Joris was born in Marbletown, Ulster, New York on the first day of January in 1704 and his baptism is registered in the Dutch Reformed Church in Kingston, Ulster, NY. His father, Isaac Davids, was born in England and his mother was from Holland, which explains why his baptismal name is spelled in Dutch style. He later used the name, George Davis.
George's wife, Judith Brokaw, was born on the 25th of April in 1711 at Raritan River (pictured above) in Somerset County, New Jersey. They were married about 1729 in Raritan, which is a significant part of New Jersey’s rich cultural history. The Raritan River has served as a transportation and trade route since pre-colonial times. The Naraticongs, a branch of the Lenape and part of the Iroquois Nation, were the first known settlers of the Raritan Valley. The Dutch and English arrived in 1683 and also made use of the River for its fertile soil and transportation opportunities. The Raritan was crossed by troops during the American Revolution, and a battle was fought close by in 1777. It's probable that George's and Judith's sons served in that war. Below is the list of their children who were all born in the Raritan Valley:
1730 Jannetje
1731 Judith, our ancestor
1733 Catarina
1741 Adriaen
1742 Margaret
1743 Isaac
1745 Hannah
1748 Maria
1752 Peter
George died on the 2nd day of February in 1774 and is buried at South Bound Brook, Somerset, NJ at the Davis Burying Ground. Judith died on the 12th of April of 1782, probably buried next to her husband.
GEORGE ISAAC DAVIS
BORN: 1 Jan 1704 in Marbletown, Ulster, NY
MARRIED: abt 1729 in ,Somerset, NJ
DIED: 2 Jan 1774 in ,Somerset, NJ
BURIED: South Bound Brook, Somerset, NJ
JUDITH BROKAW
BORN: 25 Apr 1711 in Raritan River, Somerset, NJ
DIED: 12 Apr 1782 ,Somerset, NJ
SOURCES: Register of baptisms at the Dutch Reformed Church in Kingston, Ulster, NY; Book: "Our Brokaw/Bergaw Heritage" compiled by Mrs. Elsie Foster; Photograph and history of Raritan River from Wikipedia.
Brookhaven, Long Island, Suffolk County, New York is where this Rose Family lived for many years. Robert was born there about 1690. Early English settlers farmed, fished, and hunted whales in this largely agrarian hamlet. Abigail Nin was born in Long Island City of Queens County, New York around 1694. Strangely, their marriage record shows that they were married about 1715 in Berkely County, Virginia which seems awfully far away. They had five sons who were all apparently born in Long Island. Their names were Robert, Jesse, Daniel, Jonathan or "Nathan", and David (1721-1781) who is our ancestor.
Robert and Abigail bought property at Bellport in Suffolk County in 1720. But, seventeen years later, the family moved to Bethlehem Township in Hunterdon, New Jersey where again the landscape was mainly rural in nature, featuring farms and forests, scattered with farm homes. Robert and Abigail remained at this residence for the rest of their lives. Robert died at age 61 in 1751. Abigail's death date is unknown.
ROBERT ROSE
BORN: abt 1690 in Brookhaven, Long Island, Suffolk, NY
MARRIED: abt 1715 in , Berkely, VA
DIED: abt 1751 in , Hunterdon, NJ
ABIGAIL NIN
BORN: abt 1694 in Long Island City, Queens, NY
DIED: probably in Hunterdon, NJ
SOURCES: U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900; Partial genealogy taken from Judge James E. Rose's manuscript, of Auburn, IN, copied by John R. Scoville of Butler, IN in 1972; information from the Rose Association, Chritene Rose, editor and researcher of the "Rose Family Bulletin"
The family of Johann George Lempert (or Lambert) were all born in the state of Baden, Wurtemberg, Germany in the 1700s. Baden-Württemberg is located in the southwest, east of the Upper Rhine that forms the border with France. It is Germany’s third largest state in terms of size and population. The state capital and largest city is Stuttgart. "Small land" or "dear land" (in the local Swabian dialect) is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden- Württemberg. Johann and his wife, Anna Maria Grosin, were married in the duchy of Zweibrucken, in Baden, right on the border of France, about 1742. Their two children that I know of, Maria Margaretha (our ancestor) and Nicholas, were born in this village. The castle in the photo is where the Count Palatine of the Rhine resides and rules his domain.
But the Lamberts left their homeland in 1749 and arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "Lydia" on the 8th of August. On the 13th of June in 1750, Johann received a land warrant #105, of 50 acres, which was located in Albany, Berks, PA. Evidently, the Lamberts were satisfied with their lives in Albany where they remained until their deaths. Johann and Anna were both buried in the Jerusalem Union Cemetery at Stony Run, Albany Township, Berks, PA.
JOHANN GEORGE LAMBERT
BORN: 26 Dec 1707 in , Baden, Wurtemburg, Germany
MARRIED: abt. 1742 in Zwiebrucken, Baden, Wurtemburg, Germany
DIED: 20 Nov 1784 in Albany, Berks, PA
BURIED: At the Jerusalem Union Cemetery in Stony Run, Albany Twp., Berks, PA
ANNA MARIA GROSIN
BORN: 26 Oct 1711 in ,Baden, Wurtemburg, Germany
DIED: 18 Aug 1762 in , , Berks, PA
SOURCES: Book: "History of the Loy Family" by Collins; PA Warrants and Applications 1733-1952; Find a Grave
A few years before Sarah's birth, her family changed their surname from Denyce to Van Middleswardt while the family was still living in New Amsterdam. These kinds of changes make it difficult to keep track of family history, as you can imagine. Sarah was born on 1 Feb 1685 in Flatlands, Brookland, NY (i.e. Brooklyn, New York of today). She was baptized on this same day at the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church. About this time, many Dutch people were beginning to think about leaving New Amsterdam for new settlements in New Jersey. The British, who had taken over New Amsterdam, were not the kinds of leaders that the Dutch preferred.
The first landowners in what was to become Montgomery Township, Somerset, NJ were speculators. Many speculators and early settlers were of Dutch descent from the New Amsterdam area. The speculators themselves did not live on the land, but sold large parts of what they owned to companies that subdivided it into farm-sized plots for those who did intend to settle. This is probably what the Van Middleswardt family invested in.
Montgomery Twp. at this time had a few dirt roads that had previously been trails. They were maintained by the residents, and most of the residents were involved in farming. Settlement began in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Farms of 300 to 500 acres were common, some owners keeping a few slaves to work the land and serve in the household. The aim of the early settlers was subsistence farming. Each farm had a vegetable garden, orchard, pasturage and fields for grain, as well as a stand of timber to be selectively cut for fuel.
Churches marked the most important centers. The Dutch Church’s earliest congregations first gathered in farm houses. As I mentioned in last week's blog, Sarah married John Broucard in 1704 in Somerset, New Jersey, probably in one of these farm houses. All of Sarah and John Broucard's children were born in Somerset County, New Jersey:
1705 Kalleyntie
1707 Femmetje
1709 John
1711 Bergon
1715 Isaac K.
1717 Catalentien
1721 Marretje
1723 Isaac
1725 Abraham
It wasn't unusual for families to want to reuse a given name a second time. Isaac K. Brokaw died in Oct 1723. Thus, when another son was born that same year, he was named Isaac.
Sarah died in 1742 in Somerset, NJ and is buried at Hillsborough.
SARAH TEUNISE VAN MIDDLESWARDT
BORN: 1 Feb 1685 in Flatlands, Brookland, New Amsterdam
MARRIED: 16 Oct 1704 in ,Somerset, NJ
DIED: 1742 in Raritan, Somerset, NJ
SOURCES: Harlingen Historical Center in Harlingen, Somerset, NJ; Baptismal record from FamilySearch.org; Marriage record from FamilySearch Ancestral File; FindAGrave.
