The JOHANNES VAN NUYSE HOMESTEAD*
Erected before 1806
This house is now occupied by Mr. George M. HENDERSON, who had the
wisdom to restore it as nearly as possible to it's original design. He
obtained the property from Frederick MAGAW, Esq., whose father, the late
Robert MAGAW, purchased it from thc heirs of Jeromus VAN NUYSE. The
farm of which this is the homestead originally extended to the old
Kings Highway, between Flatlands and Flatbush. It embraced the George
VAN NUYSE farm as well, and the original homestead, 1 helieve, stood
near the old road, possibly near the George VAN NUYSE house, as Johannes
VAN NUYSE is credited with living in and owning an old house on the Flatbush Road,
worth in 1796, $350, and in middling condition. Still that could not have
heen a had sort of a house, for according to the same valuation the finest
house in town was only worth $900. He is credited with owning some 85 acres
of land, while his hrother occupied a place of some 39 acres. As he purchased
some land of Wilhelmus VAN NUYSE, I suppose this covered the property. This
farm was originaIly a part of the land of Elbert ELBERTSE STOOTHOFF, and at
his death became the property of Thomas WILLETTS, who sold it to the TERHUNE
family. I have not heen able to find at what date they sold it to the VAN NUYSE,
but it seems to have been ahout 1725.
When this house was erected we know only from tradition, which is as follows:
"The house was completed after several years in construction and the family
moved in. Then the barn was started. On the day the barn was raised, all the
neighhors came to help, and the ladies prepared a bountiful feast, as was
customary among the Dutch. The meal was served on tables on the lawn, and as it
was George VAN NUYSE'S fourth birthday, his aunts, to surprise his mother,
made a pair of pants and an outfit of boy's clothes for him. They dressed him
and seated him at one of the tables unknown to his mother. She did not recognize
him as her own son, nor could she surmise whose child he was. As she was
helping him to cake, she asked, 'Whose little boy are you, my little man?'
He did not see the humorous side of the mistake, but bursting into tears, said:
'Mother, don't youse know me?'" This story has been handed down from mother to
child until the present generation. I believe it is true, for Mrs. COUWENHOVEN,
a younger sister of George VAN NUYSE, told me some years ago, when she was
about 84 years of age, that she remembered hearing her mother tell it as I
have written it here. If it is true, if must have occurred on September lOth, 1806.
The house was completed previous to this, and was constructed on this
spot from timber cut in the adjacent forest. As it took, at that time, at
least three years to finish a house of this size, I am inclined to believe
that it was started shortly after Johannes VAN NUYSE'S marriage to Nelly LOTT,
a daughter of Colonel Jeromus LOTT, of Flatlands.
They had a large family, namely:
-George VAN NUYSE, born September 10th, 1802; died September 11th, 1831;
married, April 12th, 1827, Margaret, daughter of John DITMARS,
born August 13th, 1803; died December 19th, 1865. They had one child,
Cornelia DITMARS VAN NUYSE, born January 29th, 1829; died May 15th, 1862;
married John Holmes VAN BRUNT. She was the grandmother of your compiler.
-Jeromus VAN NUYSE, born January 2nd, 1805; died September 29th, 1852;
married Ann Eliza BRINKERHOFF, born May 8th, 1813. Left no issue.
-Eliza VAN NUYSE, born May 11th, 1807; married May 28th, 1828, Adrian BERGEN, of New Utrecht.
-Lemma VAN NUYSE, born July 24th, 1809; married December 29th, 1835, Cornelius SUYDAM,
of Flatbush. They had issue several children, of whom John and Ellen SUYDAM survive.
-Maria VAN NUYSE, born March 24th, 1810; died September 1st, 1868, single.
-Eleanor VAN NUYSE, born January 15th, 1818; died January 25th, 1858;
married Tunis BERGEN, of New Utrecht.
-Magdalen VAN NUYSE; born September 23rd, 1816; married December 28th, 1842,
Garret COUWENHOVEN, of New Utrecht. Both are deceased. They had issue:
Maria, who married Isaac C. BARNES;
Nettie, who married Theodore V. BERGEN;
Ellen, who married Charles M. BERGEN, of Babylon, and
Garret COUWENHOVEN.
We now return to Johannes VAN NUYSE and trace his ancestry back, and in so doing
trace the ownership of this farm. This farm lay in what was called a flat, that is,
it was level land, and part of it was laid out as a race-course. We find many
notices of races held here during the Revolution. It went under the name of Ascot Heath,
after England's famous track. We understand that this course was the most notable in
New York State at that time.
The father of Johannes was Joost VAN NUYSE, of Flatlands, baptized September 16th, 1716;
died about 1792; married April 26th, 1744, Elizabeth EMMANS. He was the first VAN NUYSE
to reside on this farm. His father was William, of New Utrecht, and his mother was
Magdalena JOOST, wife of the above. He, in turn, was the son of Jacobus AUKERSZ, who at
one period resided in Flatbush, but lived the greater part of his life in New Utrecht.
He married April 26th, 1685, Maria or Marie WILLEMSE. He was a son of the common
ancestor, Aucke JANSEN VAN NUYSE, and Magdalena PIETERSEN his first wife, who emigrated
from Amsterdam in 1651 to New Amsterdam. He followed the trade of master carpenter,
and waxed rich in that profession. In 1654 he erected the first church in Flatbush.
He possessed a knowledge of law, and was magistrate of Flatbush in 1678, and also a
Representative in the Convention of March 26th, 1678, which conferred with Governor COLVE.
He is supposed to have been born in Nuis, in Groningen, Netherlands, a city of about
500 inhabitants. He married three times, the last two failing of issue. Like many
others who came to the new world, he died a rich land-holder.
*Since the writing of this sketch. a large part of this farm has been opened
up for building purposes by Wood. Harmon & Company. and it promises to develop
into one of the finest residential sections of Flatbush.
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