Hendrick Marselis
by
Stefan Bielinski


Tradition holds that Hendrick Marselis was a colonist on Staten Island during the first half of the seventeenth century. By mid-century, he had married Catharina Vandenbugh - the mother of several Marselis daughters. By the mid-1650s, his family had settled in Beverwyck where he had purchased a houselot.

In 1673, he was living "behind Kinderhook" near the farm of his son-in-law, Mathias Hooghteeling. A decade later Marselis was identified as a member of the Albany Dutch church and later was reimbursed for contract services and for the maintenance of the poor. However, his name was absent from Albany survey documents during the 1670s and 80s. In 1697, he was identified as the city porter.

In 1697, he was living alone in a first ward home. By the end of the year, he was dead. As only daughters raised families, his line was extinguished with his passing!

PAGE IN PROGRESS



notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Hendrick Marselis is CAP biography number 722. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. His background is summarized by Jonathan Pearson in PFS, p. 78.




Home | Site Index | Navigation | Email | New York State Museum


first posted: 9/25/02