Luur Jacobsen, (Van) Kuykendall

Notes:

Jacob Luurszen and Stijntje Douwes had a son, Luur Jacobsen (son of Jacob) baptized in the Dutch Reform Church of New Amsterdam (NYC) in 1650. Only the father's name was recorded at that baptism. After the death of his father, Luur moved with his mother and stepfather to the area of Kingston.

from: Family History Our Dutch Heritage A Research Synopsis of the Kuykendall Family: Kuykendall, Kirkendall, Cuykendall, Coykendall, etc Compiled by Gene Kuykendall, 1997 http://w3.gorge.net/forest/FAMILY%20HISTORY%20BY%20GENE.htm

Emily Stowell notes that Luur signed his name using the toponym "van Kuykendall" only once that is known of, and that was at the christening of his youngest daughter, Seyte in 1706.

THE NAME KUYKENDALL, ITS ORIGIN, DERIVATION AND MEANING.

For a number of years I have occasionally met a person who formerly lived in Holland, and on hearing the name Kuykendall, the first thing almost that was said, was, "Your name is Dutch, or of Dutch origin." Several have told me they used to know people of our name in Holland, but that it was spelled a little differently there. Mr. A. J. F. Van Laer, Archivist for the state of New York, and New York State Library, writing to me in regard to the ancient home of the Kuykendall family, and the name, said: "I suspect that Kijk-in-'t-dal is a locality near Wageningen, which lies on a high hill on the bank of the Rhine, and commands a fine view of the river." In a letter written later he says: "There seems to be no doubt that your family originally came from Wageningen. I am still inclined to think that Kijk-in-'t-dal may have been the form from which Kuykendall is derived, because there is an elevation near Wageningen, called Wageningsche Berg, from which one obtains a beautiful view of the valley of the Rhine, and secondly there are other names of similar construction in the Netherlands, the most striking being that of Kijk-in-de vegt, which is borne by a family in the province of Overijessel."

In relation to this subject, Mr. L. P. de Boer, historian of Dutch American families, wrote me in March, 1913: "I have struck analogies of the name Kuykendall in one of the Dutch periodicals, headed, "Rare and Curious Names," a locality, Kykenweide, near Overyossel, is mentioned to have existed in 1460-1496, 'Mead on View,' or 'View of the Mead.' I now remember to have seen a street in Groningen called 'de Ky-in-Jat Straat,' or "Look-in-the-gate' street. These examples strengthen my belief in the etymology of the name as suggested by Mr. Van Laer and you." Kijk is an old Dutch word or form for view, and is pronounced as if spelled Kuyk or Kike. Mr. Van Laer says the derivation from Kijk-in-'t-dal, which in Gelderland dialect may well have been spelled Kuykendal or Kuukendal, seems altogether most likely.

Mr. Dingman Versteeg, genealogist for the Holland Society, says "That so-called Scotch tradition was simply invented afterwards, to account for the misspelling Kirkendall." It may help also to account for the mis-pronunciation of the name, for many even of those who spell it Kuykendall or otherwise, pronounce it as if spelled Kirkendall. Mr. Van Laer says "The explanation of the name meaning Chicken valley is absurd, for if named from a valley where young chickens abounded, it would be more likely Kippendal (chickendale). There are several instances in the early records which would tend to show that the Kuykendall ancestors lived at or near Wageningen. We find Urbanus Luursen signed his name Urbanus Luursen van Wageningen, and the name of our ancestor appears in a power of attorney given by himself, signed "Jacob Luyersen van Wageningen."

At the time of the advent of our ancestor in America there were in use what are called patronymics, that is, father names. The family name corresponded to what is the surname now, but was often the name of the ancestral home, and was preceded by the word van, meaning from. If the family had adopted the name of the place where their fathers lived, then the Van was begun with a capital V, for instance Van Etten, Van Meteren. Many patronymics had a suffix that meant son, or son of. For instance a man who was the son of a father named William was called William's son, which later became Williamson, the family name. Thus we have the names Johnson, Peterson, Davidson, and many others. In the case of Irish and Scotch names there were many that were preceded by Fitz or Mac, which being added to other names, as Simmons, Hugh, Donald, made Fitzsimmons, Fitzhugh, McDonald or Macdonald, the terms Fitz and Mac meaning son or son of. In all these instances and many other, if the families should now undertake to trace their names back to their original formation, they would come to a person bearing the name Simmons, Hugh, or Donald, or otherwise, and if they wished to go still further back, they would have to seek some other proof or data to enable them to proceed.

It appears that the Dutch, along about the time our ancestors came to America, preferred the use of the patronymic or father name. Mr. Versteeg, genealogist for the Holland Society of New York, mentioned before, who was for some years the editor and publisher of "The Netherland Register," had in one of the numbers of the magazine, a very interesting and instructive article pertinent to this subject. Speaking of changes of names he said: "The Coykendall and Kuykendall families both trace their origin to Jacob Luurszen, but it was more than half a century after his death that his descendants began the use of the name Van Kuykendaal. The people were averse to using the family name, unless the person occupied a very prominent position." While, as Mr. Versteeg says, the family name Van Kuykendaal does not appear until fifty years after the death of our Holland ancestor, the evidence as to our lineal descent from Jacob Luurszen cannot be doubted. It is clear from the record that our ancestor's name was Luurszen. The Kuykendall family name is not peculiar or different in this respect from many other names found all over the country.Take the name Roosevelt, for instance. The ex-president's ancestors came from Holland, and as it happened, from the same province of Gelderland as our Kuykendall ancestor. The Roosevelt name as found in early New York records was Claes Martinszen. His name is usually found written this way, and only twice as Claes Martinszen Van Roosevelt. The family dropped the Martinszen and the Van, and adopted Roosevelt as the family name, so that now it is Roosevelt (Rose-field), the locality in Holland from whence the family came. In precisely the same way the Kuykendall name was Luurszen, and our ancestor's name was Jacob Luurszen (Van Kuykendaal), as has been shown. Our people dropped the Van and the patronymic Luurszen, and retained the present family name Kuykendall.

From: Kuykendall, George Benson "History of The Kuykendall Family Since Its Settlement in Dutch New York in 1646 With Genealogy,etc" (Portland, OR, 1919)

Luur married Grietje Artse Tack about 1680 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York. Grietje (daughter of Aert Petersen Tack and Anneke Adriens) was born on 16 Aug 1663 in Wiltwyck, New Amsterdam, New Netherland Territory; died after 1720 in Machackemeck, Orange County, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
It was in Kingston that Luur Jacobsen married Grietje Tack. Old unpublished records show they rented a farm at Marbletown in 1681. The baptisms of the eleven children of Luur and Grietje are recorded in the records of the Kingston Dutch Reform Church. Kingston became the first capital of the colony of New York.

In 1664, the British, irritated by the growing population of Dutch between the British colonies of Boston and Virginia, surrounded New Amsterdam with a large naval force and forced New Netherland to become a British Colony, renamed New York.

Inheriting a strong pioneering spirit and probably sick of British soldiers and taxes, Luur and Grietje moved their family around 1698 from the vicinity of Kingston to the Delaware valley wilderness known by the Indians inhabitants as Minisink or Machackemeck (now Port Jervis, Orange county, NY).

The Kingston Dutch Reform Church records tell us only that Luur and his family were in "Minisink" by 1700. The term Minisink referred to a vast territory along the Delaware valley in the tri-state region of NY/NJ/PA. However, Only two areas were settled before 1700, Peenpack and Machackemeck. Peenpack, or the Upper Neighborhood, was well documented by Peter Gumaer and Luur was not one of the early settlers here. We know that William Tietsoort had been granted land in Machackemeck, or the Lower Neighborhood, in 1698 and we also know that Luur Jacobsen's oldest son, Jacob, married a daughter of William Tietsoort. I think we can fairly safely assume that Luur came to Machackemeck with William Tietsoort around 1698. If for no other reason than the fact that there don't seem to be any other possibilities. Old Minisink Village (Sussex Co, NJ) where Luur's sons, Jacob and Matthew later owned property wasn't settled until in the 1720's. The section of Minisink on the PA side of the Delaware wasn't settled until even later.

Initially the local Leni-Lenape Indians, (called the Delaware by European settlers), were friendly toward these new neighbors. However, the Europeans penchant for exclusive land ownership soon led to hostilities. The history books reflect Kuykendall Family members among those scalped and kidnapped by Indian raiding parties.

The van Kuykendall children and grandchildren married with the neighboring Dutch families of Westfall, Tietsoort, Westbrook, Decker, Quick, Cole, Cortright, Van Auken, Van Etten, Depue, Van Vliet etc. Also with the Huguenot French families of Gumaer, Swartwout, Cuddeback, DuBois and Freer all of whom spoke Dutch and attended the Dutch Reform Church.

Some have been led to believe that church records for the Minisink/Machackemeck (Deerpark) DRC were lost for the years 1720- 1736. Histories of the Dutch Reform Churches in America reveal the following: The Deerpark DRC was not established until 1737. Until that time, Dominies from the established Kingston DRC travelled to the remote areas to perform baptisms which were later entered into the Kingston DRC records. The first Dominie at the Deerpark DRC found notes on baptisms performed in 1716-1719 in Minisink that had never been recorded in Kingston. He appended them to the Deerpark records which actually began in 1737. Hence, the appearance of missing records for 1720-1736.

We have no record of when Luur or Grietje died. We know only that both are last recorded in Deerpark church records in 1720.

from: Family History Our Dutch Heritage A Research Synopsis of the Kuykendall Family: Kuykendall, Kirkendall, Cuykendall, Coykendall, etc Compiled by Gene Kuykendall, 1997 http://w3.gorge.net/forest/FAMILY%20HISTORY%20BY%20GENE.htm

1. Styntie Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1682 in Marbletown Twp, Ulster County, New York; was christened on 2 Apr 1682 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died about 1715 in Machackemeck, Orange County, New York.
2. Jacob Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born on 12 Aug 1683 in Marbletown Twp, Ulster County, New York; was christened on 12 Aug 1683 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died between 1741 and 1744 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
3. Johannes Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1685 in Marbletown Twp, Ulster County, New York; was christened in in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died between 1685 and 1688 in Marbletown Twp, Ulster County, New York.
4. Cornelius Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1686 in Marbletown Twp, Ulster County, New York; was christened on 30 May 1686 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died after 1752 in New Jersey.
5. Johannes Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1688 in Marbletown Twp, Ulster County, New York; was christened on 30 Sep 1688 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died about 1711.
6. Matheus Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1690 in Rochester Township, Ulster County, New York; died after 1754 in Anson County, North Carolina.
7. Arie Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1694 in Rochester Township, Ulster County, New York; was christened on 8 Jun 1694 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died about 1759.
8. Pieter Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1698 in Rochester Township, Ulster County, New York; was christened on 1 May 1698 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; died about 1778 in Machackemeck, Orange County, New York.
9. Annetje Jacobse (Van) Kuykendall was born on 9 May 1700 in Machackemeck, Orange County, New York; was christened on 19 May 1700 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; and died.
10. Sara Jacobse (Van) Kuykendall was born about 1702 in Machackemeck, Orange County, New York; was christened on 14 Jun 1702 in Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York; and died.
11. Seytie Jacobse (Van) Kuykendall was born before 27 Oct 1706 in Machackemeck, Orange County, New York; and died.

Notes:

The patronym of Jacob Luurszen (son of Luur), tells us his father's first name was Luur but the records of Wageningen do not go back far enough to tell us anything else about the father or mother of Jacob. Old Luur may have been born in the Netherlands, but he may also have been one of the many refugees pouring into the Netherlands during that time. The notation on the banns that Jacob was "from"" Wageningen means that was his last address. It is only an assumption that he was born there. (Note: Various spellings of Leur, Luur, Luyer, etc. have all been used)

The Netherlands, (popularly but incorrectly referred to as Holland) had just won its independence from longtime dominance by Spain. It was at that time a major world power. It had a large naval force, was the financial capital of the world, was, and is, one of the best educated nations in the world. The Netherlands was also a leader in democracy and the adopted home of many persecuted groups of people from other nations in Europe.

In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employee of the Dutch government, sailed up the river that was later to bear his name. With the success of the Dutch East Indies Company in monopolizing trade in the Far East, a Dutch West Indies Company was chartered in 1621. Their mission was not to colonize, as the English were starting to do, but to develop trade in the New World, as America was called at that time.

Jacob and his brother Urbanus Luurszen set sail around 1646(*) for New Netherland. the name used by the Dutch to refer to that section of this new land along the (Hudson) river claimed by the Netherland after Hudson's discovery. Jacob and Urbanus were in the employee of the Dutch West Indies Company according to powers of attorney made at New Amsterdam in 1647 and 1648. (*) Claes, son of Urbanus was baptised in Amsterdam on 10/01/1645. Jacob signed a Power of Attorney in New Amsterdam on 08/02/1647 for back wages from the West Indies Company.

Some researchers have assumed a Carsten (Christian) Luurszen to be a third brother of Jacob and Urbanus. This is not likely. The children of Carsten were born around 30 years later than those of Jacob and Urbanus.

Jacob soon moved his family up the (Hudson) river to Fort Orange, the oldest and largest Dutch trading post in New Netherland. Jacob first took the pledge of allegiance to the Patroon of Rensselaerswyck, then received a grant of land from Governor Stuyvesant in the newly formed village Beverwyck (now Albany, NY). Jacob's name appears often in the court records of Fort Orange, he seemed to have a penchant for getting into minor troubles. Church Deacons' records show Jacob died there in 1655.

In the Dutch Manuscripts of New York there is mention of a Corporal Jacob Luurszen receiving multiple stab wounds attempting to break up a fight in New Amsterdam. The staff of the New Netherland Project confirm that The West Indies Company maintained it's own militia and employed young civilian men as its soldiers. Since the records do not show any other Jacob Luurszen in New Netherland this must be our Jacob. Could these stab wounds have contributed to his early death (age 39)?

from: Family History Our Dutch Heritage A Research Synopsis of the Kuykendall Family: Kuykendall, Kirkendall, Cuykendall, Coykendall, etc Compiled by Gene Kuykendall, 1997 http://w3.gorge.net/forest/FAMILY%20HISTORY%20BY%20GENE.htm

Jacob married Styntie Douwes on 28 Aug 1638 in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands. Styntie (daughter of Douwe Wiggersz and Agniete Coensen) was born on 22 Jan 1617 in Enkhuisen, North Holland, Netherlands; died after 1682 in Ulster County, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Our first known ancestor was Jacob Luurszen. Jacob was from Wageningen in the Netherlands, born around 1616. This we know from his marriage record to Stijntje Douwes at the old Dutch Reform Church (DRC) of Amsterdam in 1638. Stijntje was baptized at Enkhuisen in the Netherlands in January of 1617. Her parents were Douwe Wiggersz and Agniete Coensen.

A child Christijntje, baptized in Amsterdam on January 17, 1838, had been considered the first child of our Jacob and Stijntje. However, this should be questioned: The baptism took place seven months before our Jacob and Stijntje were married and, although the mother was a Stijntje Douwes, the father is recorded as Jacob Jansz. (Note: Emily Stowell suggests taht Christijntje might have been an illegitimate child of either Stinjntje or Stinjntje's and Jacob's...the father's name Jacob Jansz being the dutch equivalent of John Smith).

Jacob soon moved his family up the (Hudson) river to Fort Orange, and there is strong evidence that Luur had two sisters born at Fort Orange. Agniet Coens Jacobsen (named after her maternal grandmother) who married Dirck Cornelissen Keyser and Jacomyntie Jacobsen who married Thomas Van Der Merken. There are many instances of cross sponsorship at baptisms among these families. The (poorly kept) records of the first Dominie of the Fort Orange Dutch Reform Church were thrown out by his successor so there are no baptism records to verify these sisters. There is no evidence of any brothers of Luur. A Teunis Jacobsen has been suggested to be a son of Jacob and Stijntje but the evidence doesn't seem to support that.

from: Family History Our Dutch Heritage A Research Synopsis of the Kuykendall Family: Kuykendall, Kirkendall, Cuykendall, Coykendall, etc Compiled by Gene Kuykendall, 1997 http://w3.gorge.net/forest/FAMILY%20HISTORY%20BY%20GENE.htm

Douwe married Agniete Coensen in Enkhuisen, North Holland, Netherlands. Agniete was born before 1600 in Netherlands; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]