Notes for: Roelof Janse Sebring

Subject: Re: [D-Col] Sebring/Van Arsdale

Date: Tue, 9 May 2000

From: Dorothy Koenig

To: Dutch-Colonies-L@rootsweb.com

Dear Charles, In his lengthy article about the descendants of the Rev.
Johannes Theordorus Polhemius, I. Heyward Peck gives us the children of
Jan Roelofszen Sebring and Adriana Polhemius on page 624 of volume I of
"Genealogies of Long Island Families". Their son Roelof Sebring was born
about 1675 and married Christyntje Volkert.

In the article by the Rev. Minor Swick which you cite below (actually
beginning on page 118 of volume 3 of the "Somerset County Historical
Quarterly" -- the editor Honeyman mislabeled the second number of the
volume as Volume 4, number 2, 1904 instead of volume 3, number 2, 1914 ),
he says that the wife of Roelof Jansz Sebring was Christyntje Volkerts,
the daughter of Dirck Volkertse of Brooklyn. Rev. Swick names 4 sons of
Roelof and Chrystyntje:

Johannes Sebring m. Petronella Autin [Aten]

Dirck Sebring m. Maria Van Aersdalen

Cornelius Sebring m. Antie or Aeltje Van Arsdalen

Volkert Sebring m. 1) Elinor [Petronella] Simons Van Arsdalen

2) Marytje Jans Auten [Aten]

The baptismal records of the Raritan (Somerville), NJ, Dutch Reformed
Church begin on page 38 of volume 2 of the SCHQ and continue for 3
volumes. I found that "Rolof Sebrige" and wife [Christyntje Volkerts] had
2 children baptized in this church:

27 Apr 1709 Derck Derck Volkerts and wife

2 Nov 1711 Annetien Johannes Sebrege and wife

Rev. Swick comments that Roelof and Christyntje became founding members in
1717 of the First Dutch Church of New Brunswick. He mentions also that
Roelof's son Cornelius was an officer in the New Brunswick church.

I found the abstract of Roelof Sebring's will on page 284 of "Calendar of
New Jersey Wills, Volume III, 1751-1760. The will was written on 24 July
1752 and proved on 26 March 1756. Roelof was of Somerset County, NJ. He
names his then wife -- Angenitje -- and her son, Paul Leboiteaux.
Roelof's own children were named as

John

Cornelius

Volkert

Dirck

Annatje, wife of Harpert Peterson

Roelof named as executors his sons Volkert and Cornelius and his step-son
Paul Leboiteaux.

Rev. Swick says about Cornelius Sebring, "...but of his descendants little
is known. There was, however, a Rulof Sebring, who with his wife Femete
or Phebe, had children baptized at Neshanic -- Autie, Cornelius, Roelof,
and Harp Peterson -- and these names indicate, almost surely, that this
Rulof was a son of Cornelius and Autie. The other children of Cornelius
seem to have been daughters..."

The baptismal records of the Neshanic DRC begin on page 133 of volume 1 of
SCHQ. These records start in 1762. I found the 4 baptisms the good
Reverend referred to. Of great significance, however, is that the name of
the first daughter is clearly AELTJE, not "Autie" or "Antie". Roelof
Sebring and Femmetje/Phebe _______'s children baptized at Neshanic were

17 Sep 1780 Aeltie

24 Mar 1782 Cornelus

11 Apr 1784 Roelof

20 Oct 1793 Harp Peterson

This is circumstanial evidence that this Roelof Sebring was the son of
Cornelius Sebring and Aeltje Van Aersdale because a son is more likely to
know his own mother's first name than a clerk is. I suspect that Roelof
Sebring might have married a Peterson cousin.

In William Nelson's "New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800" I found that
Cornelius Sebring married by license issued on 25 April 1748:

Cornelius Sebring, New Jersey, and Antie Van Arsdale, Somerset [County].

Simon Jans Van Aersalen and Pieterje Claes van Schouw had only 2 sons --
Cornelis and Jan. Cornelis and his second wife, Marretje Dircks Ammerman,
had a daughter "Aeltje" who married Jeronimus Rapalje. There was no
daughter named "Antje". Jan Van Arsdale and Lammetje Probasco had 11
children, no daughter "Antje" among them. The name of the 9th child was
spelled "Heletie" in her father's will (or transcribed that way). I
suggsest that this is the "Aeltje" who married Cornelius Sebring. This
means that 2 Sebring brothers married sisters -- Petronella and Aeltje --
and the third brother married the girls' first cousin, Maria.

There is a good possibility that more information on Cornelius and Aeltje
could be found in the baptismal records of the New Brunswick DRC, but I
don't have access to them.

Dorothy
* * * * * * * * * * *

Dorothy A. Koenig


On Mon, 8 May 2000, Charles Vanorsdale wrote:

Since I received some much appreciated help on the Snediker/Van Arsdale
question, I thought I'd check on the Sebring/Van Arsdale connection.

In the Somerset County Historical Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 2 there is an
article by Rev. Minor Swick entitled "The Sebring Family". Rev. Swick states
that ROELOF JANSZ SEBRING had four sons, one of whom was Cornelius. There is
little info on him in this (and other sources). Swick states that Cornelius
(who must have been born circa 1705-1710) married Antie or Aeltje Van
Arsdalen.

First of all, those are not interchangeable forenames. Aeltje may be
correct, but if so, I am trying to gather info on this marriage. Is there a
record of Cornelius marrying Aeltje van Aersdalen? Are there published
baptismal records for their children? Any church membership records?

I am trying to determine if this Aeltje was a daughter of Jan Simonsz van
Aersdalen and his wife Lammetje PROBASCO.

Interestingly, 2 of Roelof Jansz Sebring's other sons married van
Aersdalen girls. Dirck Roelofsz married Maria Cornelise van Aersdalen,
daughter of Cornelis Simonsz van Aersdalen and Marretje Dirckse AMMERMAN,
while Volkert Roelofsz married Peternelletje Janse van Aersdalen, daughter
of Jan Simonsz van Aersdalen and Lammetje PROBASCO.

Thanks,

Charles R. Vanorsdale

From Mike Morrissey's database on WorldConnect:

Angenitje Leboiteaux whose grown son was one of the executors of Roelof's will. Roelof's will discloses that his plantation was bounded on the north by the Raritan River, on the west by land of Dirck Volkertse, his brother-in-law. It was inherited by Roelof's son Cornelius, with provisions to pay "Certain sums of money of the province, to the other heirs". Roelof's wife was to be given choice of any room in the house and to be furnished a garden and firewood and the "Life and service of my nergo slave, Bess, as long as she remains my widow." His signature on the will is hardly legible, no doubt due to his age; at the time of its writing he was about 77 years old and poor in health. He signed his name as "Roelof Sebering"' although the writer of the will had spelled the name as "Sebring" throughout the will. Roelof Janse was among the founders of the Dutch church of New Brunswick, at the time of its organization, and was joint pew holder of pew #8, with John Aeten, Sr. Roelof was deacon of the church in 1717, 1718, and again in 1733.