Sunday, February 25, 2018

Hendrick Christiansen, Great-Grandfather of LaPrairie Voyageurs?



Based on “Netherlands, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1910” in the ancestry.com database there is a creditable argument to be made that Hendrick Christiansen was the great-grandfather of Marie Anne Christiansen who married Moise Dupuis in Schenectady, New York in 1699, and moved with him to LaPrairie, Canada (New France).

If these somewhat murky records are correct then Hendrick Christiansen is the 2nd great-grandfather of LaPrairie voyageur Francois Moise Dupuis (Dupuy) (1709-1764) my 6th great-grandfather.

Who was Hendrick Christiansen?

Hendrick Christiansen (also spelled Christiaensen, and Corstiaensen) was a Dutch mariner, explorer and fur trader.  He was a ship captain and trader employed by the Van Tweenhuysen Company of Amsterdam, and was, in all probability, the founder of New York City and he certainly was the founder of Albany.

In 1611 Christiansen paid two visits to Manhattan in his ship Fortuyn.  Upon his return to the Netherlands in 1612, he brought back with him two young Native Americans who were the sons of a local sachem (probably Mohawk).  The Dutch were fascinated with the boys, whom they called Orson and Valentine Christiansen.

In 1613 Christiansen returned to New Netherlands with Captains Adriaen Block and Cornelius Hendricksen.  Together they created the first map of the region that showed Manhattan and Long Island as separate geographical entities.



In 1614 Christiansen sailed the Fortuyn  up the North River to Castle Island (New York), where he built a warehouse on the ruins of an old abandoned French fur trader's fort. He added a stockade and a moat eighteen feet wide.  He named it Fort Nassau (present day Albany, NY) in honor of Stadholder Count Maurice of Nassau. 

The river, sometimes known as the Mauritius was also named after the Count. 

Christiansen took two cannon and eleven swivel guns from the Fortuyn and left twelve men under the command of Jacob Eelkens, before returning downriver.


Artists conception of Fort Nassau 1614, on the North River


In the spring of 1625 (historians differ on the date, some have it as early as 1616) Christiansen's ship, the Swarte Beer, was lying in the Hudson River when his ship was surprised by Indians. In the attack Hendrick Christiansen and the greater part of his crew were killed. The survivors succeeded in driving away the Indians from the ship by two shots from the guns.

Hendrick Christiansen and His Probable Descendants

GENERATION 1
Hendrick (Henrik) Christiansen (Christiaensen) (Corstiaensen) 1575–1616
BIRTH ABT. 1575 • Probably, Netherlands
DEATH AFT. 1616 • New Netherlands, North America
10th great-grandfather
Record Citation: Netherlands, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1910
Name: Henrik Christiaensen
Gender: Male
Spouse: Enneken Wessels
Child: Jan Christiaensen

GENERATION 2 
Jan Mariner Chrisitaanse 1625–
BIRTH 1625 • Netherlands
DEATH New York, United States
9th great-grandfather

Record Citation: Nederlands Hervormde Kerk (Arnhem, Gelderland, Nederland), Trouwen 1627 - 1671, Microfilm nr. 108628
Name: Jan [Christiaensen]
Gender: mannelijk (Male)
Christening Date: 19 dec 1639
Christening Place: Arnhem, Gelderland, Nederland
Father: Henrik Christiaensen
Mother: Enneken Wessels

GENERATION 3
Christian Christiansen 1650–1696
BIRTH 1650 • Netherlands
DEATH SEP 1696 • Bergen, New Jersey, United States
8th great-grandfather

Record Citation: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
Name: Christian Christiansen
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 650
Birth Place: Netherlands
Death Date: sep 1696
Death Place: Bergen, New Jersey, United States
Death Age: 46
Father: Jan Mariner Chrisitaanse
Mother: Neeltje Brantzen
Spouse: Elizabeth Ysbrants Eldersz
Children: Christiaan Christiansen 
Daniel Christiansen 
Elizabeth Christiansen 
Neeltie Christiansen 
Marie Anne Christiansen

GENERATION 4
Marie Anne Christiansen 1676–1750
BIRTH 1676 • Schenectady, Schenectady, New York, United States
DEATH 27 OCTOBER 1750 • Laprairie Notre Dame de LaPrairie de la Madeline, Quebec, Canada
7th great-grandmother

Record Citation: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
Name: Marie Anne Christiansen
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 1675
Birth Place: Schenectady, Schenectady, New York, USA
Death Date: 26 okt 1750 (26 Oct 1750)
Death Place: Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
Death Age: 75
Father: Christian Christiansen
Mother: Elizabeth Ysbrants Eldersz
Spouse: Moise Dupuis
Children: Marie Barbe Dupuis 
Marie Charlotte Dupuy 
Francois Dupuis 
Marie Anne Dupuis 
Marie Francoise Dupuis 
Charles Dupuis 
Marie Angelique Dupuis 
Charles Dupuis



GENERATION 5
Francois Moise Dupuis (Dupuy) 1709–1764
BIRTH 14 FEB 1709 • La Prairie, Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
DEATH 19 SEP 1764 • St-Philippe, Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
6th great-grandfather

Record Citation: Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968
Name: Francois Dupuy
[Francois (father - Moyse) Dupuy] 
[Francois Dupuis] 
Gender: masculin (Male)
Baptism Age: 1695
Event Type: Baptême (Baptism)
Birth Date: 14 Février 1709 
Baptism Date: 14 févr. 1709 (14 Feb 1709)
Baptism Place: La Prairie, Québec (Quebec)
Place of Worship or Institution: Notre-Dame-de-LaPrairie-de-la-Madeleine
Father: Louise Dupuy
Mother: Mariane Christiane

GENERATION 6
Marie Anne Dupuis (Dupuy) 1753–1807
BIRTH 30 JUN 1753 • Saint-Constant, Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
DEATH 24 DEC 1807 • St-Constant (St-Constant), Québec
5th great-grandmother

Record Citation: Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968
Name: Marie Anne Dupuy
Event Type: Baptême (Baptism)
Baptism Date: 1753-1772
Baptism Place: St-Philippe, Québec (Quebec)
Place of Worship or Institution: Laprairie




LEARN MORE AT: Ripples from La Prairie Voyageur Canoes -- My Voyageur Ancestry



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