Bound as Servant for Her Father's Crime — Phoebe Sayles

B. 1625 in Little Waldingfield, England
M. (1) about 1639 in New Netherland
Husband: Hendrick de Boer Fallix
M. (2) 11 Feb 1640 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland
Husband: Teunis Nyssen
M. (3) 24 Aug 1663 in Flatbush, New Netherland
Husband: Jan Cornelissen Buys
D. 13 Dec 1666 in (probably) Flatbush, New York

Phoebe Sayles was just a child when she was forced to work for a wealthy man in colonial New England. She started out in Little Waldingfield, England, baptized there on May 1, 1625. Her parents were John Sayles and Phillip Sole, and she was their first child. They had another daughter born in 1628 who may have died as an infant, then in 1630, the family joined the Winthrop fleet migration to the new Massachusetts Bay colony. (It's uncertain whether or not Phoebe's mother died on the way over, but in any case, she was deceased by April 1633.)

The Sayles family first settled in Charlestown; Phoebe's father was one of the first members of the church there, but in 1633, he was convicted of stealing, and at age 7, Phoebe was ordered to work for a man named John Coggeshall. The ruling declared, "John Sayle is bound with Mr. Coxeshall for 3 years, for which he is to give him [?] 4 per annum; his daughter is also bound with him for 14 years. Mr. Coxeshall is to have a sow with her, & at the end of her time he is to give unto her a cow calf."

John Coggeshall released her on June 6, 1637, the court record saying, "regard Phebe Seales was, by order of Court, put apprentice to John Coggeshall, of Boston, merchant, who, at the instant request of the Court, accepted the same, & for that the said girl hath proved overburdensome to him, the Court, as formerly, so now, have thought it just to ease him of it; & whereas the said girl was put by the said John Coggeshall to one John Levins, of Roxberry, to be kept at a certain [?], it is now ordered, that Mr. Deputy, calling to him Mr. Brenton & Will[iam] Parks, chosen by the said 2 parties, shall have power to end the difference between the said parties, & to set down such order for the ease & discharge of the said John Coggesall, & disposing of the said Phebe, as they shall think equal." At the time, John Levins was 55 years old and had a bedridden wife. John Coggeshall went on to become one of the founders of Rhode Island in 1638, and he was elected president of the colony in 1647.

After being released from her servitude, Phoebe rejoined her father, who now seemed to be living alone, likely widowed. The two then made an unusual move: they resettled in the Dutch colony, making their home in New Amsterdam. Phoebe became known as Femmetje Jans; Femmetje was the Dutch variation of Pheobe, and Jans “meant daughter of Jan,” or John. 

New Amsterdam around the time Phoebe lived there.

At age 14, Phoebe got married, a common age for brides in early colonial America. Her new husband was named Hendrick de Boer Fallix, but the marriage was brief because on February 11, 1640, she married a different man named Teunis Nyssen. They settled on a farm in Manhattan (in present-day Soho), before moving to Gowanus near Brooklyn. During this time, Phoebe gave birth to at least nine children. In 1655, they moved once again to a farm in Flatbush. 

Teunis passed away in about 1663, and Phoebe married a third husband, Jan Cornelissen Buys on August 24th. She died just a few years later on December 13, 1666, and was buried in the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery. Phoebe left many descendants, and among them is actor James Spader.

Children (all by Teunis Nyssen Denyse):
1. Jannetje Teunise — B. before 22 Dec 1641, New Amsterdam, New Netherland; D. 1734, New York; M. Titus de Vries (~1630-1689), 1660, Brooklyn, New Netherland

2. Marretje Teunise — B. before 3 Apr 1644, New Amsterdam, New Netherland; M. Derick Janse Woertman (1630-1694), 1660, Brooklyn, New Netherland

3. Annetje Teunise — B. before 18 Feb 1646, New Amsterdam, New Netherland; M. Jeronimus Jorise Rapalje (1643-?)

4. Elsje Teunise — B. before 10 May 1648, New Amsterdam, New Netherland; M. Gerret Snedeker (1640-1692), 2 Dec 1669, Brooklyn, New York

5. Femmetje Teunise — B. before 3 Apr 1650, New Netherland; M. Michiel Hansen Bergen (~1646-~1712)

6. Cornelis Teunissen Denyse — B. (probably) Gowanus, New Netherland; D. 3 Nov 1731, Raritan, New Jersey; M. Neeltje Tuneisen Bogaert (~1665-?), 22 Aug 1687, New York

7. Denyse Teunissen — B. before 12 Apr 1654, Gowanus, New Netherland; M. (1) Elizabeth Polhemius (1660-1683), 22 Oct 1682, Flatbush, New York; (2) Helen Cortelyou, 12 Aug 1685, New York

8. Jan Teunise Van Middleswart —B. before 12 Ap 1654, Gowanus, New Netherland; D. after 1742; M. Catalyntje Tunisen Bogaert (1657-1707), 16 Nov 1679, Flatbush, New York

9. Aertije Teunise — B. about 1656, (probably) Gowanus, New Netherland

Sources:
"The True Identity of John Sales alias Jan Celes of Manhattan," Gwen F. Epperson, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1992
The Bergen Family; or the descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen, Teunis G. Bergen, 1876
Records of the Court of Assistants of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, 1630-1692, Vol. II, John Noble, 1904
Wikipedia article for John Coggeshall

Famous Kin (website)