NOTE: Picture explanation: I was recently planning on going to Washington D.C. to see the portrait of Jan Stycker by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker.I emailed the museum and received information that seems to refute the subject of the painting and also the artist.For everyones information I am including the information as sent to me.
"The painting that you asked about is currently in storage at the Gallery, and will not likely be on view any time in the future.Although it entered the Gallery's collection in 1947 identified as a portrait of Jan Strycker by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker, extensive research by our curators in the 1950s and 1960s led to the conclusion that neither the sitter nor the artist could be identified.In 1969 both the attribution and title were officially changed, and scholars continue to be uncertain as to the nationality of the unknown artist.The books that you have probably seen in which the sitter and the painter are identified were all published prior to the change."
This was from the Department of Curatorial Records
National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.
Text of biography:
Jan Strycker was born between Oct 10 and Dec 31, 1614 in Ruinen, Province of Drenthe, the Netherlands, and died Mar 3, 1697 in Midwout, Long Island, New York, at 82.
His first wife was Lambertje Roelofse Seubering. She was born in 1616 in the Netherlands, the daughter of Roelof Lukassen Seubering. She died in Jun 1675.
His second wife was Swantje Jans, the widow of Cornelis de Potter, whom he married Apr 30, 1679. She died in 1686.
His third wife was Teuntje Teunis, whom he married on Mar 31, 1687 in New York. She was the widow of Jacob Hellakers, alias Swart or Swartout.
In Jan 1643, the States General of the Netherlands offered a grant of land in New Amsterdam (New York) to Jan and Jacobus Strycker, provided they took twelve families from the Netherlands with them to America. They accepted the grant eight years later when Jacobus, in 1651, came to America, followed by Jan in 1652.
On Dec 11, 1653, Jan Strycker was one of 19 men who signed a petition against the conduct of Director Peter Stuyvesant of the Council in New York, to the States General in the Netherlands. They signed on behalf of the colonies and villages of the province of New Netherland:
"We acknowledge a paternal government which God and nature have established in the world for the maintenance and preservation of peace, and the good of mankind, not only in conformity to Nature's laws, but in accordance with the rules and precepts of God, to which we consider ourselves bound by His word, and therefore submit.
"The Lord our God having invested their High Mightinesses, as His ministers, with power (which we gratefully acknowledge) to promote the welfare of their subjects, in the United Provinces and in the foreign possessions thereunto belonging, and these having, by their power and authority, commissioned, for the same purpose, some subaltern magistrtes, such as the Lords Directors of the Privileged West India Company, whom we acknowledge, together with your Lordships, whose representatives they are, as Lords and Patroons of this place; we humbly conceive that our rights and privileges are the same, harmonizing in every respect with those of Netherland, being a member dependent on that State, and in no wise a people conquered or subjugated, but settled here, on a mutual covenant and contract entered into with the Lords Patroons, and with the consent of the natives, the first proprietors of these lands, from whom we purchased the soil with our own funds.
"We transformed, with immense labor, and at our own expense, a wilderness of woods into a few small villages and cultivated farms. Encouraged by the privileges which we already obtained -- the preservation of which we cherish, and the increase and amplification, not the abridgment, of which we did expect -- and by the deep homage and profound respect which we entertain for the government of the Netherlands; composed of various nations from different parts of the world; leaving at our own expense our country and countrymen, we voluntarily repaired under the protection of our sovereign, high and mighty Lords the States General, whom we acknowledge as our Lieges, and being immatriculated into one body, subjected ourselves, as in duty bound, to the general laws of the United Provinces, and all other new orders and ordonnances which by virtue of the authority aforesaid may be published, agreeably to the customs, freedoms, grants and privileges of the Netherlands.
"This being premised, we humbly solicit that this our Remonstrance and Petition may be received and construed favorably and without misinterpretation. We shall, therefore, frankly declare, with all humbleness, our fear, and the alarm which for some time have brolten our spirits and discouraged us in our labors and callings, so that we, being in a wilderness, are unable to promote the prosperity of the country, with the same vigor and affection as heretofore; the reasons whereof are as follow: --
"I. Our apprehension of the establishment of an arbitrary government among us. It is contrary to the first intentions and genuine principles of every well regulated government, that one or more men should arrogate to themselves the exclusive power to dispose, at will, of the life and property of any individual, and this by virtue, or under pretence, of a law or order which he might fabricate, without the consent, knowledge or approbation of the whole body, their agents or representatives. Hence the enactment, in manner aforesaid, of new laws affecting the commonalty, their lives and property, which is contrary to the granted privileges of the Netherland government, and odious to every free-born man, and principally so to those whom God has placed under a free state, in newly-settled lands, who are entitled to claim laws, not trancending, but resembling, as near as possible, those of Netherland. We humbly submit that it is one of our privileges, that our consent, or that of our representatives, is necessarily required in the enactment of such laws and orders.
"II. We are usually and every year full of apprehension that the natives of the country, by the murders they commit under the pretext that they have not het been paid for their lands, may commence a new war against us. This causes many calamities and mischiefs to the country, besides great loss and interruption to the inhabitants in their labor. It has, thus far, been out of our power to discover the truth hereof,or to ascertain to what tribe these murders belong. They are too often disregarded as the acts of far-distant savages, which fills us with daily anxieties, so that we are compelled to look to our own defence, as we cannot discover in what manner our lives and property shall be protected, except by our own means.
"III. Officers and magistrates, though by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed to many places contrary to the laws of Netherland; several acting without the consent or nomination of the people, whom it most concerns.
"IV. Many orders and proclamations made in days of yore, without the approbation of the country, by the authority alone of the Director and Council, remain obligatory. We are, therefore, totally ignorant of what are, or what are not in force, and consequently know not when we transgress these, but commit many offences, in our ignorance, to the immenent ruin of ourselves and families.
"V. On the promises of grants and general patents of privileges and exemptions, various plantations have been made, at great expense to the inhabitants, through building houses, making fences and tilling and cultivating the soil; especially by those of Middleburgh and Midwout with their dependencies, besides several other places, who took up many single farms, and solicited the deeds of such lands, but were always put off and disappointed, to their great loss. This creates a suspicion that some innovations are in contemplation, or that is intended to introduce other conditions, different from former stipulations.
"VI. Large quantities of lands are granted to some individuals for their private profit, on which a whole village or hamlet of twenty or thirty families could have been established. This indeed, must, in the end, cause an immense loss hereafter to the Patroons in point of revenue, and impair at present the strength of the province, which, under such circumstances, is incapable of defence, except villages or settlements be planted or formed.
"As we have reduced, for easier reference, all our grievances under six heads, so we renew our allegiance, in the hope that satisfaction shall be granted to the country according to established justice, and all dissensions settled and allayed. As we have unfolded to your Lordships the grievances under which we labor, we shall address ourselves to your wisdom for a remedy. That applied, we shall remain thankful, all further application being needless, which, otherwise, we shall be compelled to renew. Humbly soliciting your Lordships' answer on each point or article, in such wise as to afford us satisfaction, or to cause us to proceed further as God shall direct our steps, we remain your Lordship's suppliant servants,
"Arent van Hattem, Martin Krygier, Willem Beekman, P. Wolfertsz., V. Couwenhoven, P. L. Van der Grist, John Hicks, Tobias Feake, William Washburn, John Somers, Thomas Spicer, Geo. Baxter, J. Hubbard, Robert Coe, Thomas Hazard, Fred 'k Lubbertsen, Thomas Swartwout, Jan Strycker, Elbert Elberts, Paulus van der Beeck."
In 1654, Jan Strycker took the lead in forming a Dutch colony on Long Island, or Middlewoods (now Flatbush, a section of Brooklyn), and was selected as the chief magistrate of Midwout that year. He held this office for most of the next twenty years. On Dec 17, l654, he was appointed one of two commissioners to build the Dutch Church there, the first erected on Long Island. The church was designed to be 60 feet by 20 feet and 12 feet high.
In 1655, Jan's brother Jacobus painted a picture of him. A photo of this picture is in the New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin Index, volume X, Apr, 1926- Jan, 1927, page 85. As of 1945, the original hung in the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.
On Apr 10, 1664, he represented Midwout in the Landtdag, a general assembly called by the burgomasters, which was held at the city hall in New Amsterdam, to consider the precarious condition of the country.
On Aug 28, l664, Director Peter Stuyvesant addressed a letter to the Dutch towns on Long Island, calling upon them "to send every third man to defend the Capital from the English now arriving at the Narrows." Jan Strycker answered for Midwout that it was impossible to comply with his demands as "we must leave wives and children seated here in fear and trembling, which our hearts fail to do -- as the English are themselves hourly expected there."
In 1665, he was one of the representatives in the Hempstead Convention.
On Aug 18, 1673, he attended the Council of War in Fort William Hendrick and was elected "schepen."
On Oct 25, 1673, Captain Jan Strycker was appointed in charge of the militia for the town of Midwout (Flatbush), Long Island. (New York Colonial Muster Rolls 1664-1775, Vol 1, page 188, Annual Report of the State Historian, page 384)His brother Jacobus administered the oath and installed him into office.
On Mar 26, 1674, he and 12 others were named to representMidwout in a conference to be held in New Orange (now Albany) to confer with Governor Colve on the state of the Country. (Caspar Steynmets was also one of the thirteen.)
In 1675, he was taxed for 3 persons, 4 horses, 22 cows, 2 hogs, and 30 morgen of land and valley.
On Oct 10, 1677, Jan Strycker certified that he was 64 years old and had the occupation of armoror (gunsmith).
In Sep, 1687, he took the oath of allegiance in Kings County, declaring that he had been in this country 35 years.
He was buried in the rear churchyard at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Church Lane (now Church Avenue), presently a ghetto area.
Members of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonists, who claimed Jan Strycker as their ancestor for membership, include Miss Katharine Naomi Stryker, membership number 911, Mrs. Sarah Wilson Allen, 1087, Miss Loretta Schenck, 2437, Mrs. Helen Stryker Pursel, 8510, and Miss Mildred Tulley, 10364.
The children of Jan Strycker and Lambertje Roelofse Seubering were:
i Altje, b. ca. 1632, m. Abraham Jorise Brinckerhoff on May 20, 1660
ii Jannetje, m. 1st, Cornelius Jansen Berrien in1652; 2nd, Samuel Edsall in 1689
iii Garrit Janse, b. 1652, m. Styntie Gerritse Dorland on Dec 25 or 28, 1683, d. 1695. 4 children
iv Angenietje, b. ca. 1650, m. 1st, Jan Cornelise Boomgaert (Bougaert) in 1674; 2nd, Claes Tysen
v Hendrick, m. Catherine Kip on Feb 11, 1687, d. Jan 23, 1687/8
vi Eytje (Ida), m. Stoffel Probasco, d. Sep 29, 1687
*vii Pieter, b. Nov 1, 1653, m. 1st, Annetje Barends on May 29, 1681; 2nd, Aertje Bogart, d. Jun 11, 1741. 11 children
viii Sarah, b. 1655, m. Joris Hansen Bergen, Sr. on Aug 11, 1678
Originally added as number 33581628 by Larry P. Cornwell
"The painting that you asked about is currently in storage at the Gallery, and will not likely be on view any time in the future.Although it entered the Gallery's collection in 1947 identified as a portrait of Jan Strycker by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker, extensive research by our curators in the 1950s and 1960s led to the conclusion that neither the sitter nor the artist could be identified.In 1969 both the attribution and title were officially changed, and scholars continue to be uncertain as to the nationality of the unknown artist.The books that you have probably seen in which the sitter and the painter are identified were all published prior to the change."
This was from the Department of Curatorial Records
National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.
Text of biography:
Jan Strycker was born between Oct 10 and Dec 31, 1614 in Ruinen, Province of Drenthe, the Netherlands, and died Mar 3, 1697 in Midwout, Long Island, New York, at 82.
His first wife was Lambertje Roelofse Seubering. She was born in 1616 in the Netherlands, the daughter of Roelof Lukassen Seubering. She died in Jun 1675.
His second wife was Swantje Jans, the widow of Cornelis de Potter, whom he married Apr 30, 1679. She died in 1686.
His third wife was Teuntje Teunis, whom he married on Mar 31, 1687 in New York. She was the widow of Jacob Hellakers, alias Swart or Swartout.
In Jan 1643, the States General of the Netherlands offered a grant of land in New Amsterdam (New York) to Jan and Jacobus Strycker, provided they took twelve families from the Netherlands with them to America. They accepted the grant eight years later when Jacobus, in 1651, came to America, followed by Jan in 1652.
On Dec 11, 1653, Jan Strycker was one of 19 men who signed a petition against the conduct of Director Peter Stuyvesant of the Council in New York, to the States General in the Netherlands. They signed on behalf of the colonies and villages of the province of New Netherland:
"We acknowledge a paternal government which God and nature have established in the world for the maintenance and preservation of peace, and the good of mankind, not only in conformity to Nature's laws, but in accordance with the rules and precepts of God, to which we consider ourselves bound by His word, and therefore submit.
"The Lord our God having invested their High Mightinesses, as His ministers, with power (which we gratefully acknowledge) to promote the welfare of their subjects, in the United Provinces and in the foreign possessions thereunto belonging, and these having, by their power and authority, commissioned, for the same purpose, some subaltern magistrtes, such as the Lords Directors of the Privileged West India Company, whom we acknowledge, together with your Lordships, whose representatives they are, as Lords and Patroons of this place; we humbly conceive that our rights and privileges are the same, harmonizing in every respect with those of Netherland, being a member dependent on that State, and in no wise a people conquered or subjugated, but settled here, on a mutual covenant and contract entered into with the Lords Patroons, and with the consent of the natives, the first proprietors of these lands, from whom we purchased the soil with our own funds.
"We transformed, with immense labor, and at our own expense, a wilderness of woods into a few small villages and cultivated farms. Encouraged by the privileges which we already obtained -- the preservation of which we cherish, and the increase and amplification, not the abridgment, of which we did expect -- and by the deep homage and profound respect which we entertain for the government of the Netherlands; composed of various nations from different parts of the world; leaving at our own expense our country and countrymen, we voluntarily repaired under the protection of our sovereign, high and mighty Lords the States General, whom we acknowledge as our Lieges, and being immatriculated into one body, subjected ourselves, as in duty bound, to the general laws of the United Provinces, and all other new orders and ordonnances which by virtue of the authority aforesaid may be published, agreeably to the customs, freedoms, grants and privileges of the Netherlands.
"This being premised, we humbly solicit that this our Remonstrance and Petition may be received and construed favorably and without misinterpretation. We shall, therefore, frankly declare, with all humbleness, our fear, and the alarm which for some time have brolten our spirits and discouraged us in our labors and callings, so that we, being in a wilderness, are unable to promote the prosperity of the country, with the same vigor and affection as heretofore; the reasons whereof are as follow: --
"I. Our apprehension of the establishment of an arbitrary government among us. It is contrary to the first intentions and genuine principles of every well regulated government, that one or more men should arrogate to themselves the exclusive power to dispose, at will, of the life and property of any individual, and this by virtue, or under pretence, of a law or order which he might fabricate, without the consent, knowledge or approbation of the whole body, their agents or representatives. Hence the enactment, in manner aforesaid, of new laws affecting the commonalty, their lives and property, which is contrary to the granted privileges of the Netherland government, and odious to every free-born man, and principally so to those whom God has placed under a free state, in newly-settled lands, who are entitled to claim laws, not trancending, but resembling, as near as possible, those of Netherland. We humbly submit that it is one of our privileges, that our consent, or that of our representatives, is necessarily required in the enactment of such laws and orders.
"II. We are usually and every year full of apprehension that the natives of the country, by the murders they commit under the pretext that they have not het been paid for their lands, may commence a new war against us. This causes many calamities and mischiefs to the country, besides great loss and interruption to the inhabitants in their labor. It has, thus far, been out of our power to discover the truth hereof,or to ascertain to what tribe these murders belong. They are too often disregarded as the acts of far-distant savages, which fills us with daily anxieties, so that we are compelled to look to our own defence, as we cannot discover in what manner our lives and property shall be protected, except by our own means.
"III. Officers and magistrates, though by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed to many places contrary to the laws of Netherland; several acting without the consent or nomination of the people, whom it most concerns.
"IV. Many orders and proclamations made in days of yore, without the approbation of the country, by the authority alone of the Director and Council, remain obligatory. We are, therefore, totally ignorant of what are, or what are not in force, and consequently know not when we transgress these, but commit many offences, in our ignorance, to the immenent ruin of ourselves and families.
"V. On the promises of grants and general patents of privileges and exemptions, various plantations have been made, at great expense to the inhabitants, through building houses, making fences and tilling and cultivating the soil; especially by those of Middleburgh and Midwout with their dependencies, besides several other places, who took up many single farms, and solicited the deeds of such lands, but were always put off and disappointed, to their great loss. This creates a suspicion that some innovations are in contemplation, or that is intended to introduce other conditions, different from former stipulations.
"VI. Large quantities of lands are granted to some individuals for their private profit, on which a whole village or hamlet of twenty or thirty families could have been established. This indeed, must, in the end, cause an immense loss hereafter to the Patroons in point of revenue, and impair at present the strength of the province, which, under such circumstances, is incapable of defence, except villages or settlements be planted or formed.
"As we have reduced, for easier reference, all our grievances under six heads, so we renew our allegiance, in the hope that satisfaction shall be granted to the country according to established justice, and all dissensions settled and allayed. As we have unfolded to your Lordships the grievances under which we labor, we shall address ourselves to your wisdom for a remedy. That applied, we shall remain thankful, all further application being needless, which, otherwise, we shall be compelled to renew. Humbly soliciting your Lordships' answer on each point or article, in such wise as to afford us satisfaction, or to cause us to proceed further as God shall direct our steps, we remain your Lordship's suppliant servants,
"Arent van Hattem, Martin Krygier, Willem Beekman, P. Wolfertsz., V. Couwenhoven, P. L. Van der Grist, John Hicks, Tobias Feake, William Washburn, John Somers, Thomas Spicer, Geo. Baxter, J. Hubbard, Robert Coe, Thomas Hazard, Fred 'k Lubbertsen, Thomas Swartwout, Jan Strycker, Elbert Elberts, Paulus van der Beeck."
In 1654, Jan Strycker took the lead in forming a Dutch colony on Long Island, or Middlewoods (now Flatbush, a section of Brooklyn), and was selected as the chief magistrate of Midwout that year. He held this office for most of the next twenty years. On Dec 17, l654, he was appointed one of two commissioners to build the Dutch Church there, the first erected on Long Island. The church was designed to be 60 feet by 20 feet and 12 feet high.
In 1655, Jan's brother Jacobus painted a picture of him. A photo of this picture is in the New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin Index, volume X, Apr, 1926- Jan, 1927, page 85. As of 1945, the original hung in the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.
On Apr 10, 1664, he represented Midwout in the Landtdag, a general assembly called by the burgomasters, which was held at the city hall in New Amsterdam, to consider the precarious condition of the country.
On Aug 28, l664, Director Peter Stuyvesant addressed a letter to the Dutch towns on Long Island, calling upon them "to send every third man to defend the Capital from the English now arriving at the Narrows." Jan Strycker answered for Midwout that it was impossible to comply with his demands as "we must leave wives and children seated here in fear and trembling, which our hearts fail to do -- as the English are themselves hourly expected there."
In 1665, he was one of the representatives in the Hempstead Convention.
On Aug 18, 1673, he attended the Council of War in Fort William Hendrick and was elected "schepen."
On Oct 25, 1673, Captain Jan Strycker was appointed in charge of the militia for the town of Midwout (Flatbush), Long Island. (New York Colonial Muster Rolls 1664-1775, Vol 1, page 188, Annual Report of the State Historian, page 384)His brother Jacobus administered the oath and installed him into office.
On Mar 26, 1674, he and 12 others were named to representMidwout in a conference to be held in New Orange (now Albany) to confer with Governor Colve on the state of the Country. (Caspar Steynmets was also one of the thirteen.)
In 1675, he was taxed for 3 persons, 4 horses, 22 cows, 2 hogs, and 30 morgen of land and valley.
On Oct 10, 1677, Jan Strycker certified that he was 64 years old and had the occupation of armoror (gunsmith).
In Sep, 1687, he took the oath of allegiance in Kings County, declaring that he had been in this country 35 years.
He was buried in the rear churchyard at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Church Lane (now Church Avenue), presently a ghetto area.
Members of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonists, who claimed Jan Strycker as their ancestor for membership, include Miss Katharine Naomi Stryker, membership number 911, Mrs. Sarah Wilson Allen, 1087, Miss Loretta Schenck, 2437, Mrs. Helen Stryker Pursel, 8510, and Miss Mildred Tulley, 10364.
The children of Jan Strycker and Lambertje Roelofse Seubering were:
i Altje, b. ca. 1632, m. Abraham Jorise Brinckerhoff on May 20, 1660
ii Jannetje, m. 1st, Cornelius Jansen Berrien in1652; 2nd, Samuel Edsall in 1689
iii Garrit Janse, b. 1652, m. Styntie Gerritse Dorland on Dec 25 or 28, 1683, d. 1695. 4 children
iv Angenietje, b. ca. 1650, m. 1st, Jan Cornelise Boomgaert (Bougaert) in 1674; 2nd, Claes Tysen
v Hendrick, m. Catherine Kip on Feb 11, 1687, d. Jan 23, 1687/8
vi Eytje (Ida), m. Stoffel Probasco, d. Sep 29, 1687
*vii Pieter, b. Nov 1, 1653, m. 1st, Annetje Barends on May 29, 1681; 2nd, Aertje Bogart, d. Jun 11, 1741. 11 children
viii Sarah, b. 1655, m. Joris Hansen Bergen, Sr. on Aug 11, 1678
Originally added as number 33581628 by Larry P. Cornwell
NOTE: Picture explanation: I was recently planning on going to Washington D.C. to see the portrait of Jan Stycker by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker.I emailed the museum and received information that seems to refute the subject of the painting and also the artist.For everyones information I am including the information as sent to me.
"The painting that you asked about is currently in storage at the Gallery, and will not likely be on view any time in the future.Although it entered the Gallery's collection in 1947 identified as a portrait of Jan Strycker by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker, extensive research by our curators in the 1950s and 1960s led to the conclusion that neither the sitter nor the artist could be identified.In 1969 both the attribution and title were officially changed, and scholars continue to be uncertain as to the nationality of the unknown artist.The books that you have probably seen in which the sitter and the painter are identified were all published prior to the change."
This was from the Department of Curatorial Records
National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.
Text of biography:
Jan Strycker was born between Oct 10 and Dec 31, 1614 in Ruinen, Province of Drenthe, the Netherlands, and died Mar 3, 1697 in Midwout, Long Island, New York, at 82.
His first wife was Lambertje Roelofse Seubering. She was born in 1616 in the Netherlands, the daughter of Roelof Lukassen Seubering. She died in Jun 1675.
His second wife was Swantje Jans, the widow of Cornelis de Potter, whom he married Apr 30, 1679. She died in 1686.
His third wife was Teuntje Teunis, whom he married on Mar 31, 1687 in New York. She was the widow of Jacob Hellakers, alias Swart or Swartout.
In Jan 1643, the States General of the Netherlands offered a grant of land in New Amsterdam (New York) to Jan and Jacobus Strycker, provided they took twelve families from the Netherlands with them to America. They accepted the grant eight years later when Jacobus, in 1651, came to America, followed by Jan in 1652.
On Dec 11, 1653, Jan Strycker was one of 19 men who signed a petition against the conduct of Director Peter Stuyvesant of the Council in New York, to the States General in the Netherlands. They signed on behalf of the colonies and villages of the province of New Netherland:
"We acknowledge a paternal government which God and nature have established in the world for the maintenance and preservation of peace, and the good of mankind, not only in conformity to Nature's laws, but in accordance with the rules and precepts of God, to which we consider ourselves bound by His word, and therefore submit.
"The Lord our God having invested their High Mightinesses, as His ministers, with power (which we gratefully acknowledge) to promote the welfare of their subjects, in the United Provinces and in the foreign possessions thereunto belonging, and these having, by their power and authority, commissioned, for the same purpose, some subaltern magistrtes, such as the Lords Directors of the Privileged West India Company, whom we acknowledge, together with your Lordships, whose representatives they are, as Lords and Patroons of this place; we humbly conceive that our rights and privileges are the same, harmonizing in every respect with those of Netherland, being a member dependent on that State, and in no wise a people conquered or subjugated, but settled here, on a mutual covenant and contract entered into with the Lords Patroons, and with the consent of the natives, the first proprietors of these lands, from whom we purchased the soil with our own funds.
"We transformed, with immense labor, and at our own expense, a wilderness of woods into a few small villages and cultivated farms. Encouraged by the privileges which we already obtained -- the preservation of which we cherish, and the increase and amplification, not the abridgment, of which we did expect -- and by the deep homage and profound respect which we entertain for the government of the Netherlands; composed of various nations from different parts of the world; leaving at our own expense our country and countrymen, we voluntarily repaired under the protection of our sovereign, high and mighty Lords the States General, whom we acknowledge as our Lieges, and being immatriculated into one body, subjected ourselves, as in duty bound, to the general laws of the United Provinces, and all other new orders and ordonnances which by virtue of the authority aforesaid may be published, agreeably to the customs, freedoms, grants and privileges of the Netherlands.
"This being premised, we humbly solicit that this our Remonstrance and Petition may be received and construed favorably and without misinterpretation. We shall, therefore, frankly declare, with all humbleness, our fear, and the alarm which for some time have brolten our spirits and discouraged us in our labors and callings, so that we, being in a wilderness, are unable to promote the prosperity of the country, with the same vigor and affection as heretofore; the reasons whereof are as follow: --
"I. Our apprehension of the establishment of an arbitrary government among us. It is contrary to the first intentions and genuine principles of every well regulated government, that one or more men should arrogate to themselves the exclusive power to dispose, at will, of the life and property of any individual, and this by virtue, or under pretence, of a law or order which he might fabricate, without the consent, knowledge or approbation of the whole body, their agents or representatives. Hence the enactment, in manner aforesaid, of new laws affecting the commonalty, their lives and property, which is contrary to the granted privileges of the Netherland government, and odious to every free-born man, and principally so to those whom God has placed under a free state, in newly-settled lands, who are entitled to claim laws, not trancending, but resembling, as near as possible, those of Netherland. We humbly submit that it is one of our privileges, that our consent, or that of our representatives, is necessarily required in the enactment of such laws and orders.
"II. We are usually and every year full of apprehension that the natives of the country, by the murders they commit under the pretext that they have not het been paid for their lands, may commence a new war against us. This causes many calamities and mischiefs to the country, besides great loss and interruption to the inhabitants in their labor. It has, thus far, been out of our power to discover the truth hereof,or to ascertain to what tribe these murders belong. They are too often disregarded as the acts of far-distant savages, which fills us with daily anxieties, so that we are compelled to look to our own defence, as we cannot discover in what manner our lives and property shall be protected, except by our own means.
"III. Officers and magistrates, though by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed to many places contrary to the laws of Netherland; several acting without the consent or nomination of the people, whom it most concerns.
"IV. Many orders and proclamations made in days of yore, without the approbation of the country, by the authority alone of the Director and Council, remain obligatory. We are, therefore, totally ignorant of what are, or what are not in force, and consequently know not when we transgress these, but commit many offences, in our ignorance, to the immenent ruin of ourselves and families.
"V. On the promises of grants and general patents of privileges and exemptions, various plantations have been made, at great expense to the inhabitants, through building houses, making fences and tilling and cultivating the soil; especially by those of Middleburgh and Midwout with their dependencies, besides several other places, who took up many single farms, and solicited the deeds of such lands, but were always put off and disappointed, to their great loss. This creates a suspicion that some innovations are in contemplation, or that is intended to introduce other conditions, different from former stipulations.
"VI. Large quantities of lands are granted to some individuals for their private profit, on which a whole village or hamlet of twenty or thirty families could have been established. This indeed, must, in the end, cause an immense loss hereafter to the Patroons in point of revenue, and impair at present the strength of the province, which, under such circumstances, is incapable of defence, except villages or settlements be planted or formed.
"As we have reduced, for easier reference, all our grievances under six heads, so we renew our allegiance, in the hope that satisfaction shall be granted to the country according to established justice, and all dissensions settled and allayed. As we have unfolded to your Lordships the grievances under which we labor, we shall address ourselves to your wisdom for a remedy. That applied, we shall remain thankful, all further application being needless, which, otherwise, we shall be compelled to renew. Humbly soliciting your Lordships' answer on each point or article, in such wise as to afford us satisfaction, or to cause us to proceed further as God shall direct our steps, we remain your Lordship's suppliant servants,
"Arent van Hattem, Martin Krygier, Willem Beekman, P. Wolfertsz., V. Couwenhoven, P. L. Van der Grist, John Hicks, Tobias Feake, William Washburn, John Somers, Thomas Spicer, Geo. Baxter, J. Hubbard, Robert Coe, Thomas Hazard, Fred 'k Lubbertsen, Thomas Swartwout, Jan Strycker, Elbert Elberts, Paulus van der Beeck."
In 1654, Jan Strycker took the lead in forming a Dutch colony on Long Island, or Middlewoods (now Flatbush, a section of Brooklyn), and was selected as the chief magistrate of Midwout that year. He held this office for most of the next twenty years. On Dec 17, l654, he was appointed one of two commissioners to build the Dutch Church there, the first erected on Long Island. The church was designed to be 60 feet by 20 feet and 12 feet high.
In 1655, Jan's brother Jacobus painted a picture of him. A photo of this picture is in the New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin Index, volume X, Apr, 1926- Jan, 1927, page 85. As of 1945, the original hung in the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.
On Apr 10, 1664, he represented Midwout in the Landtdag, a general assembly called by the burgomasters, which was held at the city hall in New Amsterdam, to consider the precarious condition of the country.
On Aug 28, l664, Director Peter Stuyvesant addressed a letter to the Dutch towns on Long Island, calling upon them "to send every third man to defend the Capital from the English now arriving at the Narrows." Jan Strycker answered for Midwout that it was impossible to comply with his demands as "we must leave wives and children seated here in fear and trembling, which our hearts fail to do -- as the English are themselves hourly expected there."
In 1665, he was one of the representatives in the Hempstead Convention.
On Aug 18, 1673, he attended the Council of War in Fort William Hendrick and was elected "schepen."
On Oct 25, 1673, Captain Jan Strycker was appointed in charge of the militia for the town of Midwout (Flatbush), Long Island. (New York Colonial Muster Rolls 1664-1775, Vol 1, page 188, Annual Report of the State Historian, page 384)His brother Jacobus administered the oath and installed him into office.
On Mar 26, 1674, he and 12 others were named to representMidwout in a conference to be held in New Orange (now Albany) to confer with Governor Colve on the state of the Country. (Caspar Steynmets was also one of the thirteen.)
In 1675, he was taxed for 3 persons, 4 horses, 22 cows, 2 hogs, and 30 morgen of land and valley.
On Oct 10, 1677, Jan Strycker certified that he was 64 years old and had the occupation of armoror (gunsmith).
In Sep, 1687, he took the oath of allegiance in Kings County, declaring that he had been in this country 35 years.
He was buried in the rear churchyard at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Church Lane (now Church Avenue), presently a ghetto area.
Members of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonists, who claimed Jan Strycker as their ancestor for membership, include Miss Katharine Naomi Stryker, membership number 911, Mrs. Sarah Wilson Allen, 1087, Miss Loretta Schenck, 2437, Mrs. Helen Stryker Pursel, 8510, and Miss Mildred Tulley, 10364.
The children of Jan Strycker and Lambertje Roelofse Seubering were:
i Altje, b. ca. 1632, m. Abraham Jorise Brinckerhoff on May 20, 1660
ii Jannetje, m. 1st, Cornelius Jansen Berrien in1652; 2nd, Samuel Edsall in 1689
iii Garrit Janse, b. 1652, m. Styntie Gerritse Dorland on Dec 25 or 28, 1683, d. 1695. 4 children
iv Angenietje, b. ca. 1650, m. 1st, Jan Cornelise Boomgaert (Bougaert) in 1674; 2nd, Claes Tysen
v Hendrick, m. Catherine Kip on Feb 11, 1687, d. Jan 23, 1687/8
vi Eytje (Ida), m. Stoffel Probasco, d. Sep 29, 1687
*vii Pieter, b. Nov 1, 1653, m. 1st, Annetje Barends on May 29, 1681; 2nd, Aertje Bogart, d. Jun 11, 1741. 11 children
viii Sarah, b. 1655, m. Joris Hansen Bergen, Sr. on Aug 11, 1678
Originally added as number 33581628 by Larry P. Cornwell
"The painting that you asked about is currently in storage at the Gallery, and will not likely be on view any time in the future.Although it entered the Gallery's collection in 1947 identified as a portrait of Jan Strycker by Jacobus Gerritsen Strycker, extensive research by our curators in the 1950s and 1960s led to the conclusion that neither the sitter nor the artist could be identified.In 1969 both the attribution and title were officially changed, and scholars continue to be uncertain as to the nationality of the unknown artist.The books that you have probably seen in which the sitter and the painter are identified were all published prior to the change."
This was from the Department of Curatorial Records
National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.
Text of biography:
Jan Strycker was born between Oct 10 and Dec 31, 1614 in Ruinen, Province of Drenthe, the Netherlands, and died Mar 3, 1697 in Midwout, Long Island, New York, at 82.
His first wife was Lambertje Roelofse Seubering. She was born in 1616 in the Netherlands, the daughter of Roelof Lukassen Seubering. She died in Jun 1675.
His second wife was Swantje Jans, the widow of Cornelis de Potter, whom he married Apr 30, 1679. She died in 1686.
His third wife was Teuntje Teunis, whom he married on Mar 31, 1687 in New York. She was the widow of Jacob Hellakers, alias Swart or Swartout.
In Jan 1643, the States General of the Netherlands offered a grant of land in New Amsterdam (New York) to Jan and Jacobus Strycker, provided they took twelve families from the Netherlands with them to America. They accepted the grant eight years later when Jacobus, in 1651, came to America, followed by Jan in 1652.
On Dec 11, 1653, Jan Strycker was one of 19 men who signed a petition against the conduct of Director Peter Stuyvesant of the Council in New York, to the States General in the Netherlands. They signed on behalf of the colonies and villages of the province of New Netherland:
"We acknowledge a paternal government which God and nature have established in the world for the maintenance and preservation of peace, and the good of mankind, not only in conformity to Nature's laws, but in accordance with the rules and precepts of God, to which we consider ourselves bound by His word, and therefore submit.
"The Lord our God having invested their High Mightinesses, as His ministers, with power (which we gratefully acknowledge) to promote the welfare of their subjects, in the United Provinces and in the foreign possessions thereunto belonging, and these having, by their power and authority, commissioned, for the same purpose, some subaltern magistrtes, such as the Lords Directors of the Privileged West India Company, whom we acknowledge, together with your Lordships, whose representatives they are, as Lords and Patroons of this place; we humbly conceive that our rights and privileges are the same, harmonizing in every respect with those of Netherland, being a member dependent on that State, and in no wise a people conquered or subjugated, but settled here, on a mutual covenant and contract entered into with the Lords Patroons, and with the consent of the natives, the first proprietors of these lands, from whom we purchased the soil with our own funds.
"We transformed, with immense labor, and at our own expense, a wilderness of woods into a few small villages and cultivated farms. Encouraged by the privileges which we already obtained -- the preservation of which we cherish, and the increase and amplification, not the abridgment, of which we did expect -- and by the deep homage and profound respect which we entertain for the government of the Netherlands; composed of various nations from different parts of the world; leaving at our own expense our country and countrymen, we voluntarily repaired under the protection of our sovereign, high and mighty Lords the States General, whom we acknowledge as our Lieges, and being immatriculated into one body, subjected ourselves, as in duty bound, to the general laws of the United Provinces, and all other new orders and ordonnances which by virtue of the authority aforesaid may be published, agreeably to the customs, freedoms, grants and privileges of the Netherlands.
"This being premised, we humbly solicit that this our Remonstrance and Petition may be received and construed favorably and without misinterpretation. We shall, therefore, frankly declare, with all humbleness, our fear, and the alarm which for some time have brolten our spirits and discouraged us in our labors and callings, so that we, being in a wilderness, are unable to promote the prosperity of the country, with the same vigor and affection as heretofore; the reasons whereof are as follow: --
"I. Our apprehension of the establishment of an arbitrary government among us. It is contrary to the first intentions and genuine principles of every well regulated government, that one or more men should arrogate to themselves the exclusive power to dispose, at will, of the life and property of any individual, and this by virtue, or under pretence, of a law or order which he might fabricate, without the consent, knowledge or approbation of the whole body, their agents or representatives. Hence the enactment, in manner aforesaid, of new laws affecting the commonalty, their lives and property, which is contrary to the granted privileges of the Netherland government, and odious to every free-born man, and principally so to those whom God has placed under a free state, in newly-settled lands, who are entitled to claim laws, not trancending, but resembling, as near as possible, those of Netherland. We humbly submit that it is one of our privileges, that our consent, or that of our representatives, is necessarily required in the enactment of such laws and orders.
"II. We are usually and every year full of apprehension that the natives of the country, by the murders they commit under the pretext that they have not het been paid for their lands, may commence a new war against us. This causes many calamities and mischiefs to the country, besides great loss and interruption to the inhabitants in their labor. It has, thus far, been out of our power to discover the truth hereof,or to ascertain to what tribe these murders belong. They are too often disregarded as the acts of far-distant savages, which fills us with daily anxieties, so that we are compelled to look to our own defence, as we cannot discover in what manner our lives and property shall be protected, except by our own means.
"III. Officers and magistrates, though by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed to many places contrary to the laws of Netherland; several acting without the consent or nomination of the people, whom it most concerns.
"IV. Many orders and proclamations made in days of yore, without the approbation of the country, by the authority alone of the Director and Council, remain obligatory. We are, therefore, totally ignorant of what are, or what are not in force, and consequently know not when we transgress these, but commit many offences, in our ignorance, to the immenent ruin of ourselves and families.
"V. On the promises of grants and general patents of privileges and exemptions, various plantations have been made, at great expense to the inhabitants, through building houses, making fences and tilling and cultivating the soil; especially by those of Middleburgh and Midwout with their dependencies, besides several other places, who took up many single farms, and solicited the deeds of such lands, but were always put off and disappointed, to their great loss. This creates a suspicion that some innovations are in contemplation, or that is intended to introduce other conditions, different from former stipulations.
"VI. Large quantities of lands are granted to some individuals for their private profit, on which a whole village or hamlet of twenty or thirty families could have been established. This indeed, must, in the end, cause an immense loss hereafter to the Patroons in point of revenue, and impair at present the strength of the province, which, under such circumstances, is incapable of defence, except villages or settlements be planted or formed.
"As we have reduced, for easier reference, all our grievances under six heads, so we renew our allegiance, in the hope that satisfaction shall be granted to the country according to established justice, and all dissensions settled and allayed. As we have unfolded to your Lordships the grievances under which we labor, we shall address ourselves to your wisdom for a remedy. That applied, we shall remain thankful, all further application being needless, which, otherwise, we shall be compelled to renew. Humbly soliciting your Lordships' answer on each point or article, in such wise as to afford us satisfaction, or to cause us to proceed further as God shall direct our steps, we remain your Lordship's suppliant servants,
"Arent van Hattem, Martin Krygier, Willem Beekman, P. Wolfertsz., V. Couwenhoven, P. L. Van der Grist, John Hicks, Tobias Feake, William Washburn, John Somers, Thomas Spicer, Geo. Baxter, J. Hubbard, Robert Coe, Thomas Hazard, Fred 'k Lubbertsen, Thomas Swartwout, Jan Strycker, Elbert Elberts, Paulus van der Beeck."
In 1654, Jan Strycker took the lead in forming a Dutch colony on Long Island, or Middlewoods (now Flatbush, a section of Brooklyn), and was selected as the chief magistrate of Midwout that year. He held this office for most of the next twenty years. On Dec 17, l654, he was appointed one of two commissioners to build the Dutch Church there, the first erected on Long Island. The church was designed to be 60 feet by 20 feet and 12 feet high.
In 1655, Jan's brother Jacobus painted a picture of him. A photo of this picture is in the New York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin Index, volume X, Apr, 1926- Jan, 1927, page 85. As of 1945, the original hung in the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.
On Apr 10, 1664, he represented Midwout in the Landtdag, a general assembly called by the burgomasters, which was held at the city hall in New Amsterdam, to consider the precarious condition of the country.
On Aug 28, l664, Director Peter Stuyvesant addressed a letter to the Dutch towns on Long Island, calling upon them "to send every third man to defend the Capital from the English now arriving at the Narrows." Jan Strycker answered for Midwout that it was impossible to comply with his demands as "we must leave wives and children seated here in fear and trembling, which our hearts fail to do -- as the English are themselves hourly expected there."
In 1665, he was one of the representatives in the Hempstead Convention.
On Aug 18, 1673, he attended the Council of War in Fort William Hendrick and was elected "schepen."
On Oct 25, 1673, Captain Jan Strycker was appointed in charge of the militia for the town of Midwout (Flatbush), Long Island. (New York Colonial Muster Rolls 1664-1775, Vol 1, page 188, Annual Report of the State Historian, page 384)His brother Jacobus administered the oath and installed him into office.
On Mar 26, 1674, he and 12 others were named to representMidwout in a conference to be held in New Orange (now Albany) to confer with Governor Colve on the state of the Country. (Caspar Steynmets was also one of the thirteen.)
In 1675, he was taxed for 3 persons, 4 horses, 22 cows, 2 hogs, and 30 morgen of land and valley.
On Oct 10, 1677, Jan Strycker certified that he was 64 years old and had the occupation of armoror (gunsmith).
In Sep, 1687, he took the oath of allegiance in Kings County, declaring that he had been in this country 35 years.
He was buried in the rear churchyard at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Church Lane (now Church Avenue), presently a ghetto area.
Members of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonists, who claimed Jan Strycker as their ancestor for membership, include Miss Katharine Naomi Stryker, membership number 911, Mrs. Sarah Wilson Allen, 1087, Miss Loretta Schenck, 2437, Mrs. Helen Stryker Pursel, 8510, and Miss Mildred Tulley, 10364.
The children of Jan Strycker and Lambertje Roelofse Seubering were:
i Altje, b. ca. 1632, m. Abraham Jorise Brinckerhoff on May 20, 1660
ii Jannetje, m. 1st, Cornelius Jansen Berrien in1652; 2nd, Samuel Edsall in 1689
iii Garrit Janse, b. 1652, m. Styntie Gerritse Dorland on Dec 25 or 28, 1683, d. 1695. 4 children
iv Angenietje, b. ca. 1650, m. 1st, Jan Cornelise Boomgaert (Bougaert) in 1674; 2nd, Claes Tysen
v Hendrick, m. Catherine Kip on Feb 11, 1687, d. Jan 23, 1687/8
vi Eytje (Ida), m. Stoffel Probasco, d. Sep 29, 1687
*vii Pieter, b. Nov 1, 1653, m. 1st, Annetje Barends on May 29, 1681; 2nd, Aertje Bogart, d. Jun 11, 1741. 11 children
viii Sarah, b. 1655, m. Joris Hansen Bergen, Sr. on Aug 11, 1678
Originally added as number 33581628 by Larry P. Cornwell
Family Members
Children
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Aeltie Janse Strycker Brinckerhoff
1640–1697
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Jannetje Janse Strycker Berrien, Edsall
1642 – unknown
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Eytje Janse Strycker Probasco
1645–1687
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Angenietje Janse Strycker Bogaert
1646–1692
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Hendrick Janse Strycker
1648–1689
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Sara Janse Strycker Bergen
1650–1710
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Gerrit Jansz Strycker
1650 – unknown
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Pieter Janse Stryker
1653–1741
