M. (1) 26 Dec 1667 in Southampton, New York
Husband: Cornelius Vonck
M. (2) 1 Apr 1689 in Flatbush, New York
Husband: Minne Johannes
M. (3) (probably) Dec 1693 In New York, New York
Husband: Achias Jansz Van Dyck
D. after 23 Jan 1709 in (probably) New York
Magdalena Hendricks had the unusual distinction of having lived in three different regions of New York, all in the 17th century. It’s believed that she started out in Flatbush, born in 1649 to immigrants from the Netherlands who may have been named Hendrick and Catrina. Because Dutch people often used a father’s first name as the surname of a child, it’s hard to identify who her family really was.
The first time Magdalena turned up in records is in a marriage at Southampton. This is an unusual place for a Dutch woman in the 17th century; although Southampton is in present-day New York, it was founded by settlers from New England, not New Netherland. On December 26, 1667, Magdalena married a shoemaker named Cornelius Vonck. A year later in 1668, Cornelius bought land in Southampton, the same year Magdalena gave birth to their first child. They had seven more; the youngest was born in January 1681, but a few months later, Cornelius died.
Magdalena needed a new husband, so she sold the land in Southampton and returned to Flatbush where presumably she could find another Dutchman. It wasn’t until 1689 that she remarried, this time to a widower named Minne Johannes, who was about 20 years older than she was. Minne was born in the Netherlands, and married there, then migrated to America with his wife in about 1663. Before Magdalena married him in Flatbush on April 1st, she agreed to a pre-nuptial contract which protected his six children from his first wife in the event that he died.
The couple didn't remain in Flatbush. Magdalena’s second husband Minne owned 3,000 acres in the community of Haverstraw, which was located in present-day Rockland County. Although the Dutch had been settling in the lower Hudson River Valley for almost 40 years, Haverstraw wasn’t much of a distinct town in 1689, and they were one of the few families living there. Magdalena didn’t stay there long, because by 1693, Minne died, and she returned to the New York City area.
The places where Magdalena lived.
Magdalena married a third husband, Achias Jansz Van Dyck. Her marriage record is lost, but there is a pre-nuptial agreement dated December 22, 1693, and presumably the wedding occurred close to that date. It’s likely that the pre-nuptial contract was similar to the one she signed with her second husband, clarifying the inheritance of the children of their previous marriages. They seemed to have settled in Brooklyn, where Achias died in about 1707.
There are several baptisms of Magdalena’s grandchildren where she was known to be present, the last one on January 23, 1709 in New York City. After that, she disappeared from records and probably died within a short time.
Children (all by Cornelius Vonck):
1. Alida Vonck — B. 27 Aug 1668, Southampton, New York
2. Catherine Vonck — B. 9 Mar 1670, Southampton, New York; D. 1758, Flatbush, New York; M. (1) Henry Ruttgert; (2) Henry Filkin (1651-1713), Dec 1695, New York, New York
3. John Vonck — B. 15 Nov 1671, Southampton, New York
4. Mary Vonck — B. 27 Jan 1673, Southampton, New York; M. Jan Laurensz Van Wormer, 1697
5. Magdalena Vonck — B. 2 May 1675, Southampton, New York; D. 1736, Tarrytown, New York; M. Jan Ecker (~1660-1736), 1693, Phillipsburgh, New York
6. Ida Cornelisse Vonck — B. 17 Apr 1677, Southampton, New York; D. 9 Jun 1738, Somerset County, New Jersey; M. Aucke Reyniersen Van Henglen (1677-1740), 1695, Long Island, New York
7. Barbara Vonck — B. 16 Apr 1679, Southampton, New York; D. 13 Sep 1774, Six Mile Run, New Jersey; M. Adriaen Bennet (~1670-1731), 1694, New York
8. Hendrick Vonck — B. 7 Jan 1681, Southampton, New York; M. Catheryna Hegeman (1685-?), 12 May 1706, Flatbush, New York
Sources:
The Early History of Southampton, L. I., George Rogers Howell, 1866
Register in Alphabetical Order of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y., Teunis G. Bergen, 1881
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