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Pieter Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall

Male Abt 1698 - Abt 1778  (~ 80 years)


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  • Name Pieter Jacobszen (Van) Kuykendall  [1
    Born Abt 1698  Rochester Township, Ulster County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Christened 1 May 1698  Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Died Abt 1778  Machackemeck, Orange County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • Christening Notes: (Child/Date of Christening/Parents/Sponsors)

      Pieter,............................................................ Luir Jacobs,.............................. Peter Van Etten, May 1, 1698. ................................................Grietje Tack.............................. Hyltje Van Etten.

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

      Pieter van Kuykendall, youngest son of Luur and Grietje, married Femmetje Decker and purchased a large tract of land from the Decker family in Machackemeck. This old farm literally encompassed the current village of Port Jervis. A historical marker depicts where Pieter's farm was burned in an Indian raid.

      The descendants of Pieter tended be the only ones who remained in the Machackemeck area pioneered by Luur. This is fortunate for later descendants like myself who have the have the advantage of additional years of Dutch Reform Church records to identify our lineage.

      The descendants of Pieter who remained in the vicinity of Port Jervis, Orange Co., NY before migrating primarily to Upstate NY are to be found as Cuykendall/Coykendall with the one exception noted below:

      Wilhelmus Kuykendall, gr-grandson of Luur and my gr-gr-gr grandfather moved to old Mamakating Village (Wurtsboro, Sullivan Co., NY) before the Dominies and Clerks institutionalized their common misspelled versions (Cuykendall/Coykendall) of the surname.

      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
    Person ID I18655  Strong Family Tree
    Last Modified 17 Aug 2014 

    Father Luur Jacobsen, (Van) Kuykendall,   b. Bef 29 May 1650, New Amsterdam, New Netherland Territory Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1720, Machackemeck, Orange County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 70 years) 
    Mother Grietje Artse Tack,   b. 16 Aug 1663, Wiltwyck, New Amsterdam, New Netherland Territory Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1720, Machackemeck, Orange County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 57 years) 
    Married Abt 1680  Kingston, Ulster County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    • 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
    Family ID F6838  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Femmetje Decker,   b. Bef 1700,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married 9 Jul 1719  Machackemeck, Orange County, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Last Modified 9 Dec 2006 
    Family ID F6847  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - Abt 1698 - Rochester Township, Ulster County, New York Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsChristened - 1 May 1698 - Kingston Dutch Reform Church, Ulster County, New York Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 9 Jul 1719 - Machackemeck, Orange County, New York Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - Abt 1778 - Machackemeck, Orange County, New York Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S168] Kuykendall, Gene (1997)"Family History Our Dutch Heritage" http://w3.gorge.net/forest/FAMILY%20HISTORY%20BY%20GENE.htm.

    2. [S396] Stowell, Emily AMERICAN NOMADS(1988: Iris Press, Del Mar, California).