B. about 1635 in (probably) Netherlands
M. 26 Dec 1667 in Southampton, New York
Wife: Magdalena Hendricks
D. 8 Aug 1681, Southampton, New York
The mystery of Cornelius Vonck is how a Dutchman ended up living in a settlement on eastern Long Island that was populated almost entirely by people from New England. His birth date and birth place are unknown. The first appearance of his name was on a list of inhabitants of Southampton from 1657; assuming he was an adult, that puts his birth date in the 1630s or earlier. Given the date, it’s likely that Cornelius was born in the Netherlands, but whether he first migrated to New Netherland, or came directly to eastern Long Island is a fact lost to history.
When Cornelius turned up in Southampton, the settlement had been in existence less than 20 years. It was founded by a group of men from Massachusetts seeking to expand the colony into this remote location. Southampton had all of the civic structure of any village in New England, with religion as a base of authority and a local council who reported to the General Court in Boston. The Dutch in Manhattan immediately questioned the rights of these people to settle there since New Netherland leaders claimed that Long Island was in their jurisdiction, but after meeting with the new settlers, they allowed them to stay.
The list of Southampton inhabitants from 1657 showed that there were a total 61 men as heads of households, most of them known to have originated in Massachusetts. The town was laid out on a couple of strips, with most of the homes being on “Main Street,” but Cornelius was among three lots described as “up the hill,” positioned between lots owned by men named Ben Davis and John Cooper. Cornelius was the only one on the list appearing to have a Dutch name; in later
records he was identified as a “German” or Dutchman, suggesting his
nationality was an outlier in the community.
Cornelius likely farmed some of his land, but was also noted as a “cordwainer,” or shoemaker. Perhaps it was a skill he brought from his native country; a shoemaker in the 17th century custom-made his product for his customers, shaping pieces of leather on wooden forms and stitching them together. For a town so remote, Cornelius' service was likely the only way settlers could easily acquire their footwear.
On December 26, 1667, Cornelius married a woman named Magdalena Hendricks. It’s believed that she was from a family living in Flatbush, and it’s easy to imagine that Cornelius traveled there to find a wife. The marriage took place in Southampton, and the following August, their first child was born; by 1681, Magdalena gave birth to seven more.
Over the years, Cornelius was involved in several land transactions in Southampton. A couple of weeks after he got married, he purchased a house with 8 acres from his neighbor, Ben Davis. A few years later, he sold some pasture land, and another 5 acres he owned to other settlers. On August 6, 1677, he purchased 10 acres from Davis in a section of the town called Sagaponack. In the present day, this area is the most expensive zip code in the United States, with a median home sale price in 2016 of $5,125,000.
Cornelius died in Southampton on August 8, 1681, leaving his widow Magdalena with six underaged children. She sold their home in Southampton and moved to Flatbush, where she remarried in 1689.
Children:
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 Van Henglen (?-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
Records of the Town of Southampton, 1660-1717, J.H. Hunt (printer), 1877
Register in Alphabetical Order of the Early Settlers of Kings County, Long Island, N.Y., Teunis G. Bergen, 1881
Sagaponack, New York (Wikipedia article)
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