Dutch Reformed

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.

Ancestral Homeland – Winschoten, Groningen, Netherlands

The Noteboom family moved to Winschoten, Groningen, Netherlands from Emden, Lower Saxony, Germany in 1843.1

Winschoten is located in the northeast of the Netherlands, near the River Eems and the border with Germany.

Winschoten, Netherlands

Winschoten, Netherlands, Map Data ©2016 Google

It became a city in 1825, being granted its city rights.  The town was once populated with 13 mills, earning it the nickname “Molenstad” or “Milltown”.  Three of those mills still remain today:

  • Molen Berg, built in 1854.  Originally designed to grind corn.
  • Dijkstra Molen, built in 1862.
  • Molen Edens, built in 1763.  It is the oldest mill in Groningen.

Molen Edens

Molens Edens. Michel Dellebeke [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Dutch Reformed church, which is the one my family most likely attended, is located on the Marketplein.

Dutch Reform Church, Marktplein

Dutch Reform Church, Marktplein, Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Residents of Winschoten have a funny nickname – they are often called “tellerlikker”, which means one who licks their plate clean.  They have a reputation for eating their meals with great gusto.2

Tellerlikkers

Tellerlikkers, By Gerardus (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

  1.  Lamoraal Noteboom, “Genealogy of Sije Sjoukes,” p. 4; report to Larisa Thomas, [STREET ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Novato, California, 18 Dec 1908, rev. 1996-1998; photocopy held by Peggy McKnight Weymer, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]. Rec. Date: 20 Sep 2015.  Cit. Date: 20 Sep 2015; Revised by Wouter Antoon Noteboom, Antoon Noteboom and Johanna Lodewijks-Dusseljee. ↩
  2. “Winschoten,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winschoten, Accessed: 5 Jan 2016. ↩

Walter Noteboom’s Emigration Record from the Netherlands

Walter Noteboom, my 3rd great-grandfather, emigrated from the Netherlands on 28 June 1870.  He was headed to New York to settle with family who were already living in the United States.  His occupation at the time of emigration is listed as a skipper of a sailing ship, and his religion is listed as Dutch Reformed.  He was one of three emigrants from the town of Winschoten in 1870.

Walter Noteboom Emigration Record

Walter Noteboom Emigration Record. Groningen Archiven, “State of emigrants in 1870”.

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