M. before 1647, location unknown
Wife: Heyltien Aertss
D. (probably) 1664 in New York
Jurien Probasco had the unusual distinction of having lived on three different continents in the 17th century: Europe, South America and North America.
Jurien was believed to have been born with the name "Probatski." He was originally from Breslau, Silesia (which is now Wroclaw, Poland), and was likely of Polish heritage. It's not known how he came to be living among the Dutch, or how he migrated to the Dutch colony in Brazil.
The Dutch interest in South America traces back to the late 16th century when they got permission to trade with Portuguese settlements on the coast of what is now Brazil. By 1630, they had gained a foothold over sections to develop sugar plantations, and the following decade controlled much of the coast. Few Dutch people were attracted to move there, though, which is one reason why the colony ultimately failed.
Records show Jurien was living in Dutch Brazil (in present-day Recife) with his wife Heyltien Aertss; in 1647, they had a daughter baptized in the Reformed Dutch Church there. In 1654, the Portugeuse won control of the colony and the Dutch were forced to leave. Jurien and his family traveled first back to the Netherlands, then on June 17, 1654 boarded a ship called Peartree bound for New Amsterdam. He was listed as a midshipman from Breslau, and on arrival owed money to a man named Hendrick Otten, who helped finance his passage.
The voyages of Juriaen Probasco.
Jurien settled in Brooklyn and turned up in several records between 1661 and 1663 involving local church proceedings, and the ownership of a cow, which was granted to Jurien on the condition that he paid a certain amount of butter for it the following year. Another place he was mentioned was on a petition to construct a fence beyond the area known as Wallabout to protect the property of the residents there. This act led to the formation of the town of Bedford (now Bedford-Stuyvesant). Jurien seems to have died about 1664 when his wife appeared by herself in records.
Children:
1. Margaret Probasco — B. about Mar 1647, Recife, Dutch Brazil; D. (probably) young
2. Christoffel Probasco — B. about June 1649, Recife, Dutch Brazil; M. Ida Stryker, before 1675, New York
3. Anneken Probasco — B. about May 1651, Recife, Dutch Brazil; D. (probably) young
Sources:
"American Origin of the Probasco Family," William B. Alstyne, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, 1927
Register of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, New York, Teunis Bergen, 1881
"The Probasco Origins," Bryce Henderson Stevens, The Vanguard – The Newsletter of the van Aersdalen Family Association, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1998
