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Archiver > Dutch-Colonies > 2002-07 > 1026068123


From: "Richard McCool" <>
Subject: RE: [D-Col] Re: Sophia Ter Bosch
Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 14:55:23 -0400
In-Reply-To: <009b01c225e6$298541e0$4fd1f7a5@D74JNG11>


My gosh, Howard, this is still another of your wonderful posts.

Who among the 'genealogical oldsters' on this List would not have given
a gazillion dollars for such a helping hand back in their earlier days?!

Richard
SYS

-----Original Message-----
From: Howard Swain [mailto:]
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 2:43 PM
To:
Subject: [D-Col] Re: Sophia Ter Bosch


Hi Sue,

From: <>
Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2002 6:51 PM


> One of my ancestors I haven't done much research on as yet is Sophia
> Ter
> Bosch. Born around 1598 possibly in Overssel, Holland. Sophia was
the 3rd?
> wife of Phillipe Maton (Martin) Wiltsie. Does anyone have any
information on
> Sophia's ancestry?


Some caution may be needed here -- especially if your source for the
above is the book, A Genealogical and Psychological Memoir of Philippe
Maton Wiltsee and his Descendants ... by Jerome Wiltse, Sr., 1908.

Thanks to Trudy Bray <>
for warning us about this fictional account. You should read her
message of 17 Mar 2001 in the list archives. (Search on Trudy Bray
Wiltsie) She quotes from an article by George Zabriskie in the NYGBR vol
108 no. 1 (Jan 1977) pp 32-36.

As Zabriskie says:
"...his account of the
activities of family members was based not only on normal genealogical
research, but also on his to-be-demonstrated mental abilities and
self-claimed, "occult powers." For examples:

0n page 65, a statement is supported by this footnote, "This is family
tradition, sustained by retrospective visions hereafter to be
recorded.""

from p. 34:
"It is the studied conclusion of this author that Jerome, wishing to
enliven the ancestral history of his own immediate family, prepared a
deliberate literary hoax, a fanciful put-on, an embellishment designed
to create greater family interest."

As Zabriskie says, Jerome selected the name of a real person, Philippe
Maton, to be his fictional ancestor. The real Philippe Maton did sign
Jesse de Forest's 1621 Round Robin list of French and Walloons who
wanted the English to help them emigrate to Virginia. However, that
project never happened.

Zabriskie continues (p. 35): The real Philippe Maton remained in Leyden
until at least 1633, as shown by the baptismal records of the Leyden
Walloon Chruch. He never did come to New Netherland. For the basic
story of his mythical ancestral family to the year 1632, Jerome
apparently adapted the true story of the real Walloon family of Rapalje,
as it was understood in 1900."


Now, if what you _really_ want to know is information on the family of
Hendrick Martenszen, who married Margrietje Meyers with banns in
the NA RDC on 10 Jan 1660, then you should read Zabrisikie's
articles on this family in the NYGBR beginning with vol 106 p. 129-133
and continuing on thru vol 108.

As you can see from Hendrick's banns, he was born in Copenhagen.
Furthermore, from his patronymic we know his father's name was
Marten, not Philippe.

Apparently, an article in vol 42 of the Dutch Settlers Society of Albany
Yearbook recounts the fictional tale. In vol 43, Mr. Zabriskie has an
"exposure on error of origin" as David Riker says in his Directory page
on the Wiltsie family.

Regards,
Howard






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