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- [S3] Ancestral Archives Of The Hendricks and Dorris Families, Leavitt, DelLynn WIlkey, (Henry Hendricks Family Org. Nov 2013 Thrid Edition), Sarah Thomson Family pp. 35 - 45.
Sarah Thomson Family
Nobody really had any reason to doubt the Sarah Thompson ancestry as explained in the Henry Hendricks Genealogy by Marguerite Allen. It was short, sweet, and seemingly documented by probate records and although it was a British line, so were the Hinton, Frost and Dorris lines. Sarah was the alleged daughter of Thomas and Agnes Thompson, Thomas was the alleged son of Aaron and Hannah Thompson who was the son of Thomas Thompson of Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New Jersey. Thomas of Elizabethtown had a will naming his son Aaron who had a will naming a son Thomas. Thomas Thompson of Mansfield, Burlington Co., had a wife named Agnes according to his will and land records. Plus Mansfield was just up the road from the Middletown home of the Agnes Thomson who in her will named Hendrick Hendrickson Jr. as her son-in-law and husband of her daughter Sarah. It all seemed very straight forward. However it did lack a certain amount of what I call commonality and perhaps even a little continuity. There are no Thomas or Aarons in the family of Henry Hendricks and Sarah Thompson and if you didn’t know that Angenietje was the Dutch equivalent for Agnes, one might have assumed that neither of Sarah Thompson’s parents had children named after them unlike Henry who named his oldest son and his oldest daughter after dear old mom and dad as was customary back then. Plus there was this Johannes Hendricks, second oldest son of Henry and Sarah, who named a son John Thompson Hendricks. However it was noted that Thomas and Agnes Thompson of Mansfield did have a son named John, so it was thought that perhaps Sarah’s brother got the honors in the name sakes debate. Perhaps a little primary documentation would settle any reservations, or so I thought. What I found was that the Thomas Thompson of Mansfield was not related to the Elizabethtown Thomas Thompson but was probably the son of Henry Thompson also of Mansfield according to internet databases. Henry had a will dated 1732, the abstract of which reads as follows (Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Vol. 2, 1730-1750, part II, p. 477):
“1732, July 10. Thompson, Henry, of Mansfield, Burlington Co.; will of. Sons - Thomas and John. Daughters - Rebecca Gurest and Dina Hopkins. Meadow adjoining Jacob DeCow and other lands. Executors - wife, Elizabeth, and friend John Tantum. Witnesses - Constantine Overton, Jno. Tantum, Jr., Elizabeth Tantum. Proved Dec. 2, 1735. Lib. 4, p. 46. 1735, Dec. 1. Inventory, ' 116.8; made by John Rockhill and David Rockhill. Includes negro girl, ' 8.”
At the time I thought that this might fit even better as there were plenty of Henrys in our Hendricks family. At least until I found out that they were Quakers and that Mansfield was settled by English Quakers who first arrived there in 1677. Not only were the Thompsons Quakers, but they were received into the Mansfield community by certificate which simply meant that they were very devout in their beliefs and unlikely to mix with other nationalities and faiths, at least at the early date of 1751. There was something else that I had found a few years back that had sparked my curiosity. In Agnes Thomson’s Monmouth Co., will dated 30 Jan 1760 she willed her “Large Dutch Bible” to her daughter Sarah. An abstract of the will reads as follows (Calender of NJ Wills Vol 6, 1751-1760, p. 323):
“1760 , Jan 30 Thomson, Agness, of Middletown Point, (Monmouth Co.,); will of. Daughters-Sarah and Phebe. Granddaughter-Anne Bates and Agness Brown. Personal estate. Execitors-son in-laws, Richard Bates and Hendrick Hendrickson Jr. Witnesses-Peter Clark, Owen Evans and John Voorhees. Proved March 31, 1760. Lib. G, p. 155. 1760, Feb 6 Inventory £36.2, incl. a pair of gold buttons, £1.10; a silver snuff box,16s; a large Dutch Bible and other books, £2.2; a looking glass, 25s; (Inv.) made by Richard Franses and Owen Evans. (House and lot not appraised).”
At the time I thought that perhaps the Agnes, who was married to Thomas Thompson, may have been Dutch and this might explain why Sarah married into a Dutch Hendrickson family and attended the Reformed Dutch Church of Freehold and Middletown. However, even though the Society of Friends (founded by George Fox) may have had more in common theologically with John Calvin and the Reformed Synods than the Anglicans or even the Puritans, the Quakers usually stuck to their own, co-existing perhaps, yet rarely intermarrying at least with the Dutch. After digging deeper into the Agnes Thompson of Mansfield I found that she seemed to have stayed in Mansfield while our Agnes Thomson was a longtime member of the Middletown NJ Community.
Agnes Thompson of Mansfield is listed as one of the Executors of her husband Thomas Thompson's estate in his Burlington Co. will dated 14 Sep 1743, while on the 23 Jan 1743/4 our "Augnis Thomson" gave her consent for her daughter Barbery Thomson of the County of Monmouth to marry John Brown of the same county. Then on the 29 May 1749 Agnes Thompson of Mansfield is listed as a witness of the will of Peter Imlay of Mansfield, Burlington Co., while on the 7 Nov 1745 Agnes Thompson (daughter of our Agnes) married Richard Bates (named in the 1760 will of Agness Thomson as a son-in-law) of Freehold in Monmouth Co., and on the 3 Apr 1751, Hendrick Hendrickson of Middletown, Monmouth Co., married Sarah Thomson also of Middletown. So it would seem that our Agnes Thomson family resided in Monmouth Co., from at least 1744 until her death which would be contrary to the provisions in the 1743 will of Thomas Thompson, stating that his wife Agnes reside on his plantation to raise his younger sons and daughters. Plus it seems that Agnes Thompson (wife of Thomas) was still residing in Mansfield in 1749 when she witnessed the Peter Imlay will. We can also assume that our Agnes' two daughters, Agnes and Barbary, had preceded her in death in 1760 as only her granddaughters, Anne Bates and Agness Brown are mentioned in her will. So if our Agnes Thomson was not married to Thomas Thompson then who was her husband?
Although the identity of the husband of Agnes Thomson seems to have been long lost to the drifting sands of the ages, the identity of Agnes herself has been known at least in part to the NY and NJ Bennet families to whom she belonged. In a book entitled Distinguished families in America, descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke (1912) William Benford Aitken states that Agnes was Angenietje Bennet the daughter of Arie Adriaense Bennet and Barbara Van Der Donk of nearby Six Mile Run in Somerset Co., NJ and the granddaughter of Adriaen Willemse Bennet and Angenietje Van Dyke. On page 231 Mr. Aitken writes the following:
“Angenietje Bennet, baptized Oct 1, 1704; died in 1760, married Stephen Thompson and had a daughter, Agnes Thompson, (who) married Richard Bates. Their daughter Agnes Bates, baptized May 1757. Married Lewis Dey, born March 21, 1758, of the famous Dey family of New York and New Jersey from whom Dey Street, New York, is named.”
Mr. Aitken did get our Angenietje Bennet’s name right, as well as the line of decent of her daughter Agnes who indeed married Richard Bates, however little else is correct in this citation. It was enough, however, to clue me as to whom our Agnes Bennet and her husband really were. First off it should be noted that according to more recent research and the records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Freehold and Middletown the Angenitje Bennett who was baptized 1 Oct 1704 the daughter of Arie Adriaense Bennet and Barbara Ven Der Donk, married a Johannes Bennet and not a Thomson. Plus on page 233 of the Dist. Families of America, Mr. Aitken gives us another clue as to the identity of Agnes Thomas and her husband :
“Jacob Adriaense Bennet, married Barabra Ferdon, and had a daughter Angenietje Bennet, baptized September 8, 1700; (who) married Jan Scouten”.
This date works far better for Agnes since as will be cited later on she had a son born in 1720. However once again Mr. Aitken’s facts are somewhat incomplete and we need to turn to an article originally published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record by Wilson V. Ledley named Willem Adriaense Bennet of Brooklyn, N.Y. (republished in Genealogies of Long Islands Families, Vol. 1, by Henry B. Hoff) page 87 to complete this puzzle:
“Angenietje bap. Sept. 8, 1700 in the Brooklyn Dutch Church: sponsors, Arie Bennet and Angenietje his wife [paternal grandparents]. She married one John Schouten Thomassen (Thomson) and as his widow she was a sponsor at the baptism July 3, 1754, in the New York Dutch Church, of Thomas Brouwer, a son of William & Lea (Maas) Brouwer”.
It should be noted here that Jan is the Dutch form of John. Could this Jan or Johannes as he was listed as in his 13 Apr 1690 baptism be our John Thompson for whom two generations of Hendricks’ are named? Most of John and Agnes children were baptized in the New Amsterdam Dutch Reformed Church and are listed by Mr. Ledley as; Jan Schoute bp. 8 May 1720, Barbara bp. 7 Jan 1722, Marytje bp. 14 Apr 1723, Angenietje bp. 31 Aug 1726, Johannes bp. 26 Feb 1729, and Femmetje (or Phebe) bp. 14 Feb 1731. You will note however, that a baptism for a Sarah Thomson has not been found.
Monmouth Co., research has uncovered some marriages for the daughters of Agnes Thomson of Middletown as such:
John BROWN and Richard BATES, both of the County of Monmouth... [bound to]... Lewis MORRIS, Governor... 500 pounds... 23 Jan 1743 ... John BROWN... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Barbery THOMSON of the county abovesd, spinster... [w] Tho's BARTOW consent of Augnis THOMSON for dau. Barbery; Jan'y 23, 1743/4."
It should be noted here that Barbery married John Brown and Richard Bates helped him pay the £ 500 fee. Barbery is a familiar form of Barabra and was the name by which Barbara’s maternal grandmother, Barbara Verdon was known. Please note that Agnes named one of her granddaughter as Agnes Brown in her 1760 will. Richard Bates later married Agnes Thomson (or Angenietje as her name was known in Dutch) on 7 Nov 1745. Femmetje is the Dutch name for Phebe who is another daughter listed in Agnes Thomson’s 1760 will. So the only known daughter not listed in the New Amsterdam Baptisms is our Sarah. But since she was married 3 Apr 1751 then it is very possible that she was the youngest child. Angenietie married Richard Bates at age 19 so if Sarah was born in the latter part of 1732 then she would be age 19 also. It is very possible that Jan Schouten Thomasse and Angenietje Bennet moved from New York City after the birth of Femmentje to a locality without a local Dutch Reformed Church. It is also very possible that Jan died about this time which may also explain why a baptism was never recorded for Sarah. The last mention of Agnes Thomson in the New Amsterdam Church was a 3 Jul 1754 baptism of Thomas son of William Brouwer and Lea Maas, where she is listed as Angenietje Bennet the widow of John Schouten Thomason. It should be remembered that many New Jersey families often returned to their Long Island roots for a visit once or twice a year. But I know what you are thinking. What proof do we have that ties John Schouten Thomason to Middletown, Monmouth Co., New Jersey? Perhaps what surprised me the most was that our Agnes Thomson was buried at the Freehold Middletown Dutch Reformed Church “Old Brick Church Yard” near Marlboro in Monmouth CO., NJ and incredibly the stone has had the name of Agnes' husband etched upon it all of this time! The only problem is that nobody bothered to transcribe it in the first 143 years of its existence and now it is almost illegible. But wait, some bright and enlighten doctor named John Stillwell read what he could on it back in 1903 and put it in an old crusty book called Historical and Genealogical Miscellany vol. II, p. 310. This is what he was able to make out of the weather etched stone:
"Agnes. wife of H___ Seomla Thomson died Jany, ___ Anno Domini 1750-60, aged 51, 6, 3, {Much Worn}.
My guess is that when the stone was first etched by cold steel back in January of 1760 it read “Jan Schoute Thomson” and instead of 1750 it read “1760 aged 59, 6, 3”. This would put her birth date at Jul 1700 which fits right in with the 8 Sep 1700 baptismal date of Angenietje Bennet daughter of Jacob Adriaense Bennet and Barbara Verdon. DelLynn Leavitt Director of Research.
- [S20] Internet History and Family History sites., Early NJ Marriages, .
#113; Hendrick HENDRICKSON Jr and Lewis FORMAN, both of Middletown... [bound to]... Jonathan BELCHER, Governor... 500 pounds... 3 April 1751. ... Hendrick HENDRICKSON... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Sarah THOMSON of Middletown af'd, spinster... [w] Tho:s BARTOW [consent] April 2, 1751 ... I have consented to the marriage of my son Hendrick to Agnes TOMSON's daughter Sarah... [signed] Hendrick HENDRICKSON
Contributed to the USGenWeb Archives by by Patricia M. Bergener (fmlyhstry@verizon.net) (c) 1999. Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Early New Jersey Marriages - Extracts from microfilm copies of original marriage bonds in possession of NJ Dept. of Education, Division of State Library Archives & History, filmed in 1966. "Marriages are from various counties, and are arranged in groups by surname, but not alphabetical within groups." (Family History Library Catalog; 0888701-0888710) I have capitalized all surnames for ease in identification. When there was a discrepancy with a name in the body of the bond and the signature, the difference of the signature is in parentheses An asteric * indicates spelling of a locality as found in document. FHLC 0888704; Vol. H; 1735-1795 (806 bonds)
- [S5] Family History Library, 35 North West Temple, Salt Lake City Utah 84150, NJ Vital Records, Marriage Records 1711-1878, Bonds G-H 1735-1795 FHL #802938 Vol H. p. 113.
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Descendants of Hendrick Willemsz
Abt 1732 - 
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