Cornelius Van Der Zee

Triangulating.

That is what I have been doing to figure out the two Cornelius Van Der Zees who were both soldiers of the American Revolution.  One "from" Bethlehem, the other "from" Coeymans. 

I started with this entry in the Red Book (aka The Records of the People of the Town of Bethlehem 1698-1880) for Elmwood Cemetery.*

Great - there we go I thought. Clearly the word "Revolution" next to Cornelius' name. But how to verify that statement? 

New York in the Revolution has two Cornelius Van Der Zees. **  The 3rd Regiment of the Albany County Militia has Albert, Albertus, Cornelis as enlisted men.  The 5th Regiment has Cornelius Van Der Zee listed as an ensign. There is also a Walter in the Land Bounty Rights section. 

Turning to the DAR records, their online database lists

- Cornelis, born 1740 in Bethlehem, died post 1786 in Bethlehem. Spouse is Annetie Veder. Children are Storm and Ester. Served under Captain Hogan and Col. Schuyler.  

- Cornelius, baptized 1740 in Coeymans, died 1823 in Coeymans. Spouse is Agnitz/Agnes Whitbeck. Children Andrew and Harmen.  Served 4th Regiment, Rensselaerwyck Battalion. 

Remember William Winne and his company, part of Van Den Bergh's Regiment, who were chasing Tories in May of 1777?  Ensign Cornelis Van der Zee is named on that payroll document.

This all sort of jives - the 3rd was under the command Col. Schuyler and there is a Captain Jarvin Hogan.  The 4th was reorganized into the 5th, whose Colonel was Van Den Bergh.

So Bethlehem's Cornelius served in the 3rd. Coeymans' Cornelius in the 5th. 

The record of our Cornelius' November 20, 1766 marriage to Annatje Veder is found with the First Church Albany. One of their daughters, Hester, was baptized there in 1769. Cornelius's will, written in Janaury 1800 lists five daughters (Easter, Elizabeth, Affe, Rauhel and Anny) and three sons (Storm, Walter and John). And maybe a son Garrit.***  

Now, where did Cornelius and Annatje live and farm and raise their family? **** His will gives their son Storm 120 acres "which is the farm I now live on" and "the new possession joined to my farm, lately run out by Jacob Winne." Triangulating with various old maps,  I believe the farm was located in modern day South Bethlehem.

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* The data typed in the book matches the family grave monument that is located at Elmwood Cemetery. 

This is my photo from July 28, 2026.
Findagrave has a more readable one if you want to pop over there. 

All four sides of the tall monument have info on Van Der Zee family members. The date 1883 is inscribed on the spire. I take this to mean that is when the monument was installed.

Did you note that Cornelius died in 1800? Which is interesting because Elmwood Cemetery didn't open until 1860. 

Each plot in the cemetery with an older death date has its own story. Some are actual graves and/or old gravestones that were moved there, likely from the church lot (at First Reformed Church of Bethlehem) or from family grave yards. Others, like this one for Cornelius, indicate a family remembering an ancestor on a more modern stone. I don't know where his original family plot was. 

There is another Van Der Zee family stone nearby at Elmwood that remembers another Cornelius Van Der Zee (1786-1846). And we do know where his original plot is because it still exists in a bunch of lilac bushes on the edge of South Albany Road.  The Red Book lists this Cornelius both at the family cemetery and Elmwood Cemetery. 

The plot on South Albany Road, photo from 2016.

** Just acknowledging the spelling issue here. Is it Cornelis or Cornelius? I've seen it both ways. Similarly, is it Van Der Zee, Van Derzee, Vanderzee? For the purpose of this article, I have settled on Cornelius Van Der Zee.  If quoting directly, I use the spelling the document uses.

And where does the name come from you ask? These Van Der Zee's are descendants of Storm Van Der Zee whose mother, Annetje Barents, gave birth to him in 1636 during a storm while crossing the Atlantic. She and her husband, Albert Andreiesz Bratt named their infant son Storm. As an adult, he chose the name Van Der Zee, Storm from the Sea. Storm became a common name through the Bratt, Slingerland and Van Der Zee families. 

And in case you are curious, these two Corneliuses are distant cousins. They connect with Annetje and Albert, their great grandparents. Their lines split off from there.   

  

***  Easter/Esther married Peter Rosekrans who was a Revolutionary War soldier - see my earlier blog post about his service. Also note that the names match those on the typewritten list at the top of the story. Except for the spelling ;)

I could do a whole other blog post on this will. I found two of them and the only difference was that the earlier one, filed August 1800 has the line “I also give unto my son Garrit Van Der Zee One Doller” while the second one filed in October 1800 is exactly the same except that one line is not included.

I've been reading a lot of early 1800s wills lately. All found via ancestry and they all seem to be copied carefully into record books by clerks for the court where the will was filed. 

This is will is rife with phonetic spellings. I assume the clerk copied it letter for letter into the ledger book. Cornelius' son Storm stated that he wrote down the exact words his father said. So I am thinking the spelling is his. By the way Cornelius signed it with an X, his mark.  

Below is an example paragraph. Some of the phonetic spelling, like dauter for daughter, was relatively consistent throughout. Others, like hears and heairs for heirs not so much. And we have the reality of slavery intruding as well. At least we know the enslaved person's name - Prince.

Fisrt, I give unto my loving wife Annautey my negro man Prince & my Red mair to her & her Hears, further I give unto my three Dauters, Elizabeth, Rauhel & Anny & to thair Heairs, Each two Milk Cows, further I give unto my five Dauters, Easter, Elizabeth, Affte, Rauhel & Anny & to thare Hears, each twenty Dollars.

 **** The other Cornelius Van Der Zee and his wife Agnes Whitbeck lived in southern Coeymans. His farm was in the family for over 200 years and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This link should take you to more info about the house. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316369 

There are several Van Der Zee homes around.  I believe the one shown below, located on Rowe Road, town of New Scotland, was built by Cornelius (Agnes' hubby) father Harmon Van Der Zee.