Gerret Van Sweringen and Barbarah de Barrette

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Husband Gerret Van Sweringen ^{1 2 3 4}

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           Born: 1636 - Beemsterdam, Holland 3 5
     Christened: 
           Died: 1698 - St. Mary's City, MD 1 3 6
         Buried: 

       Marriage: Abt 1659

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   Other Spouse: Mary Smith (      -Aft 1698) 1 6 7 - 5 Oct 1676 1 7

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• Biographical Sketch: John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.

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Wife Barbarah de Barrette ^{1 6 7}

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           Born:  - Valenciennes, France
     Christened: 
           Died: Abt 1670 - Maryland
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 F Elizabeth Van Sweringen ^{6 7}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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2 M Zacharias Van Sweringen ^{6 7}

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           Born: Abt 1663 - New Castle, New Castle Co, DE
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Martha [Unk] (      -      ) 6

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3 M Thomas Swearingen ^{7 9}

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            AKA: Thomas Van Sweringen 8
           Born: Abt 1665 - St. Mary's City, MD
     Christened: 
           Died: 1710 - Somerset Co, MD 7 9
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Jane [Unk] (      -      ) 7 9

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General Notes: Husband - Gerret Van Sweringen

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He came from Holland in the year 1657, to Delaware, and was one of the officials in the Dutch settlement established at which is now the city of New Castle. After the English captured New Amsterdam (now New York city), they drove the Dutch away from their settlement in Delaware. Gerrett Van Sweringen removed into the province of Maryland, where he was naturalized as a British subject, by Act of the General Assembly of the province of Maryland, passed April 14, 1669. [PH, 8]

He was the younger son of a noble family and received a liberal education. He was employed when a young man in the maritime service of the Dutch West India Company, and in 1656 came to America as supercargo of the company's ship, "Prince Maurice," sailing from Amsterdam, Holland, December 21, for the Dutch colony on the Delaware river, with emigrants and supplies. The ending of his voyage was tragic in the extreme, the "Prince Maurice" stranding off Fire Island on the night of March 8, 1657. The next day the passengers and crew landed on a small boat on Long Island, and for several days were on that then barren shore without fire, although the weather was freezing. On the third day they were discovered by a party of Indians, who carried news of their plight to Governor Stuyvesant, he sending a sloop to their relief, which carried them to New Amsterdam. A part of the cargo of the "Prince Maurice" was saved, loaded on another ship and on April 21, 1657, was safely landed at the original destination on the Delaware river. After this eventful voyage Gerret van Sweringen resigned from the company's service and located at Newcastle where he was sheriff, commissary member of councils, engaged in trade and in agriculture. He married in 1659, and in 1660 returned to Holland, taking his wife with him, remaining there one year in the interest of the colony on the Delaware at New Amstel. In 1664, after New Amsterdam was surrendered to the English, New Amstel was also brought under submission, which act so incensed van Sweringen that it is said he publicly broke his sword across his knee and renounced all allegiance to the Dutch government, shortly afterward moving to Maryland. In April, 1669, he, his wife and two children, on their petition to Lord Baltimore, were naturalized by acts of the general assembly held at St. Mary's City in that province. This was done in order to become a legal land owner, as none but British subjects could become freeholders. He was an "innholder" at St. Mary's City, owned land there and in Talbot county. He is named by Lord Baltimore in his proclamation granting a charter to St. Mary's City in 1668 and appointed an alderman. In 1674 he built the city "stocks" and "whipping post." In 1686 and in 1687 he was appointed sheriff of the county. His account of the Dutch settlements on the Delaware river, written after settling in Maryland, was used by the Maryland council in settling the boundary dispute that arose between Lord Baltimore and William Penn. This was executed May 12, 1684, "at a council at Matapany Sewall in the Province of Maryland" and the jurat described van Sweringen as being "of the city of St. Maries, Gent, aged eight and forty years or thereabouts." [GPHWP, 159]

He was a younger son of one of the nobility of that country, and of liberal education. He was connected with the Dutch West India Company, and in 1656, when that company fitted out the ship "Prince Maurice," with emigrants and supplies for the Dutch colony on the Delaware river, he was appointed its supercargo. This vessel sailed from the port of Amsterdam on the 21st of December, 1656, and was to have touched at New Amsterdam (New York city); but on March 8, 1657, was stranded off Fire Island, now the southern coast of Long Island. The following day, in freezing weather, the passengers and crew in a frail boat got to the barren shore, where they remained several days without fire. On the third day they saw some Indians, one of whom was sent with word to Stuyvesant, then governor of New Amsterdam, who came with a sloop and carried them to that place. A part of the cargo of the stranded ship had been saved before the ship went to pieces, and was put on board another ship chartered at New Amsterdam, and on the 16th of April they sailed for their destination, which they reached in safety in five days. According to an account furnished by Gerret Swearingen, the colonists sailed for New Castle, Delaware, on the "Beaver," a vessel hired in New York, after the wreck of the "Prince Maurice," and with a company of soldiers consisting of sixty men to take possession of the fort, then called New Castle, April 25, 1657, when the soldiers of the West India Company quitted the same. He was sheriff, commissary and a member of the council, was interested in the cultivation of some lowlands, a duck pond, etc. In 1660 he and his wife visited Holland, where they remained for one year and a half. Shortly after the surrender of New Amsterdam in 1664, he removed to Maryland, and in April, 1669, he and his wife and two children, on their petition to Lord Baltimore, were naturalized as English subjects. The importance of this act will be seen when it is stated that the ownership of the land was restricted to British subjects. He was an "innholder" at St. Mary's, and owned land in that and Talbot counties. In the proclamation of the charter of the city of St. Mary's, issued by Lord Baltimore, in 1668, he was appointed an alderman of the city, and in 1674 he built the city's stocks and whipping post. He was appointed sheriff of the county in 1686, and again in 1687. [BDHRBFC, 942]

The ancestors of all the Swearingens in Western Pennsylvania were Garrett Van Swearingen and Barbara De Barrette, his wife, who came from Holland to America, settled in Maryland, and were, with their children, Garrett and Bar-bara, naturalized in that province in April, 1669, as is shown by the records in Baltimore. Two other children of theirs, Elizabeth and Zachariah, were born in the Delaware counties, and so needed no naturalization. The prefix "Van" was afterwards dropped from the surname of the family, but was used as the Christian name. [HFC 1882, 764]

1 Editor, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Uniontown, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1900), Pg 942.

2 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914), Pg 883, 905.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 159.

4 George P. Donehoo, Pennsylvania - A History (SW) (New York, NY; Chicago, IL: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1926), Pg 8.

5 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914), Pg 905.

6 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914), Pg 907.

7 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 160.

8 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914), Pg 885, 907.

9 Editor, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania (Uniontown, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1900), Pg 943.