The Republican., 1937-08-12
THE WITT FAMILY
By MRS. WILLIAM H. DEWITT

oldest American families and among
the earliest settlers of wnat are now
Somerset county, Pa; Preston coun-
ty, West Va, and Garrett county, Md.
The Dewitt family reunion is being
held during the month of August,
hence this sketch may be of interest
to the readers of The Republican,
A Dutch geneology published in 1763
gives an account of the first sixteen
generations of the Dewitt family, be-
ginning with Jan die Witte IN the year
1895.
In this article, however, the writer
will only trace the ancestral line of
the DeWitts of Garrett county, begin
ming, of course with Tjerck Claessen
Dewitt, one of the earliest settlers,
who came to New Amsterdam (now
New York City, when child or youth
from Grootholdt en- Zunderlandt, Hol-
land Finally he settled at Esopus,
which was later renamed Kingston, N.
Y, in Ulster county, where he was a
magistrate for the years of 1661-1663,
and scheppen, or magistrate in 1879.
The Kingston Daily Freeman, pub
lished June II, 1886, contained an ar
ticle, "Old Stone Houses of Marbleton,
N. Y" Among one of the several listed
was the Andreas Dewitt house, one of
the oldest farms in the Esopus Valley.
The house, built prior to 100, was
transferred by Tjerck Claessen De-
Witt to his eldest son, Capt. Andreas
Dewitt, in the year 1893.
In June, 1779, this house was select
ed as a military depot. 1t is recorded
that hard bread and salt provisions, a
months supply for 600 men, was stor-
ed here and guarded by company of
80 soldiers of the local Minute Men.
''The house, recently purchased by
J. E. Heit, a wealthy business man of
New York City, who is restoring the
house with sincere desire to preserve
its old Dutch character"
During the partial massacre at the
village of Wiltwyck, N. Y, IN 1868, it
is recorded that Tjerck Claessen De-
Witt, one of the magistrates remaining
on duty, and that among the four chill
dren carried away by the Indians one
was the daughter of Dewitt.
Tjerck Claessen DeWitt's use of a
seal bearing the arms of the Dewitt
family of Dordrecht, Holland, identi-
fies him as a cousin of the Grand Pen
sionary of Holland, Jan Dewitt. 1t is
thought that he was the son of Capt.
Claes Jansy de Witt, who was skipper
of the ship "De Liefde," and a grand
son of Capt. Jan de Witt, who came to
this country early in the 10Th century
and who sailed up the Hudson River in
the ship Little Fox," in the year 1914.
Tio,,oly Cloocco,, o1cn bod 81
Jan Claessen (the two middle names
one should die the other could carry
married. Their sister, Emerentie de
Witt, married Martin Hoffman in 1864
and thus became an ancestress of
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Tjerck Claessen Dewitt was born
about 1920 (died February II, 1900.
He married Barbra Andriessen Van
Amsterdam on April "a, 1856, in New
York City. She died July 6, 1714. They
were the parents of thirteen children.
The frst-born and eldest son, who
has been previously mentioned, Capt.
Andreas Dewitt, married Jannetje
Egbertsen. A son, Egbert, was born of
this union in 1899, who married Mary
Nottingham in 1926. To this couple a
daughter. Mary, was born, who mar
ried General James Clinton, who be-
came the parents of Gov. Dewitt Clin-
ton of New York: born 17691828;
statesmen and builder of the Erie
Canal; ran for President in 1872, but
was defeated by Madison; in 1917 was
chosen governor of New York. To this
office he was reelected three times.
He devoted the best years of his life
to promoting the work on the Erie
Canal. In 1925 he was triumphantly
carried on barge from Buffalo to New
York along the canal which his untir-
ing effort had made a reality. This
story is told under the title Erie Canal.
The ninth son of Tjerck Claessen
and Barbra Van Amsterdam was Lu-
Gus Dewitt, who on December %, 1896,
married Annatje Delva, a Roman Cath
Ollie. Tradition has it that twas a
stormy romance between the two, due
to the differences in religious training.
Lucus was captain and co-owner with
his father of Dutch sloop. The chill
dren of Lucus and Annatje Dewitt
We're Janntje, Barbra, Jan and Lucus,
Junior.
Jan (John) Dewitt was baptized
December s, 100, and married to Ana
antie Osterhoudt September 26, 1881.
They resided in the vicinity OF Catskill,
n Y. Their son, Ezeckiel Dewitt was
baptized September 27, 1741, and mar
ried April 6, 1850, at the Kaatsbaan
church to Maria Keller, who was a
granddaughter Of Cornelius
Tack pronounced Jocl) ana his wife,
Barbra Metselaer). Ezeckiel was still
living at Kingston, N. Y, in 1862. In
1868 he settled with ten other families
at Turkey Foot, now Confluence, Pa.
Thence he moved to Buffalo Creek,
Hopewell Township, Washington coun-
ty, Pa, before 1776, where he was ap-
pointed constable in that year.
In the records of Washington coun-
ty are several references to Ezeckiel
Dewitt, including license for keep
ing an ordinary (tavern). The census
of 1881 for Hopewell Township lists
for Dewitt 400 acres of land, 2 horses
and 4 cows, valued at TT pounds. The
roll call of slaves in Washington coun-
ty for 1882 includes two owned by
him. His grant of 400 acres of land is
dated February "a, 1882.
The Virginia State Library list of
Revolutionary roldinrc includes F,Ze-