A Puritan Escapes to New Amsterdam — John Sayles

B. about 1594 in England
M. (1) 11 Aug 1625 in Little Waldingfield, England
Wife: Phillip Sole
M. (2) 21 Aug 1644 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland
Wife: Maria Roberts
D. Aug 1645 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland

John Sayles has one of the most unusual migration stories for those who became American colonists in the 17th century. After just a short time in Massachusetts, this Englishman ventured to live in the Dutch colony on the Hudson — and it happened because he was something of a troublemaker.

Nothing is proven about John's origins in England (the name Sayles was also shown on various records as “Sales,” “Seals,” and “Seales”). It's believed that he was born in about 1594, likely in the area of Suffolk. The earliest record of John was his marriage to Phillip Sole on August 11, 1625 in the village of Little Waldingfield. Within the next couple of years, they had two daughters, one of whom died young. 

John and Phillip were followers of Puritanism, and they became part of the Winthrop Fleet that brought the first wave of settlers to the Massachusetts colony in 1630. After arriving, John settled in Charlestown, and was listed as one of the first members of the church, but there’s a mystery about the absence of Phillip in any records. It’s possible that she died on the ship or even before, and she was certainly deceased by early 1633. 

By 1632, things went downhill for John. A description of him that year read: “The first known thief that was notoriously observed in the country, his name was John Sales who having stolen corn from many people in this scarce time was convicted thereof before the Court, & openly punished, & all he had by law condemned & sold to make restitution."

On April 1, 1633, court records show he had gotten into some serious trouble:

"John Sayles being convicted of feloniously taking away corn & fish from diverse persons the last year & this, as also clapboards, &c., is censured by the Court after this manner: That all his estate shall be forfeited, out of which double restitution shall be made to those whom he hath wronged, shall be whipped, & bound as servant with any that will retain him for 3 years, & after to be disposed of by the Court as they shall think meet. 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." 

 

Whipping a prisoner in New England.

John appears to have escaped; it's said that he ran off to the Indians, but he was caught and brought back to justice. On March 4, 1634, the court ordered "that John Sayles shall be severely whipped for running from his master, Mr. Coxeall." John was next mentioned regarding his daughter Phoebe and the fact that in 1637, John Coggeshall gave her up to another man, John Levins of  Roxbury; he claimed "the said girl hath proved overburdensome to him." The following year, John Coggeshall joined a small group of men who became the founders of the Rhode Island colony. In 1647, Coggeshall was the first "President of all four towns in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."

By 1638, John and daughter Phoebe moved to New Amsterdam. He took a Dutch variation of his name, Jan Celes, and received a lease, grant, or permission to occupy a plantation in lower Manhattan. The location on modern maps was about west of MacDougal St., its south line being 251 feet north of Canal St; and it extended as far north as the line of Clinton St., its westward boundary being "the strand of the North River." This later became known as "Old Jan's Land." The parcel was said to later become a part of the Trinity Church property.

Map showing Old Jan's Farm superimposed over modern streets.

John seemed to continue to have trouble getting along in the community. He was cited in New Amsterdam court records again and again for disputes involving such things as shooting other people's hogs. He married a second wife, Maria Roberts, on August 21, 1644. The following year, on April 7th he wrote a will and he must have gotten involved in some violence because he said he was “wounded and lying sick abed.” He probably died shortly after the will was written. His wife remarried on August 9th, so he was certainly deceased by that date. John was an ancestor of Humphrey Bogart.

Children (all by Phillip Sole):
1.  Phoebe Sayles — B. before 1 May 1626, Little Waldingfield, England; D. 13 Dec 1666, Flatbush, New York; M. (1) Hendrick de Boer, before 1640; (2) Teunis Nyssen (~1615-~1663), 11 Feb 1640, New Amsterdam, New Netherland; (3) Jan Cornelissen Buys (1629-1690), 24 Aug 1663, Midwout, New Netherland

2. Sarah Sayles — B. 1628, Little Waldingfield, England

Sources:
"The True Identity of John Sales alias Jan Celes of Manhattan," Gwen F. Epperson, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1992

“The Family of Phillip (Sole) Sales of the Winthrop Fleet,” Patricia Law Hatcher, NEHGR, January 2014 

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
Treatise upon the estate and rights of the corporation of the city of New York, Murray Hoffman, 1862
Council Minutes, 1638-1649, Vol. 4, New Netherland Council, Holland Society of New York, 1974
Wikipedia article for John Coggeshall
GeneaStar: Famous Family Tree and Genealogy (website)