After spending yesterday afternoon trying to figure out who Margaret Wynkoop is, I can say with some confidence that she is the former Margaret Arenhoudt, born about1770. The "about" is because the dates on her headstone calculate to 1769, the 1850 census lists her as 78 for a calculated birth year of 1772 and the book below has 1770.
Lucky for me and my research, there is a book. It is called called Wyncoop Genealogy in the United States of America, and person number 311 is our Joshua. According to that book, his parents are Evert and Sarah Wynkoop and he was born September 19, 1770 in Ulster County in the Kingston/Saugerties area. He and Margaret Arnout (birth date June 10, 1770) married and, I quote, "They lived and died and Bethlehem, Albany County, New York." The end. No death dates, no nothing, for Margaret and Joshua.
The Wyncoop Geneology does list their eight children. The eldest, Evert, was born in 1796 and was baptized at Jerusalem Reformed Church, and the rest, John, Hannatie (that would be Anne), Abraham, Peter, Jacob, Garret and Sarah, were all baptized in the First Reformed Church of Bethlehem.
Jerusalem Reformed Church (located in Feura Bush - then in the Town of Bethlehem) records also show them a having a daughter named Annatye, born July 28, 1794, baptized that same year. I wonder if this Annatye died young as I can't find another record of her, and Joshua and Margaret used the name Anna again for their next daughter (born 1800).
Joshua Wynkoop turns up regularly in Bethlehem in the census and assessment rolls. There is even a reference to him registering his cattle mark in 1815.
The 1850 U.S. Census is enlightening. Both Joshua and Margaret are both 78 years old and living in the household of their son Abraham and his wife Sarah Albright (Abraham and Sarah were married June 22, 1834 under the auspices of the Bethlehem Reformed Church.) Also in the household are Abraham and Sarah's nine children.
In the 1855 U.S. Census, Joshua, age 82, is still living with his son, aged 82. By the 1860 Census, the household of Abraham and Sarah Wyncoop only has their children - 10 of them by now.
So, Margaret we know, died in 1853, and I am thinking her husband Joshua must have died between 1855 and 1860. I like to think that he is buried next to Margaret in the family plot I noticed on Wildwood Lane, and his stone is lost. I cannot find a record of him buried anywhere else.
And, by the way, Abraham and Sarah Wynkoop and several of their children are buried at the Jerusalem Cemetery. Apparently he purchased a plot at the Jerusalem Reformed Church Burying Place for $5.
The Wynkoops, father and son, were well off. That 1850 census lists Joshua having property worth $7,000 and Abraham at $2,000.
Now exactly where was that farm - why at the end of modern day Wildwood Lane of course. The 1866 map clearly shows A. W. at the end of the lane and a little further north is A. Wyncoop.
And what happened to the farm? I found a clipping where on February 1, 1883, the heirs to the estate of Abraham Wynkoop were determined to sell "on the premises, to the highest bidder the farm known as the Wynkoop farm, situated in the town of Bethlehem, 6 1/2 miles from Albany and 4 west from Cedar Hill." The farm contained 135 acres. And you know what? I measured on Google maps, and the farmhouse at the end of Wildwood Lane IS about 4 miles from Cedar Hill! Another news report said the property was bid in at $95 per acre.
So, there you have it about this branch of the Wynkoop family.
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| Wynkoop coat of arms from the Wynkoop Family Research Library |
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| On this snip of the 1866 map, the upside down Y intersection in the middle is today's Elm Avenue and Elm Avenue East. Near the top, you'll see Mrs. Houck - that is the four way stop at Elm Ave and Feuar Bush Road. Wildwood Lane is shown with a dotted line. |
Now, what about the Bronks, Peter, John and Wendell, also buried on Wildwood Lane?
They are still a mystery. I found no obvious connections between the Wynkoops and the Bronks. No children marrying, no Bronk name in the Census near the Wynkoops. Not even a Bronk on that 1866 map. There are several Bronks in the Red Book and there is a Peter who turns up in the 1820, 1830 and 1840 cenus. Plus there is this intriguing note in the records of roads:
"May 28, 1830 Alteration, to the old Quisquethan Road from Peter Bronk's barn easterly through John Haswell's land."
The old Ouisquethan Road - Onesquethaw Road - is today's Feura Bush Road and the Haswells had several homestead along that road. And Wildwood Lane is not too far off from that. Just speculating here - more research needed!
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| Here's Cornelis Wynkoop - painted about 1743. Not sure how's he's related, but he sure is cute in his red outfit. (From the Huntington Library) |
