Claas (Sijmensz) Cooyman (abt. 1650 - 1696)

Born about 1650 in Wervershoof, West-Friesland, Noord-Holland, Nederland

Ancestors

Husband of Elbrich (Siemons) Simons — married 12 Jan 1673 in Andijk, West-Friesland, Noord-Holland, Nederland

Descendants

Died 25 Feb 1696 at about age 46 in Andijk, West-Friesland, Noord-Holland, Nederland

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Netherlands Project WikiTree [send private message] and Bertram Sluys [send private message]

Claas (Sijmensz) Cooyman is geboren in Noord-Holland in 1650 Join: Netherlands Project Discuss: netherlands

Biography

Klaas (Claas) Sijmensz Kooyman (or Tensen, or Backer) &Elbrigh (Elberrich, Aelbrecht) Siemens (Sijmensz): Children: Leentje (1674), Pieter (1676), Reindert (1678 – 1681, died age 3), Reindert (born 1681), Sijmon (born 1683).

Klaas made profession of faith together with his wife on February 4, 1674 in the Andijk church. They are listed there as being married and from Crimpen. He was also from Krimpen in his marriage record. The entries in the Wervershoof doopboek (baptism book) for January through May 1650 were lost. Claes was probably baptized during this time. He has always been considered the son of Symon Cornelisz & Leentje Claas.

Claas lived for some time in the “Vlaamsche Tent” on the Noorderdijk with his brother Jan Sijmensz. “Tent” (or “Tentman”). We don’t know what or where this house was. It was probably a shanty on the polder where several polder workers lived after the great flood in November 1675.

He was a sheep farmer, a cattle breeder and a bird farmer (veehouder and kooijman). “Claas Sijms” living in De Vlaamsche Tent on the Noorderdijk bought the vogelkooi (bird sanctuary) on March 3 1687. A few weeks later Claas sold De Vlaamse Tent to Dirck Pietersz Manjes, along with some grassland (4 morgens in measurement) on the outside dike by Bovenkarspel, some more land close to a canal (land was and is rarely close to the house where the owners lived / live), It’s obvious Claas couldn’t make a living off his new kooi since he bought small pieces of land in 1681, 1683 and 1688 to farm and graze his cows. Claas died when he was 46. His wife, two older sons and son-in-law then took over the care of the kooi until 1703 when his wife sold it to a lady from Enkhuizen, Antje Willems the widow of Jan Palenstijn, and her children. The sons Reinder and Pieter continued to work there for a while, teaching the new owners how to run it.

The vogelkooi obviously had a house that went along with it since Klaas bought it, moved his entire household out of the Vlaamse Tent (the name of the house where they'd been living) and sold the Vlaamse Tent a few weeks later. It stood on the Klampsloot on the south end of the Kleingouw, a favorite place for birds flying north and south to stop. The water level by the dijk was high and very slow moving. Two of Claas’ sons took on the nickname or surname “Cooyman” after this profession. There were bird farms or sanctuaries (in Dutch a kooi) like this all along the coast from Norway to northern France. A few are still in operation, including one only a few miles away from Andijk, in Zwaagdijk. These would be quiet, secluded places on a lake where several pairs of tame ducks would attract the wild birds flying through twice a year. The eggs would be collected by the “kooiman”. This was the time of the Golden Age of the Netherlands and therefore more lucrative businesses like this one were quite popular. But where did this vogelkooi come from? A public notary dated Oct 7 1673 says that Pieter Freeks Kooiman from Grootebroek finished building a bird cage on the Clingouw (Kleingouw) just before November 1 1671 (All Saints Day; "alligerheyligen") and rented his house in Grootebroek out, moving to the fogelkooy (bird sanctuary / cage) in May 1671. Dirk Admiraal from Enkhuizen owned it when Klaas bought it in 1687. It came with land of 5 morgens and 575 roeden in the area of Grootebroek and Bovenkarspel (probably right on the border, going into Kathoek).

Cooyman is spelled many different ways, including Coyman, Kooiman, and Kooyman. His youngest son Sijmen was only 13 when he died. Elbrigh eventually lived with her son Sijmen Bakker. ^[1]

Sources

• Marriage: 1702-03_2 DTB Andijk 2. Gereformeerde doop- en trouwinschrijvingen en lidmatenlijsten, 1667-1788 (met hiaten). as found at [1]

• Profession of Faith: Andijk membership records as found at [2]

• Baptism of children: 1702-03_2 DTB Andijk 2. Gereformeerde doop- en trouwinschrijvingen en lidmatenlijsten, 1667-1788 (met hiaten). as found at [3]

• Attestie about a vogelkooi on the Kleingouw dated Oct 7 1673 as found at [4]

• Kistemaker Netwerk: Het Westfriese Geslacht Kooiman as found at [5]

Footnotes

1. ↑ Entered by Bertram Sluys.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Bertram Sluys for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Bertram and others.