Pieter Claesen Wyckoff (ca. 1620 – June 30, 1694) was a prominent figure in Dutch and later English colonial Kings County, Long Island, New York. Most persons surnamed Wyckoff in North America, including many variations in spelling, can be traced to his family.Wyckoff, William Forman (1950) ''The Wyckoff family in America''. Wyckoff Association in America, Summit, NJ, USA After some time spent at

Rensselaerwyck The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...

, near present-day Albany, New York, in 1655 Pieter moved his family into a rented house in New Amersfoort (present day Flatlands,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

). Pieter Claesen prospered here, acquired land and became a local judge (justice of the peace). He was influential in establishing the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church at the juncture of Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway in Brooklyn. The Wyckoffs are prominent members in Manalapan, New Jersey.

Lineage

Because of the work of a fraudulent genealogist, it was mistakenly believed for many decades that Pieter Claesen Wyckoff was the son of Claes Cornelissen van Schouw and Margaret van der Goes. However, in 1932 Charles Arthur Hoppin made the case that Wyckoff was not their son. In 1945, William J. Hoffman reinforced Hoppin's conclusions through his own analysis in the article "Claes Cornelissen van Shouw(en) Meutelaer and the Wyckoff Ancestry", noting that "There is absolutely no evidence that Claes Cornelissen van Schouw was the father of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, as has been repeatedly claimed. No connection between them has been found in any public record".

Emigration

Pieter emigrated from

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...

, then in East Frisia but now in Germany, to America as a contract farm worker for a period of 6 years at a salary of at first 50 then 75 Guilders annually, working at

, near present-day Albany, New York. Pieter Claesen made a settlement with the Van Rensellaer estate for the short time remaining on his work contract. He then rented a farm for himself and soon after married Grietje Van Ness, daughter of a prominent local family. She may have brought both wealth and superior education to the family. Their first two children were born in Rensselaerwyck. In 1655 Pieter Claesen signed a contract to superintend the bowery (farm) and cattle of Peter Stuyvesant in New Amersfoort, on Long Island.

Children

# Nicholas Pieterse Wyckoff (1646–1714) m. Sara Monfoort (1656–1704) # Margrietje Pieterse Wyckoff (c. 1648–?) m. Matthys Brouwer # Annetje Pieterse Wyckoff (1650–1688) m. Roelof Martensen Schenck, Captain (1619–1704) # Mayken Pieterse Wyckoff (1653–1721) m. Willem Willemsen (c. 1637- c. 1722), son of Willem Gerritsen and Mary ----- # Willemptje Pieterse Wyckoff (c. 1654 – c. 1693) m. Adrian Pieterse Kenne # Cornelius Pieterse Wyckoff (c. 1656–1746) m. Gertje Charity Van Arsedalen # Hendrick Pieterse Wyckoff (c. 1658–?) # Geertje Pieterse Wyckoff (c. 1660 – c. 1711) m. Christoffel Janse Romeyn (c. 1641- c. 1748) # Garret Pieterse Wyckoff (1662– c. 1705) m. Catherine Johannesdr. Nevius # Marten Pieterse Wyckoff (c. 1663 – c. 1699) m. Hanna Willemse (c. 1660- c.1724), dau. of Willem Gerritsen and Mary ----- # Jan Pieterse Wyckoff (1665 – c. 1730) m. Neeltje Williamse Couwenhoven

Death

Pieter Claesen Wyckoff died in 1694 and he may be buried along with his wife Grietje Van Ness in the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church in Brooklyn, New York.

Meaning of the surname

When the British took over the Dutch colony in 1674, Pieter Claesen adopted the fixed surname of Wyckoff. A well-intentioned genealogist speculated that he chose this name from the Dutch words "wijk", meaning parish, and "hof", meaning court. Actually, the name is Friesian and its most common meaning in the Northern Germanic languages is a settlement on a bay. The Wykhof estate from where Pieter Claessen emigrated is located near the Ems River Bay, about 5 miles south of Norden in Ostfriesland, Germany.

Notable descendants

Pieter is the common ancestor to a number of notable people, including: Lou Henry (wife of

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, the Wright Brothers,

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(wife of

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(wife of Christian Finnegan), Chuck Jones,

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(wife of Alfred Stieglitz),

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), and

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. Other notables who married Wyckoff descendants are:

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, Robert Ralph Young, Isaac Ferris, Charles S. Fairchild,

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(through his first wife), and Baron Klemens August Freiherr von Ketteler, Brett Wyckoff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyckoff 1625 births People of New Netherland People from Norden, Lower Saxony Wyckoff family 1694 deaths American members of the Dutch Reformed Church People from Flatlands, Brooklyn