WAGENINGEN
Wageningen is an ancient town in Gelderland, about
ten miles from Arnhem. Situated on the banks of the Rhine, in a picturesque country,
fertile and thoroughly cultivated, it has been a center of trade and population, and hence
a sight of many a fierce contest, since the ninth century. In 1240 it was fortified by
Count Otto II van Gelder, who provided it with walls and stout gates. Nevertheless, in
1421 it was captured, plundered and burnt. After various vicissitudes it was in 1572
reunited to the States of Holland, and it is to this day one of the most pleasant and
quaintest towns in Holland. The growth of this town has necessitated the removal, for the
most part, of the ancient fortifications.
It was from this town that Gerrit Gerritsen and Annetje Hermansse, his
wife, with one child, Gerrit, two years old, and armed with the above certificate, set
sail on November 1660, in the ship Faith, Jan Bestevaer the captain, the fare for the
three being 90 florins (about 36 dollars). They arrived at Communipaw (New Jersey City) on
December 23, 1660.
For some reason, an older child, Catrintje, was omitted from the
passenger list. She is quite important to us as she married Adrian Post, whose daughter
Claertje married Pieter Helmighe Van Houten, the 2nd great-great-grandparents
of Mary Van Houten Van Wagoner, our grandmother, who joined the Mormon Church along with
her husband, Halmagh John Van Wagoner.
Gerritse appears to have settled in Bergen immediately after his
arrival. On October 16,1662, Director General Petrus Stuyvesant in council appointed him
one of three schepens (Magistrate or alderman with magisteral and judicial powers) for
Bergen. In the same year Gerritse was one of the petitioners for the settlement of a
clergyman at Bergen, and pledged himself to contribute six florins yearly toward his
support.