Dutch-Colonies-L Archives

From: "Pamela J. Sears" <>
Subject: [D-Col] Zacharias Hofman
Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2001 16:06:02 -0500

Wayne & Sharilyn,
My apologies to the list for being a bit behind with this response. I
have replied privately to Sharilyn, and wasn't aware she had posted to
the list as well.

Sharilyn wrote:
I have never seen Martinus Hofman who married Emmerentje De Witt
called Martinus *Hermanszen* Hofman.

I have Martinus Hofman, born 1618, Revel, Sweden, on Gulf of
Finland, as the son of Wilhelm Hofman, of Revel.

Can anyone explain where the "Hermanszen" comes from? If I have
the incorrect information here I'd like to correct my records.

Sharilyn

And, Wayne wrote:
Sharilyn, I was wondering if maybe the Hemans could be connected to his
first wife. He married Lysbeth Hermans a year before he married
Emmerentje De Witt.
But not sure. His marriage records said he was from Revel also.
Wayne


Following are my 2 replies to Sharilyn:
Sharilyn,
To the best of my knowledge, there was no Wilhelm Hoffman in New
Netherlands at the time.

The immigrant ancestor was Marten Hermanszen Hoffman of Revel (present
Estonia) Sweden, and was born ca 1625. He arrived in New Netherlands ca
1657 and first settled in Brooklyn, then to albany, before removing to
Ulster County [Genealogy of the Hoffman Family by E. H. Hoffman] [New
Netherlands Directory (CD) by David M. Riker]

Marten's 2 marriage records are as follows [NY DRC]:
1663. 31 Mart. Marten Hoffman Van Revel, en Lysbeth Hermans, Van
Oetmarsen in Overyssel.
"16 May 1664, Marten Hofman, widower of Lysbeth Hermans, and Emmerentje
de With, young woman from Esens in Embderlandt". In other words, she
was from East Frisia (today Lower Saxony in Germany).

Granted, he does not use the patrynomic Hermans.

The 2 known bpt records for his children are as follows [NY DRC]:
1 Mar 1665; Marten Hofman, Emerensje Hofman; Annetie; Jerck Claeszen de
Wit, Annetje Croesvelt 12 Dec 1666; Marten Hofman, Emmerens; Marritie;
Bay Cruysvelt, Marritie Elsenhuysen

Nowhere is he referred to as Wilhelm.

It is odd that Zacharias named no son 'Marten' but, neither did he name
one Wilhelm.

I hope this helps,
Pam


And,

> Pearson's book on the first settlers of Albany tells us that Marten Hoffman, sadler of Revel, married first Lysbet
Hermans and secondly Emmerentje De Witt in Manhattan. The couple then
moved to Albany.
> We learn from the article "The De Witt Family of Ulster County, New York" (NYG&BR October 1886) that
Emmerentie was the sister of the immigrant, Tjerk Claessen De Witt.
Their parents were Nicolas De Witt and Taatje
_______.
>
> 1. Martinus HOFFMAN, b. 1625, Revel, on the Gulf of Finland, of Sweden; d. 1710; m1. Mar 13, 1663, Lysbeth
Hermans; m2. May 16, 1664, Emmerentje Claesen de Witte. Prob lived
Ezen, Ostenbenzie, Holland. 1657,
IMMIGRANT to Shawangunk, Ulster Co, NY.
> Register of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island New York p 144
> HOFFMAN, MARTEN HERMANZEN, saddler, of Revel, m. 1st, Apl. 22, 1663, at Brn, Lysbeth Hermans (of
Ootmarsum, a town in Overyssel), by Brn D. ch. rec.--Mar. 31, 1663, by
N. A. D. ch. rec.; m. 2d, May 16, 1664,
Emmerentje De Witts from "Edent in Emberlandt." Resided in N. A. and in
Albany.
>
> Martin (Martinus) Hermanzen Hoffman, the son of Herman Hoffman, was born about 1625 at Reval, on the Gulf of
Finland, now the Capital of Esthonia (a colony of Sweden from 1561 to
1710). He was of Swedish descent, even
though the name Hoffman is also German. Martin was a saddler by trade.
He was “Rittmeister” in the Army of
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden,
> and fought under him in the Thirty Years War.
> Martin came to America in 1657, and first settled in Esopus (Kingston, NY). When Indian troubles began there in
1658, Petrus Stuyvesant instructed the residents there to build a
Palisade for their protection. In 1659, Martin
Hoffman and other residents were attacked by the Indians. He was one of
the residents who “marched out of the
stockade and fired a volley of musketry over the heads of the Indians as
they lay around their fire.” The Indians fled
and the Dutch retreated to the fort (Sylvester’s History of Ulster
County).
> Martin moved to New Amsterdam (Manhattan, NY) in 1661 (according to the Directory of the City). He lived on De
Heere Straat (now Broadway), and was a large taxpayer there. Martin
married (1st) Lysbeth Hermans, of Oertmarsen
in Overyssel, on April 22, 1663 at the Reformed Dutch Church of
Brooklyn, NY. After her death, Martin married (2nd)
Emmerentje DeWitt, of “Esens in Embderlandt,” on May 16, 1664. Sometime
prior to 1665, he moved to Fort Orange
(Albany, NY) where his first three children were born. Martin and
Emmerentje again moved to New York City by
about 1675 when his daughter Taatje was born. Finally he moved back to
Kingston around 1680 where his son
Nicolaes was born. He was a witness of Eghbert Meydersen’s will at
Kingston on April 9, 1684.
>
> Website of David R. Jansen
> http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/3265/hoffman.html
>
> The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record of April 1890 (pages 84-86)
> Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630-1674 by J.O. Evjen (Holter Publishing, 1916)
> Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, NY, 1660-1809 by Roswell
R. Hoes (originally published in 1891 & reprinted by the Genealogical
Publishing Co. Inc. in 1980 & 1997)
> Eleven Generations of Hoffmans in New York, Descendants of Martin Hoffman, 1657-1957 by William W. Hoffman
(American Historical Co., Inc.., 1957) This book made many references to
a book titled Genealogy of the Hoffman
Family: Descendants of Martin Hoffman, (published in 1899, almost 550
pages)
> Ulster County, NY Probate Records” by Gustave Anjou, Ph. D. (originally published in 1906, reprinted by Palatine
Transcripts in 1980)
> Dear ‘Cousin’: A Charted Genealogy of the Descendants of Anneke Jans Bogardus (1605-1663) to the 5th
Generation by William Brower Bogardus (Penobscot Press, 1996)

This thread:

• [D-Col] Zacharias Hofman by "Pamela J. Sears" <>