Third Generation

6. Hendrick Bartholomeus Meesen VROOMAN (^) was born about 1618 in Valkenburg, Zuid (South) Holland, The Netherlands.^1,2,4,5 (His middle name is also listed as "Meuse.")

(This picture is "Vrooman's Nose" in the Schoharie Valley.) He emigrated on 17 April 1664 from The Netherlands.^2,5 He arrived in the New World on "D'Eendracht" (The Concord) on 17 April 1664. He and his family settled in Albany, and later moved to the Schoharie, NY, area.

. He died on 9 February 1689/90 at the age of 72 in Schenectady County, New York Colony, British Colonial America.^2,4,5

"Hendrick Vrooman was born in abt 1618 in the Netherlands. On December 20,1648 he married Jannitgen Wouters with whom he had six children. Jannitgen died in 1662 and it is believed their youngest child, Hendrickje, died around the same time. Hendrick, along with his other five children sailed from Holland for New Netherland on April 17,1664 on the ship De Eendracht ( The Concord ). He settled in Albany and later the family moved to the Schoharie NY area.

In 1670 Hendrick rented a farm about six miles north of Albany. Here he married his second wife Geertruy Johannis. They lived there until 1675 when they moved to Schenectady and aquired about 40 acres. By Feburary of 1690 his sons Adam and Bartholomeus were also living there.

At that time the Iroquois Indians were friends of the New York Settlers. They had been attacking the French and their Indian allies as far north as Montreal. This must have lead to a feeling amoung the people of Schenectady that the French were no longer a threat to them.

On Feburary 9 1690, between eleven and midnight, 114 Frenchman and 96 Indians attacked the town of Schhenectady. A total of 60 people were killed and 27 were taken prisoner. It was reported to Albany that “Hehdrick Meese Vroman and Bartholomeus Vrooman kild and burnt...Engle the wife of Adam Vrooman shot and burnt her child her brains dashed out against ye wall.” Two more of Adam’s children, Wouter and Barnet, were among the prisoners taken to Canada. He would recover them 10 years later."

Sons Jan and Adam inherited his estate.

. Hendrick. On Wed, Jun 13, 2012, Arlyn M. Bernhardt wrote: Back in January of this year, Gary Griggs was contacted by a woman from Holland who was searching for descendents of some VROOMAN people.  There was a program being put together on Dutch TV and she thought it would be nice to have some descendents watch it on the internet.  Gary gave her my name and I corresponded with her to get the air time, etc. This program aired on Dutch TV on 6 June 2012.

I asked our daughter’s friend, Annemieke Hytinen, who is Dutch and speaks the language, to watch the program and translate it and give us a summary. 
 
"Letters Above Water – Brieven Boven Water
About the television program itself: Derk Bolt delivers the mail after 400 years ...
Reporter Derk Bolt delivers letters that were sent in the 17th and 18th century, but never arrived, to the descendants of the original recipients in the Netherlands. The letters are from a collection of 40,000 unopened Dutch personal letters that were found by chance several years ago in London at The National Archives. The letters are written by 17th and 18th century emigrated Dutch citizens sent to family members and other loved ones abroad.

In the 17th and 18th century, people were entirely dependent on handwritten letters, which were given to skippers to arrive months later at their destination. These letters frequently did not arrive, because in addition to shipwreck, pirateering was a huge obstacle. Unlike “ordinary” pirates, the British pirateering took place under the auspices of the British government.

In the context of economic warfare, the hijackers targeted the often richly laden Dutch merchant ships. These ships were boarded, the crew was properly treated, the spoils were duly registered and the documents, often very personal letters and other surface mail, stored. Only to, centuries later by chance, emerge.

After Dutch researchers from the Royal Library in The Hague and Leiden University started to review the extraordinarily rich collection of documents, a beautiful picture of daily life in the 17th and 18th centuries emerged. Worries of family life, gossip, love, war, and the toll epidemic illnesses took, to eyewitness accounts of historical events such as the lynching of the brothers de Witt in 1672.

Derk Bolt calls his work with the letter collection fascinating. "You come across one great story after another. Even more interesting is tracking the letters to the descendants and tell them about their forefathers. This sometimes produces astonishing discoveries and a great insight into people's roots. We tell remarkable stories of ordinary people. We created a historical human interest (not history) program, stories about what people did and wanted to share 300 years ago. I arrive centuries later, anno 2011, as a mailman from a distant past, to make a home delivery."

VROOMAN Episode (aired 6/6/12)
Hendrick Bartholomeus Meessen Vrooman was a widower with five children who emigrated initially to New York and later to Schenectady (Slechtendeel in Dutch), which is a city about 300 miles north of NY - via boat on the Hudson River. He is one of the 15 original settlers in Schenectady in 1664 which, to this day, has a very long rich Dutch history (including songs) and Dutch-heritage residents.

Vrooman loved the beautiful land which he describes in his letter, and the Vroomans were very successful in the fur trade (beaver) and farmland as millers.

They live in peaceful coexistence with the Mohawk Indians and buy and trade land from them. Eventually the land turns hands again and becomes English property.

In 1664, Vrooman writes a letter (the one that never arrives and is found in London) to his brother in Leiden, Holland, to tell him he has made very good progress with his farmland and that he loves his new homeland.

In the night of February 8-9, 1690, Schenectady is attacked by the French together with their ally Indian tribe because of a land dispute. More than sixty people are killed, including Hendrick and his family, in what is now known as the Schenectady Massacre.

Vrooman’s son Adam and two of his grandchildren are the only Vroomans to survive the massacre. Adam Vrooman rebuilds the village with the other survivors and with help from Lawrence, Chief of the Mohawks. Schenectady has a monument commemorating Lawrence and city records show church and birth records indicating the close relationship between the settlers and the Mohawks.

Schenectady holds an annual ceremony commemorating the massacre, where descendants of Hendrick Vrooman and others meet and talk about their heritage to keep their past alive.

This year, the ceremony is extra special because they meet Bart (coincidentally Hendrick Vrooman’s middle name) Leget, a Dutch police officer and other direct descendent of Vrooman who was tracked down through the original letter in the Netherlands."

Hendrick Bartholomeus Meesen VROOMAN (^) and Jannitgen WOUTERS (^) were married about 1648 in The Netherlands.^2,4,5 Jannitgen WOUTERS (^) died in 1662 in The Netherlands.⁵ She was born in The Netherlands.³

Hendrick Bartholomeus Meesen VROOMAN (^) and Jannitgen WOUTERS (^) had the following children:

Hendrick Bartholomeus Meesen VROOMAN (^) and Geertruy JOHANNIS were married about 1672 in Albany County, New York Colony, British Colonial America.⁵ Geertruy JOHANNIS was born about 1622 in Of Leiden, Zuid (South) Holland, The Netherlands.¹