George Norbury MacKenzie

 Who was George N. MacKenzie?

He was the editor of a series of books that was published in the early twentieth century on colonial families of the United States. These volumes contained genealogies of early families. Unfortunately, I found much of the information in these volumes to be full of errors. Most recently, I found a tree that referenced Everardus Bogardus and Anneke Jans.

Everardus Bogardus is called the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam in Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume I (George Norbury MacKenzie, Editor). This is not correct. In fact, the entire paragraph on Page 224 is full of errors. The paragraph reads:

"Dominie Everardus Bogardus, d. 1647; m. 21st June, 1642, Anneka Jans Roeloff; he was a native of Holland and the first minister of the Dutch Church at New Amsterdam; he obtained a grant of six acres on Manhattan Island, which afterwards became Trinity Church property; his wife Anneka Jans, was a granddaughter of Prince William of Orange, who afteward became King of Holland."

At the time that his book was compiled (1912), in the United States, the Netherlands was often called Holland, This is not really accurate as Holland could refer to one of two provinces, Noord Holland and Zuid Holland. Domine Bogardus was native of Utrecht Province.

Everardus was the second Reformed Dutch minister at New Amsterdam, not the first.

Bogardus did not marry Anneke Jans in 1642. The line in the book following the passage cited above states that Bogardus' son William married August 26, 1659. (See note below.) If Everardus and Anneke married in 1642, Willem would be about 16 or younger when he married.

Looking at the baptismal and marriage records in New Amsterdam in the 1600s, I find it highly unlikely that Willem Bogardus was married at such a young age. Males typically married in their early 20s.The baptismal records begin with the baptism of Jacob Wolpherttz's daughter, Neeltje on September 23, 1639. I found a record of the baptism of Cornelis Bogardus on October 9, 1640, of Jonas Bogardus on January 4, 1643, and of Pieter Bogardus on April 2, 1645.

Anneke Jans and Everardus Bogardus were clearly married before October 9, 1640. Willem Bogardus was their eldest child and was likely born before September, 1639, the date of the first entry in the Doop Book.The records of the city include an entry in which Anneke Jans, wife of Everardus Bogardus sold a hog on October 19, 1638.

It was In 1642 that Anneke Jans' daughter from her first marriage married Hans Kierstede. It was at the celebration of this marriage that Everardus Bogardus was able to garner enough pledges to be able to erect a permanent structure for his church.

The property mentioned in the paragraph did become the property of the Trinity Church in New York City and was the subject of legal battles beginning in the mid-eighteenth century and culminating in the early twentieth century. The descendants never prevailed in their several suits. The reasons are well documented.

Anneka is not the way that Anneke Jans' name was recorded. This is not the way this given name was spelled during this period. Anneke, Annetie, Annetje and Annetjen is the way this name was recorded. She was never Anneka Jans Roeloffs. That would have meant that she was the daughter of Roeloff. And that brings me to the last point.
Anneke Jans was the daughter of Jan. She was not "the granddaughter of Prince William of Orange, who afterward became King of Holland." Willem of Orange, also called Willem the Silent, died in 1584. He was instrumental in uniting the provinces, but he never was a king. Willem I, the first king of the Netherlands, was crowned in 1815.

It is important to keep the Williams straight. Willem the Silent's grandson, Willem, became William III, King of England in 1689. William III ruled jointly with his wife Mary Stuart.

Anneke Jans was the daughter of Tryn Jonas and Jan (patronym not known). She was born in Norway, not in the Netherlands. This story of her parentage appears to have been concocted sometime in the late nineteenth century.

Note: Willem Bogardus was married after October 29, 1659. This is the date on which the marriage banns were posted. "29 Aug. 1659. Willem Bogardus, Van N. Amsterdam, en Wyntje Sybrandts,Van O. Amsterdam."

Scams Part 2

Yesterday, I discussed inheritance scams of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most cases, the con artists were caught, tried and convicted. However, these were not the only scams in operation at that time. There were about a half a dozen "professional" genealogists who, for a fee, would produce one's genealogy including supporting documentation.

This was a time when there was a great interest in proving one's lineage to a Mayflower pilgrim, to a patriot of the American Revolution, to an ancestor who settled in the colonies prior to the revolution, or to European royalty.

It was the wealthy class who could afford to hire someone to conduct such research. So, it's not surprising that some "professional" genealogists might see an opportunity for a quick buck. I came across a few articles on the Internet that identified about a half a dozen people as scam genealogists. At least one name on the list seems to be an error and I have not had an opportunity to confirm or refute the others named with the exception of Gustave Anjou.

He was quite prolific in producing genealogies especially for the wealthy of northeastern United States. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City website has posted a list of family histories in their library that are suspect because Gustave Anjou authored or provided the "documentation" to a client who authored the family history.

I was curious if Willem Teller, Peter Stoutenburg or Resolved Waldron were among the list of suspect family histories. I found accounts that Willem Teller was the son of Baron Rudolf Teller of Germany, Peter Stoutenburg was the grandson of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt of the Netherlands, and Resolved Waldron was a baron and his 2nd wife, Tanneke Nagel was Lady Nagel. Since none of these stories are true, I thought that Anjou may have been the source of the tales.

At this point, I have no evidence that Gustave Anjou was involved in the fabrication of the family lore associated with these three mean. But what I learned about Gustave Anjou was very interesting.

His obituary in the New York Times on March 3, 1942, claims that he was born in Paris but lived in Sweden. It also claims that PhD was conferred on him at Upsala University in Sweden. The article further claimed that he married a Swedish woman from a prominent family and then emigrated to the United States.

From the records I've seen, he had no children. None were mentioned in the obituary. I am curious to know who provided the information for the obituary. Since his deceased wife's name was not mentioned, I believe that the informant was not a relative but a staff writer for the New York Times.

The obituary mentions that he was a genealogist who charged wealthy clients $9000 to research the family history. It also mentioned that later he had a mail order business with a catalog of family histories that could be purchased for $250.

I found a handful of family histories that Anjou printed and many more in which he is cited as the source of information. His heyday seems to be between 1890 and 1916.

I first encountered Gustave Anjou as the transcriber of Ulster County Probate Records published in 1906. I don't know why or how he happened to transcribe these records but on November 17, 1905, the New York Times published an article, "Anjou Library Sold." The Anderson Company of New York City sold his library.

The various records regarding Anjou all have conflicting information. In 1900, he was living in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ with his wife and mother-in-law. All three were born in Sweden and he and his wife, Anna, came to the United States in 1890. His mother-in-law, Maria, came to the US in 1899. His occupation was a heraldist and genealogist.

In the Swedish emigration index, I found a Maria Gustava Anjou Spångber who left Stockholm Lån, Sverige to New York. The entry was filed on April 15, 1899. My Swedish friend, Mona, said that Anjou was not a Swedish surname. When I tried to find its origin, it seems to be more of a French name.

In 1910, the family was living New Brighton on Staten Island. This time the record claims that he was born in France as were his parents. He and his wife Anna came to the US in 1890. His mother-in-law, Maria, came in 1900. His occupation is historical researcher.

In 1920, his mother-in-law appears to be deceased as the family consists of Gustave and his Swedish wife. They both came to the US in 1890, he was naturalized in 1917, born in France along with his parents and he is a genealogical professional.

The SS St. Paul passenger list on October 2, 1909 includes a Gustave Anjou, age 46, married and a United States citizen. The SS Belgenland passenger list on November 20, 1925 includes a Gustave Anjou, age 61, widowed, naturalized in Richmond County, NY Court on March 9, 1918 and living at 177 Rice Avenue West, New Brighton, NY.

I found his passport application of April 19, 1924, in which he claims that he was born in Paris, France. His father, also born in France, was Charles Gustave Maris Anjou. He claims to have been naturalized in Richmond County, NY on March 9, 1918.

I viewed a passenger list in 1902 in which he was a US citizen and another in the 1920s in which he was naturalized in 1919. I haven't yet found the ship on which he arrived in 1890 but I am sure that it will conflict with these other records.

During his life time I found indications that others were questioning his research. Investigation of the reliability of the "History of the Longyear family" by Gustave Anjou in New York, U.S.A. is just one example.