Schriver Family History

The Schrivers are another family line which can be traced back to...drumroll, please.... "the original ancestor." There are 2 good family forum type web sites centered on the Schrivers called Schryvers on the Net and The Schryver Page. Both those pages and Palatines to America contain copyrighted information on the Palatine Emigration that will set forth for you more details than I'm going to and lots of Palatine links. At first, I was just going to give links to the Palatine pages but then decided to leave in a bit of a discussion on the Palatines because, to me, the Schriver's represent my ideal of an Early American immigrant.

The "Palatine" was a small Germanic country covering 3,500 square miles along both sides of the Rhine River that was basically absorbed by neighboring countries by the 1800's. The Palatine area was also know as "Pfalz"; a local area retaining that name is all that is evident of Palatine. The Palatine had for ages been a hotbed for persecution and war between the French & German, Spanish & French, and a plethora of minor nobles. At the time of emigration, the 30 Years War (where 1 out of every 3 Germans died) was still fresh in the peoples' minds; the people were suffering religious persecution after being forced from Catholicism to Protestantism previous to and throughout the 17th century and then back to Catholicism at the start of the 18th century; the feudal system was levying exceptional tax demands on the people; and the winter of 1708-1709 was bitter cold, killing the crops and vines that provided their food and their taxes.

At this same time, Queen Anne of England allowed petitions and propaganda to be circulated amongst the Palatines offering English citizenship, transportation from England/Holland, and 40 acres of land in the New World in exchange for labor in British naval supply stores. In ripe soil, the idea took hold more strongly than any had predicted. Between 1709 and 1713 approximately 30,000 people fled down the Rhine River to Amsterdam ports, a 4 to 6 week journey in itself, to await ships to the New World. After all of the grueling sagas expected in an overwhelmed camp (disease, death, poor shelter, little food), thousands sailed for New York beginning in the spring of 1709. By 1713, the arriving immigrants increased the population of New York City by 1/3.

The people were finally settled along the Hudson in poor living conditions, with inadequate food (the people were not allowed to produce much of their own food including bread and meat), and set to work at jobs none of them had ever done before for no reward. Quite a mix for failure, and fail it did. Eventually, the Palatines were released from service and they disseminated to various parts of New York where they again became husbandmen and farmers.

Jumping back to Europe, in 1709 on the 2nd of June 1,745 Palatines arrived at St. Catherines in Holland. Among those were Albertus Schreiber, husbandman age 26, single of the Reformed Church and Eva Laurmannin, and unmarried woman age 22 of the Reformed Church. They were in the 3rd party on Robbert Louren's ship which left Holland between June 5 & 10, 1709. The couple married sometime after their arrival in New York and had their 1st of 9 children by 1712. It is not known if Albertus & Eva knew each other prior to their emigration. Albertus was from Feldkirchen and Eva was from Anhausen: both towns were close together in the Neuwied area. As a note of interest, my uncle visited the area while stationed in Germany during Desert Storm and reported back to us that the area was effectively annihilated during WWII - the area's time of persecution and war far outlasted the 1700's. After moving several times in the Rhinebeck, Kinderhook and Kingston areas of New York, they finally permanently settled in Rhinebeck along with approximately 60 other families. These families bit on Judge Beck's offer to exchange land for families willing to stay on the land and work it.

Although there are very good church records documenting the baptisms of children & marriages, there were no records for Albertus' or Eva's death, a sad documentation, but one that would have saved genealogists much time when sorting through the 7 grandsons named Albertus - 4 of whom had the last name of Schriver!

Albertus & Eva had 4 daughters and 5 sons. My line descends from the 9th son - Johannes. Although German custom is to name all of the sons after the paternal grandfather and basically call the son by his middle names (Johannes Nicholas = Nicholas), Johannes, in this case, was Johannes. Johannes married Brechje Terpenning whose family is well documented at Dick Weisigner's Page.

The Terpennings also trace back to the "original ancestor." Brechje's mother, Grietjen Margeritte DeGraff, was born in Kingston, Ulster County, New York to Moses DeGraff and his wife Hester deMaistre (or LaMetre/LaMaeter). I do not know if this couple was the immigrant couple, but the name DeGraff was originally LeCompte or LaConti and changed to the Dutch version - DeGraff indicating that Moses was of French Huguenot lineage. Brechje's father, Theunis Terpenning, was also born in Kingston, Ulster County, New York to parents Gerret Terpening Lambertzen and Antje Lysbeth Hooghlandt. On Antje, I know nothing. Gerret, however, it is known that he was the 4th child to Lammert Brink Huybertsen and Hendrickje Cornelisse (and which one of those is the father & why don't they have the same last name....). Lammert & Hendrickje were from Wageningen in Gelderland in the Netherlands. They had 2 children before setting sail for America; another on the ocean voyage between the Netherlands & America and then 4 more once they got here. So why does Lammert not carry his father's last name? It was the custom in the Netherlands to use your father's first name as your last name - so Lammert's father would have been Huybert hence Huybertsen (=Huybert's son). And Gerret's last name was Lammertsen (= Lammert's son). Terpenning caught on with Theunis, who possibly gained the name from Huybert Teerpenningh, and it has persisted since then in the traditional American name format with the expected variations in spelling.

Back to Johannes & Brechje. They had 10 children and lived through one of America's first major growing pains - the American Revolution. Johannes was in the British army as were several of his sons, brothers, and nephews. A majority, but not all, were on the British side -several nephews were on the American's side and changed the spelling of their name. One cannot attempt to fathom what emotions and rationales were at play over 200 years ago when a majority of the Schriver men signed up for the British, but certainly stories of Albertus & Eva's life in feudal Palatine and the opportunity that the English had given them must have held some sway.

One of the Loyalist sons was Albertus (or Baltus) Schryver. Born in 1751, he was a Private in Capt. John Howard's company and later under Capt. William Gray. He fought for 5 years before being sent to St. John, New Brunswick for discharge. Baltus properly mustered out and received 100 acres of land along the Madamkeswick River in York County, New Brunswick. He and his wife Ann had 2 sons & 2 daughters.

The 2nd child, James Burr Schriver, married Maria Amelia Willis and took up residency in Brighton Parish, Carleton County, New Brunswick. They had a total of 14 children (gulp) including #13(Joseph) & 14 (Mary) who were twins. The 6th child, Hiram Schriver, married Mamaree Banks.

Sidestepping the Schrivers a moment, Cleadie Burnett has several wonderful sites concerning New Brunswick history which are easily accessed from her front page at New Brunswick's Past. One site also includes a Banks family history tracing back to the "original ancestor." Mamaree was the 3rd of 9 children born to William Sawrey Banks and Elizabeth Jane Thompkins. William was born in Gagetown in Queens County, New Brunswick and died in Peel, Carleton County, New Brunswick. His father, James Banks-Sawrey, was born in North Carolina. James was also a Loyalist who ended up in New Brunswick probably under similar circumstances as Baltus Schriver. James married Elizabeth Cowperthwaite from Gagetown, Queens County, New Brunswick and they raised 12 children. James' father was William Banks-Sawrey. Mrs. Burnett mentions that there is a family tradition concerning a name change, presumably from Sawrey to Banks. William Banks was originally from Kendclinthe in Cumberland County, England. He and his wife Mary had one known child: James.

Hiram and Mamaree had 9 children in the Florenceville area of Carleton County, New Brunswick. Two of those children would themselves end up in Bridgewater, Maine: Amanda Cordelia & Douglas. My great-grandmother, after whom I wasnamed and who herself was named after her mother's sister Cordelia Amanda, married Elliott George Barker and from there, you might want to take a look at my Barker family history!!

Douglas first married Josephine Estabrooks and then married Lila Bell. Their daughter, also Mamaree, married Vernon Bradstreet. Mamaree and Vernon's 8 children established a line in Bridgewater that will not soon be removed. Amazingly, though 3rd cousins or better, there is a marked physical resemblance between the Bradstreets and the Barkers now in Bridgewater. There is also a marked work ethic which may explain why over half of the 20 man town fire department and the town man are related through the "Schriver Connection!"

After reading and rereading this, it is still somewhat confusing. Maybe this will help:

Schrivers:

Originate with Albertus & Eva from Palatine in 1709

Generations removed from me: 8

Terpenning:

Johannes Schriver's wife Brechje Terpenning descended from:

1. French Huguenots Moses & Hester DeGraff

Generations removed from me: 8

2. Terpenning from Lambert Brink Huybersen of the Netherlands immigrated in 1659

Generations removed from me: 10

Banks:

William Banks from England to North Carolina >1750's????

Generations removed from me: 5 "