I have information on the Laen van Pelt family circa 1550 when they lived in the Low Countries.
The Van Pelt surname was NOT used before c1700 when the Van Pelt siblings deeded land owned by their desceased father to their brother Aert Van Pelt 01/Jan/1700. It is believed Aert and his siblings were born in Guelderland before they sailed from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam in 1663.
Their father, Antonius Laenen was born in 1624 in Over Pelt, a place in the Principality of Liege, then ruled by the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations (HRE). This very large land called Liege, which included Over Pelt, did did not become a part of the Kingdom of Belgium until some 200 years after Anthonius Laenen was born.
He and his 14 siblings were baptised at the Sint-Martinus Kerk at OP. Children baptised here were given the family name: Laen. Children baptised in the DRC at Guelderland were given a Patronymic name. It was probably something like Teunisson (son of Anthonius). The patronymic became extinct once the new surname was known. Thereafter it only appeared in church records one single time.
Note: In this time in history the only word of God allowed was the Statin Bijbel: the State Bible.
The Dutch used no middle names in the 17th century. There was no "? Laenen Van Pelt" for this is an incorrect tranlation that plagued 19th century authors. Correctly written the name is "? Laenen van Pelt" (Lane from Pelt - a shortend form of Over Pelt [Overpelt].
Anthonius Laenen was married four times. To the best of my knowledge his children were born to his first two wives who died. The third wife sailed with them. He married last in New York about two years before he died. The Van Pelt surname was not used in any legal document, church, or formal matter, before his death. I have not looked at the record for several years,but I believe his last marriage was listed as Anthony Lanen c1698. By this date it was legally required that Dutch names be translated into English for all legal documents..
Anthonius Laenen was the brother of my ancestor Mathies Laen. They sailed in the spring of 1663 aboard the sloop 'de Rood Roosboom' from Amsterdam . captained I believe by ? Rynerts. Due to a ninety day delay the ship landed in New Amsterdam in the fall. The sloop was in port just long enough to take on fresh supplies and water before it returned to the sea. The captain was in a great hurry to be in home before the winter storms in the Atlantic. The ship arrived on schedule in Amsterdam 60 days later. There is much more to this famly story.
Note: Generally speaking before 1700 there was no Van Pelt in the colonies. However in the later 1700s I did find one baptism of a young male named Lanen Van Pelt. His father was a Van Pelt.
Mary is an English name. Dutch children born in OP and Guelderland were not baptised with English names. Dutch names were Maijka, Moica, Maria, Jannetje. Male names: Gijsberts, Stoffel, Adriaen, Jois.
It makes it much easier to find Dutch ancestors when Dutch names are spelled the Dutch way. The trouble is it didn't always work out that way. For instance when Anthoinus and Mathies sailed on the sloop, their names were listed as Jansz/Jansson the shortened form of John's son. My best guess is this was because this group of 15, with wives and children, had many different patronymic names. The lesser of the evil was to register them all Jansson or Jansz (Jan zoon) John's sons from Land of Liege.
The voyage was delayed because it was plagued with sickness. Back in the 1600s all ships entering or leaving Amsterdam were require to stop at Texel. It was a chain of islands that protected the city from the violent stoms. It had a greater use. It was the only place where outbound ships could take on fresh water. It was where doctors boarded ships and checked crew and pasengers for sickness. If illness was found the ship was docked and the most ill of the indiviuls were moved to a hospital on one of the near islands in this chain. The ship was not cleared for passage until the sickness passed. It was on or nearTexel that Maties wife, Marijken Gijsberts [Laen] died. Mathes was a widower with five chlldren when the ship docked in New Amsterdam. He married second c 1664 Margaretje Hendrikson (?) and they had several children. He died about 1686.
These are just of my many Dutch families that include Dominie Polhemius, Van Liew, Van Kouwenhooven, Langstraet, Westerveldt, Ten Eyck, Dirkson, Lambersn, Knott,
I have more information. How do I help the Van Pelt researcher's here?
