Dutch Reformed Church

Isaiah Golden – Old Bushwick Dutch Reformed Church Membership

Isaiah and Susanah Golden were members of the Old Bushwick Reformed Church, a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church.  They were received into the congregation on April 10, 1898 by method of confession.  According to the church record, they eventually left the church, but the date and circumstances of their departure was not noted.[1]

Isaiah Golden - Old Bushwick Reformed Church

Old Bushwick Dutch Reformed Church

The Church was located on the corner of Conselyea and Humboldt Streets in Brooklyn, with Old Woodpoint Road and Skillman Avenue bounding the church on the other sides of the building.  This was just two blocks from the family home and business. Originally founded in 1654 in the Dutch settlement of Bushwick (“Boswyck”), the church was remodeled and added on to in both 1711 and 1829.  The church was disbanded in 1919, with the building demolished. [2]  The land was eventually sold the Roman Catholic Church, and S. Francis of Paola Roman Catholic Church now stands on the site.  The records from the church were lost in part, when a city janitor used the papers to start fires in the furnace at Brooklyn City Hall.[3]

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Wed__Apr_29__1936_New_York_Tribune_Sun__Jan_31__1904_

As early as 1909, citizens of Brooklyn were trying to save the church, stating “…we should remember that this church building is the only connecting link in the Eastern District between the dim past and the present.  Other cities carefully guard old landmarks, and try to preserve them for the benefit of later generations.  Why not spare this venerable structure and extend Bushwick Avenue through Woodpoint Road in a trifling curve around the church?”[4]  The church has been struggling in the years before it disbanded because the neighborhood had changed significantly, as mainly Italian Catholics had moved into the area.[5]

The first church built on the property was octagonal in shape with a high roof, characterized as “resembling a haystack”.  When initially built, it was an open enclosure, without pews for the congregation, who would bring their own seats to church.  In 1795, pews and a gallery were added.  Eventually the original church was replaced with a more modern building in 1829, and then further remodeled in 1876.  In 1878, a school building was added to the property.  At first the church has a squatter’s claim to the property, until a bill passed in Albany in 1800 gave them ten acres in the village of Bushwick.  The school building was the first to be sold off to the Polish Catholic Church.[6]

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1918_

Transcript

Old Bushwick Reformed Church: 1 July 1909, Page 56

GOLDEN, ISAIAH, Received 10 April 1898 by Confession, Remarks Left

GOLDEN, SUSANAH S., Wife, Received 10 April 1898 by Confession, Remarks Left

 

[1] The Archives of the Reformed Church in America; New Brunswick, New Jersey, Bushwick Church, Church Register, 1789-1914, US Selected States Dutch Reformed Church Membership Records, 1701-1995, Provo, UT, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2016.

[2] “Bushwick Dutch Reformed Church Records, 1713-1817,” http://brooklynhistory.org/library/wp/bushwick-dutch-reformed-church-records-1713-1817/.

“Brooklyn Reformed Dutch Church Records,” http://bklyn-genealogy-info.stevemorse.org/Worship/BklynReformedDutchRecords.html.

“Old Bushwick Dutch Reformed Church Remembered,” http://www.whowalkinbrooklyn.com/?p=1139.

[3] “Dutch Records of Old Bushwick Used to Light Fires in Brooklyn City Hall,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 21 April 1918, Page 9, Newspapers.com.

Google Map view of Conselya & Humbolt, Brooklyn, https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7154099,-73.9426813,3a,90y,1.24h,88.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdChenISveKNuGko8yOgXQA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[4] Letter from Eugene Armbruster to the Editor of the Brooklyn Times, September 11, 1909, reprinted in “Old Bushwick Dutch Reformed Church Remembered,” http://www.whowalkinbrooklyn.com/?p=1139

[5] “Old Bushwick Church: Dutch Reformed Society There Will Soon Be 250 Years Old,” New York Tribune, 31 January 1904, Page 10, Newspapers.com.

[6] “Dutch Records of Old Bushwick Used to Light Fires in Brooklyn City Hall,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 21 April 1918, Page 9, Newspapers.com.

“Old Bushwick Church: Dutch Reformed Society There Will Soon Be 250 Years Old,” New York Tribune, 31 January 1904, Page 10, Newspapers.com.

52 Ancestors – #8: Jannetje Zweersen

Jannetje Zweersen was born on 8 February 1713 in Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands.  She married Sjouke Sijes Noteboom in Amsterdam, where they lived for awhile. They were both members of the Dutch Reformed Church.  Jannetje gave birth to thirteen children.  Her oldest, Jan, was born in 1734 and lived for 78 years.  Sije, the second son, was born in 1735 and lived 64 years.  Jacob, was born in 1737 and died as a young child at the age of 6.  Fennigje, her first daughter, was born in 1739 and died in 1744 at the age of 5.  Atje was born in 1741 and died eight years later.  The second Jacob was born in 1742 and died in 1746.  Fennigien was born in 1744 and her fate is unknown.  Jakobus was born in 1746 and lived for 77 years.  Sijke was born in 1748 and her fate is unknown.  Attie was born in 1749 and her fate is unknown.  Sjouke was born in 1752 and died as an infant.  The second Sjouke was born in 1753 and lived to be 41 years old.  Harmanus was born in 1754 and died in 1808 at the age of 54.  Jannetje died in 1799 at the age of 86 years old.  She outlived at least 7 of her children.

 

Coat of arms of the Dutch municipality of Zwolle

Coat of arms of the Dutch municipality of Zwolle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

52 Ancestors – #7: Sjouke Sijes Noteboom

Sjouke Sijes Noteboom was born sometime before 1707 in Oenkerk, Friesland, Netherlands.  He was baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church in Oenkerk on 2 October 1707.  He was a master builder and carpenter. Sjouke married Jannetje Zweersen on 1 May 1733 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Sjouke was responsible for constructing the new city council chamber behind the townhall in Leeuwarden.  He died in 1760 before construction could be completed.  He was buried on 13 December 1760 in Oenkerk.

Leeuwarden City Hall

Leeuwarden City Hall
Wutsje / Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons

52 Ancestors – #4: Sijke Andries

Sijke Andries is my 8th great-grandmother on my father’s mother’s side of the family.  She was born on September 26, 1680 in Oenkerk, Friesland, the Netherlands.  She married Sije Sjoukes Noteboom on October 9, 1702 and was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.  She is know to have one son Sjouke Sijes Noteboom.  She died in approximately 1728 in Oenkerk.1

oenkerk

Oenkerk, Friesland, Netherlands, Map Data ©2016 Google

  1.  “Sijke Andries,” Stamboom Dusseljee, (Coret Genealogie 1997-2016), https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/stamboom-dusseljee/I385.php, Accessed: 2 January 2016. ↩

52 Ancestors – #3: Sije Sjoukes Noteboom

Sije Sjoukes Noteboom is my 8th great-grandfather on my father’s mother’s side of the family.  Sije Sjoukes Noteboom was born in approximately 1680 in the Netherlands.  As an adult he was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.  His occupation was that of a master carpenter.  Sije married Sijke Andries on October 9, 1702.  Both took confession in the Dutch Reform Church in 1707 in Oenkerk, Friesland, Netherlands.  They had one child they named Sjouke Sijes Noteboom.  Sije died in about 1728 in Oenkerk.[^1]

800px-Kerkje_Oenkerk

Kerkje Oenkerk,
By http://picasaweb.google.com/molenaarserf/ [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

[^1] “Sije Sjoukes Noteboom”, Stamboom Dusseljee, (Coret Genealogie 1997-2016), https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/stamboom-dusseljee/I386.php, Accessed: 2 January 2016.