Sharing Personal History One Life at a Time
The Roots of a Legacy
Long before Gerrit Graveraet’s great grandfather, Isaac Graveraet, arrived in New York as a free trader, Jacob Harsen’s lineage was already rooted in the soil of the New World. Around 1624, Wolfert Gerritze Van Kouwenhoven, aka Couwenhoven[2], Jacob Harsen’s third great grandfather arrived as one of the first Dutch farmers on Manhattan Island. Wolfert was one of the original five farmers on Manhattan Island sent over by the Dutch West India Company.[3]
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In Part Two we learned about Gerrit Graveraet’s great grandfather, Isaac Graveraet. Continuing with this family, we will now explore a few of Isaac’s family ties and how they may have impacted and shaped the lives of his two sons, Andries and Hendrick Graveraet. In the late 17th century the Graveraet family surname was spelled Grevenraedt. For simplicity I have chosen to use the spelling of Graveraet unless the surname is used within a quote. I would also like to note that Andries is at times referred to as Andrew. [1]
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After the British capture of Quebec from the French during the French and Indian War at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on September 13th, 1759, it would take almost another four years for the French to cede all their territory in North America to the British under the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763. [1] By Great Britain’s Royal Proclamation of 1763, the French Territory of Canada, known as New France, would be renamed the Province of Quebec. This new province included the Great Lakes Region and the settlement at Detroit. [2]
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