Grietje (Unknown) Borsboom

Date: About 1630 to about 1685
Location: Fort Orange, Beverwijck, Schenectady New York
Surnames/tags: Borsboom von Rotmer Rijnsburg

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Children of Pieter and Grietje 2 Pieter Borsboom Origin and Early Albany Record 2.1 Family Timeline 2.1.1 Pieter Jacobsz Borsboom 2.1.2 Grietje (UNKNOWN) Borsboom 3 Research - Disputed Origins 3.1 Dutch Origin Hypothesis 3.2 Considerations Against Grietje's Dutch Ancestry 3.2.1 Pearson Made an Error 3.2.2 No Evidence Supporting a von Rotmer child named Grietje 3.2.3 Lack of Immigration, Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Grietje 3.2.4 No Evidence Known That Ties Grietje to a Dutch Origin 3.3 Mohawk Origin Hypothesis 3.3.1 Inherited Land 3.3.2 Occupations 3.3.3 All Grietje's Children Survived the 1690 French-Indian Schenectady Massacre 3.3.4 DNA Hints 3.3.4.1 mtDNA 3.3.4.2 auDNA 3.4 Considerations That May Weigh Against Native Ancestry 3.4.1 Lack of Notoriety 3.4.2 Unlikely Church Sanction 3.4.3 Perhaps Partial Dutch Ancestry 4 Research - Other Non-evidenced Claims 5 Research - Land Transactions 6 Research - Letter Written by Spouse Pieter Jacobsz in 1664 7 Research - Recommendation 8 Sources 9 Footnotes

Biography

Grietje was in Albany in 1681 with spouse named Borsboom. Here we don't know what spouse means, for there is no marriage record, but Grietje shows up, in her only name citation ever found, as Grietje Borsbooms. This record is from a court case that took place on 04 Oct 1681.

"Idem, plaintiff, against Grietie Borsbooms and her son, defendants." ^[1].

Richard Pretty, the sheriff [at Albany], complains that Grietje and her son resisted search and committed violence upon him in his lawful duties. The sheriff suspected they were illegally dealing in beaver pelts, which he thought they were hiding on their persons. He accused them of grabbing his throat and collar and yelling obscenities. The court heard from witnesses and agreed to fine Grietje, with an admonition against further resistance to lawful commands.

From this evidence, we can infer Grietje's spouse may be named Borsboom (she was apparently married, since she appeared with her son), she was alive in Albany area in 1681, and she was likely involved in the then illegal (outside the laws of the West India Company) trading with the local Mohawk village.

This remains the only known direct record from Grietje's life. It supports her connection to Pieter Jacobsz, the only known Borsboom in the Albany area. All other evidence is at best circumstantial, inferred by Grietje's roles as wife and mother.

Children of Pieter and Grietje

We learn of Grietje's five children from Pieter Borsboom's will. Spouse Pieter probably died a few days before 18 October 1686, when his will was recorded in New York.^[2]

Pieter made the will in 1684, and in October 1686, while being sick in bed, he confirmed the original will of 1684 before invited witnesses^[3].

"In the name of God, Amen. Peter Jacobs Bosboom doth declare, who, being an Inhabitant here and at Present lying sick in Bedd, but having and using his Sences. And coming to the disposition of goods which he is to leave behind him, he makes his universall heirs to be his 5 children, Anna, Marytie, Catharina, Fytie, and Cornells, of all goods, movables and immovables, gold and silver, and nothing in the world excepted. He makes Adam Vrooman and Joris Aertse Van der Boest, tutors of his children, according to the tenor of a will dated April 18, 1684. Witnesses, Johanes Postman, Eeynier Shoett, Ludovicus Cobes. (Not proved.)"

The will was recorded on 18 October 1686 in New York and was proved on 1 March 1687^[4] and confirmed 13 April 1687. Death thus preceded 18 October 1686.^[5] Since the children had a tutor assigned, the children were likely under majority age. Thus, the children were likely born in the 1660s and early 1670s, to be under 25 in 1684. They lived in Schenectady, patented in 1662.

From the children's data, we may reasonably infer that Grietje Borsboom was born approximately 1635 and died sometime after 1681. If she and Pieter Jacobsen were married, it would likely have occurred around 1660, about three years after his first appearance in Beverwijck records. Grietje was not named in Pieter Jacobsz' will of 1684. One might infer she had died, but inasmuch as her social status has not been determined, there might be other explanations.

Pieter Borsboom Origin and Early Albany Record

Pieter Borsboom was a brick maker (steen bakker) who settled early In Beverwijck and then removed to Schenectady as one of the first settlers there.^[6].

In the preamble to a declaration (the body of which is lost), Pieter Jacobsz tells in his own words of his father and birthplace:

"This day, the 18th of October 1664, Pieter Jacobsz van Borsboom, son of the late Jacob Pietersz Borsboom, born at Catwyck op Rijn in Holland, dwelling at Schanechtede or de groote vlackte (great flat west of Schenectady), declared . . .^[7].

Catwyjk op Rijn is a town about 8km NW of Leiden. He was likely born about 1632 in the Leiden area, and likely arrived at Beverwijck in late 1656 or early 1657 at about age of majority. Records support this. He appears in no records of Beverwijck/Albany before May 1657. After that he appears with great regularity. Also he apparently owned no property prior to 1657, since in May of that year, it was noted in a Court case that he was living in rented lodgings, just as would be expected from a young single male immigrant^[8][9]:

Extraordinary Session: The Missing Candles - Present, the magistrates of this court and the members of the court martial of the burgher guard. President, Jacob Schermerhorn; Hendrick Jochimsen, lieutenant; Captain Abraham Staets; Philip Pietersen; Adriaen Gerritsen; Lambert v: Valckenborch, sergeant: Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom complains that last Sunday evening, being the 5th of June, sitting in front of the guardhouse of the burgher guard, where he was lodging by permission of the magistrates . . .

Many occurrences of the name Borsboom in the local record after 1657 are cited in Pieter jacobsen's Wikitree profile, but none before 1657. Another 'theory' has been advanced by NNS to account for no record of Pieter Borsboom in the Albany area prior to 1657: he must have used a different name. However, one can argue with greater validity that the simple and obvious explanation remains, that he simply wasn't there prior to 1657 because he was still too young (under age of majority) to be there.^[10].

Noted above, Pieter died about 1686, when he again disappears from the local record (this was his final name change, to deceased). We must know a little about Pieter to determine context for Grietje. Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom's birth year can be inferred to be between 1630 and 1635, this because his widower grandfather was head of house with all children likely under age of majority in 1623, implying Pieter's father, apparently second-born, was not likely married before 1630^[11].

Family Timeline

From the limited factual data and related inferences above, one can estimate a rough timeline for Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom and Grietje.

Pieter Jacobsz Borsboom

• ~1632: born near Leiden, Netherlands; inference from sourced facts
• ~1657: emigrated to Albany Colony; inference from sourced facts
• ~1662: removed to Schenectady; sourced facts
• ~1662: 'married' Grietje UNKNOWN; inferred from ages of children, inferred from statement in will (sourced)
• ~1662-1674: had at least five children with Grietje; inferred from statement in will (sourced)
• ~1686: deceased; inferred from will (sourced)

Grietje (UNKNOWN) Borsboom

• ~1635: born, location unknown; inferred from ages of children, inferred from statement in sourced will
• ~1662: married Pieter Jacobse; inferred by her using last name Borsboom in 1681 record above
• ~1662-1674: children, inferred from children ages, inferred from statement in sourced will
• ~1681: alive in Albany, last name Borsboom; sourced fact

Research - Disputed Origins

The above is all the discovered evidence presented by anyone to date. Grietje was alive in 1681 in Albany, with last name Borsboom. Grietje and Pieter likely had 5 children together in nearby Schenectady. That's it. Yet from this scant evidence, an entire ancestry has been constructed. Actually, there are competing ancestry speculations to sort, ancestry via Barent von Rotmer, and Mohawk ancestry.

Dutch Origin Hypothesis

CLAIM 1 (Pearson): Pearson claimed that Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom was at Ft. Orange by 1639, the arrival date Pearson assigns for Gijsje, the wife of a Pieter Jacobsen of Albany^[12]. This is proved incorrect. Gijsje married Pieter Jacobsen van Rijndsburg, not Borsboom. But it has proved a difficult error to fix on the Wikitree, and the current version of it, below, still evinces support in high places here.

CLAIM 2 (NNS PPP): Recovering from Pearson's generational and patronymic confusions, but clinging very tightly to the van Rotmer heritage for Pieter Jacobsen Borsbom's spouse, NNS is subsequently claiming that Grietje was daughter of Barent von Rotmer and wife Gijsje, was married to Pieter Jacobsz Borsboom, and was mother to their children. The claim is she was born about 1632 in an unknown place and died in 1719 at Schenectady. No evidence is presented that there ever was such a person, or that she married Pieter Jacobsz in 1655, or that she died in 1719. These facts are 'faux-sourced'; the referenced fact does not seem to exist in that source.

Considerations Against Grietje's Dutch Ancestry

Pearson Made an Error

Pearson, using only the patronymic, misidentified Gijsje's spouse as Borsboom; we now realize it was Pieter Jacobsen van Rijnsburg who had married Gijsje Barentse, and not Borsboom (who would most probably have been between five and ten years old at the time). Pearson cited no evidence, but we may assume it is based on Pearson misinterpreting the following:

"Gijsje Berents [Barents], wife of Pieter Jacobsz; is charged with board on den Waterhondt in 1640, and credited with 28 days' work done by her husband on the house of Arent van Curler. It is not unlikely that her husband was the same person as Pieter Jacobsz, constapel of Fort Orange, who on April 15, 1652, by order of Johannes Dyckman tore van Slichtenhorst's proclamation from the house of Gijsbert Cornelisz, the tavern keeper." ^[13]

Looking for actual residents of Ft. Orange who might be the Gijsje and Pieter referenced in 1640, two records were found by a poster on an Ancestry message board^[14]:

• In 1642: Pieter Jacobsen of Ft. Orange, born in Rendsburgh (Rijnsburg?), and Gesje Pieters, all to daughter Tunitje Alberts^[15].
• Gijsje Barents died by 1662; Pieter Jacobsen died by 1663:
  • "… Jan Claesssen (Backer) van Osanen (aka Jan Claesz van Oostsanen rec. 1664), husband of Lysbeth Donneur, widow of Pieter Jacobsen van Rijnsburg, accepts the Inheritance of Pieter minus 100 guilders that Pieter furnished to the Company on his sickbed… 23 Nov. 1663.. Administrators are Jan Verbeek and Evert Wendel" ^[16]

Further,

• The first wife of Albert Andriese Bradt (de Noorman) was Annetie Barentse Van Rotmer, who was likely mother of his children and was deceased by 1662^[17]

Pearson's connection between von Rotmer and Borsboom appears to derive from conflating the patronyms of two Pieter jacobsz individuals (Borsboom and van Rijnsburg). Note the generational difference; Borsboom is likely 40 years younger than van Rijnsburg. Further confusion was aided by the similarity of the given names Gijsje and Grietje; they are entirely different names.

There is evidence that this Gijsje married twice, once to Barent von Rotmer and next to Pieter Jacobsen van Rijnsburg. She was in Ft. Orange in 1640, following her second husband there. Her daughter by her first husband, Anetjie, was also at Ft. Orange, married to Albert Adriesse Bradt.

No connection of any of these people to Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom is presented. Why should there be? It was a simple mistake that originally connected Borsboom and his spouse to the von Rotmer. We should be able to erase that false start and begin anew.

No Evidence Supporting a von Rotmer child named Grietje

Actual evidence currently documents two children of Barent von Rotmer and wife Gijsje: Annetje and Barent, likely born in 1608 and 1610 respectively^[18][19]. They were probably twenty or so years older than Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom. There is NO record known of another sibling, Grietje, born over twenty years after her siblings, and after the likely death of her father. She is not mentioned in her mother Gijsje's will. She seems to be a fiction, invented to ensure Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom marries the von Rotmer everyone's family tree says he deserves.

Lack of Immigration, Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for Grietje

If Grietje were of Dutch ancestry, there would likely be SOME record, but none has been found, no wills or ship records or birth records in Beverwijck or Netherlands. Her absence from Schenectady church records is somewhat explained however, due to no surviving church records there until after 1690. Since all early church records were destroyed in the 1690 Schenectady French-Indian massacre, the births of last children and Grietje's death record would be expected to be lost. Yet Grietje's marriage and births of earlier children (before there was any church in Schenectady) would be expected to be observed in the closest church. The total absence of records is at least a little suspicious.

But here we take some license in our speculating, not being familiar with the obstacles faced. Certainly, the period 1664-1674 were unsettled times in the area, with the threat of the French and Indian marauders, the back-in-forth struggle between the Dutch and English for control of Albany, and the tug-of-wars for influence and power between van Rensselaer and Stuyvesant. And the twenty miles between Albany and Schenectady were no casual trip through knee-deep snows of winter.

No Evidence Known That Ties Grietje to a Dutch Origin

In summary, there is NO evidence presented or known to support Dutch origins or von Rotmer connections of Borsboom's spouse Grietje. Yet without verifiable evidence of any kind, no one could say Grietje Borsboom was not a von Rotmer. (What a fascinating coincidence that would be.) This is why 'uncertain' ancestors must be based on something more than invention.

Mohawk Origin Hypothesis

CLAIM: Grietje may have had some part Mohawk ancestry. The only positive evidence linking Grietje to the local native community is a deed of land to Grietje's eldest daughter, honoring her as 'something related to ye family of the Christian Castle'. This is our only hint that such a relationship existed, but with this hint, we can easily see additional circumstantial hints, in other life events of the Borsboom family.

Inherited Land

There is a deed recorded in 1714, deeding land from the Mohawk Christian Castle to Jan Pieterse Mebie, on behalf of his wife Anna (Borsboom) Mebie, likely eldest daughter of Pieter Jacobsz Borsboom and Grietje. Project claims to have no knowledge of such evidence.

From Book 5, page 230, of the Albany County deeds (a photocopy is located in the Mabee Family Papers collection held by the Schenectady Historical Society; contact Michael Maloney), the deed declares Anna something Related to ye family of the Christian Castle, and was presented by Rode, a sachem from the Mohawk Wolf Clan^[20].

We may have no way of knowing what "something Related to" means. (If anyone understands such language, a little help would be appreciated). The language might just signify friend of my friend, or useful associate, or perhaps some connection through the Dutch church. But it seems somewhat likely it was meant to describe a blood relation; that Grietje's first-born daughter Anna was selected for the honor would derive from the Mohawk matrilineal society.

If it meant blood relation, then it likely applies to Grietje as well, since we assume Grietje is Anna's mother. Further, Anna's father Pieter J. Borsboom, also received a separate land gift, an island in the Mohawk River, from the Mohawk, although it seems to have also involved Van Slyck, and was later contested by him. We do not know if it was made to Pieter on behalf of his wife.

Countering these arguments, there were noted gifts of land between Mohawk and Dutch that appear to have nothing to do with relatedness, although we do not yet know if these deeds also specified 'something related to the Mohawk Castle'. In order to draw any unassailable conclusions, one would need to study a variety of deeds from the Mohawk to understand the reasons and conditions of the gifts. This is a further avenue of research that might be fruitful.

Occupations

In the original citation quoted here, Grietje and her son were associated with black market trading with the Mohawk. Further, Grietje's daughter Maritie Brouwer, and Maritie's son, also seem to have enjoyed a close relationship with the Mohawk, also dealing with them as traders, possibly later on as sanctioned traders.

Maritie was explicitly authorized as a trader in 1724^[21]. On Feb. 1, 1724, the Albany Common Council issued a set of standing rules, of which #7-8 are applicable:

7. That an ordinance be made for the better regulation of the Indian trade in the city of Albany, against Schinectady and elsewhere to the westward northward & eastward.

8. That no lycences be granted to the Indian traders at Schinectady, as Johannis Myndertse, Nicolas Schuyler, Haimanus Vedder, Harme van Slyck. Jan Baptist van Eps, Barent Vroman, Maritie Browers, &c. until certain offenses had been remedied; nor to any above Schinectady and others to the north of this city, which cant be otherwise but stretch to the Ruine of this city.

Note Maritie is the only woman listed among the Indian traders of Schenectady, in what was clearly a primarily male occupation. Since the Borsboom women, mother and daughter, worked initially outside the framework of the West India Company (WIC), they would not have had benefit of its infrastructure, such as connections, treaties, and translators. To have long-term careers at this occupation, it is likely they would have had to speak the native language, to have connections to the local tribe, and to have received cover from the tribe to help conceal their then illegal activities.

All Grietje's Children Survived the 1690 French-Indian Schenectady Massacre

Perhaps just coincidence, but friends and members of the local Mohawk Castles were thought to have some protection after the initial attack, and perhaps during the attack also^[22].

DNA Hints

mtDNA

In 2021, a female descendant of Grietje (TW), through a documented all female line, tested mtDNA haplogroup C1C, an Amerindian marker. Should she be able to document positive evidence for each descendant in the chain from Grietje, her evidence will be definitive. She seems to have complete naming, birth date and birth place for each link. These data are all found on FamilySearch site, likely sourced from family trees. We just need non-derivative evidence for these data, to declare Grietje was of Mohawk ancestry:

Grietje Wolf Clan Mohawk B:1637 Mohawk Clan of the Wolf, Valley, near Schenectady, New York, US D:1719 Schenectady, Albany, NY, Colonial America

Annetje Pieterse Borsboom B:1665 Schenectady, Albany, New York, United States D:3 Apr 1725 Rotterdam, Schenectady, New York, USA

Engeltie Mebie B:10 Nov 1697 Schenectady, Albany, New York, United States D:1742 Schenectady, Schenectady, New York, United States

Catharina Pieterse Van Antwerpen B:13 Oct 1734 Schenectady, Albany, New York, United States D:30 Sep 1817 Richmond Twp, Lennox Addington, Ontario, Canada

Margaret Peggy Bowen B:1760 Ft Hunter, Tryon, New York, United States D:1818 Richmond, L A, Ontario, Canada

Azubah Bradshaw B:15 Jan 1806 Fredericksburg, Lennox, Ontario, Canada D:Unknown

Almira Eliza Grant B:11 Aug 1827 Thurlow, Ontario Canada D:11 Mar 1893 Lennox and Addington, Ontario, Canada

Sarah Alice Wager B:3 Oct 1861 Tamworth, Ontario, Canada D:12 May 1950 Vancouver, British Columbia Canada

Annie Ethel Keller B:23 Nov 1885 Camden, Lennox and Addington, Ontario, Canada D:13 April 1977 Ponoka, Alberta, Canada

Freda Alberta Hughes B:27 July 1919 New Norway, Alberta, Canada D: 10 Dec 1999 Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

Laurel B:Duncan, British Columbia, Canada D:Living

Tracey B:Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada D:Living

auDNA

In 2021, a male descendant of Grietje (WS) reviewed his auDNA results via some GEDmatch Admixture Oracles that filter for Amerindian DNA patterns. Several significant matching segments turned up; each such segment mapped to the grandmother exhibiting the connection to Grietje (the tester had mapped his chromosomes via 3-sibling phasing/mapping). There seemed to be substantial agreement between the Oracles with respect to characteristic Amerindian segments of the tester's DNA.

Note however, that several fainter Oracle matches did not match to this grandmother, so there is likely a threshold that must be reached to conclusively identify Amerindian auDNA. Further diminishing confidence in this line of inquiry, WS has a hypothetical link, based on a chain of circumstantial evidence, that weakens any claim to his descendancy. But there has been no contradictory evidence yet revealed.

Considerations That May Weigh Against Native Ancestry

Lack of Notoriety

Other cases of earlier such inter-cultural unions were well-publicized, at least in Fort Orange and Beverwijck. But if Grietje were already the progeny of such a union, making her half Mohawk and half European, then given the remoteness of early Schenectady and lack of a church there, such lack of notice might be more easily comprehended. Also, a generation later, the novelty of the situation may have dissipated. And intermarriage acknowledges that both peoples can be considered as human, so societal aversion will lessen after a while.

Unlikely Church Sanction

The Church would not likely sanction such a union. But if Grietje were already part Dutch, that objection might be overcome. And since she is specified as relative to the Christian Mohawk Castle, that objection might never have been raised. As there was no church in early Schenectady, so what type of union it might have been will not be known. Schenectady being remote and removed from Albany, and without institutions such as a church during Grietje's early lifetime, perhaps there was less societal attention to such a relation there.

Perhaps Partial Dutch Ancestry

In support of the part Dutch heritage, some have suggested that Cornelis Van Slyck and his Mohawk wife may have had more than the four children ascribed to them. Such a Grietje would be generationally correct, and Grietje was a common name in the Van Slyck lineage. But this is all handwaving, as big an invention as the purported von Rotmer ancestry discussed earlier. The nature of the relation mentioned in the deed will likely never be known, so nothing about Grietje's origins will ever be definitive under the Mohawk hypothesis; her LNAB would remain UNKNOWN.

Research - Other Non-evidenced Claims

All else claimed about Grietje is someone's unsourced 'hypothesis', specifically her LNAB and her birth, marriage, and death information. The only 'marriage' date/place source offered is a GEDCOM; and her LNAB, marriage, and death are sourced by reference to a book which does not contain that information explicitly (perhaps others read between the lines better than I can).

Fortunately, these other claims refer to an online book to contain their 'evidence', so all who wish to evaluate the PPP claims can readily do so. Here is what that book says about Borsboom and daughter Anna:

BORSBOOM. Pieter Jacobse, steen bakker (brick maker), early settled in Beverwyck. In 1662, when the land was taken up at Schenectady, he became one of the fifteen first proprietors. His home lot in the village, was the north quarter of the block bounded by Front, Washington, Union and Church streets. He also had two farms allotted to him on the bouwland. In his will, which was recorded in New York, Oct. 18, 1686, he mentioned his son Cornells, and four daughters. An inventory of his property was made May 30, 1689, by Barent Janse Van Ditmars, Isaac Cornelise Swits and Douwe Aukes; it amounted to 1630 guilders. His son Cornelis probably died young ; his daughters who survived him were Anna, who m. Jan Pieterse Mebie ; Maritie, wife of Hendrick Brouwer; Fytie, wife of Marte Van Benthuysen, and Tryntje, wife of John Oliver.

MEBIE. Jan Pieterse, of the Woestyne, m. Anna Pieterse, dau. of Pieter Jacobse Borsboom. His home lot in the village, was on the east side of Church street, next door north of the Dutch church; he also had land on the Third flat on south side of the Mohawk, eight miles above Schenectady, and in 1697, Rode, a Mohawk sachem called by the Christians Dirk, with consent of all the other Indians, granted a piece of ground (80 acres), on both sides of Tionnondorogoes (Schoharie) creek, commonly known by the name of Kadarodae, to Jan Pieterse Mebie, in consideration that his wife "is something related to the Christian Castle."

In an article posted on an Ancestry Forum^[23], an author with credible credentials in early Dutch settlers examines in detail both the Mohawk and Dutch ancestry claims above for Grietje, and concludes there is insufficient evidence to substantiate either claim.

The generational distance is just a little too far to expect DNA to be revealing, and that would be the only path to a positive identification of Grietje having Mohawk ancestry. Mitochondrial DNA would be a natural path to confirmation, but a finding of no Native American DNA in any tested direct matrilineal descendant would not deny Mohawk ancestry unless the chain of evidence is very tight. And from the current case, we see the chain can become unreliable unless researchers are all strongly evidence-based.

Research - Land Transactions

In earlier conversations with NNS Project, much has been made of land transactions that mention four properties owned by men named Pieter Jacobse, in 1652, 1654, 1658, and 1679. At the time, researchers were looking for evidence to establish Pearson's original von Rotmer connection for Grietje. The thrust of these claims was to prove Pieter Borsboom could have arrived at Albany much earlier than 1657 (although note his being there much earlier would now not come any closer to proving Grietje is a von Rotmer, so this whole argument smacks of red herring.)

Quoting from Pieter's profile:

1. patents, vol. 2, pt. 2, # 27 [9 Nov., 1652]: patent Jacob Jansz Schermerhoorn for L+G [lot and garden] near FO [Fort Orange], east of highway, sourth of Gysbert Cornelisz, west of Pieter Jacobse, north of garden heretofore belonging to WIC [West India Company]. Br. 6r rods 8ft, l. 18 r; farther behind more 3 r 2 ft."
2. [11 Nov. 1654] annulled: Jan Labatie intends to grant to Adriaen Jansz van Leyden H in FO [ ] and a G and hogpen therein to south of the fort, adjoining to west Lambert van Valckenburgh, on south side Pieter Jacobsz, to north a road, to east the Company's G. ^[24]
3. [7 Oct. 1658]: Willem Hoffmeyer grants to Jochem Wesselsz Backer a G behind FO, bounded on east by Pieter Jacobsz, on north by L van Vaclkenburgh, on south and west by a road, almost triangular [7x3] ^[25]; [14 March 1658]: (not executed) Jochem Wesselsz grants the G to Adriaen Jansz van Ilpendam, who had a patent May 21, 1667. ^[26]
4. [12 Dec. 1679]: Pieter Jacobsz Borsboom grants to Cornelis van Dijck G behind the old fort, adjoins southerly to G of Jan Jansz Bleecker and Jan Bijvanck, northerly Harmen Vedder, westerly Jochem Wesselsz, and easterly the common lane [gangh]. ^{[27] [28]}

Only the 1679 record mentions Borsboom, the earlier ones using only the patronymic Pieter Jacobsz (PJ). There are at least three Pieter Jacobsz in the Albany area, those indexed in Venema's book^[29].

Project claims the other transactions involving a PJ identification all reference the same parcel of land owned by Pieter Jacobse Borsboom in 1679, thus 'proving' that Borsboom was already well established in Beverwijck since 1652. But when all the detail is mapped out, there is not enough information to draw well-founded conclusions.

The connection between 1679 and 1658, a duration of 21 years, is a plot of Wesselsz westerly of the PJ plot. In 1658, this is described as a small triangular plot bounded on S and W by a road (likely diagonal). In 1679, there is no mention of the road to S and W, and in fact, another plot is described south of the PJ plot, so no room there for the road to go.

The connection between 1658 and 1654 is a plot of Valckenburg to NW of the PJ plot. There is not enough information to confirm or deny these are describing the same plot, so we can concede the point.

There seems no connection at all between 1654 and 1652 plot descriptions. The WIC garden is oppositely positioned with respect to the PJ plot in these two descriptions, with roads in differing relative positions and with no other common factor.

So we must ask if there is sufficient proof here that these four transactions seem to be referencing a common parcel owned by a Pieter Jacobsz, and then whether it has been proved that that parcel was owned by Borsboom, and then that this 'proof' has import to the larger question at hand. The answer to the latter is no import is known, so the rest is moot, no matter how one decides to interpret the land descriptions.

Further, it seems unfounded to assume Borsboom owned land prior to 1660; there are no such land purchase records known, and we showed above that he was a still a lodger in mid-1657.

Research - Letter Written by Spouse Pieter Jacobsz in 1664

Professor M. J. van der Wal, Department of Linguistics, Universiteit Leiden, is a researcher in the history of the Dutch language, and is a curator for an archive of 16th-17th century letters, written in Dutch but subsequently become property of England and stored as artefacts until current time. One of these is a letter from Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom, written in 1664. I was in contact with Professor van der Wal in January 2018, but then she never replied to my further request for a copy of the letter (one of a variety of disappointments this profile has afforded me).

Research - Recommendation

There is ZERO evidence presented to date that would even point in the right direction of Grietje's parents, let alone identify individuals. Wikitree rules dictate that Grietje's LNAB be UNKNOWN. Here's my evidence, quoted from Wikitree Rulebook:

Never enter information on WikiTree, even uncertain information, without including your source. Why do you think it might be true?

An Uncertain name or parent may be speculative but it should not be a guess. If you're only guessing at a name or parent you should not use the data fields. Instead, explain it in the narrative. You can link to highly speculative parents in the text.

Sources

• Abstracts of Wills on file in the Surrogates Office, City of New York

• Ancestry Forum; Pieter Jacobsen Borsboom 1632? died bef. 1 Mar.1687; Mebie and Brouwer Family Notes; USER=vanboerum2

• Bowler Manuscripts: New York State Library, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Arnold J. F. Van Laer, Nicolaas de Roever, and Susan de Lancey Van Rensselaer Strong. 1908. Van Rensselaer Bowier manuscripts: being the letters of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, 1630-1643, and other documents relating to the colony of Rensselaerswyck. Albany, N.Y.: University of the State of New York.

• Doop: Amsterdam Doop-, Trouw-, en Begraafregisters (Baptism, Marriage, and Burial Registers), LDS FHL Films 114621, 113196, and 113203.

• Fernow, Berthold; Calendar of Wills; 1896

• Fort Orange Records (1654-1679); Translated and edited by Gehring and Venema, 2009

• Intentions of Marriage for All Dutch Reformed Churches in the City of Amsterdam, 1630-2; LDS Film # 113194.

• Minutes 1657-1660 of the Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck; translated and edited by A.J.F. Van Laer, Vol. 2, Albany, 1923

• Munsell, Joel; Annals of Albany, Vol. VIII; 1857

• Pearson - Albany; Contributions for the Genealogies of the First Settlers of the ancient county of Albany, from 1630 to 1800; by Pearson, Jonathan, 1813-1887; Albany, N.Y.; J. Munsell 1872

• Pearson, Jonathan; Early Records of the City and County of Albany, and Colony of Rensselaerswyck (1656-1675). Vol. 1 (Albany, N. Y.: J. Munsell, 1869)

• Pearson, Jonathan, and Others, History of the Schenectady Patent in the Dutch and English Times, ed. by J.W. MacMurray (Albany, New York: J. Mansell's Sons, printers, 1883);

• Pearson - Schenectady; Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady from 1662 to 1800.; Albany, New York: J. Munsell, 1873.

• Pearson/Van Laer, Early Records of the City and County of Albany, translated from Dutch by Jonathan Pearson; revised and edited by A. J. F. Van Laer. 4 vols. (Albany: The University of the State of New York, 1918)

• Pelletreau, William S. Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York, Unrecorded Wills. (New York: [Printed for the Society], 1893)

• Van Laer, Arnold J. F. van Laer. Minutes of the Court of Albany, Rensselaerswyck and Schenectady, 1668–1685. Vol. III. Albany, New York: University of the State of New York, 1932.

• Venema, Janny; Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652-1664. Hilversum (NL: Verloren, 2003.

See also:

• "Queries." New Netherland Connections, Vol 7. (Berkeley, CA: Dorothy A. Koenig, 1996-2010) AmericanAncestors.org NEHGS, (Vol 7, Page 18).

Footnotes

1. ↑ Van Laer; Vol 3, pp. 169-170.
2. ↑ Pearson - Schenectady; pp. 16-17
3. ↑ Pelletreau; p. 3
4. ↑ Abstracts of Wills; Volume I. (1665-1707); pp. 141-142
5. ↑ Pearson - Schenectady; pp. 16-17
6. ↑ Pearson - Schenectady; pp. 16-17
7. ↑ Pearson/Van Laer; V.3, p. 303
8. ↑ Pearson; p. 246
9. ↑ Minutes; pp. 40-41:
10. ↑ Lex parsimoniae
11. ↑ Ancestry Forum
12. ↑ Pearson; p. 91
13. ↑ Bowler Manuscripts; p. 822
14. ↑ Ancestry Forum
15. ↑ Fernow; p. 219;
16. ↑ Fort Orange records (1654-1679); p. 315
17. ↑ Pearson - Albany; p. 24
18. ↑ Doop
19. ↑ Intentions
20. ↑ Pearson- Schenectady; p. 118
21. ↑ Munsell, p. 293
22. ↑ Pearson, Jonathan and Others pp. 244-270
23. ↑ Ancestry Forum
24. ↑ Pearson, Jonathan. V. 1. p. 211-212.
25. ↑ Pearson/Van Laer; V. 4, p. 18.
26. ↑ Pearson/Van Laer; V. 4, p. 22
27. ↑ Pearson/Van Laer V. 2, pp. 66-67.
28. ↑ Venema
29. ↑ Venema