Lambert Janse & Hermina Janse (Peters) Dorlandt
Lambert Janse Dorlandt was born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1639. He was
the son of Johan Dorlandt; his mother's name is unknown. In 1663,
eleven years after his brother (or cousin) Jan Gerretse Dorlandt had arrived in
America,
Lambert sailed for America on the "Bontekoe" (Spotted Cow)- a vessel of
the Dutch West India Company. The captain
of this ship was Jan Bergen. No formal list of passengers on that trip
has been preserved, but in the New York State Library at Albany there
is still to be seen the original book of accounts, in Dutch script
between the Dutch West India Co. and the passengers. Within a year or
two of arriving in
Brooklyn, New York he was married to Hermina Janse Peters, the daughter
of Jans Peters in 1665. No birth or death dates have been handed down
for her. She is mentioned in baptismal records as Hermia Janse and as
Hermina Peters. Lambert first settled in Brooklyn and owned 40 acres of
land which he farmed. Lambert also served as a Constable of Brooklyn in
1671 and later in 1673 as a Magistrate in Brooklyn.
In 1675 we find him as the
defendant in a civil suit brought by one Robert Hollis, and set for
trial at Gravesend, June 15. The nature of the trial is unknown, and
the case was withdrawn without a trial.
On April 4, 1677, we find him signing
his name Lambert Dorlandt as a witness to a disposition of two Indians,
drawn up by Michil Hainelle, clerk of Brooklyn, attesting to the
limits of a tract of land sold in 1686 by Sachem Ka to Jacques Bentyn
and William Adriese (Bar)nett; and the incident is noteworthy from the
fact the fact that original transaction in 1686 is accounted the first
purchase of property looking to a settlement within the present limits
of Brooklyn.
In 1680 he made an application for a grant of land on Staten Island to
Governor Andros of the Colony, and he received it. I quote: "An estate
most improved and fenced, and had on it a dwelling house, most
comfortable as it had been the residence of the late Governor Lovelace;
there was a gristmill and support for many cattle and sheep." This was
"A Patent for a Parcel of Land on the North East side of Staten
Island Granted unto Lambert Janse Durland." By looking at a map of
Staten Island, one may locate the place at a point between the towns of
New Brighton and Thompkinsville. Here they lived for eighteen years,
and he seems to have attained and occupied a place of high standing in
a very short time in his new country. For a number of years after their
move in 1683, they still attended the Dutch Church in Brooklyn and did not sell
their plantation there until 1696 when it was bought by Jacobus Van
Deventer.
In September 1691 at a special
meeting, Lambert was elected as representative of Richmond County to
the Colonial Assembly which met in the city of New York; it was the
first Assembly in which the popular representatives of the province
convened under the direct authority of the English Crown. Lambert
served several terms with other well-known Dutchmen such as Ressalaer
and Cortlandt who were patroons with wast estates along the Hudson
River. He was also a signer of the Protestant Freeholders of the Colony
expressing their loyalty the Crown. His name appears many times among
the old records of the government of New York.
In 1715 Lambert moved his family
to Somerset County, New Jersey (near Harlington) where he purchased
into the Great Lot 12 with Peter Cowenhoven whom he eventually bought
out; this was a 9,000 acre tract of land owned by 17 Dutchmen mostly as
an investment, but Lambert did build his home here and farmed the land,
adding many more acres as they came up for sale. Here too is the
burying place for 40 members of the Dorland family, and Lambert's grave
was marked by a "flat fieldstone projecting above the sod about 16
inches and carved with the outline of a ship (perhaps the Spotted Cow?)
with masts and riggings; on the highest part of the mast is a flag with
the initials "L.D." and the figures "79". The house is still standing,
and there is a picture and description of it; in 1980 Judy Cassidy sent
snap shots of it to John E. Darland after she visited Harlingen. That
fall boy Scouts helped a Dorland descendant erect a fence around the
burial grounds (John E. Darland was one who contributed money to pay
for the materials they used). Dorlands occupied the house until 1772
when they followed other Dutchmen from their area to Kentucky or
Pennsylvania. There is no recored of Hermina's death, but Lambert died
at age 79 in 1720.
Lambert was unquestionably a man
of culture and education, and of much more than the average force of
character. He bore himself well in all the relations of life in his day
and generation; he filled worthily several posts of trust and
responsibility confided to him by his fellow pioneers, and his name is
honorably identified with the early history of King's and Richmond
Counties and the infant colony of New York
Children of Lambert Janse & Hermina Janse Dorlandt
Gerret Janse b:1666
Marritje (Mary) b:1672
Elsje (Elsie) b:1677
Jan (John) Dorlandt