The Early Days of Brooklyn — Teunis Gysbertse Bogaert

B. 1625 in Heikop, Netherlands¹
M. (1) 19 Aug 1654 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland²
Wife: Sarah Rapalje
M. (2) 11 Nov 1687 in New York³
Wife: Geertje Jans Langdendyck
D. 1699 in (probably) Brooklyn, New York¹

Few men are tied the beginnings of Brooklyn, New York as much as Teunis Gysbertse Bogaert. He was one of its earliest settlers, held many civic leadership positions, and was the husband of the woman considered to be the first white child born in what is now New York.

Teunis was born in 1625 in Heikop (Hei-en Boeicop), Netherlands;¹ his parents were Gijsbert Theuniszn Bogeart and Aertijen Bastiaens. He was known to have younger siblings and he seemed have at least a basic education, but no details are known of Teunis' life before he migrated to New Amsterdam in about 1652.⁴

Dutch Reformed church in Hei-en Boeicop. (source: HenkvD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Teunis first turned up in records in the Dutch colony on August 19, 1654 when he married Sarah Rapalje in New Amsterdam.² Sarah had the distinction of being the first European child born in the New Netherland colony in 1625.⁵ She was 29 and widowed when she married Teunis, and had eight children from her first marriage to Hans Bergen. With Teunis, she had seven more born between 1655 and 1668, of which one died as an infant.⁴

On October 24, 1654, Teunis was granted 100 acres of land by Governor Stuyvesant.⁶ The tract of land was at Bedford (in present-day Bedford-Stuyvesant) and he shared the grant with another settler, Aert T. Middagh. In 1661, he sold a part of the original Bergen tract to another prominent Dutch pioneer, Rem Janse Vanderbeek,⁶ his neighbor who married Jannetje, sister of Sarah Rapalje. On April 5, 1667, he obtained a patent in his own name of Hans Bergen's patent of 420 acres in Wallabout.⁴

Teunis was appointed to several offices in the Dutch colony. On April 24, 1660, he was made a magistrate of Amersvoort and Midwout by Governor Stuyvesant.⁶ In 1662, Teunis was a member of the Bushwick Militia, and he served under Captain Ryck Lydecker for several years.⁶ On Mar 19, 1663, he became a magistrate in Brooklyn, succeeding his father-in-law, Joris Rapalje, serving in that capacity until 1673.⁵ He was on Governor Nicolls' patent of Brooklyn in 1664.⁶ He served as a magistrate of Bushwick in 1664 and 1665,⁴ and was a representative of Brooklyn in the Hempstead Convention of 1665.⁴

Teunis' signature in 1664

By 1673, Teunis was one of the most prosperous farmers on Long Island, and as a result, one of the largest taxpayers. In September 1676, he was taxed £331 by Brueckelen (Brooklyn). At the time he owned 5 horses, 5 oxen, 23 cows, 9 hogs, and about 80 acres of land.⁶

Teunis' wife Sarah died in 1685,² and he married Geertje Jans Langdendyck on November 11, 1687.³ Teunis died in 1699;¹ no will for him has been found in records of the colony. Perhaps the most significant legacy of Teunis is that he was the male line ancestor of Humphrey Bogart,⁷ but he also gave his name to a street in Brooklyn.

Children (all by Sarah Rapalje):
1. Aertje Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 19 Dec 1655, New Netherland;⁴ D. 11 Jun 1750, (probably) Jamaica, Queens, New York;⁸ M. (1) Theodore Polhemius (1646-1722), 24 Oct 1677, New York;⁹ Pieter Janse Stryker (1653-1741), May 1722, Flatbush, New York⁹

2. Catalyntje Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 16 Dec 1657, Wallabout, New Netherland;⁴ D. 16 Nov 1707, Somerset County, New Jersey;¹⁰ M. Jan Teunise Van Middleswart (~1654-?), 16 Nov 1679⁴

3. Neeltje Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 22 Feb 1660, New Netherland;⁴ D. young⁴

4. Aaltje Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 13 Nov 1661, New Netherland;⁴ D. 26 Mar 1735, Rockland County, New York;¹¹ M. Cornelis Claeszen (1659-1731), 11 Dec 1681, Brooklyn, New York¹¹

5. Annettje Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 9 Jun 1665, (probably) Brooklyn, New York;⁴ D. 11 Jun 1750, Newtown, Queens, New York;¹² M. Joris Abrahamse Brinckerhoff (1664-1729), 27 Aug 1687, New York¹²

6. Neeltje Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 23 Aug 1665, (probably) Brooklyn, New York;⁴ M. Cornelis Theuniszen (1657-1731), 28 Aug 1687, Brooklyn, New York¹³

7. Guysbert Tunisen Bogaert – B. before 5 Dec 1668, (probably) Brooklyn, New York;⁴ D. 25 Apr 1732, Bushwick, New York;¹⁴ M. Jannetje Van Arsdalen (~1667-1728), 16 Apr 1689, New York¹⁴

Sources:
1    Find-a-Grave listing for Teunis Gysbertsen Bogaert  
2    WikiTree listing of Sara Rapalje  
3    Marriage record of Tunis Gisbertse Bogart and Gertje Jans, U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989, Ancestry.com
4    Early Settlers of Kings County, Teunis C. Bergen, 1881, p. 41
5    Sarah Rapelje (Wikipedia article)
6    WikiTree listing of Theunis Gijsbertsz Bogaert  
7    FamousKin.com listing for Teunis Gysberte Bogaert  
8    WikiTree listing of Aertje Tunisen Bogaert  
9    Collections of the New-York Genealogical and Biographical Society, Vol. 2, p. 40
10  WikiTree listing of Catalyntje Tunisen Bogaert
11  WikiTree listing of Aeltie Teunis Boogaard  
12  WikiTree listing of Annetje Teunise Bogaert  
13  WikiTree listing of Neeltje Teunisen Teunissen  
14  WikiTree listing of Gijsbert Tunis Bogaert