VerNooy Family Papers (1694-1870)

Finding Aid Completed by Eric Roth, April 28, 2000
Last revised August 28, 2013
Volume: 0.5 cu. ft.
Acquisition: The papers were donated to the Huguenot Historical Society by Mrs. J.R. Hummer on November 2, 1972.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright: Request for permission to publish materials from these records should be discussed with the Archivist and Director of the Huguenot Historical Society.

Biographical Note
 

The papers document the life and business of the VerNooy family, early settlers and millers of the towns of Wawarsing and Rochester, Ulster County New York. The three individuals most frequently represented in the papers are Cornelis Cornelissen VerNooy, Jr. (1679-ca. 1759), Jacob VerNooy (1709-ca. 1780), and Wessel VerNooy (1742-1818). Other VerNooy family members mentioned often in the papers include Johannes VerNooy (several different individuals), Abraham VerNooy (1763-1801), Edward VerNooy (1787-1863), and David DuBois VerNooy (1782-1856).

Cornelis Cornelissen VerNooy, Jr. 2F [1] was born to Dutch emigrant Cornelis Cornelissen VerNooy and Annatje Cornelis Van de Cuyl and baptized at the Reformed Dutch Church at Kingston, NY on January 5, 1679. On November 22, 1702 Cornelis married Sarah Ten Broeck (1679-1716), daughter of Wessel Ten Broeck and Maria Ten Eyck, by whom he had seven children: Maria, Cornelis, Wessel, Jacob, Johannes (died young), Johannes, and Coenraad. Cornelis took over the management of the family estate and grist mill built by his father in the present town of Wawarsing sometime after 1702. He is also listed as a Trustee of the corporation of Kingston from 1705 to 1706, [2] and as trustee of the town of Rochester in 1730, and from 1738 to 1740. [3] Cornelis is also listed as deacon of the Reformed Dutch Church of Napanoch in 1745. [4]

Cornelis' son Jacob VerNooy 2F4 was baptized on September 11, 1709 at the Reformed Dutch Church in Kingston. On May 21, 1728 he married Annatje DuBois (b. 1703), daughter of David DuBois and Cornelia VerNooy, by whom he had seven children: Zara, Jacob, Cornelia, Zanuel, Josaphat, Maria, and Wessel. Jacob is listed as a fence-viewer of the town of Rochester in 1740 [5], and church master of the Reformed Dutch Church of Wawarsing in 1746. [6] Jacob VerNooy died ca. 1780.

Jacob's youngest son Wessel 2F4G was born on May 20, 1742. On January 14, 1780, he married Annatje Woods of the town of Rochester, by whom he had three children: Jacob, David DuBois VerNooy, and Edward. Wessel is listed as a recipient of land bounty rights for his service in the 3 rd Ulster Regiment. [7] He died on June 29, 1818.

Collection Description
 

The majority of the collection documents the land holdings and business activities of the VerNooy family of the towns of Wawarsing and Rochester in Ulster County , NY from the 1690's to the 1830's. Wills, estate inventories, deeds, agreements, survey maps, bonds, and receipts relate chiefly to the estates of Cornelius, Jacob and Wessel VerNooy. Of specific interest are the estate inventories of Cornelis VerNooy? 1769, Phillip Krings (vendue list) 1773; Jacob VerNooy 1780, and Abraham VerNooy 1801, and the wills of Louis DuBois 1706, Cornelis VerNooy 1768 (Copy), and Annatie VerNooy 1781. The inventories are particularly useful in that they contain lists and prices of items owned by the VerNooy family, including furniture, kitchenware, tools, clothing, vehicles, livestock, and slaves. In addition to the wills and inventories, other items of note include a deed between Claes Sluyter and David DuBois for land at "Mombackus" 1697, a deed between "Indian Maquannemack and his wife Sara" to Jacob VerNooy 1768; and a field survey book kept by Abraham VerNooy concerning the Hardenburgh Patent 1794.

Although there are no account books in the collection, the abundance of receipts provides a partial record of the daily financial activities of the VerNooy family. The receipts of Abraham VerNooy, Maria VerNooy, Wessel VerNooy, David VerNooy, Jacob VerNooy, and others, document transactions at Rochester, Marbletown and Kingston for goods and services such as tea, flaxseed, salt, butter, sugar, rum, "boating wood," knives, cloth, a vest pattern, tobacco, writing paper, combs, glass, gun powder, bowls, iron, blacksmithing work, and inventory work. Some receipts from the early 19th century specifically concern the settlement of the estate of Abraham VerNooy, who died in 1801.

The collection also includes letters dating from 1781 to 1848 of Wessel VerNooy, Johannis Hardenbergh, Anna VerNooy, Catreena Wood, Jacob and Abraham de Baen, Cornelius VerNooy, and Edward VerNooy. These letters chiefly discuss subjects such as family news, threshing and transporting wheat, a description of a religious sermon given in the local schoolhouse, fishing, and spinning textiles. There are also several documents in Dutch filed in the correspondence and the estate and legal papers apparently dealing with payments made by Jacob VerNooy to various local churches, the purchase of domestic goods, the transfer of land, and the 1728 marriage between Jacob VerNooy and Anaetje DuBois. Other items of interest include a certificate of enlistment of Wessel VerNooy in the New York Regiment under Colonel John Cantine dating from 1779, as well as an 1842 certificate of appointment of Nathan Wells to Lieutenant in the 34th Regiment of the New York State Infantry signed by William Henry Seward.

In addition to members of the VerNooy family, individuals from other local families are represented in the collection. Such names include Samuel Baker, Benjamin Bevier, Jacob Bevier, Cornelius C. Cole, William Cuykendall, Catrina DuBois, David DuBois, Seth Gillet, Abraham J. Hasbrouck, Giedeon Louw, Petrus P. Louw, Jacob Mendleson, Claes Sluyter, Evert Sluyter, Peter Swarthout, Cornelius Tappan, Joshua B. Turner, and Jacobus Wynkoop.

The papers are organized into folders alphabetically by type (Correspondence and Miscellaneous, Estate and Legal Papers, Receipts). Within folders, the items are arranged chronologically. Oversize materials and photocopies are filed separately from letter and legal sized documents.

The overall physical condition of the records as poor to fair, showing much damage from tearing, folding, fading, and yellowing. Some of the early documents are particularly fragile and require extreme care during handling. The handwriting is legible, although difficult to decipher in some documents.

Other collections maintained by the Huguenot Historical Society Library and Archives dealing specifically with the town of Wawarsing include the Petrus DuBois Family Papers (1732-1869), John Hoornbeck Deed (1810), and the Wawarsing Reformed Dutch Church Consistory Meeting Minutes (March 28, 1857).

Folder/Item List

Correspondence and Miscellaneous (1728-1868)

Estate and Legal Papers:
(1694 - 1870)
(1694-1799) - oversize
(1800-1828) - oversize
(1697-1770 and undated) Photocopies
(1694-1780 and undated) Photocopies - oversize

Receipts:
(1743 - 1809)
(1810 - 1916)

Notes
 

[1] Identification numbers are taken from Three Hundred Years of the VerNooy Family in America 1664 to 1964, by Winifred VerNooy and Kenneth E. Hasbrouck (1971). Unless otherwise noted, all genealogical information is taken from this source.

[2] Sylvester, Nathaniel Bartlett. History of Ulster County, New York, with Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Philadelphia, Evans & Peck (1880): Part First, p. 187.

[3] Ibid., Part Second, pp. 214-216.

[4] Ibid., p. 263.

[5] Ibid., pp. 214-216.

[6] Ibid., p. 263.

[7] Heidgerd, Ruth P. Ulster County in the Revolution: A Guide to those who served (1977): p. 265.