Gerritt
Hendricks
aka Hendrix
Born about in Kriegsheim Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich
Ancestors 
Son of Hendrick Gerrits
and Mary (Unknown) Gerrits
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Mary Johnson
— married
[date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Willem Boekenoogen Hendricks, Leendert Boekenoogen Hendricks and Sarah (Hendricks) Shoemaker
Died about
at about age 41
in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Profile last modified
| Created 4 Oct 2011
This page has been accessed 3,180 times.
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Biography
Gerritt was a Friend (Quaker)
Gerritt Hendricks was of German and Dutch parentage. He was born ca. 1650 (sources say 1649 to 1654; but his son William was born in 1670, making a 1649/50 date more likely than 1654) in Kresheim (later Kriegsheim), a village near Worms in the Rhineland Palatinate. Dutch and German were both spoken there and families intermarried as there were many towns ruled by the House of Orange (Dutch) in the area. The Hendricks family was allied with the Schumacher family who were prominent Mennonites (religious dissenters who followed the doctrines of Menno Simons). Gerritt and his father, Hendrick Gerrits, converted to the Quaker faith along with the Schumachers as a result of visits from Quaker missionaries, William Ames and George Rolfe. Gerhard's sister, Sarah Hendricks, married Rev. Peter Phillip Schumacher. Sarah was born in Germany ca. 1626/28. There is no record of her emigrating to America in 1685 with Peter Schumacher, so it is likely she died before that date in Kresheim.
Research Notes
The following information may not be completely correct. Hull suggests Gerritt married Sytje Boekenoogen, but, in the same sentence, implies that Gerritt Hendricks of Kriegsheim, the Quaker, and Gerrit Hendricks de Wees of Amsterdam, Dutch Reformed, are the same person. They are not. Gerrit Hendricks de Wees immigrated to New Amsterdam in 1665 and did not come to Germantown until 1690. More research is being undertaken to sort out the correct spouse and children. (Entrikin-5 06:22, 14 April 2024 (UTC))
- In about 1669, Gerritt married Dutch-born, Sytje Bonetkoe Boekenoogen, and they had a son, Wilhelm (aka Willem), born in 1670 in Kresheim. They also had a daughter Sarah and a son Leendert (Lambert). Gerrit/Gerhard was a Quaker convert along with Peter Schumacher. They were persecuted in Kriesheim due to their refusal to take oaths and to pay taxes or tithes to the state. Eventually, Gerhard, Peter Schumacher and Arnold Cassel applied to emigrate to Holland (and later to Pennsylvania) to escape the situation they found themselves in. A visit from Francis Daniel Pastorious in 1683 may have prompted their exit. [1] In 1685 the family emigrated with the Schumacher family via London to Philadelphia, moving to Germantown.
- Apparently Sytje Boekenoogen died shortly after their 1685 emigration to America because Gerhard re-married to Maria Sophia Johnson [an English surname] in Philadelphia (date unknown). She may have been a Quaker - more research would be needed to determine this. Gerhard Hendricks is said to have died in Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, in 1691.[2]
-Biography by Chet Snow (Thank you)
From Perry Hilbert: Found this printed passenger list from the Francis and Dorothy arrived August 1685: The "ffrancis and Dorothy" from London, Richard Bridgeman commader...arrived Philadelphia 12th of the 8th MO, 1685 Isaac Sheepheard and geretruce his wife and Margaret his dau. John PEter Umstat and BArbara his wife, john his sonn, Margaret and Eave his daughters. Garret Hendrix and Mary his wife and Sarah his daugher. Henry Fry, his servant. Peter Shoomaker and Peter his sonn, Mary his dau and Sarah his cosen; Frances and Gertrude, his daughters. Henry Pookeholes and Mary his wife. Aron Wonderly. John Saxby and Elizabeth his wife and John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Lucy and Ester his Children.[3] This would indicate that Gerritt's wife upon arrival was Mary, and Sarah had already been born.
Also: Noteworthy fact- On April 18th 1688 Gerritt was part of a group of Quakers that presented the first petition against slavery on this continent (this according to The Settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania: And the Beginning of Germantown,listed below, by Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker who is Pennypacker-50 on wikitree.[4]
Sources
- ↑ Hull, W. Isaac. (1935). William Penn and the Dutch Quaker migration to Pennsylvania. [Swarthmore, Pa.: Swarthmore college]. 289-290. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.39000004680372&view=1up&seq=337
- ↑ Researched and added by Chet Snow, July 12, 2014. Note: death dates for Gerritt and Mary may have been transposed by earlier researchers - that would mean she died in 1691 and he lived to 1740 - this fits the marriage record better but needs research.
- ↑ http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/chester/immig/ships1685.txt
- ↑ The Settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania: And the Beginning of Germantown by Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker pages 118, 58 and 146 Gopgle Books also available at Archive.org
See also:
- The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania By Oscar Kuhns pages 40 and 39 https://books.google.com/books?id=j0cVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=Hendricks&f=false
- The Settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania: And the Beginning of Germantown by Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker pages 118, 58 and 146 Goigle Books also available at Archive.org
- History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by Davis, W. W. H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910; Ely, Warren S. (Warren Smedley), b. 1855; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921 published in 1905 by Publisher New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. page 495 https://archive.org/stream/historyofbucksco03davi#page/494/mode/2up
- Hull, W. Isaac. (1935). William Penn and the Dutch Quaker migration to Pennsylvania. [Swarthmore, Pa.: Swarthmore college]. 289-290. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.39000004680372&view=1up&seq=337
- Wikipedia. History of the Quakers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Quakers#Netherlands
- Source: S-244146318 Repository: #R-846824311 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=73281408&pid=417
- Repository: R-846824311 Name: Ancestry.com uploaded by Mark Eby
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H > Hendricks > Gerritt Hendricks
Categories: William Penn and Early Pennsylvania Settlers Project
Philadelphia 12th of the 8th MO, 1685 Isaac Sheepheard and geretruce his wife and Margaret his dau. John PEter Umstat and BArbara his wife, john his sonn, Margaret and Eave his daughters. Garret Hendrix and Mary his wife and Sarah his daugher. Henry Fry , his servant. Peter Shoomaker and Peter his sonn, Mary his dau and Sarah his cosen; Frances and Gertrude, his daughters. Henry Pookeholes and Mary his wife. Aron Wonderly. John Saxby and Elizabeth his wife and John, Thomas , Elizabeth, Lucy and Ester his Children.
Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/chester/immig/ships1685.txt
This would indicate that Gerhardt's wife upon arrival was Mary. and Sarah had already been born. In addition, I find the name Henry Pookeholes and Mary his wife. Since I can't find the original, I have to wonder whether the name was actually Willem's middle name, Bookenoogen and simply transcribed differently due to poor handwriting. IIRC, I have seen a written list that said Gerhardt Hendricks de Weese. written out. Can't locate it now.
The list does mention the Umstatts and the Shcumachers who traveled with him. According to what I read, Hendricks and another purchased property, while traveling through Holland and there is a notarial record of the deeds there.
edited by Perry Hilbert
edited by Perry Hilbert
[ost] S[criptum] Auch gn[ä]d[iger] Graff undt Herr [etc.]
Seindt [ = es gibt ] zu Griesh[eim] 5 Hausgesäß [ = die mit einem Hause angesessene Familie] Quaeker, welche in dem Orth nicht nur, wie gnugsam bekandt, viele Ärgernuß geben, sondern auch viel Unruhe undt Mühe veruhrsachen; dann zu geschweigen, daß sie nun und dan[n] einige in Holl- und Engellandt gedruckte Tractätlein, ihre Secte betreffendt hie[r] bevor ausgeben habenn, undt also ihren Gifft anderen beyzubringen sich bemühen, so achten sie keine Obrigkeith, wollen durchaus gnedigster Herrschafft kein Schutzgeldt undt dem Hohen Dhumbstifft Worms in gleichen des Orths Pfarrern az ordentlichen ?matore keinen Zehenden geben, difficultirem die Türckensteuer zu erlegen [ = bezahlen], thun auch ihre Huth und Wachten nicht wie andere Gemeinsleuthe, über dieses wann mann ihnen ihres schuldigen Schutzgeldes oder [gestrichen: anderer] anderer ohnumbgängl[ichen] Ursachen wegen, ein Stück Vieh, Wein oder Früchten angreifen undt verkaufen thut, tragen sie keine Scheu zu sagen, man habe es ihnen gestohlen, oder zu denen, so es gekauft, sie hetten gestohlen Guth gekauft, dahero dan und weilen an diesem Orth ?ohl die Güter sehr angenehm, und nicht wohl vor Geldt zu haben seind, diese Leuthe aber, die mehrste und beste besitzen, habe hiermit höhere Anweysung anheim geben sollen, ob nicht billig diesen Leuthen anzubefehlen seye, daß sie wie andere Underthanen praestanda praestieren [Latin = die auferlegten Abgaben entrichten], oder aber ihre Gütter verkaufen, und das Landt räumen sollen.
Hochh[eim], d[en] 5. July 1684. Euer Hochgnädigsten Excellenz Underth[änig] Treu Gehorsamer Schmal
Translation by Lou and Cris Hueneke
P. S. Also, Gracious Count and Sir (or Lord)
There are in Griesheim (Kriegsheim) 5 households of Quakers who, not just in this town, as is well known, give much aggravation, but also cause much unrest and bother; ...
… not to mention that they now and then have given out some little tracts, printed in Holland and England, introducing their sect, and have also tried to teach their poison to others …
… they respect no authority, and throughout (your) gracious reign, have been unwilling to pay any protection money, or to pay tithes to the high-domed cathedral in Worms or to recognize the town pastors' authority …
… it is difficult to get them to pay the Turkish War tax and they refuse to stand duty as night watchmen as do others in the community, and above all this, when (the authorities) confiscate some livestock or wine or fruit for back taxes or other unavoidable reasons, and sell them, they are not afraid to say that the goods were stolen from them or to accuse those who buy them of buying stolen property …
… then, here in this town, these goods are desirable and can't (otherwise or normally) be bought with money …
… but these people, who own the most and the best, might better have listened to higher instructions, (i.e.) that it might have been cheaper to instruct these people to be subject, like other faithful (citizens), or else to sell their belongings and leave the country.
Hochheim the 5th of July 1684
Your high-gracious Excellence (referring to the Count whom he is addressing), Faithfully true, Obedient, Schmal
COMMENTS
This is apparently an addition to an earlier letter. Of the three Schmal documents I have, this one was written first, in July, 1684, then "Hochgebohrner" in August, and finally the letter of November regarding the Mennonites.
There are several Griesheims in Germany today, but none of them is in Rhineland-Pfalz, the state in which Worms and Kriegsheim are located. It appears to have been determined by others that Griesheim is an archaic spelling of Kriegsheim. Schmal spells it Kriegsheim in "Hochbebohrner." He does not mention Kriegsheim in the November letter. There is no reason to think the he is referring to a town other than Kriegsheim in this letter.
The list of the families from the later letter: 75 fl. Henrich Gerhardts 450 fl. Peter Schuhmacher 626 fl. Georg Schumachers Wittib 450 fl. Johannes Castel 450 fl. Stoffel Moret 370 fl. Joh. Gebhardts Wittib
edited by Perry Hilbert
edited by Perry Hilbert
BTW, Their are several Hendricks listed as persecuted in Holland in the early 1600's in Holland in the 1660 book, Martyr's Mirrors about the persecution and deaths of anabaptists in Holland. If born in Holland, having a first Dutch wife would then make sense. IIRC, Mary Johnson was the name of an English Quaker missionary who traveled through Germany with other Quakers. One of the things the Germans disliked about the Quakers was that women Quakers would actively try to convert people in public. Last, I ran into three contemporaneous Sarah Hendricks, all connected to Gerhard. His daughter, a sister and a wife, although that might be some strange Anglicanization of Sitjie. One other Americans studying the family, claims that Willem was a nephew, not a son, because Gerhard left everything to his daughter Sarah. Had Willem been a son, he would have received the bulk of the estate. The history of the family as stated in the History of Bucks County Pennsylvania, as apparently related by Joseph A Hendricks (born 20 May 1829) reports Willem to be Gerhard's son. If Gerhard was born in Holland, the typical German name customs would not have applied.
I had documentation for some of this, but lost much of my research in a house fire 7 years ago.
Is every body confused yet?
edited by Perry Hilbert
edited by Perry Hilbert