Notes on Jan Frederickse
Jan Frederickse grew up in New Amsterdam (New York) and at the age of eight years worked as a servant of Jan de Perie (possibly his step father). The first tax (20 Aug 1675 in "Breucklen") assesment was for one poll (person) , two cows, one morgan
(2 acres) of valley valued at #30. In his late 20's (1676) Jan was taxed in Brooklyn for 7 morgan (14 acres) of land, two horses and two cows Valued at #66.
Seven years later in 1683, he owned three horses, nine cows, 14 morgan of land valued at #118.10 He was a succesful farmer!
Nearby lived Jurian Blanck, the silversmith who made the BLUE silver cup. The inscription"IF" on the bottom of the cup identifies it with Jan Frederickse as the first owner of the cup.
Jan married Aeltje Jans, Daughter of Jan Jans (Jansen), of Brooklyn, and they joined the Brooklyn Dutch Reformed Church. Aeltje was confirmed as a member on 11 June 1677. Their first child Jan was Baptized there on Dec. 9, 1677. This was recorded
in both the Flatbush and Brooklyn churches. Jan is our John Blaw/Blue. They remained members of the Brooklyn church at least through the birth of their last child Elizabeth in 1695. All of their children were baptised there.
In the Dutch colony of New Netherlands, many of the families used the patronymic naming system, as did Jan Frederickse (John the son of Frederick). After the British took over the colony and renamed it New York, they required each family to adopt
a surname. A person was given a first name and adopted a second name which means son or daughter of and is characterized by the suffix "se" or "sen". Jan Frederickse appears to have adopted the surname Blau, based on the record of a 1698 Baptism
which he witnessed at the Dutch Reformed Church. Some of his children subsequently used the spellings Blauw and Blaw.
In Sept. 1687 Jan Frederickse signed an oath of allegiance in Kings County, Province of New York, which stated he had been in the proveinve for 35 years. This establishes his arrival in 1652. In 1699 Jan and Aeltje sold their interest in a plot
of ground located in Jamaica, Long Island. They jointly held this land with Aeltje's sister Dinah and her husband Frederick Hendrickse Van Leeuwen. This is the last known record of Jan Frederickse Blau.
The silver "drink beker or silver cup was made by Jurian Blanck, Jr. of Brooklyn, NY, and may provide a link between the Blaws of NJ and their NY ancestors. The cup has the initials l*F inscribed on it's base. In 1676, Jurian Blanck was a near
neighbor of Jan Frederickse, and that his son Jan was John Blaw.
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