M. 7 Mar 1649 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Husband: Adrian Hegeman
D. before 16 Apr 1690 in Flatbush, New York
Catharina Margetts came from a family whose members weren't afraid to move to far flung places. Catharina was baptized in the New Church in Amsterdam on February 4, 1625. Her parents were Joseph Margetts, an Englishman, and Anna van Weedenburch, a Dutch woman, and she had six sisters and two brothers. As the daughter of a merchant-class man, Catharina received some education, at least enough to be able to sign her name.
Catharina's signature in 1649.
When Catharina was 10-years-old, her mother died, and she was listed with her seven siblings on a document dated May 2, 1635. This was the official business of the Orphan’s Chamber in Amsterdam, which came into play when a parent of minor children died, separating their inheritance in case the surviving parent remarried. The court ordered that the 8 children were to share 500 guilders between them, a significant amount of money, and it would be administered by their uncle. Catharina’s father did remarry that year, giving her two half-sisters.
On March 7, 1649, Catharina married Adrian Hegeman, a silk weaver. At the time of her marriage, she was living in Oudesyts Achterburgwal, which was a neighborhood in the east section of Amsterdam. They had two or three children born in Amsterdam, then in about 1652, the family boarded a ship to the Dutch colony in America. Adrian purchased a large tract of land in Flatbush, and they settled there. Catharina gave birth to the rest of her children on their farm, making for a total of eight, and the youngest was born in about 1665.
While Catharina settled in North America, her two brothers traveled to other parts of the globe. The older of the two, Joris, went to the Dutch colony at Recife, Brazil as a young man. By October 1648, he had ventured on to the East Indies where his name appeared on a petition in the outpost of Bativia (modern-day Jakarta) on the island of Java, but nothing more is known of him. Younger brother Joseph was known to have also spent time in Batavia, and another island, Timor, working for the Dutch East India Company. After he died in 1662, a portion of his estate was left to Catharina, which was noted in a record at New Netherland:
"To-day, the 28th of February 1664, appeared before me, Walewyn van der Veen, Notary Public …, the Worshipful Adriaen Heegeman, Schout of the Villages of Amesfort [Flatlands], Breukelen, Midewout [Flatbush] and Uytrecht on Long Island in this Province, who declared that as husband and guardian of Catharina Margits he constitutes and empowers … as his attorney the worthy Sieur Joseph Margits, his father-in-law, living at Amsterdam, Holland, to demand and receive … from the Lords Directors of the Honble East India Company, Department of Amsterdam, such moneys, as are due to his said wife from the estate of her deceased brother Joseph Margits, who died in East India, according to his testament and other vouchers…"
Batavia in the Dutch East Indies during the 17th century.
Catharina's husband Adrian passed away in 1672. In April 1688, Catharina moved from Flatbush to Manhattan, and joined the Reformed Dutch church there. She died in 1690 and was buried in the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church cemetery on April 16th.
Children:
1. Hendricus Hegeman – B. about 1649, Amsterdam, Netherlands; D. about 1710; M. Ariaentje Bloodgood, 26 Apr 1685, Flatlands, New York
2. Joseph Hegeman – B. about 1651, Amsterdam, Netherlands; D. about 1725; Femmetje Van der Beeck (1657-?), 21 Oct 1677
3. Jacobus Hegeman – B. about 1652; D. about 1741; M. Jannetje Ariens, 14 Oct 1683
4. Isaac Hegeman – B. about 1656, New Netherland; M. Marytje Roelofse Schenck, 15 Feb 1687
5. Denys Hegeman – B. about 1658, Flatbush, New Netherland; D. about 1702, New York; M. Grace Dollen (1659-1732), about 1680, Maine
6. Benjamin Hegeman – B. about 1660, Flatbush, New Netherland
7. Abraham Hegeman – B. about 1662, Flatbush, New Netherland
8. Elizabeth Hegeman – B. about 1665, Flatbush, New York; M. Tobias Ten Eyck, 12 Apr 1684
Sources:
"The Amsterdam Years of Joseph Margetts, Father-in-law of Adriaen Hegeman of New Netherland," John Blythe Dobson, New York genealogical and biographical record, Vol. 131, 2000
Genealogy website of John Blythe Dobson, which cites many other sources
Batavia, Dutch East Indies (Wikipedia article)
