Teunis Nyssen emigrated as early as 1638, from Bininck or Bennekom, in the Sticht of Uythuyzen, a village near Arnhem, containing 212 houses and 900 Inhabitants, in the province of Gilderland, in the Netherlands, and died prior to August, 1663. According to the records of the New York Dutch church, he married Feb. 11th, 1640, Phabea Faelix, of Jarleston, England, who is known on other records as the widow of Hendrick the boor, who may have used the surname of Faelix. Phabea or Femmetje was the daughter of
[footnote cont'd. on page 99]:
John Seals, an Englishman from Devonshire, written Jan Celes on the Dutch Colonial Records, who-came to New Amsterdam from New England as early as 1638, at which date he was a planter on Manhattan Island. Seals married Maria Robberts or Robertson, Femmetje being his only child of whom we have any account.

Helena [Cortelyou] married, second, April 12, 1685, Denyse Teunissen, variously spelled as "Dionys Teunessen," etc., and also erroneously referred to in records as "Denyse Teunissen Denise." The reason for the latter is that his descendants adopted "Denyse" or "Denise" as their surname.

The marriage record of Denyse and Helena is as follows (Flatbush Church Records, State Library, Albany): "Dionys Teunisz, widower of Elizabeth Polhemus, residing at Midwoud (Flatbush), and Helena Cordeljau, widow of Klaas Rutgersz, residing at New Utrecht. Betrothed March 29, 1685. Married at New Utrecht, April 12, 1685.

This was the second marriage for Denyse as well as for Helena. He had married, October 22, 1682, Elizabeth Polhemus, daughter of Rev. Johannes Theodorus Polhemus, of Flatbush, and Catharine (Van Werven) Polhemus.

Denyse Teunissen was baptized in New Amsterdam on April 16, 1654. He was the eighth and last child of Teunis Nyssen and Femmetje Jans. Teunis Nyssen emigrated from Bunnick, Province of Utrecht, Holland, about 1638. He settled at New Amsterdam and there married Femmetje Jans, widow of Hendrick the Boor and daughter of Jan Seales of New Amsterdam. (Reminiscences of New Utrecht, p. 124).

On Oct. 11, 1685, "Helena Corteljou, w. of Nyss Theunissen" was received upon confession into membership of the Flatbush Reformed Church, by Domine Selyns. (Flatbush Church Records, State Library, Albany).

Denyse Teunissen was a master carpenter. He bought land in Flatbush in 1687 and was a resident there when he took the oath of allegiance. His name appears on the Flatbush patent of 1685.

After his marriage to Helena, Denyse Teunissen removed to property which she owned in the Najack tract at the Narrows.

Denyse is said to have owned land also at Yellow Hook and on Staten Island. According to an unconfirmed statement, Denyse may have resided on Staten Island for a time and while there held the office of Justice of the Peace.

According to the census of Kings County, N. Y., about 1698, "Denys Teunisse" had five children and was the owner of five slaves. (MS. Hist. of N. U., p. 885).

According to the records of the New York Dutch church, [Teunis Nyssen] married Feb. 11th, 1640, Phabea Faelix, of Jarleston, England, who is known on other records as the widow of Hendrick the boor, who may have used the surname of Faelix. Phabea or Femmetje was the daughter of
[footnote cont'd. on page 99]:
John Seals, an Englishman from Devonshire, written Jan Celes on the Dutch Colonial Records, who-came to New Amsterdam from New England as early as 1638, at which date he was a planter on Manhattan Island. Seals married Maria Robberts or Robertson, Femmetje being his only child of whom we have any account.

The common ancestor of the Wikoff or Wyckoff family in America was Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, son of Claes Wyckoff, and grandson of Cornelius Wyckoff, who does not appear to have emigrated. Claes Wyckoff came from Holland to America, 1636, and settled at Flatlands, Long Island.

Pieter Claesen Wyckoff was born in Boda, Oland Island, 6 Jan. 1625, the only son of Claes Cornelissen van Schouwen and Margaret van der Goes; he married before 1646; he died 30 June 1694." [p.576]⁷

Grietje's father Cornelis van Ness, son of Hendrich van Ness, was doubtless a native of the village of Nes on the island of Ameland in the province of Friesland, North Holland. He later lived in Vianen, near Utrecht in South Holland.

[His wife] Maycke was the daughter of Hendrick Adriense and Annetje (Janse, of Laeckervelt, Holland) van der Burchgraeff. These families were wealthy and of high rank...

VAN NES, CORNELIS, probably from Nes, a village in Friesland, obtained a patent May 23, 1659, for 50 morgens at Flds adjoining land of Wolfert Gerritse Van Couwenhoven. There was a Cornelis Hendrickse Van Nes in Beverwyck in 1642, as per Pearson's First Settlers of Albany.

Cornelis was chosen raets persoon (councillor) of the colony of Renssalaerwyck in 1652, served until 1658, and again in 1660-64. After the Indian raids at Esopus, he was appointed Captain of the night watch. He seved as magistrate of the court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck in 1666, and was active in dealing with Indian affairs of importance for all of New Netherland.

Cornelis Van Nes in 1668, 27 yrs after he arrived in USA, still held title to 6 acres of land in the Netherlands whcih he was renting to a cousin. Maritie died some time after 1679. In settling the estate of her children, incl. 3,500 florin in Amsterdam, 57 florin and 2 houses and a garden in Albany, a farm in Niskayuna, and farmland and houselots in Schenectady, Cornelis Van Nes said that "all that he wanted was his clothing, bed and bolster, Bible, and ropemaker's tools, and the book of his accounts prior to his marriage." On 7 July 1681 he signed over title to everything else to the children and he died shortly afterwards.

"Maycke was the daughter of Hendrick Adriense and Annetje (Janse, of Laeckervelt, Holland) van der Burchgraeff. These families were wealthy and of high rank..."

[Page 29]
JOANNES AND MATTHIAS NEVIUS: STUDENTS
BY JOHN J. DE MOTT, METUCHEN, N. J. LEYDEN IS the last Dutch city to feel the caresses of the old Rhine before that river empties its waters into the North Sea. The pride of Leyden is its University. After William of Orange raised the Spanish siege of
[Page 30]
1573 and 1574, by piercing the dikes and sailing his relief ships up to the city walls, he is said to have offered to reward the citizens for their gallant defence by either exempting them from taxation for a period of years, or establishing a university in their city, whereupon they chose the university.

There are those who question such a story as this, but there is no doubt that the Prince did found the University in 1575. The institution grew and flourished. The greatest scholars of their age lived, taught and wrote there, until, as Niebuhr says in his "Roman History," no spot in Europe is so memorable in connection with the history of science as the venerable Senate Hall of the University of Leyden.

This Senate Hall, or Faculty Room, is in the original University building, erected at about the time America was discovered, and used as a nunnery before the Reformation. We have respect for the builders when we realize that people have gone in and out of these doorways every day since Columbus first set foot in the New World, and that, with perhaps a few repairs, the building seems fit for still more centuries to come. The shaded canal-bank beside this venerable hall is a pleasant resting spot on a summer's day. It is also a place where thoughts seem bound to turn inward and upward, and lead to self-belittling meditation on the transitoriness of life.

But of all the thousands of students who have come to Leyden in days gone by, we are at present concerned about only two, who were there more than two and a half centuries ago. We enter the hallway, with its low ceiling, and climb the dark and winding stair. In a moment we are at the door of the Senate Hall itself. Looking down from the walls are the portraits of some one hundred and fifty professors, dating almost from the founding of the institution to the present day. Many of these distinguished men were there in the flesh when Joannes and Matthias Nevius were at Leyden. An elaborate fireplace and mantle, a long counsel table, bearing some books and several old-fashioned inkstands, and surrounded by stately rows of straight-backed, leather-covered chairs, complete the furnishings.

The published "Album" of the University gives only the bare facts of date, name, place of nativity and age of students. It is this printed album which is quoted by Mr. A. V. D. Honeyman's informant, on page 43 of "Joannes Nevius and his Descendants" (Plainfield, 1900). The published "Album," however, is condensed from a manuscript record of former students, in which fuller particulars are given. This latter record consists of a series of ponderous volumes, bound in sheepskin, and kept in a cabinet in the historic Senate Hall. These are not the original records, but copies, made many years ago, in Latin, and carefully indexed.

[Page 31]

The list of Nevius students at Leyden, as given in "Joannes Nevius and his Descendants," is as follows:

Year     Name               Nativity      Age    University

1608.    Joannes de Neef    Amsterdam      14    Leyden 
1609.    Joannes Neeff      Amsterdam      13    Leyden 
1645.    Matthias Neef      Zoelen         --    Utrecht 
1646.    Joannes N'vius     Kampen         --    Leyden 
1648.    Matthias Neef      Kampen         20    Leyden 
1649.    Matthias Neef      Zoelen         21    Leyden 
1650.    Matthias Neeff     Kampen         --    Utrecht 
1673.    Johannes Nevius    Reinswondamus  20    Leyden 
1674.    Joannes Nevius     Montfoort      --    Utrecht 
1676.    Matth'us Neef      Montfoort      16    Leyden 
1679.    Matthias Neef      Montfoort      20    Leyden 
1681.    Matthias Neeff     Montfoort      --    Utrecht 

These entries as they appear in the manuscript books at the University are as follows, for Leyden only:
"ALBUM STUDIOSORUM," VOL. I, 1575-1617
July 9, 1608. Joannes de Neeff. Amsterdamensis. An. XIV. Stud. Litt. Apud Patrem.
                              [Of Amsterdam. Age 14. Student in Letters. Living with parents].
Nov. 11, 1609. Joannes Neeff. Amsterdamensis. An. XIII. Stud. bon. Litt. Apud Patrem.
                              (Word "Minorensis" in left-hand margin).
                              [Of Amsterdam. Age 13. Student in Letters. Living with parents].
"ALBUM STUDIOSORUM," VOL. 4, 1645-1662
June-July,1646. Johannes Nevius. Campensis. An. 20. Stud. Philos. habit.
                              Apud Grietgen Lievens. op de Breestraat.
                              [Of Kampen. Age 20. Student in Philosophy. Living
                              with Grietgen Lievens, in the Breestraat].
May 30, 1648. Matthias Neef. Campensis. An. 20. Stud. Litt.
                              by Cornelis Timonsz. Geesdorp.
                              [Of Kampen. Age 20. Student in Letters. Living with Cornelis Geesdorp].
Apr. 2, 1649. Matthias Neef. Solano-Geldrus. An. 21. Stud. Theol.
                              in de Croon by Bandewijn Harincshouck. [Of Zoelen,
                              in Gelderland. Age 21. Student in Theology.
                              Living at "The Crown" with Bandewijn Harincshouck].

It is suggested, on page 44 of "Joannes Nevius and his Descendants," that the 1608 and 1609 entries are for the same person, and that the discrepancy in age is an error. I am inclined to think this may be the case, but, if the ages are wrongly given, the error is in the original record, where it will be noticed the ages are given in Roman numerals, and therefore
[Page 32]
not likely to be misread. In commenting on this a Dutch gentleman made the following general remark: "The reason ages were so carefully given was that students had to pay tuition according to their years. Very young students sometimes did not even have to pay for their rooms. Older ones did have to pay for their rooms, and still older ones also had additional fees. The latter were to some extent remitted if the young man was willing to serve in a military organization. This system often resulted in students declaring an age under their actual years. I do not mean that a man of thirty could pass as fifteen, but, if a student of eighteen looked young, there was a great temptation to state his age as, say, fifteen." This interesting side-light was not meant to apply especially to the entries of 1608 and 1609 and thus disturb the consciences of the present generation of Nevius descendants. In fact real comfort may be gotten from the situation, because, if the two do refer to the same student, and this student did lie about his age, he was manifestly a poor liar, and, therefore, normally a very model of truthfulness.

My copy of the other Nevius entries at Leyden is not as complete as might be wished for, but from it I take the following:

"ALBUM STUDIOSORUM," VOL. I, PAGE 152
October 10, 1601. Joannes a Nafe. In mss. index spelled "Naefe", in
                              printed album spelled "Nefe") Nob. Silesius.
                              an. XXII. Stud. Jur. Apud Eundem (?).
                              [Four other Silesius students registered on same day].
DITTO, VOL. I, PAGE 280
April 28, 1611. Joannes Casparus N'vius. Misnicus. an. XXI. Stud.
                              Jur. habit by Martgen Cornelis.
DITTO, VOL. I, PAGE 345
May 7, 1615. Joachimus Navius. (In mss. index and in printed album
                              spelled "N'vius"). Amsterdamensis. An. XXI. Stud. Jur. by Joost van Colster.
FROM PRINTED ALBUM
Feb. 16, 1615. Johannes Johannis a Nave, Leidensis, 10. L.
June 5, 1621. Johannes Neveu. Sidanensis. 17. famul. ejusdem a
                              Steenvliet. Aug. 13, 1624. Theodosius Neef. Holsatus. 22.
                              [Five other Holsatus students registered on same day].
July 12, 1634. Cornelius de Neve. Brugensis. 31. Mat.
"ALBUM STUDIOSORUM," VOL. V, PAGE 388
Feb. 15, 1673. Johannes Nevius. Reinswoudanus. An. 20. Stud.
                              Liter. Apud Matrem. op de Haerlemmerstraat by de Kercksteegle.

[Page 33]

DITTO, VOL. V, PAGE 490
                              March 26, 1676. Matthias Neef. Monfortensis. An. 16. Stud. Phil.
                                  habit by Marcus van Houten in the Choirsteegle.
FROM PRINTED ALBUM
                              June 20, 1679. Matthias Neef. Monfurtensis. 20. P.
                              Feb. 16, 1686. Cornelius de Neef. Parens. Veera-Zelandus. 60.
                              " " " Cornelius de Neef. Filius. Veere-Zelandus. 20.
                              March 11, 1689. Simon Navius. Alcmaria-Batavus. 20. P.
                              Feb. 12, 1697. Carolus Fredericus Neeve. Saxo. 27. L.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the above is the persistent recurrence of "Joannes" or "Johannes" as a name in the Nevius family. Also, the entry of father and son, both from Veere, in Zeeland, on Feb. 16th, 1686, is unique.

Scores of houses which were in Leyden when Joannes and Matthias were there are still standing, and it is not improbable that the ones where they roomed are among them, nor is it impossible that these might be located. The difficulty is that poor women like Grietgen Lievens, with whom Joannes lived, have been renting houses and then letting out a few rooms to students for these three hundred years, so that while a search of the Leyden land records would certainly involve much labor, it might yield nothing else, because, unless the property was in her own name, it would only be an accident if it were discovered.

Joannes lived in the Breestraat, which was then and still is the principal street in the city. A five-minute walk from the University, crossing the tree-shaded Rapenburg Canal, through the narrow Klok Steeg (Clock Passage), past the side and around the end of old St. Peter's Kerk, then a little farther through the Koor Steeg (Choir Passage) and Joannes emerged--exactly as the visitor does to-day--on the Breestraat, nearly opposite the Stadhuis and in sight of the famous inscription which commemorates the great siege of Leyden. On his way past the Kerk he also passed the house in which John Robinson, leader of the Pilgrim Fathers, had lived, taught and died only a comparatively few years before. Old prints prove that the whole route looked almost precisely the same then as it does now.

Not only can we identify localities, however, but we can still see the faces of the men whom Joannes met as he took a stroll about town. It was the custom for persons in public positions to have group portraits painted of the board or guild to which they belonged. An example of this is found in Rembrandt's well-known work "The Syndics," now in the Ryks Museum, at Amsterdam, in which we see the officers of the guild of the cloth-makers in the midst of their deliberations. Nearly
[Page 34]
every gallery and public building in the Netherlands contains examples of this kind. But our interest is now centered upon three large canvases in the vestibule of the Stadhuis. These are portrait groups of "The Burgomaster and his Council," "The Guild of the Tailors" and "The High Officers of the Military"--all of 1650. Joannes must have known most of these very men when he was in Leyden in 1646, and we wonder whether his thoughts ever reverted to them and all their official finery as he later on watched the less elegant but equally self-important city fathers of New Amsterdam.

There is little to say about Joannes' brother Matthias. No doubt he too was familiar with all these scenes. The most interesting thing about his record is to notice that, at twenty-one, he had already decided upon the ministry and entered for the theological course which fitted him for his pastorate at Montfoort.

Leaving Leyden now, we go to the other great Dutch university seat, Utrecht. Joannes never registered as a student here, and the records of Matthias are much more fragmentary than at Leyden. They are not found at the University, but in the City Archives, in two books, as follows:

In Vol. I, "Album Academi' Ultrajectin'" (described in the QUARTERLY, vol. I, page 104), are two signatures in the same hand. In 1645 one hundred and four students registered, of whom the thirtieth was "Matthias Neeff, Soelanus." In 1650 one hundred and twenty-eight students registered, of whom the one hundred and ninth was "Matthias Neeff, Campensis."

The other book, the "Album of Guelderland-Overyssel Students" is unique in itself. There is no other book of the kind at Utrecht. Apparently it had to do with a club or organization of students from these two eastern provinces of Holland. Each man was assigned a page in the album, in the upper corner of which he wrote his name and residence. Then he handed the book over to an artist who painted the coat-of-arms. Whether or not it required money to become a member of the club we have no evidence, but there is the best kind of evidence that the artist's motto was "no pay, no work," for on more than one page which a student has signed in his best handwriting there is only a half-finished design, and, in some cases, only a caricature. Matthias either had good credit or paid his charges in advance, for his page is done in the artist's best style, substantially as reproduced as a frontispiece in "Joannes Nevius and his Descendants."

Perhaps other evidences exist of the student life of Joannes and Matthias, but, if so, they are not available to the hurried investigator. However, with such a varied background of contemporary men and
[Page 35]
scenes as we have tried to portray, it is not difficult for our imagination to complete the picture, so that the large number of descendants of Joannes Nevius now living in Somerset County, or elsewhere, can get a good idea of the everyday life of their ancestor as he pursued his studies in the Fatherland.

It may be noted here, what everyone does not know, that Joannes Nevius was Schepen and third Secretary of New Amsterdam (New York City), and that all persons in America hearing the name of Nevius, Neafie, Neefus, etc., descend from him. Hundreds of his descendants have lived and many are still residents in Somerset.

DE POTTER, CORNELIS, of Brn, m. Swantje Jans, who after his death joined the D. ch in N. A., and m. Apl. 4, 1669, Pieter Delancy; d. prior to Oct. 1660. Bought Aug. 29, 1651, Herry Brezer's plantation; Jan. 4, 1652, land of Jan Haes; and Dec. 3, 1652, over 2 morgens of Cors Hoogland, ferryman--all in Brn. In 1654 he was a mag. of Flds, where he then resided. Issue:--Adriaentje Cornelise, m. Jan Aardsz Middagh; (sup.) Elizabeth, m. Isaac Bedlo; (sup.) Zwantje, m. Jan Teunise of the ferry; and (sup.) David, on list of catechumens of the R. D. ch. of Brn of 1662.

[Page 145]:²
Cornelis Dircksen, b. 1599. Kept goats for their milk in 1638 for Wouter Van Twiller, as per p. 2 of Cal. of Dutch His. Man. Sold cows to Tunis Nyssen (Denyse) in 1643, as per p. 25 of do. Was ferry-master at Brn in 1652, when he sold a lot with house and barn, on the shore of L. I. near the ferry, to Cornelis de Potter, as per p. 55 of do. Dec. 12, 1645, he obtained a patent for upwards of 12 morgens on L. I. next to Harry Breser's land in Brn, as per p. 370 of do. Dec 3, 1652, sold Cornelis de Potter upwards of 2 morgens of land with buildings in Brn, as per p. 376 of do.

"DE POTTER, CORNELIS, of Brn, m. Swantje Jans, who after his death joined the D. ch in N. A., and m. Apl. 4, 1669, Pieter Delancy..."⁵

80 Jan Cornelisse DOMINICUS. Same as 64.

82 Gillis Jansen DE MANDEVILLE. Same as 66.

83 Elsje HENDRICKS. Same as 67.

84 Hans Hansen BERGEN. Same as 68.

85 Sarah Joris RAPELJE. Same as 69.

86 Teunis Nyssen DENYCE. Same as 70.

87 Femmetje Jans SEALS. Same as 71.