Geertruy Dochter Witbeck

by


Referred to variously, Geertruy Andries Lucasen Dochter is said to have been born in New Amsterdam - perhaps about 1623. She is said to have been the daughter of Andries Lucasen and Jannetje Selyns. The sometimes seen surname "Dochter" could mean daughter. She is said to have been of Danish ancestry.

Geertruy is said to have married New Netherland pioneer Jan Thomase in New Amsterdam in June 1648. Mother of a number of surviving children born by 1665, she was the matriarch of the Witbeck family of early Albany.

These first Witbecks raised their family in Beverwyck and Albany and then in the countryside.

Jan Thomase appears to have lived into the 1680s.

Geertruy Dochter Witbeck is said to have died in Albany or Claverack about 1688. This sketch sheepishly relies on the available body of conventional wisdom that we refer to as traditional sources. With so many outstanding questions regarding her demographic and social history, we move on for now.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Geertruy Dochter Witbeck has not been assigned a CAP biography number. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




first posted: 3/20/12