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[Note: The format followed in these Chapter Five excerpt web pages is explained in Part 11's opening Author and Webmaster's notes.
 The NYS historical marker (above) at the small Remsen Cemetery (below), Woodhaven Blvd. & Trotting Course Lane, Middle Village, Queens County, explains its significance as the resting place of American Revolutionary War Colonel Jeromus Remsen of Newtown, who led local militia in the Battle of Long Island Aug. 27, 1776.
Samuel Riker, later a Congressman, was a lieutenant in a Light Horse unit with that militia.
Before the shooting war, Newtown Supervisor Jeromus Remsen had helped to organize its Revolutionary Committee of Correspondence whose 17 members included Samuel Riker, Daniel Rapelje, Abraham Brinkerhoff, Samuel Moore and the Lawrences -- Jonathan, Thomas, and Daniel.
The family names of Remsen, Rapelje, Brinkerhoff, Lawrence, and Moore appear repeatedly in the Riker genealogy through marriage with the progeny of Abraham Rijcken vanLent.
Click either image for more from their source web site, Ken Walsh's interesting Forgotten NY.
The images do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and were added to the web version by NYCHS.
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THIRD GENERATION
ABRAHAM LENT
Born - March 10, 1674.
Died - Feb. 5, 1745/46, Newtown; may be buried #81 in Riker Cemetery
with initials “A.L.”
Married - Dec. 24, 1698 bond October 24, 1698) Anna Catharina, daughter of Adolph & Maria (Verveelen) Meyer. [She died] July 21, 1762 in her 86th year.
[Sons] RYCK, Adolph (removed to Rockland County), Isaac (married Sarah daughter of Peter Luyster Jan. 31, 1714, may have settled in Fishkill), Abraham (married daughter of John Snediker), Jacob, JACOBUS, and Johanes
[Daughters] Catrina (Catharina), Elizabeth, Mary (Maria, Marite), Wyntie, and Anneke (Anna).
Catrina - married Dec. 14, 1726, to Elbert Herring; children included Catherine Haring
named in Abraham’s will.
Elizabeth - married Jacob Brinkerhoff [of Fishkill], son of Derick
Brinckerhoff [and Aeltje Kouwenhoven]; 2 children.
Mary - married first Jan. 12, 1733 to Jeronimus Rapelje who died by April 16, 1750, son of Joris Rapelje; second, by Aug. 24, 1763, to Mathew Dubois.
Wyntie - born circa 1718; died 1796, married Sept. 27, 1748 Jeromus (Jeronomes) Rapelje, son of Joris Rapelje at Newtown R. D. Church; 7 children.
Anneke - born 1687. Married John Brinkerhoff; 1 child.
Abraham Lent as a child went with his parents to Westchester County where
they settled in the area of present day Tarrytown and where later in life he was a
deacon in the Sleepy Hollow Reformed Dutch Church.
In 1729 he inherited the
Lent-Rapelye farm from his mother’s brother, Jacobus Siboutsen/Krankheyt,
whose marriage had been childless. The latter died on Feb. 18, 1729, and his 1728
will left to Abraham “all that messuage, tenement, and Plantation, on which I now
dwell, in Newtown, at ... a place called ... by the name of ye Poor Bowery, with all
lands and meadows, salt and fresh, to the same belonging.”
 When Abraham Lent's daughters Elizabeth and Anneke married Brinkerhoffs (Jacob & John respectively), they connected their own Riker/Lent line to a family with a large role, then and subsequently, in the history of Dutchess County's Fishkill area.
Built in 1738, the Brinckerhoff-Van Voorhees House (above) at Route 82 and Lomala Rd., in the Town of Fishkill, was frequented by Gen. George Washington during the War for Independence. One of the hamlets near Fishkill Village is named Brinkerhoff.
 At the site of the former Captain Geo. Brinckerhoff Homestead, Beek- man Rd. & Taconic State Parkway, in Dutchess' Hopewell Junction, a bronze tablet (left) states that home was where General Washington spent the night on the March to Connecticut in 1778.
Situated on North Kensington Drive off Palen Road, East Fishkill, is the rescued & restored Brinckerhoff- Palen - Pudney House (below, right) that serves as the headquarters of the East Fishkill Historical Society.
 Dirck Brinckerhoff of Flushing, Queens, in 1718 bought 2,000 acres along the "Vis Kill" (Fishkill Creek) from Fishkill village to Sprout Creek.
Later John Brinckerhoff conveyed to George Brinckerhoff 213 acres on Vis Kill's south side where the Brinkerhoffs farmhouse was built in the late 18th Century. In the early 19th Century it was sold to others; thus the additional names attached to the house.
Dirck Brinkerhoff was an Assemblyman from Dutchess County at the first ever session of the NYS Legislature. It was held in 1777 and that Assembly's Clerk was John McKesson, whose sister Maria is memorialized by Riker Cemetery marker #129. Marker #99 memorializes George Brinkeroff (1779 - 1808). On Feb. 16, 1819, William Leverich Riker married George's daughter Catherine Remsen Brinkerhoff. Marker #36 for William (who died March 8, 1828) is next to Marker #37 for his and Catherine's son, Berrien, who died three months later at age 1 year 9 months 13 days. Berrien was the boy's maternal grandmother's family name.
Below is from the Greater Astoria Historical Society's image of a Dutch Kills home built by Teunis Brinkerhoff on Middleburg Rd. in 1721, the year Teunis, 24, married Elizabeth Rider, also of Flushing, 20. He died in Dutch Kills June 16, 1784 at age 87.
Click Lomala Rd. house image for more from its source, the not-for-profit
Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture web site.Click tablet image for more from its source, the Melzingah Chapter, Daughters
of the American Revolution web page for its southern Dutchess County tour.
Click Palen Rd. house image for more from its source, the East Fishkill Historical Society web site.
Click Dutch Kills house image for more from its source, the Greater Astoria Historical Society web site.
The images do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and were added to the web version by NYCHS.
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Abraham returned to
Long Island with his family, took possession of what is now known as the Lent-Rapelye house and its farm, and lived there until his death. By his own will, dated
Aug. 18, 1742 and probated March 17, 1746, he established the Riker Cemetery
adjacent to the house on the farm.
His will further left a specified sum to each of his
living children and the children of his deceased children, most of the remainder
was to be sold and divided among the same heirs, but his Newtown plantation was to
be sold to the highest bidder of his children.
Johanes, named in the will as a son,
does not appear among the list of his children as given by James Riker and he may or
may not have been the youngest child. Witnesses were Peter Lyster, Elbert Lyster,
and Cornelius Berrian. By virtue of his high bid Jacobus obtained the Newtown
property of which the house and the cemetery are the subjects of earlier chapters.
RYCK LENT
Born - 1678.
Died - 1720 (or prior to his father’s death which was by March 28, 1723)
Married - First in or by 1704, Elizabeth; 1 child. Second between 1704 & 1707, Maritje. daughter of Johannes Gerritse & Jannetje (vanWert) Blauvelt; 3 children, all baptized in
the Sleepy Hollow R. D. Church.
[Sons] John, born 1705; Harck (Hercules), born 1707. a twin; Ryck, born 1708;
[Daughters] Jannitje, born 1707. a twin.
HARCK LENT
Born - 1681. Died - Nov. 3, 1766.
Married - 1700 to Cornelia (born Sept. 25, 1682), daughter of Jaochen Wouterszen & Christina (Jans)
vanWert.
[Sons] Jacob, (1701 - 1771); Hendrick (March 25, 1712 to 1782); Abraham (born June 4, 1715)
[Daughters] Rachel, born 1703; married 1728 to James Lamb. Catharine, born 1704; married Aug. 22, 1705 to Henry deRonde. Christiana, born 1708; married John Lamb. Elizabeth, born March 21, 1710.
Harck acquired the entire “Ryck’s Patent” in Westchester Co.; and he left a will
dated April 10, 1765, and probated Nov 13, 1765
ABRAHAM RIKER
Born - circa 1695 (son of John Rycken). Died - Nov. 3, 1766.
[Sons] Henry (possible; born circa 1740, married possibly July 6, 1764, to Sarah Lasher).
As discussed earlier, James Riker wrote that Abraham had settled in Essex
County, New Jersey, where his descendants were to be found, but there is no evidence
that he did so and in fact it appears that the Essex County Riker family is an entirely
different family. Although no information has been found regarding son Henry
possibly marrying, his approximated age is such that he may be the Henry Riker
who on July 6, 1764, married’84 (or entered a marriage bond with) Sarah Lasher.
 Third generation Abraham Riker married a vanAlst from Dutch Kills. The red arrow added to the above detail from an 1854 map points to a Newtown Creek tributary whose name Dutch Kills also once identified the entire western Queens area through which it flowed, better known today by its individual community names of L.I. City, Sunnyside and Woodside. "Kills" is Dutch for "little stream."
Of course, no 1854 map could have shown today's LIE, LIRR, Borden Ave. and Hunters Pt. Ave. NYCDOT bridges crossing the Dutch Kills waterway. Calvary Cemetery, Sunnyside RR Yards, Queensboro Bridge, and Queens Plaza development erased most traces of the old Dutch Kills farming era.
But the name, like the stream, still goes on; i.e. Dutch Kills Civic Association often holds community events at Dutch Kills Playground next to Dutch Kills School (P.S. 112).
The story goes that the west bank of Dutch Kills was granted by New Amsterdam Gov. Kieft to a ship’s carpenter who in turn sold it to Joris Stevenson, a sailor from Alst in Flanders, the ancestor of the Van Alst family who farmed it for 200 years. A Van Alst farm home built in 1766, stood as late as the 20th Century's first decade near Queens Blvd.
 The vanAlst name continues as the original but now alternate name for Astoria-LIC's 21st St. as in the IND "G" line station (right).
Below is a map depicting the location of Van Alst School (P.S. 171) and its adjoining Van Alst Playground that take their name from Peter G. Van Alst of Dutch Kills. He was a late 19th Century LIC commissioner involved in road surveying, planning and construction. An entry on an 1853 list of Long Island Bible Society supporters indicates that he may have moved from Dutch Kills to Newtown.
Click 1854 map for more from its source,
Bill Ragetté's excellent Greenpoint history web site. Click subway sign for more from its source, the David Pirmann's informative nycsubway.org web site.
Click the P.S. 171 map for more from its source, the NYC Parks & Recreation web site.
The images do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and were added to the web version by NYCHS.
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ABRAHAM RIKER
Born - circa 1691 (son of Abraham Rycken). Died - Feb. 23, 1770, in his 79th year. Married Geesie, daughter of Johannes vanAlst of the Dutch Kills.
[Sons]
Abraham (1725 - 1758, a teacher),
Peter (1727 -1799, ship blacksmith, married first Esther Brasher and second Jane, daughter of Daniel Bonnett),
Johannes (1721 - 1744, Marker #41), Joris (1733 - 1753, Marker #43),
ANDREW, JACOBUS, and HENDRICK.
[Daughters]
Aleeta (circa 1719 to Nov. 30,1752, Marker #42),
Margaret (circa 1723 to Dec. 15, 1791, married June 30, 1759 to John Bragaw/Bragra, at Newtown Presbyterian Church; 2 children) and
Grace (Geesie), born circa 1729 and died Dec. 12, 1771 at age 42. She was married Dec. 24, 1748, to Richard Berrien, son of Cornelius Berrien. Richard died 1802 at about age 76.
Their son Abram Berrien first married Mary Moore and second married Pelatiah Williams; daughter Sara married Samuel Leverich, and daughter Grace married Jesse Leverich.
Abraham’s Feb. 1, 1764, will, probated 3-13-1770, made his oldest
surviving son Peter his principal heir, divided his estate among his surviving
children with the real estate to be sold “if they cannot agree,” and directed that “Sarah
Lefefer be maintained during her life by my children.” The identity of Sarah Lefefer
is not known.
Apparently the children did not “agree” as to the disposition of the
real estate among themselves, with the result that Jacobus bought the property,
which Abraham had acquired from his father. This was either part or the whole of a
one-third division of the Tuder Patent and on it was the homestead that he erected
and that constituted the center room of the later house on the site.
On later maps
the house was on the east side of Bowery Road a short distance south of its
intersection with Flushing Avenue, Second Avenue and Grand Avenue respectively
on modern maps.
JOHN RYKER
Born - 1690 (or by 1697) (son of Abraham Rycken). Died - 1783 at about 90 years, in Closter, Bergen County, NJ.
At least 4 children born to 3rd generation Rikers married Blauvelt family members. Click the Blauvelt crest image above to access its source, the Association of Blauvelt Descendants web site that opens with a review of the name origin, apparently in the Hudson"s "Tappan Patent" region.
The above caption and image do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and have been added to the web version by NYCHS. .
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Married in 1720 to Geertie, daughter of Theunis Hendricksen and Divertje Wilkes (Beekman) Wiltsee in Newtown. She was born April 25, 1697 in Newtown and died about 1781 in Closter.
[Sons]
Abraham (born Nov. 25, 1721),
Teunis (born 1726, a twin?),
JOHN (born Oct. 25, 1736),
GERARDUS Ryker (born Nov. 16, 1740),
[Daughters]
Deborah (born June 16,1726, a twin? married to Daniel Martine who was born circa 1725 and died March 3, 1807),
Margaret ( aka Margrietye, Grietye; born 1727; died Dec. 1, 1819; married Cornelius aka Cornelis Blauvelt; 3 children.)
Mary (aka Maria, born 1729. She was married is 1750 to John aka Johannis) Bell; 3 children).
Elizabeth, born Dec. 24, 1732. Marriage bond Aug. 13, 1760 to Abraham Blauvelt; 4 children).
The above 1750 map detail indicates 3 Ryker farms in the disputed NY-NJ border area that included lands in the Tappan and Lockhart Patents dating to the 1680s.
On St. Patrick's Day, 1681, some Manhattan Bowery residents, including Huybert Blauvelt, obtained what has been called a deed from Tappan Indians for a large tract of land on the west side of the Hudson.
As subsequently recognized by NY and NJ authorities, the area became known as the Tappan Patent encompassing what are now the NY towns of Tappan, Orangeburg, Grand View on Hudson, Blauvelt, Piermont, Sparkill, and part of South Nyack as well as current NJ Boroughs of Old Tappan, Northvale, West Norwood, Norwood, and Harrington Park.
The smaller Lockhart Patent emerged during approximately the same period. On a map it looks bit like a bulge on the eastern line of the Tappan Patent (see detail below).
In 1744 John Ryken of Newtown, NY, settled in "the Closters" region, building a home
 that over time evolved into what Rockland historians call the Ryker- Mabie- Conklin- Sneden House (right, 14 Rockleigh Road).
 In 1750, Abraham Ryker put up a stone house around which Pegasus Clubhouse (left, 15 Rockleigh Road) was built in the 1920s.
Directly impacted by the NY-NJ border dispute were Geradus, John and Abraham Ryker as well as the Blauvelts, Harings, Van Houtens, Valentijns, Conklins, among others. Once the line was settled, the former NY-ers petitioned NJ authorities to set up their own town; thus Harrington Township emerged.
Click any of above 4 images for its source page on the excellent web site of Rockleigh Borough, Bergen Co, NJ, immediately south of Orangetown, Orange Co., NY, Blauvelt City & Blauvelt State Park in Rockland Co., NY. That county's historical society conducts tours of the Jacob Blauvelt farmhouse built in 1843.
The caption and images do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and were added to the web version by NYCHS.
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Catherine, born 1738. Marriage first to John Lawrence and second to John Ryder. Her children: Elizabeth Lawrence, Cherretje and Tryntje Ryder).
John is the first family member for which record exists who spelled the
surname as Ryker. and his youngest son, Gerardus, continued that spelling which
has persisted with his descendants. In his will the surnames of his other two sons
were specified as Ryker, but whether they or any of John’s brothers themselves used
or continued to use that spelling has not been determined,
John’s children were all
born in Newtown; reports that Gerardus was born in Closter are assumed to have been
incorrect since he was born in 1740 whereas John and family moved to Closter in
1744.
There is some confusion as to Closter, Orange, and Tappan and as to Orange
County, Rockland County, and Bergen County, which results in at least part from the
fact that the New York boundary line with New Jersey was in dispute until finally
settled in 1769.
John bought a forty acre farm on the road to Sneden’s Landing in
Closter, Rockland County, effective Feb. 2, 1752, and subsequently added
considerable more acreage. Assuming that he continued to live there and was in fact
there when he executed his will in 1765, his residence was then in Orange, Orange
County, New York, which may or may not have been in what was later Rockland
County. By the time of the will’s probate, however, the location had become on the
New Jersey side of the line in Bergen County.
The will included the following
provisions, but note that since John’s wife had predeceased him the estate settlement
would be expected to have taken place promptly, complicated, however, by the earlier
removal and predecease of Gerardus.
“unto My eldest son Abraham the sum of Ten pounds for his Birth Right”
“unto my Loving wife Gertie all my Hole Estate Both Real and Personal During her life
Unmarried”
“unto my Loving son Abraham Ryker the House and Lot of Land Together with the old
Orchsrd and the full and Equal half of the Saw Mills and the full and equal third
part of my Salt Meadows.
“Together with the full and equal half of all my
Remaining Lands and Swamps to be equa]1u divided between my two sons Abraham
and John so that the Hole of the Lands of my son Abraham must not Contain more
than the full half of all my lands in Orange County after the forty acres of my
Loving son [Gerardus] is taken off my farm Whereon I now live”
“to my said son John Ryker the full and equal Half of my saw mills and the House wherein
I now live in Togather with the Barn and Orchard and the full and Equal third part
of my Salt Meadow.
In 1865, young Esther Sammon joined the mostly German NY Dominican Sisters -- the first Irish-born to do so. She took the name Mary Ann. The congregation had been started here in 1853 by missionaries from Bavaria.
Sister Mary Ann worked at rescuing homeless orphaned children from NYC streets. Soon they so crowded the convent that more room was needed.
On the way back to NYC from a trip upstate, she and another nun saw a "For Sale" sign posted at the Joseph Eustace estate (right) on Western Highway in Blauvelt. They stopped to inquire and were ushered into the parlor where they were startled to see a large painting by Grellet depicting Saint Dominic restoring life to a child.
The nuns considered this a sign that the place was meant be their orphans' home. So it became about 1878 with Sister Mary Ann on staff. Within 12 years it also became home base for the new Bleavelt Dominican Sisters Congregation with Sister Mary Ann was its leader.
Click on one above image, then the other for the Sisters' history pages.
The above caption and images do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and have been added to the web version by NYCHS.
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“And also the full and Equal half of all my Remaining Land and
Swamp which I hold in Orange County to be by them the said John and Abraham
Divided after my son [Gerardus] Ryker has his forty acres of Land and Swamp out of
my said Farm whereon I now Dwell”
“unto my younger son [Gerardus] Ryker the House and Lott of Land Whereon he now Dwells
together with forty acres out of my farm or lands which I hold in Orange County so
that the Hole of the Land of my son [Gerardus] does not Exceed forty acres of Land
and Swamps, and also one full and Equal third part of my salt meadow”
“my three sons shall after the Decease of my Loving Wife or her remarriage make the
Division of the Lands and Swamps in Proportion of their Rights as it shall best suit
each and every one of them.”
“all my Moveable Estate to be Equally Divided amongst all my Children Namely Abraham
John and [Gerardus] Deborah Margaret Mary Elizabeth and Catherine”
“unto my Loving five daughters.... the full and Just sum of one Hundred and five pounds
Current Lawful money of New York..”
“unto... Deborah the wife of
Daniel Martine...”
“unto Margeret the wife of Cornelius Blauvelt...
Twenty pounds...”
“to Mary the wife of Johannes Bell.. twenty pounds...”
“to Elizabeth the wife of Abraham Blauvelt... twenty pounds...”
“to...
Catharine... Twenty five pounds”
“Provided that all Legacies and Bequests Serally stall be paid within one Year after the
Decease or Marriage of my Loving Gertie”.
Some web genealogies include Hendrick Ryker's wife, Elizabeth Peek, and her sister Rachel Peek who witnessed their daughter's baptism, as grand- daughters of New Amsterdam's Jan Peek. Jan is credited with being Peekskill's founder as a result of his regularly trading with Sackhoes, depicted above, near a large blue rock on a "kill" now known as Annsville Creek. For more on "Peek's Kill," click image -- from a Bohdan D. Osyczka illustration in Peekskill, A Friendly Town, Enterprise Press, 1952 - for its source page on William L. Stillman's fine Peekskill Museum Web Site.
The above caption and image do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and have been added to the web version by NYCHS.
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HENDRICK RYKER
Born - circa 1696 (son of Abraham Rycken). Died - July 27, 1761 in Closter, Bergen County, NJ.. Married Oct. 20, 1722 Elizabeth, daughter of John Peek. She was born circa 1699 and died Aug. 6, 1791 at 92 years.
[Sons]
Abraham (born 1723; died 1742),
JOHN (JOHANNES) (born 1725),
Henry (born 1740; died by Feb. 15, 1790; a mariner, left his estate to brothers John & James; married possibly April 22, 1760 to Jane Rappleye),
James (born 1742; died Feb. 1792 at age 50; June 5, 1763 to Mary, daughter of Capt.
Viner Leaycraft; she may have married on Dec. 2, 1799, to Gamaliel Smitt).
[Daughter] Elizabeth (born 1728 or 1729; baptized Jan. 19, 1729 with witnesses Arie Koningb
& wife Rachel Peek; died about Oct. 9, 1731),
Hendrick was a blacksmith at Burling slip. He left a will dated April 4, 1761,
and proved March 22, 1763, in which he identified himself as of "the NY Out ward."
Given the extent of intermarriage between Rikers and Lawrences, the Lawrence name appears not surprisingly on several Riker Cemetery markers. The Riker name may on one or two markers in the Lawrences' own family cemetery (above) at 20th Rd. & 35th St. The two graveyards are within easy walking distance of each other in northwestern Queens.
Not only did Andrew Rycker marry Captain Dennis Lawrence's widow, two of Andrew's children and a granddaughter married Lawrences: daughter Ruth married widower Revolutionary War Major Jonathan Lawrence; son Samuel married Anna Lawrence, daughter of Joseph and Patricia (Moore) Lawrence, and granddaughter Patience (Samuel's daughter) married John Lawrence. The 5th generation's Abraham Lent wed William Lawrence's daughter Diana.
 Within 20-minute driving distance from Astoria's Lawrence cemetery is one in northeastern Queens. Situated at 216th St. & 42nd Ave. next to the LIRR (right), it is maintained by the Bayside Historical Society,
Lawrences buried there include NYC Mayor and former Rep. Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence, NYC's first directly elected mayor (1834); and Frederick Newbold Lawrence, NYC Stock Exchange president whose 1847 mansion's name "The Oaks" gave rise to calling that area of Bayside "Oakland Gardens." Two Newbold Lawrence brothers' pre-Civil War development of a summer resort on what was then Queens' south shore evolved later into the Village of Lawrence, Nassau County.
Another Lawrence graveyard is hardly within easy walking or driving distance of those in Queens: it overlooks Cayuta Lake in upstate Chemung County and includes its own chapel (below). After Independence, Ruth Rycker's husband, Major Lawrence, bought a huge track of land at the lake. Their sons - Joseph, Samuel and William (the latter two both served in Congress) -- built homes there. Samuel's youngest son (Ruth Rycker's grandson) Abraham proposed establishing a mortuary chapel to preserve the cemetery where are buried his parents and other family members.
Jane G. Lawrence Campbell (Abraham's sister and Ruth Rycker's granddaughter) executed those plans and had the chapel built in 1880. Though having a special tie to the burial yard, the chapel also was used by family and others for weddings, baptisms and various services.
For years, Samuel's granddaughter (Ruth Rycker's great-granddaughter) Henrietta L. Butler took care of the chapel and cemetery. Chemung County Historical Society owns and operates them now. The Campbell name appears on 3 markers in Riker Cemetery (#s 64, 65, 66). The Butler name appears on marker #21.
Click either cemetery image for its Forgotten NY web page. Click chapel image for its Schuyler County NY Genweb page.
The images and caption do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and were added to the web version by NYCHS.
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In
it, he left “to my wife Elizabeth my [N]egro woman and her child” and to his sons “each
oeSOO when of age” & an additional oe5 to John “in bar to all claim as heir at law”; the
will witnessed by “chocolate maker” Cornelius Roosevelt
ANDREW
(ANDRIES,
ANDREAS)
RYCKER
Born - Oct. 8, 1699, Newtown; (son of Abraham Rycken). Died - Feb. 12, 1763 or April 11, 1762, in his 64th year; Riker
Cemetery marker #106. Married Nov.13, 1733, to widow Jane Berrien Lawrence, daughter of John &
Ruth (Edsall) Berrien of Newtown.
She was born March 1, 1703; died Sept. 26, 1775, at 72 years 6 months, and has Riker Cemetery marker #107. She was first married to Capt. Dennis Lawrence by whom she had a son Dennis who died at age 20 and has Riker Cemetery marker #104.
[Sons]
JOHN BERRIEN (1738),
ABRAHAM (born 1740),
SAMUEL (born April 8, 1743),
[Daughters]
Margaret - born circa 1735; died April 3, 1760, age 25; unmarried; Riker Cemetery marker #132.
Ruth - born Nov. 18, 1746; died Oct. 9, 1818. She was the second wife of Major Jonathan Lawrence (1737- 1812) They married Aug. 7, 1768. They had 9 children. His first wife was Judith Fish.
Andrew, according to James Riker, inherited the Bowery Bay homestead
property, the Riker mansion, where he had been born.
During his ownership of it a
fire destroyed part of the house, but it was rebuilt into a larger building,
incorporating part of the former building and adding an extra story plus front and
back pillared porches.
His August 17, 1761 will was somewhat contradictory in
several of its provisions but notable in others. He had a number of slaves, one of
whom, together with his best bed , best horse, and “riding chair” were conditionally
left to his widow. His real estate was preferably to be sold to the highest bidder of his
three sons.
 Jacob Riker's father-in-law, the Rev. Samuel Pomroy (also spelled Pomeroy), was a Yale divinity graduate at 18 when called to serve as minister at a Newtown church in 1708. He did so until his death in 1744.
Congregationalist when he first arrived, it became the First Presbyterian Church of Newtown in 1715 when he arranged its acceptance into the Philadelphia Presbytery. Two years later he helped organize the Presbytery of Long Island.
When the British captured Newtown during the Revolution, they turned the church into a prison and eventually demolished it. Four years after the war ended, the congregation built a new church.
Click above image for more on its history that tracks back to the 1650s when Middleburgh, renamed New Town and later Elmhurst, was founded. Settlers built a church that served too as town hall, court, school and home for its ministers, first being the Rev. John Moore. His grave and those of other early settlers of the area lie beneath Newtown Playground.
 Clicking the apple image (left) accesses an excellent Parks Department web page on the history of the park, Newtown Cemetery under it, and the Moore family estate where the world famous Newtown Pippin originated.
Moore family descendents included Professor Clement Clarke Moore (right below) credited  as having authored 'Twas the Night Before Christmas for his wife (wed 1813) and children. They lived for some time on the Moore family's country estate in Newtown. Click his image for more on Moore and his Newtown homestead remembered in name on a park at Broadway, 45 Ave & 82 St. Elmhurst.
Within walking distance some blocks south in Elmhust is P.S. 13 named for Clement Clarke Moore. The webmaster has added to the P.S. 13 map detail below a red cross to show the school's proximity to the Newtown church the Rev. John Moore served as its first minister.
Click image below to access the history of a Moore-related church school -- The General Theological Seminary in Chelsea, Manhattan, on 9th Ave. between 20th and 21st Streets. Clement Clarke Moore donated 66 lots from his Chelsea estate to have the seminary built there. Later he taught
its Oriental and Greek literature classes.
The caption and images do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and were added to the web version by NYCHS. Click the red word "Newtown Pippin" above to access Newtown Pippin apple history on a Thomas Jefferson Foundation web page, The amended PS 13 map detail is from the InsideSchools.Org web site.
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JACOB RIKER
Born - 1701; (son of Abraham Rycken). Died - 1778 Rhinebeck. Jacob was a baker.
Married May 25, 1729 Catherine, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Pomroy.
[Sons]
Samuel (born 1730; died circa Sept. 1731); ABRAHAM (born 1734),
[Daughters]
Lydia (born 1732; married Capt. Isaac Sheldon).
Margaret (born 1740; died Nov. 19, 1835, Orange, NJ; married Sept. 2, 1766 Capt. Abraham
Riker; 1 child).
Catherine (born 1742, married first to Capt. Dennis
Candy Aug. 30, 1762; Second to Cornelius Bradford).
Elizabeth (married 1764 to Capt. George Collins).
HENDRICK LENT
Born - 1681, Cortland Manor; (son of Hendrick Lent).
Died - 1766. Jacob was a baker.
Married Aug. 26, 1715 to Sarah Bailey, daughter of Nathan & Esther (Kenniff) Bailey, at Sleepy Hollow Church.
[Sons]
Hendrick (born by April 22, 1718; died 1783 Peekskill);
John (born Oct. 1, 1723; died, Aug. 19, 1808, Easton, Washington County, NY );
Abraham (born 1726).
[Daughters]
Catharina (born by June 20, 1716; died after April 13, 1751; married Storm).
Esther (born 1720; married David Brown).
ABRAHAM
HENDRICKSE
LENT
Born - 1683 or 1684; (son of Hendrick Lent).
Married circa 1702 to Maritie , daughter of Francois & Annue (Elston) duPuis (or
Depew). She was born February, 1677.
[Sons]
Hendrick (born Aug. 19, 1707; died Feb. 7, 1767; LeRoy, Genesee County, NY; married Marie Blauvelt who was born April 4, 1721);
Francis (born circa 1709);
Abraham (born by March 24, 1713).
Johannes (born April 22, 1718).
Jacob (born by June 19, 1725; died by Jan. 29, 1789).
[Daughters]
Aeltje (born June 4, 1703).
Cathanina (born 1720; married David Brown).
Esther (born Aug. 19, 1711).
 Was Abraham Hendrickse Lent's father-in-law Francois Depew an ancestor kin to Chauncey Mitchell Depew (left), NY's U.S. Senator from 1899 to 1911 and Peekskill major benefactor?
At least one DePew researcher sees a link between him and Francois Depew/ Depuis/ Depue, a French Huguenot who fled to NY in the 17th Century. That the Senator's father, Capt. Isaac Depew, was a leader in Peekskill's development fits well with Lent/Riker family Peekskill history.
Chauncey also might connect through the Kronkhyte family line. One set of his grand- parents was Abraham Depew and Catherine Kronkhyte. She was the daughter of James Kronkhyte. During the American Revolution, several Lents/Rikers served in Westchester's militia regiment captained by "their cousin" James Kronkhyte. First generation Abraham's daughter Mary had married a Kranckheyt in 1649. Abraham Hendrickse Lent's daughter Charity married Jacobus Cronkhite.
Click image for more of U.S. Senator Depew's bio.
The above caption and image do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and have been added to the web version by NYCHS.
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Charity or Mary Geertje? (born June 11, 1715; married Jacobus Cronkhite; 1 child).
Margrietje (born April 19, 1720; married Thomas Conklin).
Sarah (born Aug. 28, 1722).
JAN LENT
Born - 1686; (son of Hendrick Lent). Died by Jan. 28, 1772.
Married March 15,1714/15 Marytje deRonde; Philipsburg, Westchester County;
daughter of William & Magdalena (Brouwer) deRonde. She was born circa 1696. Their children were baptized in Sleepy Hollow R. D. Church.
[Sons]
Henreck (born circa 1716, died 1794); Willem (born circa 1717, died 1800); Jan (born circa 1718); Jacob (born circa 1723); Tobias (born 1728);
[Daughters]
Cathanina (born circa 1722; married 1745 George Briggs).
Helena (born circa 1726; married Gardinier).
Anna (born 1730; married Abraham Ecker).
 In the phrase in the main text to the right of the image "Jacob Lent. Born circa 1695 at Ryck's Patent," the term "Ryck's Patent" means 1,800 acres on which much of NY's Peekskill city was built.
It also means the April 21, 1685 deed for that acreage. This "deed" of land transfer from the Sachoes to Ryck Abramsen Lent and five others is recorded in Westchester's first book of records (above).
The 6 non-Native American signers were from 3 families -- the DeKeys, the Harches and the Abramsons/Lents (aka Rikers).
Ryck was eldest among the surviving sons of immigrant Abraham Rijcken vanLent, the founder of the family from whom Rikers Island derives its name.
Peekskill's mid-1700s settlers included Lent (Riker), Cronkite, Brown, Johnson, Hawes, Travis and Hall families. Others who settled there before the Revolutionary War were the Birdsalls, Conklins, Hortons, Weeks, and Depews. Farming and river trade were early Peekskill's chief occupations.
Click image for more Westchester County Archives images and data on Ryck's Patent.
The above caption and image do NOT appear in Edgar Alan Nutt's 2004 book and have been added to the web version by NYCHS.
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JACOB LENT
Born - circa 1695 at Ryck’s Patent; (son of Hendrick Lent).
Married by 1717 Elsie deRonde; Philipsburg, Westchester County;
daughter of William & Magdalena (Brouwer) deRonde. She was born 1701.
[Sons]
Jacob (born circa 1718); Hendrick (born August 28, 1722, died 1785; married Maria); Abraham (born 1727, died 1778); William (born circa 1728, died after 1790); Tobias (born 1730); John (born circa 1735); Albert (born 1739, died Feb. 11, 1814)
[Daughters]
Helena (born Nov. 5, 1723).
Catherine (born after 1727; died 1770; married 1748 William Hughson).
Anna (born 1730; married Abraham Ecker).
Lea (born by June 16, 1742).
Rachel (born by June 16, 1742).
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