BIOGRAPHIES INDEX

Vandegrift Family
Leendert or Lenaert Evertsen | Jacob Leendertsen Van der Grift | Nicholas Vandegrift
Rebecca Vandegrift Vansandt

THE VANDEGRIFT FAMILY
(also Van de Grift, Van der Grift, Vandergrift, Van de Grist)

By Steven R. Butler, Ph.D.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a work in progress. First posted January 24, 2025.

My Connection

I am a Vandergrift family descendant by virtue of the marriage of my maternal great-great-grandfather, Thomas William Jenkins, to Louisa I. Williams, who was the daughter of John I. Williams and Delilah Coons, who was the daughter of Martin Coons, Jr. and Sarah Van Zandt, who was the daughter of John Van Zandt of Tennessee, U.S.A, who in turn was a descendant of Jacob Van Zandt and his wife, Rebecca Vandergrift, granddaughter of Dutch immigrants who came to America during the foundational, formative years of what is now the city of New York, then known as New Amsterdam.

A Long and Interesting Story

The history of our Vandergrift ancestors and relations in America is an interesting story, that goes back to Old Amsterdam in the Netherlands and then from there to New Amsterdam (now New York City), the capital of what was then known as Nieuw Nederlandt (New Netherland), and then from there to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where there was intermarriage with our Van Zandt ancestors.

Luckily for me, by the time I found my Vandergrift ancestors and relations, I discovered that both unrelated researchers and some earlier Vandergrift descendants had already done extensive research on this family, "blazing the trail," so to speak, leaving me and all our various cousins to reap the reward of their work. For this, I am very grateful. In all too many cases, regarding the other families from whom I'm descended, I have been the trail-blazer. Not so with the Vandergrift family.

Leendert or Lenaert Evertsen or Evertsz Lenert
(1587-bef. 1657)

According to other researchers, Leendert or Lenaert Evertsen (or Evertsz Lenert, as he is listed in baptismal records in the city archives of Amsterdam, NL) was born in 1587 in Charlois, Zuid-Holland, Nederland. His parents were reportedly Evert Anthoniusz van der Grift and Elsje Willem Tijssen, who had four other children: Jan, Symon, Abraham Evertz, and Giertje.

On July 5, 1609, in Amsterdam, Leendert married Maritje Paulus or Pauwels. Together, they reportedly had children, as follows:

1. Grietjen
2. Jan
3. Paulus Leendertsen
4. Pieter Leendertsen
5. Jacob Leendertsen, born 1622 in Amsterdam
6. Marten Lenertz

Leendert or Lenaert Evertsen died sometime before 1657, when his son, Paulus, gave a statement to an Amsterdam notary named Henrick Schaeff, in which he identified his mother, Marritgen Paulus, as a widow.

Jacob Leendertsen Van der Grift
(1622-1691)

The following account is from William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (New York & Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905), pp.30-2.

THE VANDEGRIFT FAMILY is of Holland descent, their progenitor being Jacob Lendertsen Van der Grift (that is, son of Lenerd) who with his brother Paulus Lenertsen Van der Grift, came from Amsterdam about 1644 and settled in New Amsterdam. Both of the Van der Grift brothers were in the employ of the West India Company. Paulus was skipper of the ship "Neptune" in 1645, and of the "Great Gerrit"' in 1646. He was a large landholder in New Amsterdam as early as 1644. He was a member of council, 1647-1648; burgomaster 1657-1658, and 1661-1664; orphan master 1656-1660; member of convention, 1653 and 1663. On February 21, 1664. Paulus Leendersen and Allard Anthony were spoken of as "co-patroons of the new settlement of Noortwyck, on the North River." He had five children baptized at the Dutch Reformed church, and he and his wife were witnesses to the baptism of five of the eight children of his brother Jacob. Paulus Leendertsen Van der Grift sold his property in New Amsterdam in 1671, and returned with his family to Europe.

Jacob Lendertsen Van die Grifte, bottler, of New Amsterdam, in the service of the West India Company, on September 11, 1648, granted a power of Attorney to Marten Martense Schoenmaker, of Amsterdam, Holland, to collect from the West India Company such amounts of money as he (Van die Grift) had earned at Curocoa [sic], on the ship "Swol." Employed by that company to ply between the island of Curocoa [sic] and New Netherlands. The early records of New Amsterdam give a considerable account of this ship "Swol." It carried twenty-two guns and seventy-six men. In 1644 it was directed to proceed to New Amsterdam, and on arriving, "being old." It was directed to be sold. Another boat was', however, given the same name, being sometimes mentioned as the "New Swol."

On July 19, 1648. Jacob Lendertsen Van der Grist was married at New Amsterdam to Rebecca Fredericks, daughter, of Frederick Lubbertsen. On March 7. 1652, he sold as attorney for his father-in-law, fifty morgens and fifty-two rods of land on East river. On February 19, 1657, Jacob Leendersen Van die Grift was commissioned by the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam as a measurer of grain. To this appointment was affixed instructions "that from now nobody shall be allowed to measure for himself or have measured by anybody else than the sworn measurers, any grain, lime or other goods which are sold by the tun or schepel. Or come here from elsewhere as cargoes and in wholesale, under a penalty of £3 for first transgression, £6, for second and arbitrary correction for the third." In 1656 Jacob Leendertsen Vandergrift was made a small burgher of New Amsterdam. In 1662 he was a resident of Bergen, New Jersey, where he subscribed toward the salary of a minister. On April 9, 1664, he and his wife, Rebecca Fredericks, were accepted as members of the church at "Breukelen," upon letters from Middlewout, (now Flatlands); his residence on the west side of the river must, therefore, have been of short duration. On May 29, 1664. then living under the jurisdiction of the village of Breukelen, Long Island, he applies to council for letters of cession with committimus to the court, to relieve him from his creditors on his turning over his property in their behalf, he being "burdened with a large family, and on account of misfortune befallen some years ago, not having been able to forge ahead, notwithstanding all efforts and means tried by him to that end, etc." There are records of a number of suits prior to this date, in which he appears either as plaintiff or defendant. In 1665 he was living on the strand of the North river, New Amsterdam, where he is assessed towards paying the expense of quartering one hundred English soldiers on the Dutch burghers. On. October 3, 1667, he received a patent from Governor Nicolls for land on the island of Manhattan, on the north side of the Great Creek, which he sold to Isaac Bedloe, in 1668. He probably removed at this date to Noordwyck. on the North river, where he purchased in 1671 the land of his brother Paulus, who had returned to Amsterdam. In 1686 he appears as an inhabitant of Newton, Long Island, where he probably died, though the date of his death has not been ascertained. His widow removed with her children to Bensalem, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1697, and was living there in 1710. The children of Jacob Lendertsen and Rebecca Fredericks Van der Grift, baptized at the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam, were as follows:

1. Martje. baptised August 29. 1649, married Cornelius Corsen. March^ 11, 1666. He was baptised at New York, April 23, 1645. being the son of Cornelius Piterse Vroom. and Trynt.ie Hendricks. After the death of Vroom, Tryntje had married Frederick Lubbertsen. the grandfather of Marytje, father-in-law of Jacob Lendeerten Van der Grift. Many descendants of Cornelius Corssen and Marytje Van de Grift still reside in Bucks county.
2. Christina Van de Grift, baptized February 26, 1651, married (first) Oca widower, by whom she had two children, Abraham and Jacobus. She married (second) April 14, 1681, Daniel Veenvous, from Beuren, in Gelderland, by whom she had five children -- Wilhelmina, Rebecca and Contantia; two others also named Rebecca died in infancy.
3. Anna Van de Grift, baptised March 16, 1653, married, September 29, 1674. *Jacob Claessen Groesbeck. They re-tober 9, 1678, Cornelius Jacobse Schipper, moved to Bucks county with the rest of the Vandegrift family in 1710, but little is known of them other than that he purchased land in Bensalem adjoining that of his brothers-in-law, and that two of his daughters married into well-known families of Bucks. Their children were; Rebecca, baptised June 23, 1673; Elizabeth, baptised September 4, 1677; Leah, baptised February ir, 1680, married 12 mo. 17, 1702, Johannes Van Sandt; Rachel, baptised November 21, 1682, married November 8, 1704. James Biddle; and Johanna, baptised August 9, 1685.
4. Leendert (Leonard) Van de Grift, baptised December 19, 1655, died in Bensalem, Bucks county, 1725; married, November 20, 1678, Styntje Ellsworth. He, with his three brothers and two brothers-in-law, purchased land in Bensalem in 1697 of Joseph Growdon, Leonard's purchase being two tracts of 135 and 106 acres respectively. He subsequently purchased seventy-four acres of his brother Frederick. He and his wife were received at Bensalem church in 1710, and he was appointed junior elder. On December 30, 1715- he was commissioned a justice of the peace. Letters of administration were granted on his estate February 18. 1725, to his eldest son Abraham, known as "Abraham. Vandegrift, by the River." The children of Leonard and Styntje (Ellsworth) Vandegrift were: 1. Jacob, baptised September 20, 1679; 2. Christoffel, baptised August, 1681, married July 7, 1704, Sarah Druith; 3. Rebecca, baptised December 15, 1683, married November 8, 1704, Albert Van Sandt; 4. Abraham, baptized July 4, 1686, married October 17, 1716, Maritje Van Sandt, died March, 1748, leaving six children-Leonard, of Bensalem; Garret and Abraham, of Philadelphia: Christine, wife of Yost Miller, of Salem county. New Jersey; Mary, wife of Mathew Corbet, and Jemima, wife of George Taylor, of Chesterfield, New Jersey. 5. Anneken, baptised April 7, 1689, married Andrew Duow. 6. Elizabeth, baptised at Brooklyn, October 8. 1691, married May 23, 1710, "Francis Kroeson. 7. Annetje, baptised June 12, 1695, married December 22, 1715, Cornelius King. All of the above children of Leonard Vandegrift removed to New Castle county, Delaware, prior to the death of their father, except Abraham, to whom they conveyed the real estate in Bensalem in 1743. The above-named heirs of Abraham conveyed the same to Leonard, eldest son of Abraham, in 1761.
5. Nicholas Vandegrift [see separate section]
6. Frederick Vandegrift, baptised August 20, 1661. purchased of Joseph Growdon on July i, 1697, 106 acres adjoining that of his brothers in Bensalem township, Bucks county, a part of which he conveyed a year later to Leonard Vandegrift. If ever a resident of Bucks count}', he probably remained but a short time.
7. Rachel Vandegrift. youngest daughter of Jacob, was baptised at New York, August 20. 1664, and. married, in 1689. Barent Verkerk, son of Jan, and brother to his brother Nicholas's wife. Barent Verkerk purchased in 1697 a tract of land in Bensalem adjoining his brothers-in-law, all the deeds being from Joseph Growdon. and bearing the same date, July 1, 1697. He died in 1739, leaving children: Jacob: John; Mary, married Niels Boon; Constantina. married James fitchet; Dinah, married James Keirll; and another daughter, who married an Underwood.
8. Johannes Vandegrift, youngest son of Jacob Lendertsen and Rebecca Frederics Van der Grift, was baptised at New York. June 26. 1667, and died in Bensalem township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1745. He married, September 23, 1694, Nealkie Volkers, widow of Cornelius Cortelyou, who was living at date of his will in 1732, but died before 1740. He married (second) July i, 1741, Elizabeth Snowden, a widow. He purchased 196 acres in Bensalem of Joseph Growdon, adjoining the tracts of his brothers and brothers-in-law, the deed bearing date July 1, 1697. He was an elder of the "Sammeny" church, having joined it at its organization in 1710. His will dated March 16, 1732, proved March 28, 1745, devises to son Abraham the farm he lives on, for life, and if he die without issue it is to go to his surviving brothers and sisters. Some years later the children of Johannes entered into an agreement by which the land was to vest in the heirs of those deceased, even though they did not survive Abraham, and inasmuch as Abraham died without issue in 1781, the subsequent conveyances of the land throw light on the family connections. In 1786 the representatives of Jacob, Rebecca, Christana, and Helena conveyed the land, 160 acres, to Jacob Jackson and later a partition thereof was had between Jackson and Abraham Harman and Cornelius, sons of Fulkert. The children of Johannes and Nealke (Volkers) Vandegrift were: i. Fulkert, born 1695, died 1775; married May 6, 1719, Elizabeth Vansandt. and (second) August 10, 1742, Marytje Hufte. He was a considerable landholder in Bensalem. He had five sons: Folkhart, Harman, Abraham, Cornelius and John; and three daughters: Alice LaRue, Elizabeth Krusen and Elinor, most of whom have left descendants in Bucks county. 2. Jacob, baptised at New York, October 14, 1696, died in Bensalem in 1771, married Choyes Toulej^ October 23, 1716. 3. Abraham, born 1698, died 1781, married, but had no issue. 4. Rebecca, married John Van Horn, died 1786. 5. Christiana, married November 8. 1722, Joseph Foster. 6. Lenah, married a Fulton. 7. Esther, baptized in Bucks count}'. May 10. 1710.

*Laurent Jansen, or Lawrence Johnson, was doubtless son of Clans Jansen. who purchased several tracts of land in Bensalem some years earlier than the Vandegrifts. He died in 1723, devising his lands to his sons Lawrence, John and Richard. The families later intermarried.

Most of the Vandegrifts of Bucks county are descendants of Johannes and Nealke (Volkers) Vandegrift. Leonard, grandson of Leonard, remained in Bensalem, and the land originally settled by his grandfather descended to his son. Captain Josiah Vandegrift. John, son of Nicholas, became a large landholder in Bensalem; he died in 1765, leaving sons: Nicholas. Jacob, John. Joseph, for many years an innkeeper in Bensalem; and daughters: Catharine Sands; Esther, who married John Houten; and Rebecca Vansciver. Of the sons, John married Ann Walton, May 28. 1761. and had children: Joshua. Joseph, John, Jonathan, and Mary. The father died in 1777. And the widow Ann married Charles Fetters a year later.

*Nicholas (or Claes^ Groesbeck. father of Jacob: was a carpenter of Albany. New York, in 1662. On October 10. 1696 deposed that he was seventv-two years old. His will dated January 3. 1706-7, mentions wife Elizabeth, son Jacob and others.

Nicholas Vandegrift
(1658-1750?)

According to the History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Nicholas Vandegrift, son of Jacob Lendertsen Van der Grift and Rebecca Fredericks, "was baptised May 5, 1658, married at New Utrecht, Long Island, August 24, 1684, Barentje Verkirk, daughter of John Verkerk. They settled at New Utrecht, where he took the oath of allegiance to James II in 1687, and where he purchased land in 1691. He removed to Bucks county with his brothers and brothers-in-law in 1697, conveying his Long Island land after his removal. On July 1, 1697, Joseph Growdon conveyed to him 214 acres in Bensalem. He joined the Bensalem church in 1710, and became a junior deacon. The records of the Dutch Reformed church show the baptism of three children, viz.: Rebecca, baptised July 26, 1685, married 11 mo. 7, 1707, Jacobus Van Sandt; Jan, baptised January 1, 1691, married May 5, 1721, at Abington Presbyterian church, Anna (or Hannah) Backer; and Deborah, baptised April l, 1695, married Laurent Jansen,* or Johnson. Nicholas Van de Grift removed to Sussex county, Delaware, conveying his land in 1713 to Jacob Kollock, whose widow Mary in 1722 conveyed it to Folert, son of John Vandegrift."

What became of Nicholas Vandegrift after he allegedly moved to Sussex County, Delaware is a mystery. There seem to be no deed records on file for him in the county, nor any will or probate documents of any kind. According to some researchers, he died in Delaware in 1750, at the age of 92 (which would be an incredible accomplishment in that day and age), but where is the proof? So far, I have been unable to find any.

Rebecca Vandegrift Vansandt
(1685-1746)

Rebecca Vandegrift, daughter and oldest child of Nicholas Vandegrift and his wife, Barentje Verkirk, was born sometime during the summer of 1685, in or near New Utrecht, Kings County, New York (located at the far western end of Long Island in what is now the New York City borough of Brooklyn). She was baptized on July 26, 1685 in the Dutch Reformed Church at New Utrecht.

In 1697, when Rebecca was about 12-years-old, her birth family removed to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a place which for some reason attracted a large number of ethnic Dutch residents of New York to settle there during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, including members of the Van Zandt or Vansandt family, into which she married, who bought property in the same area as the Vandegrift (or Vandegrist) family.

On November 7, 1707, at the age of 22, Rebecca Van de Grist, as she was then styled, and Jacobus Van Sandt (as he was then styled) were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not very far from Bucks County. Together, the couple had the following named children:

1. James Vansandt, born 1708
2. Elizabeth Vansandt, born 1710
3. Garret Vansandt, born 1711
4. Nicholas Vansandt, born 1712
5. Isaiah Vansandt, born 1713
6. Rebecca Vansandt, born 1714
7. Jacobus Vansandt, Jr., born 1722

Rebecca died in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, at the age of about 61, in 1746. She left a will, which reads as follows:

I, Rebekah Vansandt, or Southampton, in the county of Bucks County and province of Pennsylvania Widdow being indisposed in Body but of perfect and Sound memory blessed be God for the same and calling to mind the Mortality of my Body have thought good to make this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking and makeing Void all other Will or Wills by me heretofore Made either by Word or Writeing and this only to be taken for my last Last Will and Testament and no other And as touching such worldly Goods as it hath pleased God to bless me with I Dispose of them in Manner and Form herein after following And first and Principally I Commit my Soule to God that Gave it and my Body to the Earth to be decently interred at the Discretion of my Executor herein after named

My Will is that all my Just Debests if any and funerall Expences be duly paid by my Executor out of my Estate

Item I give to my son Jacobus Vansant the sum of twenty shillings lawfull Money of this Province to be paid by my Executor in one Year after my Decease

Item I give to my son Garret Vansant the Sum of five shillings like money to be paid my Executor out of my Estate in one Year after my Decease

Item I give to my son Nicholas Vansant the Sum of five shillings like money to be paid my Executor out of my Estate in one Year after my Decease

Item I give to my son Isaiah Vansant the Sum of five shillings like money to be paid my Executor out of my Estate in one Year after my Decease

Item I give to my granson Charles Inyard the Sum of five shillings like money to be paid my Executor out of my Estate in one Year after my Decease

Item I give to my daughter Rebakah Lerue all my wareing apparil both wollin and Linin without any Exception and also my Ear [?] Jewille

Item I give unto my son Jacob Vansant my Feather Bed whereon I now Lie with the black wallnut Bedstead to Gether with the Bolster Pilows Sheets blankets Coverlids Curtins and all things whatsoever thereto belonging and my two Cows and my Riding Horse two of the highest of my New Chairs and Gold Ring and what shall remain of my Years Anuaty which I have not Expended and what other of my Goods remains which I have not mentioned my Will is that it be equally divided amongst my Six Children Sheare and Sheare alike and lastly I do appoint my son Jacob Vansant to be my Executor of this my last Will and Testament and I do likewise nominate my two Sons Jacobus and Nicholas to be my Trustees to See that the Same be duly performed

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this Eighteenth Day of November in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty six 1746

Rebekah her X mark Vansandt (seal)

Signed Sealed Published & Declared by the}
Testator as her last Will and Testament in}
the Presence of Us Simon Vanaersdalen}
Derrick Kroesen John Bond}

Bucks [illegible] Be it remembered that on the thirteenth Day of January 1746/7 appeared John Bond Simon Vanaersdalen & Derrick Kroesen the Witnesses to the within written Will & the sd John Bond upon his solemn Affirmation & the afsd Simon & Derrick upon their solemn oath, did severally declare that they were present and did see the within Testator Rebekah Vansandt Sign Seal Publish & Declare the within writing to be her last Will & Testament & that at the doing thereof she was of Sound Mind Memory & Understanding to the best of their Knowledge

Before Me Lawr Growdon Dep Regr

Bucks [illegible] Be it remembered that on the thirteenth Day of January 1746/7 the last Will & Testament of Rebekah Vansandt late of Southampton in the sd County Widow decd Was duly proved according to Law and Probate & letters Testamentary were granted unto Jacobus Vansandt Executor in the sd Will named he being first Legally Sworn well & truly to Administer the Goods & Chattels Rights & Credits of [the decd?] and to Exhibit a true & perfect Inventory of the Estate of sd Decendent into the Register Office for sd County of Bucks in one Month after Date hereof And a true & Just acct thereof when thereunto Required

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal of Office

Lawr Growdon Dept Regr

Vandegrift Family
Leendert or Lenaert Evertsen | Jacob Leendertsen Van der Grift | Nicholas Vandegrift
Rebecca Vandegrift Vansandt

BIOGRAPHIES INDEX

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