Sixth Generation

50. Barent A. VROOMAN Sr. (^) was born on 19 February 1709 in Vrooman's Land, Middleburgh, Schoharie County, New York Colony, British Colonial America.^{3,4,5,7,12,15}
(This is a picture from atop Vrooman's Nose looking out over the Schoharie Valley.)

"Vroman's Nose Preserve is a significant landmark that dominates the skyline of the middle section of Schoharie River Valley, visible for a few miles up and downstream. Bounded on the east and south by NY 30 and Schoharie River, and the north by Mill Creek, this distinctive island of high ground is crowned by cliffs, and extends into Schoharie Valley just west of the Village of Middleburgh. Vroman's Nose summit, high above the valley lowlands, affords spectacular views of the vast expanse of rich, flat, fertile alluvial floodplain farmlands along Schoharie Creek.

The very steep south face of Vroman's Nose rises 600 feet above the Schoharie floodplain, to an elevation of 1220 feet above mean sea level. To the west of Vroman's Nose, the land dips steeply to 960 feet in a saddle ridge, then rises over a distance of three miles to a higher summit of Table Mountain at elevation 2060 feet. The summit of Vroman's Nose is rather flat and level, with an area of roughly 10 acres, and the long axis oriented east-west. This rocky, wooded island has few counterparts in the Northeast. click photo to enlarge

Vroman's Nose is composed of numerous layers of sedimentary bedrock. The uppermost and youngest layer is Hamilton Sandstone from the Devonian Era. Underlying this are older layers of softer shale and harder, more durable limestone.

This unusual geological feature is undoubtedly the result of glacial action about 50,000 years ago, when a lobe of the great continental glacier moved across this part of New York and carved the slopes which form the present Schoharie Valley. This massive ice sheet gouged out the broad and deep valley, which was later filled with sediments deposited by a river of post-glacial meltwaters. This combination of glacial scouring and riverine erosion left an island of rock cutoff from the main body of bedrock that today is the plateau named Table Mountain. And Vroman's Nose is that isolated island of bedrock.

One striking feature of Vroman's Nose summit is that its flat surface rock of Hamilton Sandstone is covered with glacial graffiti—scratches (called striae) and chatter marks produced by stones protruding from the bottom of the moving glacier. These scratches show that the glacier was moving westerly. Very likely much, if not all, of the rock surface on the summit is covered with such glacial marks, but a thin layer of soil a foot or so thick covers most of this cap rock. A small area on the western summit was cleared of soil decades ago and (according to local legend) used as a dance floor. In addition to these glacial marks, many names, initials and dates have been carved by visitors—human graffiti that has become excessive, obnoxious and unwelcome. The oldest of these man-made inscriptions is dated 1863.

This Hamilton Sandstone beautifully exposed in the south-facing cliffs is quite rich in fossils from the mid-Devonian Age—mainly brachiopods, pelycepods and trilobites. Thin sheets of the Hamilton Sandstone were popular for use as flagstone sidewalks in Albany, Schenectady, Troy and other New York cities.

The slopes of Vroman's Nose are heavily wooded, but its height, and its variations in slope and soils create distinct zones of forest types from bottom to top. The north and west slopes are gradual, with thicker soils that nurture a tall forest dominated by white pine, hemlock and maple. Many of these trees exceed two feet in diameter. The south and east slopes are very steep, with little soil and extensive rocky talus, which limits the size and diversity of species growing there. Wally Van Houten remembered when he moved to the foot of Vroman's Nose 45 years ago, the eastern slopes had been largely clear cut.

As elevation rises, soil becomes thinner and drier, the trees shorter, and white pines and maples are gradually replaced by pitch pine, oaks—especially chestnut oak—and hickory. Near the summit, bur oak, hickory and red cedar become the principal species, and these are stunted—even dwarf—in their stature."

He was christened on 12 June 1709. He died on 6 June 1782 at the age of 73.⁴

BIOGRAPHY: Gr-great-great-granddaughter of Barrant Vroman and Engeltia Swart, his wife; Philip Bergh and Christina Fox, his wife, m. 1748 (parents of Anna Margaret); William Deitz and Dorothy Warner (1723-81), his wife, m. 1743; Lambert Sternberg and Catherine Teller (d. 1777), hi s wife, m. 1728 (parents of David); Samuel Vroman and Catherine Zelia (Van Ziele) (b. 1744) , his wife, m. 1760; William Enders and Maria Margaret Kniskers (1722-1803), his wife, m. 174 2.
Barrant Vroman (1709-87), born and died in Schoharie; Adam Vroman (1740-1823), born in Schoharie; Abram Bergh (1759-1835), born and died in Schoharie; Samuel Vroman (1735-1805), born in Schoharie; Peter C. Vroman, born in Schoharie; William Deitz, captain, born in Germany; William Deitz, Jr. (1749-94), died in Schoharie; Albertus Becker (1731-90), born in Schoharie; P Philip Bergh (1729-90), born in Germany, died in Schoharie; Lambert Sternbergh (1708-84), David d Sternbergh (1743-1828), William Enders (1718-92), born in Germany, died in Schoharie, and L Lambert Sternbergh (1757-1829), all served in the 15th Albany County, New York regiment.
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BIOGRAPHY: The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Volume 62
page 134
Miss Grace Slingerland.
DAR ID Number: 61384
Born in Bethlehem, N. Y.

BIOGRAPHY: Barent A. Vroman m. 1735 Engeltia Swart (1715-93) (parents of Adam). DAR Records

Barent A. VROOMAN Sr. (^) and Engeltie SWART (^) were married on 16 July 1732.^4,5,7,10 (They were first cousins, in that his father and her mother were siblings.) Engeltie SWART (^), daughter of Teunis SWART and Christiana VROOMAN, was born on 17 December 1715 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, New York Colony, British Colonial America.^4,10,12 She died in 1793 at the age of 78.¹⁶

Barent A. VROOMAN Sr. (^) and Engeltie SWART (^) had the following children: