Y-DNA Haplogroups for Willem Adriaense Bennet

Contributed by Ron Bennett.

This is a follow-up to the earlier posts on the Y-DNA haplogroups for Willem Adriaense Bennet (WAB), which were generic. Since that time, eight descendants of WAB have upgraded to an extensive, full chromosome Y-DNA paternity test called BigY-700. Data processing alone for this test takes over 8 weeks, but the result is a sufficiently detailed list of individual mutations, which occur every 50 to 100 years on average, such that the software is able to create a biological family tree (called a TimeTree), showing the birth years of each common ancestor between branches.
 

The unique haplogroup (branch name) for WAB is E-FTB90013 (est. birth 1626, historical ~1605), which includes him, his two sons, and their descendants. His older son, Adrian Willemsen's haplogroup is E-FTB92022 (est. birth 1651, historical 1637). His great-grandson, Isaac Adrianson's haplogroup is E-FTD68674 (est. birth 1708, historical 1717).
 

This haplotree corroborates the WAB family tree on this site with the corrections published by Morrissey, et.al. in 2017, but does not match the original 1962 tree published by Ledley and subsequently by Kenneth Bennett.
The Y-DNA tree is skeletal due to the small number of descendants. Luckily we have four descendants from each of WAB's two sons, but only three of the eight grandsons documented here are represented. Additional male descendants are needed to fully corroborate the historical records family tree. Please contact FTDNA directly to order this test or contact me directly with questions. The test is a bit expensive, but the beauty is that nothing more is required of the participants except their DNA. The analysis will automatically connect you to all other Bennetts and other surnames (including Brouwer) who have ever taken this test.

Bennets/Bennetts interested in participating in the Bennett Y-DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA should contact the Project directly via their website, and/or contact Ron Bennett directly.

Also see the August 21, 2022 post, "Sunset At Gowanus Bay and A Note on the Bennett Project at Family Tree DNA." 

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Bennet Corrections

Over seven years ago in the post of November 14, 2012, I mentioned corrections to "Willem Adriaense Bennet of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Some of His Descendants," published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, by Wilson V. Ledley beginning with volume 94, number 4 (1962) and ending with volume 95, number 4 (1964). The intention at the time was to follow up with more corrections in posts here on this blog. Well, that didn't happen.

Mike Morrissey, however, has further researched and published a large number of corrections to Ledley's series of articles. They can be found online on his blog, "New Netherland Ancestry," with nine posts dated March 30, 2017. The nine posts each focus on a specific Bennet family and include a genealogical summery reflecting the corrections. Sources are included. This is very professionally done. The work is very good here, and mention of the corrections can be found in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 149 (2018):316 (in Additions and Corrections to Articles in the RECORD). The corrections include the volume and page number from Ledley's articles for each individual being corrected, making it easy to compare the two (the correction and the original) side by side. This is a must reference for Bennet family researchers. There are, unfortunately, a lot of errors in that original publication. Here's list of links to the individual posts:

The Family of Jan3Bennet (Adriaen2, Willem1) (#9) and Femmetje Rapalje

The Family of Adriaen³ Bennet (Adriaen², Willem¹) (#10) and Barbara Vonk 

The family of Jacob3Bennet (Adriaen2, Willem1) (#12) and Barbara Verdon

The Family of Isaac3Bennet (Adriaen2, Willem1) (#14) and Magdalena Joosten 

The Family of Abraham3Bennet (Adriaen2, Willem1) (#15) and Jannetje Folkerts 

The Family Angeniejte³ Bennet (Adriaen², Willem¹) (#16) and Hans Volkerts Van Nostrand 

The Family of Jan³ Bennet (Willem², Willem¹) (#20) and Aeltje Wynans 

The Family of Willem3Bennet (Willem2, Willem1) (#21) and Arriantje Vandewater 

The Family of Jacob3Bennet (Willem2, Willem1) (#22) and Neeltje Beekman

Thank you Mike Morrissey, and my apologies for taking nearly three years to recognize this work!

I must emphasize that if you are using Wilson V. Ledley's published articles in the RECORD, you MUST consult the above pages for the corrections. The two have to be used hand in hand.

In addition, I would recommend exploring Mike's website for other New Netherland families that might be of interest. Many of the families featured in the posts (54 posts to date) are found in Kings County, New York and in New Jersey, two areas where baptismal and marriage records are very incomplete and where very careful research is required. Many of the posts correct previously published accounts (including other articles authored by Wilson V. Ledley) while others feature family summaries that (to my knowledge) are not published elsewhere.


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Update: Brouwer Genealogy Database, and Introducing, Bennet Corrections

The Brouwer Genealogy Database website has been updated. Launched on July 29, 2008, the BGD now includes profiles of 33,786 individuals.

With this update we have included results from a new participant in the Brewer DNA Project. The participant is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. through his eldest son Pieter Brouwer. He is represented by kit #252546, and his lineage can be found on the descendants of Pieter Brouwer Chart accessible from the Adam Brouwer Group DNA Results Page. The participants data is a very valuable addition to our efforts in understanding the descendants of Adam Brouwer using Y-DNA testing, and we would like to express our thanks to the participant for agreeing to join the project. We would also like to encourage other Brouwer, Brower and Brewer descendants to join as well.

Also added is a Chart of the some of the descendants of Willem Adriaensen, whose descendants adopted the surname, BENNET. Willem Adriaensen was the second husband of Maria Badie, and their descendants are cousins to the descendants of Adam Brouwer, by virtue of the fact that Adam Brouwer's wife, Magdalena Verdon, was Maria Badie's eldest daughter by her first husband, Jacob Verdon. Through some more complicated twists and turns, it has also been found that some descendants of Willem Adriaensen and Maria Badie are also cousins of descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Descendants of Willem Adriaensen have been covered in a published account. Wilson V. Ledley, published, "Willem Adriaense Bennet of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Some of His Descendants," in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. His series of articles ran from volume 93, no. 4 (1962) through volume 95, no. 4 (1964). Unfortunately there are many errors in Ledley's published account, some have been repeated in later published articles citing Ledley's original account. Since the past summer I have found some time to periodically consider some of these errors, and have had the opportunity to correspond with two excellent researchers, Mike Morrissey and Liz Johnson, both of whom are very familiar and experienced in researching colonial families of New Netherland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Many of the corrections are now addressed on the BGD website, and the chart of Willem Adriaensen's descendants is intended as a convenient method for accessing complete profiles, and as a guide to my current take on the Bennet family. The chart currently covers five generations and is not complete. In the coming months I will add posts regarding some of the more critical corrections and they will have the label, "Bennet Corrections." The first post, Identifying the wife of Isaac Bennet, was published here on August 25, 2012. More will eventually follow.

In the meantime, issues that will be addressed in the coming months will start with the addition of a few more Unplaced descendants of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I.; the completion of posts focused on the remaining children of Adam Brouwer; posts on Unplaced descendants of Adam Brouwer, and posts on other Unplaced Brewers who have had descendants that participated in the Brewer DNA Project. The BGD will likely be updated again in early 2013.

Also of interest to those researching related New Netherland families would be the identification of the Father and Brother of Aucke Jans Van Nuys, by Liz Johnson and just recently published on her website, Sketches of 17th Century Hollanders. The article also includes the discovery of baptism dates for three, possibly four, of Aucke's children who were baptized in Amsterdam prior to the family's migration to New Netherland. Aucke Jans Van Nuys settled in Kings County on Long Island and his children married with members of a number of other prominent early Kings County families. Aucke's descendants are numerous, some were among the early settlers in New Jersey, and some have ties with Brouwer, Brower and Brewer families descended from both Adam Brouwer and Jan Brouwer. There are also important ties with the Bennet families mentioned above.

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Identifying the Wife of Isaac Bennet

As mentioned in the previous post, the Bennet family genealogy ("Descendants of Willem Adriaeszen") by Wilson V. Leldey (NYGBR vols. 93-95) contains numerous errors and problems. One problem, just solved, involves the identification of the wife of Isaac Bennet (no. 14 in the genealogical summery, found at 93[1962]:200, and 94[1963]:40). No record of baptism survives for Isaac, but he is believed to be a son of Adriaen/Arien Willemsen Bennet (no. 2) and his wife, Agnietje Jans Van Dyck. This placement is based upon Isaac naming his first son, Arie, who when baptized at Brooklyn had as sponsors the above mentioned "Arie Bennet and Angenietje, his wife."

At NYGBR 94(1963):40, Ledley states, "About 1697 he (Isaac) married Magdalena (Lena or Helena) ____, whose identity has not been established but whose surname may well have been Van der Koek." Ledley's basis for this guess is a deed dated May 5, 1701, in Kings Co., by which Isaac Bennet and his wife, Helena, convey to Michael Van der Koeck, 1/2 of a plantation located in Bedford, Kings County. The assumption here being that Isaac and his wife, Helena, were selling their half of an inherited piece of property, to her brother. It can now be shown that Helena (who also appears as Lena and Magdalena) was not a sister of Michael Van der Koeck, but was in fact a sister of Michael's wife, Sarah Joosten.

Digital images of the 1701 deed are now online (Isaac Bennet-Michael Van der Koeck Deed, 1701). The complete deed, which is located in Kings County Deeds Lib. 2, page 219 (re-transcribed version at page 291, FHL film #1413189) shows that the property being transferred was previously owned by "Joost ffranse," deceased. It is apparent that either Isaac or his wife, Helena, and either Michael Van der Koeck or his wife, Sara Joosten, were heirs of Joost ffrance (Frans, Fransen, Francis). Each of these couples owned half of the property, and the first couple, Isaac & Helena, were selling their half to the second couple, Michael & Sara (although Sara is not mentioned in the deed).

Magdalena, daughter of Frans. Joosten (sic, his given and surnames reversed), and Geertruid Aukes, was baptized on 2 November 1679 at Midwout, Long Island (Voorhees, Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush, Kings Co., New York, Vol. 1, 1677-1720 [New York: HSNY, 1998], page 394).

Geertruid Aukes, the mother mentioned above, was a daughter of Aucke Jansen (Van Nuys) and his first wife, Magdalena Pieterse. The will of Auke Jansen Van Nuyse, dated May 15, 1694, is abstracted in Abstracts of Wills on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York, Vol. 1, 1665-1707 (New York: Collections NYHS, 1892), pages 294-295, with corrections to Aucke's name and the names of others in the abstract, found in Volume 16 of the same series, at page 31. (The original is in New York Co. Wills, Lib. 5-6, page 255). In his will, Aucke Jansen leaves all his estate to his wife Geetie for life, and then to his children by his first wife (Magdalena) including, "the two children of Geetie Auke, deceased, procured by Joost Fransen, viz., Sara Joosten and Magdalena Joosten, for one share." It is established that Magdalena, baptized in 1679, the daughter of Joost Fransen and Geertriud Aukes, had a sister named Sara, although no baptism record for Sara has been located.

Geertruid Aukes, the mother of Magdalena (Lena, Helena) and Sara Joosten, was deceased by January 30, 1692, when banns for the marriage of her widower husband, Joost Franse and Annetie Joris (Rapalje) widow of Marten Reijers were posted (Voorhees, Flatbush Church Records, page 273).

Joost Franse was deceased by January 27, 1696, when the inventory of his estate was recorded for Reynier Aertse and John Auke. In this recording Joost Franse is described as "late of Bedford in Kings County" (Abstracts of New York Co. Wills, Vol. 1, page 277, abstracting Lib. 5-6, p. 166). On February 3, 1696, Benjamin Fletcher, Captain-General and Governor of New York, granted Letters of Administration on the estate of "Joost Francis of Bedford, late deceased by fire, leaving behind him a widow non compos mentis, and two children," to Reynier Aertse and John Auchine, "the next relations." Joost apparently had no blood relations in the New York area (other then his two daughters) and the two appointed administrators were a husband of Joost's deceased first wife's sister (Jannetje) and his deceased first wife's brother, Jan Aukes. Joost Franse is deceased in early 1696 and his real property, in Bedford, would then pass to his only two heirs, his daughters, Magdalena and Sara.

On February 15, 1699, banns were posted in the New York Reformed Dutch Church for "Michiel Van der Koeck, j.m. Uyt Zeelt (born at Zeeland), en Saertje Joosten, j.d. Van Breuckelen, de Eerste woonende, en twede op Betfort (born at Brooklyn, now living at Bedford). They were married in Brooklyn.

On June 9, 1700, Isaak, child of Isaak Bennet and Leena, was baptized at Brooklyn, sponsors Michael Van der Koek, Saartje, his wife (van der Linde, Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Brooklyn, New York: First Book of Records, 1660-1752, New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch [Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983], page 143).


On May 5, 1701, we have the above mentioned deed by which Isaac Bennet and his wife, Helena conveyed to Michael Van der Koeck, one half of a property in Bedford formerly belonging to Joost ffranse, deceased. This property would have passed to his legal heirs, which in 1696 were his only two children, daughters Magdalena and Sara (as stated in the 1694 will of Auke Jansen Van Nuys).


 On October, 26, 1702, Joost, child of Michiel van der Koek and Sara was baptized at Brooklyn, with sponsors Yzaac Bennet and Lena, his wife (van der Linde, Old First Dutch Reformed Church of Brooklyn, New York: First Book of Records, 1660-1752, New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch [Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983], page 147).

The wife of Isaac Bennet (no. 14) in Ledley's account of the Bennet family, can now be identified as Magdalena/Lena/Helena Joosten, daughter of Joost Fransen and Geertruid Aukes, and granddaughter of Aucke Jansen Van Nuys and his first wife, Magdalena Pieterse. Magdalena would have been named for her maternal grandmother (Magdalena Pieterse) and so was most probably Joost and Geertruid's first daughter. Her sister's name (Sara) may be a clue to the identity of Joost's mother. Joost Fransen's parents and origins are not known.

It should be mentioned that both of the given names, Magdalena and Helena, can be shortened to the same diminutive, Lena. It is not uncommon for women, born as Magdalena to be seen in later records with the name Helena, with the confusion/switch originating with the common diminutive of Lena.

Isaac Bennet and Magdalena/Lena/Helena Joosten had four sons baptized at Brooklyn. They were the above mentioned Arie in 1698, the above mentioned Isaac in 1700, also William in 1704 and Jacob in 1706. A fifth son, George, is attributed to the couple as he was an executor of his (likely) brother Jacob's will in Bucks Co., Pennsylvania in 1747, and by virtue of the fact that he was named, George, which in the Bennet family of this period equated to the Dutch, Joost, therefore he was named for Magdalena's father. Ledley claims two more "probable" children for Isaac and Magdalena: John ("b. abt. 1710) and Sophia ("b. ___). There is no basis for the inclusion of children John and Sophia in the family of Isaac Bennet. They should be removed from this family until, or unless, evidence that supports their inclusion can be found.

Ledley also states that Isaac, "first moved his family to the vicinity of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and about 1731, to Bucks County, Pennsylvania." While it appears that his sons, Isaac, William, Jacob and George, did relocate to Bucks County, there is no direct evidence that points to Isaac himself as having made the move. Ledley also assigns Issac a second wife, Sarah, stating that they stood as sponsors at a baptism in Bucks County in 1732. Verification for Ledley's statements regarding Isaac has not been found. We do know that Isaac and Lena witnessed a baptism in 1705 at Brooklyn for Angenitje, the daughter of Jacob van Dooren and Marijtie (who was Isaac's sister). Records for Isaac, after this date, must still be located.

With the identity of Isaac Bennet's wife is now assured, other questions regarding Isaac's complete family and his whereabouts after 1705 can be pursued.

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