Peake - Stiles - Person Sheet
Peake - Stiles - Person Sheet
NameGeesje JANS 142,139,144
Birthca 1632, Norden, Ostfriesland, Germany
Deathaft 1703, Kingston, Ulster Co., NY143
FatherJan DOETS (ca1600-)
MotherRachel
Spouses
BirthDec 27, 1637, Reusel-de Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Deathaft 1703, Hurley, Ulster Co., NY143
BaptismDec 27, 1637, Amsterdam, Holland
FatherTheunis Janz PIER (~1600-1646)
MotherJannettie Arents JOOSTEN (~1602-1661)
Misc. Notes
The couple with Geesje’s two children sailed 9 May 1661 and arrived New Amsterdam 6 Aug 1661 on The Dutch ship De St. Jan Baptist. His brother JanTeunissen PIER from Amsterdam, wife and 2 children 4 & 1 1/2 was also aboard. Arent died in 1703 in Hurley, NY.

May have died in Kingston, Ulster Co. NY..


2 Oct 1660 – Amsterdam Marriage Intentions Arent Teunissen from Amsterdam and Geesje Jans from Norden, widow of Pieter Carstensen were betrothed.

14 Oct 1660 – Amsterdam Orphan Court Geesje Jans appeared before the court. Evidence of Pieter Carstensen’s death in the East Indies was introduced and the widow testified that her deceased husband left their two children without any inheritance.

31 Oct 1660 – Amsterdam – After satisfying the Orphan Court, Arent Teunissen and Geesje Jans were married.

28 Apr 1661 – Amsterdam Notary Office – Arent Teunissen signed a contract with Dirck de Wolfe, a major investor in New Netherland, to go to Gravesend [Brooklyn] and select
a site where he was to build and operate a salt kettle.

Subsequently, “de Wolff hired Arent Theunisz [Teunissen] a blacksmith [and locksmith] from Amsterdam to go to New Netherland with his wife and family and serve as his agent for the selection of a site [to build and operate a salt kettle]. Dirck de Wolff held promissory notes from Theunisz dating back to 1659 and he may have used them as leverage in persuading him to immigrate. In any case, Theunisz carried instructions to build the salt refinery on a suitable site near the sea. The blacksmith and his family were to be given the use of a house to be constructed at company expense. After the selection of the site and the completion of the house, Theunisz was to ‘cook salt day and night’ in exchange for his expenses, food, drink, housing, and 15 fl. per month salary. If the salt refinery succeeded in producing profits, Theunisz was to receive a 5 fl. per month raise and 25% of the gross production of salt to sell for his own profit. The actual salt refining was the responsibility of Evert Pietersz an Amsterdam merchant who had some experience in the: ‘art of salt production.’ Evert Pietersz was also a junior partner of de Wolff and received for his work one-quarter of the production in addition to his dividends from the company. Problems arose immediately when Theunisz chose a site on Coney Island [in Brooklyn] near the English settlement of Gravesende . . . as the site lay on land used by the villagers as a common meadow for cattle and sheep.”

As a result, the venture was openly opposed and constantly sabotaged by the English settlers at nearby Gravesend and “on one occasion the English villagers threatened to throw Theunisz and Pietersz into their own fire” used to boil the sea water to produce the salt so it is evident that Arent Teunissen’s sojourn on Coney Island was perilous. The difficulties continued and eventually forced de Wolff to abandon the salt refinery after two years.

Coney Island was the westernmost of the barrier islands of Long Island about four miles long and one-half mile wide. However, it is no longer an island as Coney Island Creek, which was little more than tidal flats that separated it from the main part of Brooklyn was filled in for construction of the Belt Parkway in the 20th century.

At sea after 9th May, Arrived 6th August 1661 – The Dutch ship De St. Jan Baptist transported Arent Teunissen, his wife Geesje Jans and her two children of her first marriage

1661/62 – Arent Teunissen selects a site on Coney Island [Brooklyn] for his house and the salt refinery.
A salt kettle is used to produce salt from seawater. Fires were stoked under the kettle, and as the water boiled off, salt was left behind. Located near Gravesend, on land used for grazing by the English residents of this village, the salt kettle venture was openly opposed, often sabotaged and eventually abandoned.

4 Dec 1663 – Wildwyck Court (Kingston)
“Arent Teunissen asks the Honorable Court for a lot in the village of Wildwyck, as he intends to take up an abode here. The Honorable Court will determine upon a vacant spot for him in the village of Wildwyck.” [Kingston Papers, Vol. 1, page 108]

5 Apr 1670 – Hurley Militia Arent Teunissen appears on a list of soldiers at Hurley, NY

1677/78 Arent Teunissen sells a house and lot in Hurley and returns to Kingston.
MarriageOct 2, 1660, Amsterdam, Holland
ChildrenHerman Arentse (-1695)
 Jannatje Arentse (1633->1702)
 Geesje Arentse (->1738)
 Teunis Arentse (1673-1754)
 Haemen (1670-)
Death1659, East Indies
Misc. Notes
Pieter Carstensen died in 1659 in the East Indies, leaving two underage children in Amsterdam.
MarriageJul 14, 1654, Amsterdam, Holland
ChildrenTryntje Pieterse (1654-1675)
 Pieter Pieterzen (1657-1706)
Last Modified Oct 31, 2017Created Jun 23, 2024 using Reunion for Macintosh