Johannes Adriens Buys (1685 - 1763)

Born 1 Nov 1685 in Bergan, New Jersey

Descendants

Died 1763 at about age 77 in Poughkeepsie, New York

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Biography

Johannes moved to Cortlandt, Westchester Co., New York by 1708 (where his first child was baptized) and was in Fishkill by 1712. He was elected tax collector in 1717, an assessor in 1720, and Overseer of the Highways in the South Ward on 3 April 1722. He served as surveyor of fences in the South Ward, 1720-1722 and was probably the John Buys mentioned in the road description dated 17 April 1722. On 7 March 1726 he and Isaac Hendrickson took a lease from Adolph Philips on a farm south of the Fishkill Creek near Fishkill Village. His brother Abraham Buys took a lease with his father-in-law, Jacob Ter Bos on 8 May 1730 in the same area. Johannes Buys and his wife, Maria Brouwer were admitted to the Fishkill Reformed Church on 21 Dec 1731. He was taxed in the South Ward from 1717/18 until 1734/35 when he left to settle the area of the Beekman Patent called Oswego, an area that had no settlement prior to this, although some close by areas had begun to be settled. By 1735 Johannes and a large group of friends and family members, in total 14 families, settled on 2000 acres in the Oswego area. The first settlers were Johannes Buys, Johannes Dolson, Abraham Dolson, Benjamin Bartlett and Jacob Schouten. By 1737 Jacob Dolson, Abraham Fontyn, Hendrick Thomas, and Simon and Matthew Buys had joined them. Gabriel Wright and Hendrick Bartlett came the following year. Johannes Buys settled on a 160 acre farm in lot 17 about 1/4 mile east of the present Oswego Meeting. He paid rent from 1747 until 1763 when his son Peter took over the lease. Johannes was sued on a number of occassions by various plaintiffs seeking to collect unpaid debts (May 1738, Aug 1739, Oct 1752) and had court appointments for other legal issues in 1752 and 1753. He was taxed in Beekman from 1738 through June 1765 when the listing changed to "Farm" and in June 1768 it became Peter Buys until 1777. As Hones Byse he was listed as path master for "Swago" at the Beekman town meeting of 2 April 1750, the only town record found for him.

Sources

William J. Hoffman, "Brouwer Beginnings; The First Three Generations of the Adam Brouwer Berchoven Family", The American Genealogist 23:193-206; 24:23-32, 96-102, 161-170 (1947, 1948).

Frank J. Doherty, Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York (Pleasant Valley, New York: Frank J. Doherty, 1990), 3:66.