cornelis,   b. Abt 1627, Emberland, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1699, Long Island, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 72 years) 
    Married 1646  Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. WYCKOFF, Willemptje Pieterse,   b. Bef 1646, Beverwyck (Albany) Ny Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. WYCKOFF, Claes Pieterse,   b. 1646, Beverwyck (Albany) Ny Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24/24 Feb 1713/1714, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 68 years)
     3. WYCKOFF, Margrietje Pieterse,   b. Abt 1648, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. WYCKOFF, Annetje Pieterse,   b. 27 Nov 1650, New Amsterdam (Now New York City) Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Nov 1688, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 37 years)
     5. WYCKOFF, Mayken Pieterse,   b. 19 Oct 1653, New Amsterdam, New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York Find all individuals with events at this location
     6. WYCKOFF, Cornelius Pieterse,   b. 1656, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Middlebush, New Jersey Find all individuals with events at this location
     7. WYCKOFF, Hendrick Pieterse,   b. Abt 1658, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Dec 1744, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 86 years)
     8. WYCKOFF, Geertje Pieterse,   b. 1660, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     9. WYCKOFF, Gerrit Pieterse,   b. 1662, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     10. WYCKOFF, Marten Pieterse,   b. 1663, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     11. WYCKOFF, Jan Pieterse,   b. 16/16 Feb 1664/1665, Flatlands, Kings County (Section of Brooklyn), New York Find all individuals with events at this location
    Last Modified 24 Jun 2018 
    Family ID F1096  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • The common ancestor of the Wikoff or Wyckoff family in America was Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, son of Claes Wyckoff, and grandson of Cornelius Wyckoff, who does not appear to have emigrated . Claes Wyckoff came from Holland to America, 1636, and settled at Flatlands, Long Island. Pieter Claesen Wyckoff was born about the year January 06, 1624/25. He became one of the wealthiest men in Flatlands, and appears to have been a prominent member of the Dutch church. He served as magistrate of Flatlands in 1655-56-58-62-63-64, was a member of the convention held at Flatbush for the purpose of sending a delegation to Holland to lay before the home government the distressed condition of the colony, and in 1666-67 was a patentee of the town.Pieter took the Oath of Allegiance in 1687 in the Kings County Province of New York on September 26-30, 1687. Pieter Claesen Wyckoff came to New Netherlands March 4, 1637, and married Grietje Van Ness in 1645. She daughter of the "Honorable" Cornelis Hendricksen Van Ness, who brought his family from Holland in 1641.Pieter and Grietje's first years were spent near present day Albany, New York. In 1649 they moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City). He contracted to superintend the Bouwerie (farm) of the lands owned by Peter Stuyvesant and/or Wouter Van Twiller, in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn. They moved into the house on Carnarsie Lane, now known as the Wyckoff House Museum, in about 1655. He purchased the land and such surrounding land over the next years and succeeding generations of the family lived in the house until 1902. Following the sale of the house, several owners occupied and/or used the house and property and much of the land was sold. These owners made few structural changes to the house. The Association attempted for many years to reacquire the property without success until 1961 when final negotiations were completed and the house became the property of the Wyckoff Association. The City of New York had condemned a great deal of the property including much of the land under the house. It was necessary to negotiate with the city and finally give the house and the remaining property to the city with the stipulation that the city would restore the house as an early Dutch farmhouse and lease it back to the Association in perpetuity. Work began on the restoration in 1981 and on October 1, 1982,the final agreement was signed with the city and it was dedicated as a living museum. The Wyckoff House was declared a National Landmark in 1966 by the U.S. Parks Service. It is the #1 Landmark both in New York City and New York State.
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      Pieter Claesen had emigrated from Holland as a teenager during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). He arrived in Albany as an indentured servant of Killiaen Van Rennselaer who was a merchant dealing with the Dutch West India Company. After completing a six-year tenure of servitude, Pieter Claesen leased a small parcel of land from Van Rennselaer at Rennselaerwyck. Though by law a free man he was still forbidden from owning property. At Van Rennsalaers death (1646) his heirs raised rents and Pieter Claesen was no longer able to afford the property. It was at this juncture that he moved to Nieuw Amersfoort in 1649. In 1655 he was hired to care for the boweries at Amersfoort by then governor Pieter Stuyvesant. By 1657, with seven heads of family at Nieuw Amersfoort, Pieter Claesen was listed as the highest taxpayer (John Milner and Associates 1979).
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      Pieter and his wife Grietje moved into the one room "salt-box" style house that Van Twiller had contracted to build alongside the small creek that ran into Jamaica Bay. By 1672 Pieter and Grietje had ten children, all living in the small one room house. The original one room house served as the kitchen while a late 1600s addition served as another "living" area (Sabbarese 1996).
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      When the British took control of New Amsterdam in 1664 Pieter Claesen was forced to adopt an anglicized surname, as was every Dutch resident (John Milner and Associates 1979). Pieter chose Wyckoff. By 1676 Pieter Claesen Wyckoff was noted as one of the largest landowners of Flatlands, owning more that 120 acres. He died on June 30, 1694 (Oppenheimer, Brady & Association, 1972, p. 36). Following Dutch tradition he bequeathed his home and surrounding lands to his wife and sons. The probate of the property was not completed until 1695. During this time the property is believed to have been conveyed to Pieters son Nicholas. However 1737 records claim that the property on which the house now stands was purchased in 1737 by Pieter jr., son of Nicholas, from Coert Van Voorhees. It is with this transaction that the chain of title begins. At present there is no known documentation dating to the 1650's or 1660's to either prove or disprove earlier claims of ownership. It is historically known that the house existed on the site as early as 1718.

  • Sources 
    1. [S296] Vol. i., page 659, Documentary History of New York.

    2. [S297] WYCKOFF HOUSE AND ASSOCIATION INC.

    3. [S298] Genealogical and Personal Memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey under theeditorial supervision of Francis Bazley Lee.