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My great aunt Celia Vandervoort once said that a
relative, trying to gain admittance to the D.A.R., claimed she had
traced her lineal descent back to General Philip Schuyler, and for decades the
claim has been casually accepted
in the Vandervoort and Windhorst families without much scrutiny. We were
supposed to be descended through the General's daughter Nellie, married to Abraham Veeder. This now
appears not to be the case. In fact, the General had no daughter Nellie, and no
son-in-law named Abraham Veeder. Abraham Veeder (our ancestor) did marry a
Neeltje Schuyler (who I suppose could well have gone by the nickname Nellie), but
she was the daughter of Jacobus/Jacob Schuyler (although the sources conflict a
bit on this point, see note).
It seems all the Schuylers in New York were derived from two Dutch brothers,
David and Philip Pieterse Schuyler, who emigrated in the 1650s, both settling
in Albany and becoming fur traders. Gen. Schuyler was the great grandson of
Philip Pieterse Schuyler, the older brother, pictured at the top with his wife
Margarita. Neeltje Schuyler was the great granddaughter
of David Schuyler. General Philip Schuyler and Neeltje Schuyler were thus third cousins, not father-daughter. And the General,
instead of being my 6th great-grandfather, is my 3rd cousin 8 times removed.
These facts can be found in a two volume work by George W. Schuyler, published
in 1885. It is available in full
text on-line at:
Colonial New York: Philip Schuyler and his Family, Volume I
Colonial New York: Philip Schuyler and his Family, Volume II
The Philip Schuyler of the title of this thousand page document is the 17th
Century Philip Pieterse Schuyler. General Schuyler's children and their marriages are
listed on pp. 242-243 of volume II. The David side of the family is given
more abbreviated treatment in an appendix at the back of the second volume, where
"our" Jacob and his daughter Neeltje appear on p. 463.
These books aren't mere dry genealogy. On a quick look, there appear to be many
interesting vignettes. For example, one Schuyler went native and married an
Oneida Indian, initiating an Oneida branch of the Schuyler family, which must
have been a little hard for the aristocrats of the Hudson Valley to stomach. He
seems to have been quite colorful, and played an interesting and controversial
role in the Revolutionary War. The Oneida apparently made him one of their
sachems. In about 1805 the Oneida executed two of their women for witchcraft,
and the executioner was Schuyler: "He entered the lodge according to a prior
decree of the Council, and struck them down with a tomahawk." (See Johan Jost
Schuyler, aka Hon Yost, d. about 1810, vol. II, pp. 473-477.)
Another helpful Schuyler resource is:
The Colonial Albany Social History Project
I have attached the relevant gleanings from this site in the format of a descendant report:
Descent from Geertruy Philips van Schuyler (pdf)
Until recently, my chart of the Schuyler
connection read as follows:
Here is how the chart should look:
And for the brother Philip Pieterse
Schuyler's side:
Note that the General's parents were
first cousins. And that one of his actual daughters married Alexander
Hamilton.
As for the Veeders, the family Neeltje Schuyler married into, I have found this:
ABRAHAM VEEDER1 (son of Myndert Veeder and Elizabeth Douw)
Born: September 30, 1741
Baptized October 18, 1741Albany Dutch Reformed Church
Died: February 20, 1817 AE 75y4m21d Buried: Prospect Hill Cemetery
Wife: Neeltje Schuyler (daughter of Jacob Schuyler and Geertruy Staats)
Married: April 2, 1770
Baptized November 22, 1747 Albany Dutch Reformed Church, sponsors were Gerrit
Staats and Annatje Fisscher (probably Visscher).
Died: November 14, 1832 AE 84y2d Buried: Prospect Hill Cemetery
CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM VEEDER AND NEELTJE SCHUYLER:
Elizabeth Born: July 6, 1781
Baptized August 12, 1781 sponsors were Simon Veeder and Susanna Roseboon at
Albany Dutch Reformed Church
Simon
Elizabeth Baptized May 28, 1785 Schenectady Dutch Reformed Church
Married: November 22, 1806 to Myndert Mynderse
Geertruy Born: July 27, 1789
Baptized August 23, 1789 at the Albany Dutch Reformed Church sponsors
were Dirk Schuyler and Annatje
First Husband: Daniel Winne
Second Husband: Isaac LaGrange
Myndert Born: July 5, 1793 Albany
Baptized August 10, 1793 at Albany Dutch Reformed Church sponsors
were Jacob Veeder and Catharine Shawn
Died: January 29, 1843
Buried: Prospect Hill Cemetery
Married: probably Elisa Veeder
"Abraham was listed as First Lieutenant of the Fourth Regiment and Third Company
on October 20, 1775. He was listed as Captain in the Third Regiment and Sixth
Company on February 20, 1776. April 4, 1778 he was reported to be a Captain of
the Sixth Company. After the Revolutionary War Abraham was an assessor in
Guilderland."
So, if we have lost a Revolutionary War General, we at least have a Captain.
I hope this will appease the ghost of my great aunt Celia.
The above Veeder data is taken from a more
extensive document of Veeder
ancestry (pdf). It takes the Veeders back to early 15th Century France,
but the writer cautions that everything before 1624 may be a hoax.
--July 2010
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