Gerritsen Beach

Gerritsen Mill, Beach, and Creek were not named for Wolphert Gerretse. Wolphert's last name was Couwenhoven. The Gerritsen's who owned the Mill and lived on the Beach for almost 300 years were the descendants of Gerrit Remmersen. Dutch children of this era took the first name of their father for their surname. Gerrit's sons Rem and Samuel used the surname Gerritsen. Rem moved to Cape May, New Jersey, and died there. Samuel Gerritsen lived in Gravesend and Samuel owned the Tide Mill. Hugh Gerritsen held title to some land in this area in 1645. His relationship to Samuel Gerritsen, if any, is not proven. Documented proof of the passing of the Tide Mill exists in the land record's of Kings County. The Mill passed from Samuel Gerritsen (1671-1763) to his son Johannes (1716-1766). In the New York Surrogate's office, Liber 25, page 232, is the will of Johannes Gerritsen, miller, of Gravesend, who gave to his son, Samuel Gerritsen, all his real and personal estate, subject to certain legacies, which he (Samuel) was to pay. In this will he names his widow, Jannetie, and a daughter, Ida. His executors are named as his brother-in-law Michiel Vandervoort, and Rem Williamson and his cousin Jacobus Rider. The date of this will is December 20th, 1765. Johannes first wife and mother of Samuel was deceased. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Vandervoort (Michiel was her brother). Ida was the daughter of Jannetie Williams Gerritsen. Samuel Gerritsen, of Gravesend, recorded his will in the Kings County Surrogate's office, in Libel 2, probated in 1822. In this will he leaves the grist mill and farm to his son, John S., and names daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. He appoints his son-in-law, John Lott, and grandson, Van Brunt Magaw, executors. Van Brunt Magaw was born September 7th, 1783; died March 18th, 1831. He was a son of Colonel Robert Magaw, an officer of distinction in the Reyolution, and Marritje, daughter of Colonel Rutgert Van Brunt. Van Brunt Magaw, married November 2nd, 1811, Adriana, daughter of Louwrens Voorhees and Jannetie,his wife, daughter of Samuel Gerritsen. This Samuel Gerritsen (grandson of the elder Samuel, born 1671) was the miller during the Revolutionary War,who dumped the grind stones into the Harbor rather than to mill for the British! John S. Gerritsen continued to operate the Tide Mill. The will of John S. Gerritsen, miller, of Gravesend, was probated September 2nd, 1864, and is recorded in Libel 28. He leaves his farm, meadows and mill to his son, Samuel J. Gerritsen, and another farm which he had bought of the Stillwells, to his other son, Simon C. Gerritsen. Samuel J. Gerritsen'S will was recorded on October 31st, 1876, and was made May 4th of the same year. He leaves all his property, both real and personal, to his two daughters, Mary C., widow of Abraham Ditmas Polhemus, and Helen B., wife of Stephen H. Herriman, both of Brooklyn. In 1899, the estate was sold to the Honorable William C. Whitney, who rebuilt, laid out, refitted and restored the premises, making one of the most magnificent country seats around New York. On his death his son, Harry Payne Whitney, came into possession of the properly.

New Amsterdam--First Settlement

 Garretson House 1800s Long Island

 Gerritsen Avenue, Gravesend

 Gerritsen Creek

 Early Long Island Map

 Gerritsen Creek

 One of the first maps of New York

 Gerritsen House

 First Map of Gravesend drawn by James Hubbard.  James Hubbard's daughter, Rebecca, married Rem Gerritsen.  She was a Quaker.

 Old Gerritsen Mill--early 1900s

Well, I could titled this Hillbilly tried to correct errors at Wikipedia or Galla Creek VS New York Times.  My sisters know I love learning about dead people and seeing pictures of them.  Larry uses the name Renfroe but his father was Eugene Garrison and his mother was the Renfroe.  He lived with his Grandparents most of his life and took their surname.  When we dead ended on researching the Powells.  I started with my children's ancestors--Standridges, Garrisons, Satterfields, Dilbecks, Humphreys, Blevins, Jones, etc.  Each of these I dead ended on also.  To find the Garrisons, Larry and his brother Roger Garrison submitted DNA to the family treemaker organization.  Their results matched the Gerritsens who owned Gerritsen Mill for over 200 years and lived on Gerritsen Beach and Gerritsen Creek and operated Gerritsen Mill.  Y DNA is the most awesome tool for someone interested in genealogy.  Over 100s of years the Y strand can be passed from father to son with no changes, but some times there will be some number changes on certain genes.  The most unstable ones are where the mutations often occur.  Roger and Larry's Y strand and the Samuel Gerritsen, Garretson, Gerritson, Gerrittson descendant's were almost the same.  I was able to contact him in Florida and ask if he would pay for additional testing to check the strand farther.  He did and we paid for Larry's to be checked.  There was no need to pay for Roger's as he and Larry's Y are absolutely identical.  The extensive test markers were all identical.  Armed with this information I began looking for my children's Gerritsen ancestors.  I could not fit our ancestors into any of Samuel's children or his many sons children.  I posted a comment for help at rootsweb.  And low and behold someone from Samuel's brother Rem Gerritsen's family came forward to assist me and our connection was made NOT through Samuel but through Samuel's brother Rem.  Samuel and Rem were sons of Gerrit Remmerson of New Amsterdam.  They belonged to the Dutch Church.  Rem married a Quaker and moved to Cape May, New Jersey.  He was a whaler and whaling off Long Island was exhausted.  His little brother, Sameul stayed at Gravesend, New Amsterdam (later New York).  He was a miller and owned the Gerritsen Tide Mill.  The Tide Mill passed from father to son until the late 1800's when a Gerritsen had only 2 daughters.  The Mill went to them.  One of their sons (Herriman) operated the Mill but eventually sold the estate to the wealthy Whitney family who developed the property farther.  Gerritsen Beach, Gerritsen Creek, Gerritsen Avenue and Gerritsen Bay are all named after Samuel's family, but the New York Times wrote an article about the area in 2002 stating that the area was name for Wolphert Gerrtse Couwenhoven.  Then, this was added to Wikipedia.  Well, I signed up as an editor at Wikipedia to correct the mistake, but I am not as esteemed as the New York Times.  I fixed the mistake 3 times and 3 times they deleted my edit for different reasons, but one said it was not "helpful".  So I take it that correct information is not really important to Wikipedia and I would not place much faith in what is posted there.

My sisters are wondering why I am writing this long drawn out post about Gerritsen Beach, Gerritsen Bay, Gerritsen Mill, Gerritsen Creek, and even Gerritsen Avenue.  My Blog is through google when anyone searches for these names they will find the Wikipedia post but also my correct one.  I am posting what I wrote for the edit to Wikipedia twice.  I really want to words to get out there and hope folks will find my post and the correct data.  Samuel gave the Gerritsen Mill to Johannes; Johannes willed it to Samuel Johannes; the second Samuel passed it to his son, John S.; and John S. passed the Mill to his son Samuel. This last Samuel Gerritsen had no sons, but in 1876 he willed his estate to his two daughters:  Mary C., widow of Abraham Ditmas Polhemus, and Helen B., wife of Stephen H. Herriman, both of Brooklyn. In 1899, the estate was sold to the Honorable William C. Whitney, who rebuilt, laid out, refitted and restored the premises, making one of the most magnificent country seats around New York. On his death his son, Harry Payne Whitney, came into possession of the properly.

The Gerritsen who matched our DNA spelled his last name Garretson.  After the Civil War or recent family spells the name Garrison.  I was amazed to find over a dozen spellings for the name.
Gerritsen Mill, Beach, and Creek were not named for Wolphert Gerretse. Wolphert's last name was Couwenhoven. The Gerritsen's who owned the Mill and lived on the Beach for almost 300 years were the descendants of Gerrit Remmersen. Dutch children of this era took the first name of their father for their surname. Gerrit's sons Rem and Samuel used the surname Gerritsen. Rem moved to Cape May, New Jersey, and died there. Samuel Gerritsen lived in Gravesend and Samuel owned the Tide Mill. Hugh Gerritsen held title to some land in this area in 1645. His relationship to Samuel Gerritsen, if any, is not proven. Documented proof of the passing of the Tide Mill exists in the land record's of Kings County. The Mill passed from Samuel Gerritsen (1671-1763) to his son Johannes (1716-1766). In the New York Surrogate's office, Liber 25, page 232, is the will of Johannes Gerritsen, miller, of Gravesend, who gave to his son, Samuel Gerritsen, all his real and personal estate, subject to certain legacies, which he (Samuel) was to pay. In this will he names his widow, Jannetie, and a daughter, Ida. His executors are named as his brother-in-law Michiel Vandervoort, and Rem Williamson and his cousin Jacobus Rider. The date of this will is December 20th, 1765. Johannes first wife and mother of Samuel was deceased. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Vandervoort (Michiel was her brother). Ida was the daughter of Jannetie Williams Gerritsen. Samuel Gerritsen, of Gravesend, recorded his will in the Kings County Surrogate's office, in Libel 2, probated in 1822. In this will he leaves the grist mill and farm to his son, John S., and names daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. He appoints his son-in-law, John Lott, and grandson, Van Brunt Magaw, executors. Van Brunt Magaw was born September 7th, 1783; died March 18th, 1831. He was a son of Colonel Robert Magaw, an officer of distinction in the Reyolution, and Marritje, daughter of Colonel Rutgert Van Brunt. Van Brunt Magaw, married November 2nd, 1811, Adriana, daughter of Louwrens Voorhees and Jannetie,his wife, daughter of Samuel Gerritsen. This Samuel Gerritsen (grandson of the elder Samuel, born 1671) was the miller during the Revolutionary War,who dumped the grind stones into the Harbor rather than to mill for the British! John S. Gerritsen continued to operate the Tide Mill. The will of John S. Gerritsen, miller, of Gravesend, was probated September 2nd, 1864, and is recorded in Libel 28. He leaves his farm, meadows and mill to his son, Samuel J. Gerritsen, and another farm which he had bought of the Stillwells, to his other son, Simon C. Gerritsen. Samuel J. Gerritsen's will was recorded on October 31st, 1876, and was made May 4th of the same year. He leaves all his property, both real and personal, to his two daughters, Mary C., widow of Abraham Ditmas Polhemus, and Helen B., wife of Stephen H. Herriman, both of Brooklyn. In 1899, the estate was sold to the Honorable William C. Whitney, who rebuilt, laid out, refitted and restored the premises, making one of the most magnificent country seats around New York. On his death his son, Harry Payne Whitney, came into possession of the properly.