What's New

Photo of the Month

Minerd.com Blog

Biographies

National Reunion

Interconnectedness

Cousin Voices

Honor Roll

In Lasting Memory

In the News

Our Mission and Values

Annual Review

Favorite Links

Contact Us

Editor's note -- Cousin Barbara (Boring) Bauer, a genealogy volunteer with Palatines to America in Columbus, OH, has done some extensive research on an alternative theory as to the identity of our Pennsylvania-German ancestor, Friedrich Meinert (father of our Revolutionary War forbear, Jacob Minerd Sr.). Though not entirely proven, she has graciously written her findings into a narrative that is provided here for your review and consideration. Also see her writings on Jacob and Anna Weber and The Kochertal Party.

Fredrick Meynderts, born about 1695-1700, was the son of Burger Meynderts and the grandson of Meyndert Fredricksen of Kingston/Albany, New York. Meyndert and his brother, Carsten Fredricksen, were blacksmiths who operated a shop located on the north corner of Broadway and Spanish (later Hudson) St. in Kingston/Albany, Ulster County, New York. Meyndert was also an armorer to the Fort.

#1. Meyndert Fredericksen had emigrated from Jever in Oldenburg (now Niedersachsen/ Lower Saxony), Germany by 5 August 1656 when he married Catharyn Burchart/Burger in Kingston/Albany. Catharyn died by 1663 when he married secondly Pietertje “Neeltie” Teunise Van Vechten, daughter of Theunis Dirckse van Vechten.

Meyndert was an elder and his brother, Carsten, a deacon, in the Dutch Lutheran Church in Albany in 1680 when Meyndert and his second wife, Neeltie, quarreled with the Reformed minister. They went to court over this, apologized and settled for six beavers and six cans of wine.

In Meyndert’s will of 1703/4, proved May 1706, in the city of Albany, he bequeathed his “house and lot hard by the church in Cow St. (now Broadway), Albany, his garden behind the fort and personal property (a great silver tankard, church book with silver clasps and chain, a silver tumbler marked M.F.)”

Children named in his will were: Burger, Neeltie, wife of Hendrick Dow, Reynier, Johannes and Fredrik “Mynderts.” He used the surname “Mynderts” for his children instead of “Friedricksen” following the Low (Northern) German and Dutch custom of giving children, as their second name, their father’s first name and adding “–s” or “-sen,” in this case “Mynderts or Meyndertsen,” meaning child of Meyndert.”

The father of Meyndert and Carsten Fredricksen was probably someone in Jever, Oldenburg with the first name of Fredrick and a completely different second name. This illustrates the difficulty of tracing these early ancestors whose names often changed in each generation. Even though this naming custom survived for a time after the English took over New Amsterdam, eventually the English system prevailed and the descendants of Meyndert Fredricksen used the “Meynderts” or “Meyndertsen” surname while Warner, the only son of his brother, Carsten Fredricksen, used Carstens as his surname and was known as Warner Carstens.

#1.1. Burckhart/Burger Meynderts was born in Kingston/Albany about 1660 to Meyndert Fredricksen (#1.) and Catharyn Burckhart/Burger, probably their only child since Meyndert married again in 1663. Their son, Burger, married about 1680 to Elsje/Elsie/Elisabeth Meyer, born 1663 in Kingston/Albany, daughter of Martin Jansen Meyer and Hendrickje Hermans. Elsie’s father had immigrated from Elsfleth, an important seaport in Oldenburg, Germany, near Jever, the origin of the Fredricksens.

Sometime between 1689 and 1703/4, Burger, a blacksmith like his father, and Elsje/Elisabeth relocated from Kingston “to New York,” according to his father’s will. This is confirmed in Kochertal’s Records where they sponsored a baptism in 1711 “in the home of Saderland in the German Colony on the Quassaic Kill.” In these records, his name was recorded as “Burckhard Meinhard.”

He had purchased the rights of Peter Roose in the “German Patent” in Ulster County and settled on a 100-acre farm, Lot # 6, next to the Jacob Weber family on Lot #7. In 1719 the final patent was issued to these settlers. In 1727 Burger Sr. transferred part of his land to his son, Burger Jr. They are both on the 1728 List of Freeholders in the “Highlands,” as this area was also known. Death date unknown.

#1.1.2. Pietertje “Neeltie” Meynderts was born in Kingston/Albany about 1665 to Meyndert and his second wife, Pietertje van Vechten. Neeltie was married first 21 January 1683 to Marte Gerritsz Van Bergen. After his death she married secondly on 3 October 1697 to Hendrik Douw. She had children by both husbands. Death date unknown.

#1.1.3. Reynier Meynderts was born about 1670-75 in Kingston/Albany. He married 7 September 1699 to Saartje/Sara Bratt in the Dutch Reformed Church. On the 11 June 1720 “List of Freeholders in Albany City and County” he was in the 2nd Ward. His children whose baptisms appear in the Dutch Reformed Church Records were Meynert-1700, Johannes-1708, Reynier Jr.-1712, Jacob-1715 and Susanna-1717. Death date unknown.

#1.1.4. Johannes/John Meynderts was born about 1680 in Kingston/Albany. He was also a blacksmith like his father and moved to Schenectady about 1700. He married there about 1705 to Geertruy/Gertrude Van Slyck, daughter of Jacques Cornelise Van Slyck and Gerritje Ryckman. He is probably the “Johannes Meynderton” with whom Conrad Weiser’s father spent the winter of 1712 in Schenectady. Johannes appeared on the “List of Freeholders in Albany City and County” on 11 June 1720.

Johannes’ children were Myndert-1706, married Maria Wemp; Margaret-1707, married Pieter Groenendyk; Jacobus-1709, married Sara Yates; Reynier- 1710, married Catharina Claese; and Petrus-1718. Johannes died in Schenectady before 7 September 1757 when his will was probated. His wife had probably pre-deceased him as he left his house and lots in Schenectady, land in “Stone Rabie” and personal property to his three sons, Myndert, Jacobus and Reynier. His son, Myndert, also a Schenectady blacksmith, died six years later in 1763.

#1.1.5. Fredrick Meynderts, born in Kingston/Albany about 1680-85, was the youngest son, according to his father’s will. He married in 1706 to Sara de Wandelaar, when both were living in Albany. On the 11 June 1720 “List of Freeholders in Albany City and County” he was in the 1st Ward. His children whose baptisms appear in the Dutch Reformed Church Records were Meyndert-1708, Johannes-1711, Petrus-1714, Andries-1716, Neeltie-1719, Abraham-1722, Catharina-1724, Marten-1727 and Hendrik-1729. Death date unknown.

#1.1.1. Meyndert Burgers or Meyndert Meynderts (depending on whether old or new naming customs were used in the record) was the first son of Burger Meynderts and Elsje/Elisabeth Meyer, born about 1681 in Kingston/Albany. He married Sarah Uytesse 13 September 1703. The following year their son, Burger, was baptised at the house of his grandparents, “Birger and Elisbeth Meyndersen” in New York. Other children unknown. Death date unknown.

#1.1.2. Catharina Meynderts  was born about 1683 in Kingston/Albany and married in November 1711 to an Englishman, name unknown. Children and death date unknown.

#1.1.3. Marten Meynderts was baptised 20 September 1685 in the Dutch Reformed Church, Kingston, New York. No further information.

#1.1.4. Pieterje Meynderts was baptised 19 February 1688 in the Dutch Reformed Church, Kingston, New York, although her parents were identified in those records as Lutherans. No further information.

#1.1.5. Burger Meynderts Jr. was born about 1690-5 in Kingston/Albany and married in 1726 to Marytjen/Maria Hofman, daughter of Zacharias and Gertruyd Hofman, in the Old Dutch Church, Kingston, New York. His brother-in-law, Zacharias Hofman Jr., purchased adjoining land in the “German Patent” from Andries Volck in 1723 and from Jacob Weber in 1726 when they sold out to go to Pennsylvania. In 1727 Burger Sr. transferred title to some of his land next to the Weber farm to his son, Burger Jr. On the 1728 List of New York Freeholders, both Burger Sr. and Burger Jr. are listed as living in the “Highlands.” The baptism of Zacharias, son of Burger Jr. and Maria, in 1732  took place in the Old Dutch Church in Kingston. Other children unknown. Death date unknown.

#1.1.6. Fredrick Meynderts was born about 1695-1700 in Kingston/Albany. In 1723-4 his neighbors in the “German Patent,” Ulster County, New York, the Andreas Volck and Jacob Weber families, sold their farms and moved to Amity Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. In 1727 Burger Sr. transferred his land in the “German Patent” to Fredrick’s brother, Burger Jr.

This is also about the time Fredrick left New York. He may be the Fredrick Berger (Burgers?) who appears on a list of Oley Valley settlers in 1727 in Philadelphia/Berks County, Pennsylvania. (He does not appear on the 1728 List of New York Freeholders with his father and brother.) Sometime between 1724-9, Fredrick married his former neighbor, Eva Maria “Mary” Weber, daughter of Jacob and Anna Elisabethe Weber, whether in New York or Berks County, Pennsylvania is not yet known.

In 1730 Fredrick had surveyed and by 1734 patented 150 acres in Oley Township on Manatawney Creek, a few miles upstream from the Webers, his wife’s parents. Fredrick, who was a blacksmith, died in 1751 in Oley Township, Philadelphia/Berks County. His widow, Mary, married secondly her Quaker neighbor, widower Benjamin Longworthy, about 1752. After his death she lived with her son, Fredrick Jr., and died in 1776, probably in Rockland Township.

#1.1.6.1. Maria Elisabetha, “Mary Elisabeth” Meindert was born 10 June 1730, probably in Oley Township, Philadelphia/Berks where she was baptised 3 January 1731 by Johann Caspar Stöver and sponsored by her grandmother, Anna Weber. She married Johann Dietrich Gaumer and settled in Lower Macungie Township, Northampton/Lehigh County.

“Deter’s” will, filed for probate 12 November 1794, named their sons Matthias and John Adam as Executors. Other children receiving bequests were John, Jacob, Gertrude (wife of Henry Meitzler) and Elizabeth (wife of Henry Shankweiler). Sons Frederick, Henry and John Deter had already received their portions. She is not mentioned in her mother’s will of 1776. Mary Elisabeth Gaumer died sometime after 1794.

#1.1.6.2. Burckhardt Minders was born in Oley Township and married Maria “Barbara” Bader. He was the co-executor of his mother’s will of 1776. He settled in Macungie Township, Northampton/Lehigh County where he died by 1797 when his will (written in German) was filed for probate, leaving all his property to his wife, Barbara. He also left at least one minor child, unnamed, but probably Burckhardt Jr.

#1.1.6.3. Jacob Meinert was born in Oley Township, Berks County. About 1770 he married Maria Margaretha Neun, daughter of Caspar and Barbara Neun, in Berks County. In his mother’s will of 1776, he received all her personal property. About 1785 Jacob’s family moved to Emmitsburg, Frederick County, Maryland and then in 1791 to Maple Summit, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Their children were Burkhart, Daniel, Jacob Jr., Frederick, Martha, Henry and a daughter who married John B. Ream/Riehm. Jacob Sr. died 1811 in Springfield Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

#1.1.6.4. Friedrich Meinert Jr. was born in Oley Township and married Catharina Neun, daughter of Caspar and Barbara Neun and sister of his brother Jacob’s wife, Maria Margaret.  He ran a grist mill in Oley/Rockland Township. On 1 December 1765 Friedrich and Catharina’s daughter, Elisabetha (born 30 October 1765) was baptised in the Oley (Salem) Reformed Church, sponsored by Maria Langwerd. After his mother Mary’s second husband, Benjamin Longworthy, died she lived with Friedrich and bequeathed him five shillings when she died in 1776.

Friedrich and Catharina sponsored the baptism of their grand-daughter, Elisabeth, in 1813 at Christ Lutheran Church/Mertz’s in Oley/Rockland Township. He may be the Frederick Minder of Rockland Township, Berks County who died intestate by 16 October 1816 when an administrator was appointed to make an inventory of his estate.

#1.1.6.5. Catharina Meinert was born in Oley Township. She married John Eigner/Egner. Catharina was deceased by 1776 when her children, not named, each received five shillings from the will of their grandmother, Mary Meinert Longworthy.

#1.1.6.6. Johannes “John” Meinert was born in Oley Township. He married Maria Margaretha, perhaps the daughter of John Reider/Reiter of Oley/Rockland Township, Berks County. John was deceased by 1776 when his children, not named, each received five shillings from the will of their grandmother, Mary Meinert Longworthy.

#1.1.6.7. Maria “Magdalena” Meinert was born in Oley Township and married first Balzer Bohm. It may have been their daughter, Magdalena, who was baptised in 1768 at the St. Joseph’s Lutheran and Reformed Church in Oley/Pike Township, Berks County. Balzer died and Magdalena remarried before 1776, husband unknown, when her children, not named, were each left five shillings in her mother’s will. Death date not known

#1.1.6.8. Johann Henrich Meinert was born in Oley Twp. and married Maria Margaretha, parents unknown. Neither he nor his children were mentioned in his mother’s will of 1776. Death date unknown.