General Notes

blonde, blue-eyed, over 6' tall; may have spelled his surname"Couwenhoven"
.
Of Achtervelt/Nieuw Amersfoort/Flatlands, New York; kidnapped for a sho
rt time by Iroquois Indians from near Achtervelt about 1643; magistra
te of Breukelen 1661,2,4; schepen there 1662; members of Reformed Dutch Ch
urch there by 1660, deacon 1663, and Elder there 1667; had to repurchase h
is own land there when England took over in 1665; was an elder of the Refo
rmed Dutch Church in Flatlands in 1677; sold his farm there to son Willi
am 1709 and removed to the Monmouth Court House/Marlboro area of Monmou
th County, New Jersey; perhaps removed to Hopewell, New Jersey and died th
ere æ 87; perhaps died about 1728.
Alt Birth: 1636 , , Nederland
Alt Death: Abt 1721 Holland or perhaps Flatlands, Kings, New York
Alt Death: Between 1721 and 1723 Monmouth, Monmouth, New Jersey
David K. Conover:
"On the earliest surviving list of members of the Dutch Reformed Chur
ch of Brooklyn, Sep 12, 1660, appear the names of Willem Gerritse Van Couw
enhoven, his first wife, and her parents.  He was Magistrate of Brooklyn 1
661, 1662, and 1664. Willem Gerretse, on behalf of his first wife, was o
ne of the three heirs to the Brooklyn grant of his father-in-law, Joris De
ricksen Brinckerhoff, and joined with the other heirs in selling this prop
erty on January 16, 1661.  He was Signed a petition on May 25, 1662 at sch
epen of Brooklyn, New York.  He was deacon in 1663 at Reformed Dutch Churc
h, Breukelen, Breukelen Province, New York.  His name appears on the pate
nt of Flatlands, 1667 and he apparently removed there about that time. [
He was an Elder of the Reformed Dutch church at Flatlands in 1677.  He sig
ned the oath of allegiance at some time between Sep 26-30, 1687 being call
ed a resident of "fflackland" and native born.
The Records of the Brick Church, Marlborough, Monmouth County, New Je
rsey, originally known as the Reformed Church of Freehold of the Navasin
k, begin in 1709 and show that in that year seven children of Willem Gerre
tse were already members of that congregation namely, Cornelis, Pieter, Al
bert, Jan, Jacob, Neeltje (Nelke), and Sara. In 1717, two other children a
ppear as members, Annetje (Antie) and Jacomina (Jockamiinke). It was not u
ntil 1721 that the church shows as members "Willem Ger Kowvenhoven and h
is wife," and since the wife, Jannetje (Janneke), appears alone on the li
st in 1723, it seems possible that Willem Gerretse died between 1721 and 1
723. He sold his plantation in Brooklyn to his son William and moved to Mo
nmouth County, New Jersey in November, 1709. The existence of the origin
al Bible of Willem Gerrete, with his own record of his marriages and the b
irths of his children, states that he married "Altieu Yoris" in the year 1
660. She was Altje, daughter of Joris Dericksen Brinckerhoff, and was t
he widow of Cornelis Mattys (Mathiews). She died on June 3, 1663, and Will
em Gerretse married secondly, on Febrary 12, 1665, "Jannetie Peters," w
ho was Jannetje, daughter of Peter Monfort. She was baptized as Jannet
je on May 8, 1646, in the Reformed Dutch Church of Nieuw Amsterdam."
[Copyright 1999 by David Kipp Conover - All Rights Reserved]