Correcting Confusion Over Two Men Named Abraham Losee

A couple of months ago James Hamstra brought to my attention an error in the Brouwer Genealogy Database regarding two contemporaneous men named Abraham Losee. The error has been in published sources for some time now, but was corrected in a later published source just a few years ago, however, this correction had escaped me until Jim pointed it out. It may well have escaped others.

The error is a confusion of the spouses of two men, both named Abraham Losee, both of whom were born at about the same time. The first is Abraham Losee, born 1742, and shown in the current edition (16 May 2014) as a son of Abraham Losee (1715-1766) and Anna Dorland, and shown to have married Sarah Hegeman (and later Charity Tompkins). The source for these statements was Barbara A. Barth, The Dorland Enigma Solved, A revision of the Dorland Genealogy (Sandisfield, Mass.: Diane Barth Swartz, 2007), page 304. I suspect that Barth's source may have been, Seversmith, Herbert Furman. Colonial Families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut: Being the Ancestry and Kindred of Herbert Furman Seversmith (Four Vols.). Washington: n.pub., 1939, page 1,871, which makes this same claim.

The second man in this confusion named Abraham Losee was also born about 1742, he married on 18 May 1764 (Presbyterian Church, Rumbout, Dutchess Co., New York) Neeltje Viele, and had previously been stated to be a son of Laurens Losee and Rachel de Lange (McConnville, Howard A., "The Parmentier (Palmatier) Family of New York State". FHL film #1440501. Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah (2001), April 1998, page 10).

Very simply, reverse the parents of the two Abraham Losees mentioned above. Abraham, the son of Abraham Losee and Anna Dorland was the Abraham Losee who married Neeltje Viele. And, Abraham Losee, the son of Laurens Losee and Rachel de Lange, was the Abraham Losee who married Sarah Hegeman (he is stated to have later married Charity Tompkins, however, I have yet to find confirming evidence for this claim).

The two men, now in their correct placements, can be found on this chart of Descendants of Jan Corneliszen (de Zeeuw, Losee, Losey, Loosije, etc.). They are highlighted and are found on pages 3 and 5.*

This post began with acknowledging Jim Hamstra for bringing this to my attention. He pointed out that a correction for the placement of the Abraham Losee who married Sarah Hegeman is found in  Doherty, Frank J. The Settlers of the Beekman Patent. Vol. 8. (Pleasant Valley, NY: Frank J. Doherty, 2005), page 248. At this page, in a footnote for no. 20 Abraham A. Losee (son of Abraham Losee and Anna Dorland), the author states: "We have seen several genealogies on the Losee family that claim this man married Sarah Hegeman but sponsors to baptisms prove Abraham A. Losee married Neeltje Velie." In his e-mail to me, Jim stated that he had to agree with this assessment. After having researched the families myself, I'd say that I have to agree as well.

*Sources for this chart are wide ranging and include various published church records, probate records, and compiled genealogies. It is not complete, and there may be errors. Many of those on this chart are not found in the Brouwer Genealogy Database. The large Losee family is rather difficult to research during the colonial period, and to my knowledge no complete genealogy of the family, meeting present day research standards, has been published. Jim Hamstra's work on the Losee family can be found online at We Relate. Neeltje Viele (Velie) is a daughter of Meindert Viele and Rebekka Parmentier/Palmatier.

BGB 430