User:Anna-Maja R.

From The Peopling of New York City

1 About Myself..
2 Initial Research Paper Proposal
3 Research
4 Conclusion
5 Links To Group Members..and more elusive immigrants

About Myself..

My name is Anna-Maja Rappard. Taking a look at my name, may already hint towards the fact that I am not,in fact, American. I am an immigrant myself. I am nine-teen years old and I live in New York City now, but for the past six years the place that I called "home" was of constant subject to change. I am half Dutch and half German. My father came to Germany from the Netherlands when he was twenty-nine-years-old and met my mother, who is German. Though I am as much Dutch as I am German, I was born and brought up in Germany and hence am accustomed to the German culture and language more than I am to that of the Netherlands. In my perception as a child though, the border between the two countries virtually vanished, as we frequently drove back and forth to visit respective family members and friends. I am told that as I child I interchanged the two languages and certain customs without taking note of it. My brother and I grew up in a decent-size town called "Neuss", which is located in the North-West part of Germany, directly on the Rhine and neighboring more well-known cities, such as Cologne and Duesseldorf.

In 2004, my parents, my brother and I decided to move to the United States together. We emigrated from Germany to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where we lived together for two years. Those two years opened my eyes to the wide array of opportunities and I understood the value of being exposed to another culture, a different lifestyle and adapting to them. It was an extremely enriching experience for me that hugely impacted my personality, goals and perspective in life. After living in Ann Arbor for two years, however, my mother and I decided to move back to Neuss/Germany. From 2005-2006 I lived back in Germany again, and I vividly remember how my previous experience had allowed me to be more perceptive towards aspects about my own culture that had never caught my attention prior to my stay in Ann Arbor. I appreciated parts of life in Germany much more than before, but also felt that I had, in many ways, "outgrown" the perspective that presented itself to me due to the fact that I had already been exposed to a different lifestyle and mentality. This is mainly what caused me to come to New York in August 2006. While my mother stayed in Germany, I moved to New York and lived with my father, who later moved back to the Mid-West.

New York is the destination that I have arrived at for now. I experience New York as a "melting pod" of cultures and ethnicities and a marketplace for different beliefs, religions and traditions. My story seems to blend in with the many stories of people who have immigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. This is, in my opinion, what makes this city so unique and beautiful. It attracts people of different cultures and nationalities because everyone will find influences their own culture had on this city. Though every story is unique, most "New Yorkers" share the aspect that at some point in their own lives or their ancestors' lives, New York became "the new home", whether it was by choice or not.

Initial Research Paper Proposal

For my final research project in our class, I would like to research the “slave owners” mentioned in Jill Lepore’s “New York Burning”. When I was reading “New York Burning”, I thought it was particularly intriguing to learn about the lives and background of the people who owned slaves and started to become more and more paranoid that there was, in fact, a slave conspiracy or some kind of uprising against them. The slave owners were all immigrants from different countries and had different backgrounds, which I therefore find interesting to explore their similarities and differences. Researching and exploring these individuals will illuminate the other side of slavery, from the point of view of the owners. I ask myself if these people, who took away people’s rights and liberties, merely regarded them as inhumane, knew what effects their actions had and if they ever doubted the validity of them. I wonder if they adopted this way of thinking or if they were brought up in a society who inherently taught them to follow these atrocious motivations. If so, something as unjust and horrifying as slavery could happen today in our modern society if we, as a society, put forth a collective notion of inequality for example. I would like to learn how these people were different from those who were abolitionists: how their daily lives, background and ambitions were different, since this might help me understand how a human being can be capable of such a genocidal offensive. I chose a variety of different slave owners mentioned in the book for different reasons: I would like to research those directly involved in the trails and interrogations of the slaves, those who brought slaves to New York and those who spent their daily lives in close relation with their slaves (and were often involved in the trails as well, mostly to testify against their slaves).

James Delancey: a French lawyer who was deeply involved in the trials and interrogations. He owned Othello.
Frederick Phillipse: He was a Dutch merchant who was an important part in the interrogations.
John Auboyneau: He was a French merchant who was called in by his slave Prince to testify when Prince and Ceasare defended themselves.
John Chambers: He was the lawyer appointed to Peter Zenger.
John Roosevelt: He owned Quack who supposedly told him about the slave conspiracy.
Geradus Comfort: He owned Jack. Jack had been tried for the conspiracy and mentioned numerous other slaves.
Jacobus Vaarck: He owned Bastian who was a very smart man. Bastian spoke English and French fluently, which might foreshadow something about their relationship.
Captain Marshall: He was a mariner who brought slaves to New York. He owned Ben.
Mrs. Elizabeth Kiersted: She was one of the only women slave owners mentioned in this book.
Peter Lower: He was a Dutch merchant who owned Juan. He brought slaves from the Caribbean to New York.

Research

After reviewing my inital selection of slave owners that I would like to research, the assignment was narrowed down to five "elusive immigrants" who I am now in search of. It was of great importance to me that all the individuals I am exploring had different nationalities and fit differently and distinctly into the context of The Slave Conspiracy.

John Auboyneau: French; no wealth mentioned; Country Party; merchant; no ward listed; Prince hanged
Jacob Goelet: Dutch; 95 pounds wealth; Court Party; shopkeeper; East Ward; Quack discharged
Mrs. Elizabeth Kiersted: Dutch; 40 pounds wealth; no party affiliation; no occupation listed; East Ward; Braveboy transported
James Searle: English; 20 pounds wealth; no party affiliation; merchant; North Ward; Pompey accused but not arrested
Jacobus Vaarck: Dutch; 10 pounds wealth; no party affiliation; baker; Dock Ward; Bastian (alias Tom Peal) transported & Jonneau (alias John) transported

At first I had taken a look at the index at the back of the book, New York Burning, to see if the author would provide any information besides that of the appendix about these individuals. I also did a very general "Google Search" on each of the individual, which in some cases turned out quite helpful because I found people with the same names I could automatically eliminate and it also guided me (in some ways) to further sources such as the New York Public Library, the Municipal Archives and the New York Historical Society. Right from the beginning, I wanted to set specific perimeters to my research because I suspected that I could run into problems if my research would be too broad.

Jacob Goelet

So far, Jacob Goelet is the individual I was able to found most information on, or at least I was able to map out his background in terms of his family and lifetime. After a visit to the New York Public Library, where I found multiple articles of Historical Newspapers, I found that Jacob Goelet could have been associated with a man by the name of Raphael Goelet. (Article) The article was short and called out for people who owned dept to the two of them. I hope to find some evidence that Jacob Goelet owned, in fact, a slave by the name of "Quack" and was affiliated with the Court Party. With the information that I had found in the library, I went on www.ancestry.com and, to my suprise, found an incredible amount of information on Mr. Goelet. At first I found multiple Jacob Goelet's but I kept in mind that the one I was looking for had to be alive around 1741 when the Slave Conspiracy supposedly took place because he owned a slave who was accused and then discharged as a result,he had to be dutch and maybe even be associated with Raphael Goelet, according to the newspaper article of the New York Gazzette. This is what I know so far:

Name: Jacob Goelet

Birth Date: 30 January, 1689 in New Amsterdam (New York City)

Death: about 1768 in New York City

Spouse: Catharina Boelen (born on 28 Aug 1692))

Children: Jannetjie Goelet (born on 23 Nov 1720 in New York City and died on March 5 1799 in Catskill, Greene, New York)

Parents: Jacobus Goelet (born in 1665 in New York City and died in 1731 in New York) and Jannetje Cossart (born in 1688 and died in 1736 in New York City)

Interestingly Raphael Goelet (1696-1747) appears to be Jacob Goelet's brother for they are both listed as sons of Jacobus Goelet and Jannetje Cossart. In addition to this, an article of the New-York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy dated at 07/25/1757 mentioned Jacob Goelet in context with a man by the name of John Dies who apparently sold ironmongery at Jacob Goelet's house. John Dies (abt 1720 - bef 1773) is listed as the spouse of Jannetije Goelet, Jacob Goelet's daughter. Also, the article included Goelet's address at the time:

"opposite the Sign of the Golden-Key, in Hanover-Square".

I'll be sure to check this location out and try to find some pictures of the area at the time at the Municipal Archives.

Jacob Goelet and Catharina got married in 1716 in New York. I want to make a visit to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society at 22 E 58th St since it was cited as the source for this information on ancestry.com. According to the citation this database is an index to approximately 410,000 individuals who were married in or near New York City in the United States between 1622 and 1899.

It was a bit confusing following the paths of the right individuals in the Goelet's family since people were often named after their mothers and fathers, which means that there are multiple people with the same names. These results however are the product of a long, intricate search that involved a lot of sorting through genealogical data and newspaper articles about Jacob Goelet

In my research, I have found that relying on solely online research as my main source of information is not trustworthy enough. In numerous visits to the New York Public Library and other important sights around New York City related to the Slave Conspiracy have allowed me to gain a better understanding of the function of field research and also gave me great insight into the five individuals I am tracing. Nevertheless, class mates have recommended "GoogleBooks" to me since this online database contains virtually all books that are also available in the NYPL as well the New York Historical Society which has proven to be of tremendous help for my research. In addition, it is extremely user-friendly, for I was able to scan entire books (which usually hold about 250 pages) for specific names and dates within seconds.

To the right is Jacob Boelen's will, he was Catharine Boelen's father, in which Jacob Goelet is mentioned. I was relieved to find out that apparently I have been following the trace of the Jacob Goelet mentioned in Lepore's novel. I was able to extract much useful information from this document, which is to be found in the New York Historical Society.

Jacob Goelet's exact address was 114 Pearl Street, which is, in fact, right by Hanover Square as I had learned from another document before.

Jacob Goelet and his wife, Jacob Boelen's daughter, Catharine Boelen married on May 6th, 1716. Their daughter Jannetje, who is referred to as "Jane" in Boelen's will, was born four years after their wedding.

I had found out about their daughter Jannetje and her husband before I had come across this document, but Boelen's once again affirmed the fact that "John Dies" was Jannetje Goelet's husband. Also, it occurred to me why my initial research on ancestry.com had been so extensive and frustrating since the Goelet's seemed to be intertwined in several other family's genealogies. As mentioned in Jacob Boelen's will, Jannetje and John Dies had many descendant in the DuBois and Van Loon families.

Jannetje died on March 5, 1799 when she was 78.

It is also mentioned that Jacob Goelet was a "sworn interpreter of the Dutch language" hence he must have been proficient in both English in Dutch. Many of the documents and wills in this book of wills of New York City have been translated by Jacob Goelet.

John Auboyneau

Even after multiple visits to the New York Public Library as well as an extensive amount of online research and intricate searching through New York Burning, I was unable to find relevant information about John Auboyneau. From the book, I know that when the two accused slaves Ceasar and Prince conducted their own defense in the trial on May 1st, 1741, John Auboyneau was called in as a witness. Prince (Auboyneau's slave) and Ceasar were accused of robbing Robert Hoggs shop on March 2nd, 1741. The infamous Mary Burton identified the two of them as the perpetrators.

Maybe it will be helpful to research this particular instance and trial in order to gain more tangible information about John Auboyneau. So far it seems like he has completely disappeared from history.

Mrs. Elizabeth Kiersted

Unfortunately I was not able to find any substantial information on Mrs. Elizabeth Kiersted so far. Among some other information that didn't lead me any further, I was able to find an individual named Benjamin Kiersted, who could have been her husband. In New York Burning Lepore mentions that Elizabeth is a widow and in a different context, she mentions Captain Benjamin Kiersted who could have been her deceased husband. The Benjamin Kiersted I found was born in New York in 1710, which certainly is a reasonable date, however, I was not able to find more on Elizabeth. Maybe because of the rather limiting fact at the time that she was a woman, the only women slave owners mentioned in the book, her information was never accurately gathered. Women in the eighteenth century perceived as "less significant" than men and, accordingly, subject to widespread discrimination. in support of my suspicion, Lepore indicates that neither an occupation was listed for her nor a party affiliation. Her wealth (40pounds), that listed in the appendix, could have been that of her deceased husband. Captain Benjamin Kiersted was a merchant and therefore probably more wealthy than the average person living in New York City at the time. Lepore never mentions the two as having been married, but from the information I was able to find, it could definitely be a possibility. I think here it might be helpful to look at some marriage licenses of the time in order to clarify that the two were, in fact, married.

"Section 15" in the Genealogical Archives at the New York Public Library contains a variety of official documents from eighteenth-century New York. Among these documents are wills of people and New York marriage licenses, which was helpful in uncovering Elizabeth Kiersted's history. I found a marriage license from November 26, 1737, of a Jacobus Kiersted and Elizabeth Saybrant. Of course, after their marriage Elizabeth took on the name of Kiersted, as it was still custom at the time. Unfortunately, this information does not match up with what I had suspected before. I couldn't find a marriage license of a Benjamin Kiersted and I am suspecting I will have to abandone the marriage license I have found. It is listed in Lepore's appendix that Elizabeth Kiersted was of Dutch decent. "Saybrant" is a french last name and therefore this must have been another individual who simply happens to carry the same surname.

James Searle

I found a biography of a James Searle who was a merchant and delegate to the Continental Congress. Though the dates of his lifetime (1730-1797) could possibly match the lifetime of the person I am looking for (this would mean he would have been eleven when the burnings in New York took place), his party affiliation however do not match. Lepore provided in the appendix that he wasn't affiliated to any particular party. This could have simply not been listed at the time.

The "google search" led me to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, where I found the following:

SEARLE, James, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born in New York City in 1730; completed preparatory studies; engaged in business at Madeira in 1757; moved to Philadelphia, Pa., in 1762; one of the managers of the United States lottery 1776-1778; member of the Navy board in 1778; Member of the Continental Congress 1778-1780; trustee of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia 1779-1781; was commissioner to France and Holland to negotiate a loan for the state of Pennsylvania 1780-1782, but was unsuccessful; located in New York City in 1784 as agent for an importing house; returned to Pennsylvania in 1785; died in Philadelphia, Pa., on August 7, 1797; interment in St. Peter’s Churchyard.

Also, I found a complete biography of James Searle on UPenn's website by searching the board of trustees in the 18th century, as James Searle was a trustee from 1779 to 1781:

James Searle was probably born in New York, the son of Catherine Pintard and John Searle. The fluid writing style and frequent use of Latin phrases in his correspondence suggest that he received an excellent early education. At about age sixteen, he traveled from New York to Madeira where he spent sixteen years with his brother John in the trading firm of John Searle & Company. During these years, he married Ann (Nancy) Smith of Waterford, England, in 1762.

When he returned to America in 1765, James Searle settled in Philadelphia to act as an agent for his brother and to engage in his own business ventures. During this period he amassed great wealth, only to lose his wealth through bad decisions made in his absence during the American Revolution.

Searle was an ardent American patriot even at the beginning of the Revolution. He signed the 1765 Philadelphia non-importation agreement, on his return from England in 1775, became a lieutenant-colonel in the militia. In 1778 was elected to the Continental Congress. As a Congressman he quickly became allied with the most radical faction in the government, and became known for his dislike and distrust of Silas Dean. Searle's wife also became a leader among the patriotic women of Philadelphia. In 1780 Searle was selected by Pennsylvania to be a special envoy to Europe, with the mission of securing loans to the state which would then be used to buy munitions and other war materials. On the continent he met with little success, finding it even more difficult to borrow money for a single state than for the Congress.

In 1781, after the death of his wife, Searle returned to Philadelphia where he found himself in financial straits, culminating in 1787 with the threat of bankruptcy. To his good fortune, in 1788 he was given a job with steady income as an agent for a Madeira trading company, which allowed him to reestablish himself in Philadelphia and to live out his days in comfort, if not in the wealth he had once enjoyed. He married Isabella West, of Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1785, and together they had several children.

Searle served as a trustee of the University of the State of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pennsylvania) from 1779 until his resignation in 1781.

It seems like James Searle must have been in England at the time when the executions and trials in fear of a Slave Conspiracy reached their peak. Since he was a merchant however, he frequently traveled between England and the US and Pompey could have been accused and not arrested during a stay in New York. I want to follow up on his history, researching for more specific documents in the library. So far I was only able to find advertisement of dwelling houses that are also associated with a man named John Searle, apparently his father. With the information I was already able to find out, I should be able to narrow down my research a considerable amount.

On another visit to the New York Public Library Genealogical Archives, I took a close look at "section 15", which contains census data as well as will and other official documents from 18th century New York. Unfortunately I was not able to find anything in particular about James Searle there but with the information that he could have been a member of Congress I was able to find the following document on the online database "ProQuest":

File:ProQuest 748587612.pdf

I am getting increasingly more skeptical that the James Searle whose trail I have been following so far is, in fact, the one mentioned in Lepore's Slave Conspiracy. I am starting to doubt the fact that he could have been only eleven at the time of the conspiracy. In the book it was mentioned that he owned a slave by the name of Pompey, who was accused but not arrested, and that he was a merchant living on the North ward. Despite my doubts, I find it quite interesting to follow this individuals story and I have not been able to find another James Searle that lived during this specific time period.

Jacobus Vaarck

I was unable to find any substantial information. Since it has proven extremely difficult to find information on "Jacous Vaarck", I additionally want to take a look at his slaves' stories since they both seem to have pretty reputable men. "Bastian" officially carried the name "Tom Pearl" and "Jonneau" was named "John" - maybe this indicated a unique relationship between them and Vaarck. Both of the slaves were transported around the year 1741. The appendix lists that Jacobus Vaarck was of Dutch decent and a baker in New York City at the time. He lived in the dock ward and possessed an "average" amount of wealth.

Conclusion

The prospect of our task was the search of the elusive immigrant. We were going to be on a quest to uncover the lives of ordinary people, who hopefully left some mark on the historical canvas. When we first started our search, possibilities seems to be endless since our resources were vast. With five people assigned, I dove into the work right away. Very quickly, I grasped on the degree of difficulty of this assignment. On multiple visits to the New York Public Library and sorting through extensive research I found that these five names for my individuals were not necessarily unique. I ended up following the trails of multiple people, with my frustration increasing that I would not find the actual person who was mentioned in Lepore's New York Burning. In addition to this, I surprisingly wasn't able to find relevant information on some of my individuals. All in all, I believe that this project has illuminated several new aspects about (historical) research for me. Over time, I seemed to almost have developed a relationship to these individuals that I have been researching and my interest in their lives has certainly increased. I also think that such kind of research if virtually limited-less and could be endless. Some individuals that I have found have had left marks on the historical canvas that are extensive and their bloodlines could be traced up until our time today.