Bergen County, NJGenWeb

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BIOGRAPHIES

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O-P

THE OUTWATER FAMILY.-Franz Jacobsen was a native of Oudewaer, a small town on the River Yssel, between Leyden and Utrecht, Holland. This town is also the birthplace of Arminius, after whom the "Remonstrants"were called Arminians. A picture in the Stadt-huys, by Dirk Stoop, commemorates the brutal excesses committed there by the Spaniards in 1575. Jacobsen came to America prior to 1657 and located at Albany. One of his sons, Thys Franz Outwater, went from Albany to Tappan, N. Y., in 1686, where he married Geertie Lamberts Moll (widow of Jolin Jacobs Haring). His descendants spread over Rockland County and into New Jersey. One of them, Dr. Thomas Outwater, was a noted surgeon in the Revolutionary Army. Thomas Franz Outwater, another son of Franz Jacobsen, the emigrant, removed to New York, where he married Neetie Peterse. He subsequently removed to and settled in Bergen County, south of Hackensack, where he married (2) in 1730 Jannetie Durie, widow of Cornelius Epke Banta. His children were Jacob, Thomas, John, Peter, Elizabeth, Janneke, and Annatie, all of whom married and settled around Hackensack, where their descendants still reside.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 169.

The Peack Family
John Peeck (as he spelled it), the common ancestor of the Pake and Peak families of Bergen County, still quite numerous, was of English parentage, but whether he came to New Amsterdam from Holland or England does not appear. He must have come over in 1640 or 1650, for his marriage to Maria Vlockers (widow) is recorded in the New Amsterdam church records as of February 20, 1650. This entry, unlike most of the other entries, contains no reference to the place of his nativity. As the name Peeck does not appear in any of the New York or New Jersey records prior to this, he must have been the first of the name in New Netherlands at least. The couple lived in New York, where he died in 1659. His children were at least four: Ann, 1651; John, 1653; Jacobus, 1656; and Maria, 1658.

John Peeck married in New York, July 18, 1683, Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Gysbert Van Emburgh, the American ancestor of all the Van Emburghs of Bergen County. Dr. Van Emburgh was from Amsterdam, and began as a shopkeeper and book-vender in New Amsterdam, but went from there to Albany to reside. From there he removed to Kingston, where he practiced medicine successfully, and was scheppen from 1663 to his death in 1665. His son, John, was a physician, and married a daughter of William Sandford, of Bergen County. He bought considerable land in Bergen County, where he eventually settled.

John Peeck had eight children by his wife, Elizabeth Van Emburgh, all of whom settled in Bergen County, principally in the localities called Schraalenburgh and Kinderkamack, where his descendants still flourish.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 174-175.

Post, John H.

Captain Adriaen Post first came to America from Harlengen, Holland, about 1653, as agent or manager of Baron Van der Cappellan's colony on Staten Island. Upon the destruction of that colony by the savages early in 1655, Mr. Post fled to Bergen (Jersey City), whence, in September following, he, with his wife, five children, two servants, and one girl, were taken prisoners by the savages at what is known as the second massacre of Pavonia. The family escaped by the payment of a heavy ransom, and Post was thereupon dispatched by the Bergen colonists to treat with the sachems of the Hackensack tribes for a release of other prisoners. After his return from a successful performance of this duty he settled at Bergen and eventually became one of the most active and influential members of the struggling colony. Having had some military experience in Holland, the Bergen colonists appointed him Ensign of the militia September 6, 1665. On May 12, 1668, he bought from Governor Philip Carteret lots Nos. 35, 55, 117, 100, and 164, of the Bergen common lands, containing in all about 165 acres. He built and resided on lot 164, containing fifty-five acres. On June 10, 1673, he was elected to represent the Town of Bergen in the provincial assembly, where he acquitted himself with distinction. On July 19, 1672, he was appointed Prison Keeper for East Jersey, and was the first person to hold that position. "Captain Post," by which official title he always went, died at Bergen in February, 1677. His wife's name is not mentioned. He left a large family. He was the ancestor of all the Posts in Bergen and Hudson Counties. He resided in the town on lot No. 164. His children were Adriaen, William, Elias, in the town on lot No. 164. His children were Adriaen, William, Elias, Margaretta, Francis, and Gertrude. Adriaen (2) became one of the patentees of the Aquackanock patent. The latter's two sons, Adriaen and Abraham (3), came to Bergen County in 1735, and married respectively Hendricke Ackerman and Rachel Hertie. Abraham located on the upper Saddle River, purchasing lands of Hendrick Vandelinda.

John H. Post, the subject of this sketch, is descended in the seventh generation from Captain Adriaen Post. His paternal grandfather, Henry Post, a farmer, was born in the western part of the county, but died in Secaucus, where his son, Adriaen Post, the father of John H., was born in 1818. Adriaen Post was a farmer in New Durham and Secaucus, and died in the latter place March 15, 1896, in his seventy-eighth year. His wife, Mary Van Giesen, daughter of Garret Van Giesen, died December, [sic] 31, 1891, aged seventy-two. Her family was also a very early one in Hudson County, and like the Posts was of Holland Dutch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Post had five children, namely: Henry, Leah Ann, John H., Adrian, Jr., and one who died in infancy.

John H. Post was born in New Durham, Hudson County, October 7, 1844, but has spent most of his life on a part of the old family homestead on the Paterson plank road in Secaucus. He received a thorough education, attending the public schools of Secaucus, Union Hill, and Bergen Point, and a boarding school at Deckertown, N.J., and since completing his studies has devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Post is one of the best farmers in Hudson County, and has been eminently successful. He has always taken a deep interest in public affairs, and, though never aspiring to office, has served three years as a school trustee and three years as district clerk. With these exceptions he has declined political or public preferment. In politics he is a consistent Republican, and in a quiet way has rendered efficient service to his party. He is a progressive, patriotic citizen, honored and respected, and enjoys the confidence of the entire community.

Mr. Post was married April 6, 1868, to Fredericka Huber, daughter of Frederick Huber, of Secaucus. They have four children: Adrian, Christina, William H., and Walter.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 72-73.

THE POWLESS FAMILY, still very numerous in Bergen County, trace their descent from Paulus Pietersen, who was born at Merwen, Holland, in 1632, and emigrated to this country in 1656. His wife, Tryntie Martens, was among the emigrants who came over from Holland in the ship "Gilded Beaver," in 1658. The marriage of Paulus Pietersen and Tryntie Martens is that announced on the records of the old Dutch church in New York: "Paulus Pietersen, j.d. Van Merwin int Stiff Aken in lant van Gilbert Sept 1, 1685: Merwin is a small town in Holland, and Aken a town in Prussian Saxony, on the left bank of the River Elbe. Paulus Pietersen located at Bergen, N. J., where he soon became a prominent man in all town affairs. In 1663 Governor Stuyvesant appointed him one of the commissioners to fortify the town (at what is now Bergen Square, Jersey City) against the depredations of the surrounding Indians. In the same year he obtained patents for several parcels of land in and about the Town of Bergen, containing in all thirty-seven acres. After the occupation by the British (May 12, 1668, Governor Carteret confirmed Pietersen's title to his Bergen lands. In 1764 these lands passed to the ownership of Garret Newkirk. Paulus Pietersen died December 18, 1702, and his wife's death preceded his on May 19 of the same year.

They had issue seven children, who took the surname of Powleson and Powless. Most of them remained at Bergen, but Martin Powless, the third in point of age, born in 1663, bought lands and settled near Hackensack. He married Margaretta Westervelt and reared a large family. They scattered throughout the county, and the descendants of Paulus Pietersen are numerous to-day in both Hudson and Bergen Counties.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 175.