Our grandfather* , Leon Arthur Merrick, was born on March 1, 1916, in Leroy, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Joseph S Merrick, fought for the Pennsylvania 136 Volunteers at Fredericksburg, Virginia (blog post here). He lost two brothers in the war.
His grandmother, Ellen 'Jane' Hotelling, was born in 1846, in Canton, Pennsylvania. She married grandpa Joseph after the war in 1864 and died in her hometown in 1909 (death certificate here). She also lost two brothers in the war.
At fourteen years old, grandma Hotelling first appears - with her family - on the federal census of Chatham Township, Tioga, Pennsylvania. The family's surname is spelled Houghtailing. (link here). Her father, listed on her death certificate, was Peter Hotaling (link here).
Her grandfather, Jacob Houghtailing, Jr., moved to Tioga County, Pennsylvania, from Rensselaer, New York, about 1835. (1840 census here).
The total of 43 matches on Mom's DNA comparison chart (above) is accurate but misleading. What we have are four firsts generation matches. The second generation, children of the same four siblings, has nine matches to Mom's DNA test. That totals 10 direct descendants. All the other matches are children of children. The number between the ancestor and the testee is the generations downward. (Relationships shown are to my Mom, Charlotte (Merrick) Musgrove.
New Netherlands
In 1607, when Henry Hudson sailed up the river named after him, he had one task; 'claim' land in the New World for his employer, the Dutch West India Company. He did his job well, 'discovering' territories along the coasts of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut.
By 1621, the Dutch were granted a charter for fur trading and, in 1624, they established the first Dutch trading outposts. At first, the French and British colonies - on either side of them - let them alone.
But by 1655, the Dutch colonies suffered some defeats at the hands of the British. Last-ditch efforts were made to hold onto the territory for the Netherlands.
Our ancestor was part of that effort. The first Hotaling to immigrate to the New World was Mathys Conradtsen Houghtailing.
*Note: Relationships, such as grandmother, 2nd great, etc., are expressed from the perspective of the grandchildren of Leon Arthur and Anna Grace (Fuller) Merrick.
Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.
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| Joseph S and Ellen J (Hotaling) Merrick Find-a-Grave |
His grandmother, Ellen 'Jane' Hotelling, was born in 1846, in Canton, Pennsylvania. She married grandpa Joseph after the war in 1864 and died in her hometown in 1909 (death certificate here). She also lost two brothers in the war.
Ellen 'Jane' (Hotelling) Merrick
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At fourteen years old, grandma Hotelling first appears - with her family - on the federal census of Chatham Township, Tioga, Pennsylvania. The family's surname is spelled Houghtailing. (link here). Her father, listed on her death certificate, was Peter Hotaling (link here).
Her grandfather, Jacob Houghtailing, Jr., moved to Tioga County, Pennsylvania, from Rensselaer, New York, about 1835. (1840 census here).
Hotaling Surname
Americanized spelling of Dutch Hoogteijling, an indirect occupational name for a productive farmer, from hoogh ‘high’ + teling ‘cultivation’, ‘breeding’. - Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press - Ancestry
Jacob Houghtailing, Jr. DNA
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| click to enlarge |
The total of 43 matches on Mom's DNA comparison chart (above) is accurate but misleading. What we have are four firsts generation matches. The second generation, children of the same four siblings, has nine matches to Mom's DNA test. That totals 10 direct descendants. All the other matches are children of children. The number between the ancestor and the testee is the generations downward. (Relationships shown are to my Mom, Charlotte (Merrick) Musgrove.
New Netherlands
New Netherlands map
The colony of New Netherland was located in what are now parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Dutch settlers laid the foundation for cities that still exist today.
Beverwijck, once a center of the fur trade, is now Albany, New York. New York City was originally called New Amsterdam, and New Castle, Delaware was once known as New Amstel. - New Netherlands Institute
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| Ft Orange on the Hudson map |
In 1607, when Henry Hudson sailed up the river named after him, he had one task; 'claim' land in the New World for his employer, the Dutch West India Company. He did his job well, 'discovering' territories along the coasts of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut.
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| Dutch fur trade - New Amsterdam |
By 1621, the Dutch were granted a charter for fur trading and, in 1624, they established the first Dutch trading outposts. At first, the French and British colonies - on either side of them - let them alone.
But by 1655, the Dutch colonies suffered some defeats at the hands of the British. Last-ditch efforts were made to hold onto the territory for the Netherlands.
Our ancestor was part of that effort. The first Hotaling to immigrate to the New World was Mathys Conradtsen Houghtailing.
Mathys Coenraets Houghtaling
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| click to enlarge |
The first mention of Mathys Coenradtsen is the appearance of his name on a list of boys and girls from the almshouse in Amsterdam, Holland, who were being sent to the New World to work for the Dutch West India Company and to "increase the population of New Netherlands."
The letter of transmittal to Peter Stuyvesant from the Burgomasters of Mathys Coenratsen Houghtaling Family Amsterdam, noting the names and ages of the children, is dated 27 May 1655 and includes "Mathys Coenratsen, 16 years of age"
(CDNY 14:3250. The late William J. Hoffman, an authority on early Dutch immigrants, states, in a manuscript in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society library, "On account of the unusual combination of names, Mathys Coenraets (the almshouse child) is probably identical with Mathys Coenraets of Albany." He notes the apparent discrepancy in their ages (the almshouse child having been born about 1639, and the Albany settler about 1644), but adds, "Ages as given in records were notoriously incorrect and these are not far apart."' - Brief Family HistoryNext post: Mathys Houghtaling
New Netherlands
Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.
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