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From: (Howard Swain)
Subject: [D-Col] Re: Hans KIERSTEDE (abt 1616 to abt 1666)
Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 19:02:57 -0500


Hi Margaret and all,

At 09:25 PM 12/30/01 -0500, MScheffler wrote:
> In my direct line I have a Johannes KIP who married Catharina
>KIERSTEDE 4 Sep 1681. Her parents were said to be Hans KIERSTEDE
>born abt 1616 in Germany and Sara ROELOFS. Does anyone know anything
>about the parents of Hans KIERSTEDE?

You are correct that Catharina's parents were Hans KIERSTEDE
and Sara ROELOFS. Hans was born about 1612 (more below) in
Magdeburg, Germany.

Sorry, I do not know the parents of Hans, and I, too, would
appreciate knowing who they are.

>From the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1974) re. Magdeburg:
"During the Thirty Years' War, it ... was stormed in 1631 by Johann
von Tilly, who burned and sacked the city and butchered most of its
40,000 inhabitants."
Also see:
http://www.pipeline.com/~cwa/Breitenfeld_Phase.htm
http://members.tripod.com/Strv102r/gustaf_ii_adolf7.htm

So, I've always assumed that any records of his birth were
destroyed. But I have not checked the LDS catalog to see if
there are surving records that might be searched.

What I also wonder is where and when he got his training as
a surgeon. While "physicians" were trained at universities, at
that time "surgeons" were trained in the guild system as
apprentices -- at least in The Netherlands. I wonder if it was
the same in the German states.

And did he leave Magdeburg before the attack in 1631 at the age
of 19 or less or was he one of the survivors? We'll probably
never know. We do know that somehow he made it to Amserdam,
where he sailed in Sept 1637 on _den Harinck_, arriving in
New Amsterdam March 28, 1638. His brother Jochem was also
in New Amsterdam as early as 1642.


As to his birth date, my source for that is a deposition he
gave on 17 March 1644 re. a disturbance in a tavern by Captian
John Underhill. It begins: "Before me, Cornelis van Tienhoven,
secretary of New Netherland, appeared ... Hans Kirstede, about
32 years of age ..." So, from that we can conclude he was born
about 1612.
Source: New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch; Volume II,
Register of the Provincial Secretary, 1642 - 1647; translated
by A.J.F. Van Laer, 1974; pp. 205-207.

I'm not sure where the 1616 date estimate for his birth comes
from; but I see that William Bogardus shows it along with the
1612 date in his book Dear "Cousin". Perhaps there is another
deposition where he states his age that would imply 1616.


Regards,
Howard


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