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Family History
Although I first came to New Mexico in 1981 and have lived in my North
Valley home in Albuquerque since 1993, I was born in Manhattan and am the 14th
generation born in either New York or New Jersey. In my time in New Mexico
I’ve enjoyed meeting New Mexicans who can also trace their ancestry to the 17th
Century and worked with them when I was writing LAND OF BURNING HEAT.
Claire Reynier is named for my first new world ancestor Reynier Bastiaensen
van Giesen (as the name was spelled then). Here’s a story about him from
History of Paterson by William Nelson:
“The appellation assumed by Reynier justifies the inference that he
came from Giessen, in North Brabant. This is a village of about 350
inhabitants, but with an antiquity utterly disproportionate to its size, for it
is mentioned in history as long as A.D. 798, when it already had a church.
No record has been found of his arrival in America, the first appearance of his
name in our annals being in an agreement dated June 6, 1660, between him and the
magistrates of Flatbush, L. I., and the consistory of the Dutch church of that
place, wherein he undertook to teach school, perform the duties of court
messenger, to ring the bell, keep the church in order, act as precentor, attend
to the burial of the dead, and all else that was necessary and proper in the
premises. The young man evidently had confidence in his abilities, and was
not afraid of work. For these multifarious duties he was to receive an
annual salary of two hundred florins ($80), besides perquisites. He was
probably the first school master at Flatbush. In a deed given by him, Jan.
6, 1663 he is styled “court attendant.” About the time of the execution of
this deed he probably removed to Bergen, N.J., where he took the oath of
allegiance to the English, in November 1665. His name is also appended to
the remonstrance in 1700, by the people of East Jersey against the Proprietary
Government.” . . . His name appeared as a witness to a deed, Nov. 6, 1696, from
Hans Dedricks to Jan Adrianse Sip, for Lot No. 11, of the Acquackanonk patent,
and it is not unlikely that he was the scrivener who drafted the
conveyance. He prob. d. at Bergen, May 15, 1707.”
The descendents of the early settlers of New Amsterdam and northern New
Jersey are very fortunate to have William Nelson. Not only did he record
who married who and who begat who, what they did for work and what property they
owned, he came up with fascinating stories about these people‘s lives.
Here’s one about Reynier’s son Bastiaen:
“Bastiaen, m. Aeltje Hendrickse, June 25, 1688; administration was
granted on his estate to his son Hendrick, July 22, 1751. He bought a
large tract of land in the present Montclair township, adjacent to Third river,
prior to 1696, and took up his residence on this purchase, to which he added
from time to time. He perhaps also bought the eastern half of Lot No. 2,
on Totowa, extending from Redwoods avenue nearly to North Twelfth street, and
from the river to the mountain, embracing about 300 acres. Family
tradition said that he bought of an Indian nearly the whole of Totowa, from
Totowa avenue westerly to the Singack or Totowa road, and including the Falls.
This, of course, is an error, so far as concerns the dimensions of the
purchase. The tradition goes on to the effect that Bastiaen’s purchase of
the Indian was as much land as he could walk around in a day, the consideration
being one dollar. While they were walking along, the Indian tried to make
Van Giesen understand how the Red men had been gradually driven off their
lands. Not being able to talk Dutch, he signed to Bastiaen to sit down
beside him on a log, near one end; then he gradually shoved along, until
Bastiaen was crowded off the log, signifying that in like manner the Indians had
been pushed off their lands.”
Here’s a story I love about an ancestor named Merselis Van Giesen and
his wife Jane during the 19th century when people believed in black magic.
“As previously stated, he bought a tract of land on the present
Hamburgh turnpike, north of the line of Doremus street. There he built a
small stone house, since rebuilt, and kept tavern for several years, being
licensed in 1811, 1813 and 1816. A curious story illustrative of the
superstition of the day, is to this effect: His wife was ill for a long
time, being confined to her bed. As she lay there, a black cat would come,
night after night, and stare in at her through the window, with wicked, blazing
eyes. An uncanny fact about this visitation was that no one else could see
the cat. That Jane was bewitched was the belief not only of herself
and her family, but of the whole neighborhood. Moreover, the witch who
exercised this spell, and who made these weird visits to the sufferer, in the
guise of a cat invisible to everyone but the bewitched, was believed to be a
Mrs. B____, who lived in the gorge in the hill beyond. Talking the matter
over with his neighbors, Merselis (he was commonly called “Sale”) was told that
if he could shoot the spectral cat with a silver bullet he would kill the
creature, and put a stop to the spells exercised over his wife. He did not
have a silver bullet, but he had a pair of silver sleeve buttons. Loading
his gun with one of these buttons, he seated himself on the bed beside his wife,
and declared his intention of shooting that witch cat. But how could he
shoot a creature he couldn’t see?
“When the cat comes,” said he to his
wife, “do you point out just where it is, and I will shoot at that
spot.”
So they waited, she in a tremor of hope and dread - hope that
the spells afflicting her were soon to be ended; dread lest some new torment
might come to her from this daring attempt of her husband; he, in grim
determination to forever end the unholy power exercised over his wife by Mrs. B,
in the guise of the invisible feline. Long and silently they waited.
At last when their feelings had been wrought up by the suspense to the highest
pitch, Jane exclaimed:
“There is the black
cat!”
“Where?”
“At the window, it is walking on the sill, it
is in the lower left-hand corner!”
Quick as a flash “Sale” raised his
gun and fired the silver bullet at the black cat which he could not see.
With a snarl that was a scream the mysterious creature vanished forever from the
gaze of Mrs. Van Giesen, who from that hour began to recover her health.
The next day “Sale” started out on a hunt through what is now known as Cedar
Cliff park. On the way he met the husband of the suspected witch.
There was the usual interchange of courteous neighborly inquiries regarding the
health of their respective families. Mr. B said his wife had been troubled
with a sore on her leg for sometime.
“I would like to see that sore
leg,” said “Sale.”
After some demur he was taken to the house, and on
one plea or another was finally permitted to examine the sore. But what
particularly attracted his notice was a fresh wound, just where his silver
sleeve button had struck the unfortunate creature when she had last visited his
wife in the form of the spectral black witch cat! Needless to say that
Mrs. B never more made those weird visitations. Perhaps it was from a
sense of thanksgiving for her miraculous deliverance that Mrs. Van Giesen joined
the First Presbyterian church on confession, Sept. 26, 1823.”
If anyone knows any more of these Van Gieson (or van Giesen) stories I’d
love to hear them.
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