Gordinier (Gardenier) Family History

Gordinier (Gardenier) Family History




"It is 1862 and Spring time in Tennessee, the battle wages on. Four brothers from Michigan, the youngest only 14 have kissed their mother and older siblings goodbye and marched into the Civil War. They fought and survived, weary, from an extended stay and a battle that claimed many men in their regiment, they returned home on furlough. Things had changed in the two years since they had been gone. Father died, Mother remarried, and brother Elisha moved to Missouri. The four returned to battle together but only two would return home."

The information found herein is an excerpt from the book The Gardenier / Gordinier Family by Hollace Carey Gordinier, Jr.(Bud). Copyright 1990. It is printed in part with permission. All credit for this information is due my "cousin" Bud.

The Gordinier name has many spellings just check out any message board and you will see Gordineer, Gardener, Gordnear, Gordnir, and many more. This page is about the Gardinier's of Dutch descendent, travelling to America, from Holland in 1638.

The earliest ancestor in America was Jacob Janse Gardenier. The Dutch used nicknames for each other, and Jacob became Jacob Flodder. Why Flodder? I have no idea can anyone help me here? Jacob Janse Gardenier was born between 1615-1620 in the Netherlands. He was a carpenter or millwright and was under an apprenticeship when he came to America. Jacob's father was Jan Gardenier of Holland.

Jacob arrived on the ship den Harinck arriving in New Amsterdam on 28 March 1638. He was one of the first Dutch settlers to live at Fort Orange in Beverwyck, later known as Albany, NY.

Jacob returned to Holland in 1642 and found a position doing carpenter work in the new colony. He later returned to America in 1642 on the ship de Houttyn. Once Jacob was back in America he became quite the businessman owning at one time land on the North side from William to Pearl Street what today is known as Wall Street. He purchased the land for 1,000 pieces of green plank. Jacob became a land and mill owner near Kinderhook, NY where he and many of his descendents lived. He also owned a sloop which made many trips on the Hudson River.

Jacob married Josyna surname is unknown. They had 9 children before she died in 1669. He married again to Barentje Straetsman. Jacob had 5 or 6 sons and 4 daughters. The sons of Jacob and Josyna are: Jan Jacobsen ca.1644, Albert ca.1656, Andries ca. 1658, Hendrick ca. 1660, and Samuel ca. 1668. "From these males descended all Gardinier lines in the United States."(Gardenier/Gordinier pg.9)

Jan Jansen grandson of Jacob Janse married Anna Engelen Van Sweits. Their son Johannes Gardenier born ca. 1721 in Albany married Maria Woodcock. Gysbert (Gilbert) Gardenier son of Johannes Gardenier great great grandson of Jacob Janse Gardenier. He married Maria Moor in 1784 Kinderhook, NY. Maria's father was Ephraim Moor, Gilbert and Maria named a son Ephraim after Maria's father.

The following information was found through my own research of Ephraim Gordinier in the Lapeer, MI Library genealogy information, and from the book The Gardenier / Gordinier Family. I am descended from Ephraim's son Abijah, Bud is descended from Ephraim's son Albert.

Ephraim Gardenier spelled his name this way in NY, when he signed his will later he spelled it Gordinier; and our line is now spelled this way. Ephraim married twice first to Catharine Eggoner whom he had 10 children with. Catharine's grandfather (Matheis Egener) may have arrived in America aboard the Molley in 1727 to PA. She is of the Palatine Germans. In 1828 Ephraim married his second wife Permelia Myers they produced 9 children. Several of the children of the first family settled in southwestern Michigan in Branch County. The other family lived in NY, OH and MI where the second family lived. After Ephraim's death his widow would marry her eldest son's (Abijah) father-in-law, Daniel P. Sheldon. Ephraim and Permelia are buried in Lapeer County, MI.

Abijah Gordinier married Almira Sheldon daughter of Daniel Philips Sheldon and Sarah Summer. They lived in Macomb and Lapeer Counties. They had 8 or 9 children two of the children married siblings from the LaFountain family. Norton the eldest married Rosina LaFountain and my great grandmother Elizabeth born 3 May 1864 married Albert LaFountain b. 10 Jul 1852. The LaFountain children's parents were Edward and Nancy (believed to be native american). They either lived on the Sheldon farm and worked it or resided on the property next door. The 1860 census lists them right after each other and then more Sheldon's. Daniel and Sarah Sheldon had 8 children, but only Almira and John are on listed on the MI census's.

Elizabeth Gordinier married Albert Edward LaFountain about 1886, they had 8 children, of which my grandfather was Albert Jr. Elizabeth died at age 95, her son Albert lived to be 94 and her daughter Bessie reached 100 years. Albert LaFountain married Ethel Saliard on 26 Sep 1914 in Pontiac, MI. She was the daughter of Jay Saliard and Inez Ellsworth. Ethel's grandmother was Laura Fox-Ellsworth whose mother was Cynthia Brigham a descendent of Thomas Brigham and Mary Rice, granddaughter of Edmund Rice a founder of Sudbury, MA. These are my grandparents. Albert and Ethel had 6 children four are living and still in the Michigan area. Bessie married Chauncey Darling.
Go to the LaFountain History Page for more information on the descendants of Arthur/Anthony and Cunelua (Candis) LaFountain.

The Civil War saw four of Ephraim and Permeila's sons fight in it. In 1862, Albert, Martin, Jay, and Asa signed on in Dryden, MI and mustered in Flint, MI at Camp Thompson. The boys were Privates in Co. G, 10th Michigan Infantry Regiment (known as the Genesee Rangers),Flint is in Genesee County thus the name. Immediately they were sent into battle in Tennessee. While fighting many battles the last to be in Georgia with heavy casualities. The four boys were fortunate to survive and were sent home on leave a visit that would be the last for Asa and Martin. Asa is buried in the National Cemetary in TN, while Martin was a prisoner of war and later killed in a raid on Savannah, GA. (gordinier, p81). It is unknown, but possible that Jay and Albert may have witnessed the deaths of their brothers during these battles.

If you would like to talk with Bud or order one of the books please email me and I will have him contact you.



Created on ... June 20, 2000