Name: Adrian Hendrickse ATEN

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Birth: 1630 Holland

Death: Apr 1700 Flatbush, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Father: Hendrickse ATEN

Misc. Notes

Hendrick ATEN

Adrian Hendrickse ATEN* (abt 1630 - Apr 1700) & (Unknown)

Hendrick ATEN (abt 1661 - 17 Jul 1750) & Maria DEMOTT (1678 - )

Adrian (Aderyon?) ATEN (4 Sep 1695 - 10 Dec 1757) & Jacobje MIDDAGH (1693 - 1782)

John (Jan?) ATEN (22 Dec 1732 - 1790) & Elizabeth BADYN (1733 - )

Cornelius ATEN (18 Jan 1766 - 21 Mar 1857) & Sarah (Sally) BELL (13 Feb 1770 - Jun 1856)

Aaron Kimble ATEN (18 Feb 1812 - 9 Sep 1901) & Dorcas GLASS (25 Jan 1814 - 20 Nov 1892)

Ellen Arminda ATEN (17 Dec 1849 - 6 Mar 1919) & Moody ROBINSON (1850 - 1938)

Adelia Gertrude ROBINSON (12 Sep 1878 - 16 Jan 1973) & Newton COFFEY (1875 - 1969)

Leo Newton COFFEY (1901 - 1998) & Elsie Maureen WALKER (1903 - 1983)

Much of the following is from “An Aten Genealogy”, by Alan J. Lamb.

Note that “Aten” is also variously recorded as Aton, Aaton, Atton, Atten, Ate, Aete, Ater, Auten, Eaton and Auton. Aten is thought to be a Scottish name derived from Baron de Aeton (1307). Tradition has the Atens fleeing from religious persecution from Scotland to France and then to the Netherlands.

Some researchers claim that he is the son of Hendrick Aton of Doesburg in the Netherlands. (“Hendrickse” means son of Hendrick.) This would be in the province of Gelderland, north of the Rhine River. Others claim he was born in Utrecht, to the west of Doesburg. Another claim is that ADRIAN HENDRICKSE ATEN was born about 1630, on the Ysel River, Province of Guilderland, Holland.

He took an Oath of Allegiance in 1687, stating that he had been in the country 36 years, having arrived about 1651. He located at Flatbush in Kings County NY (now part of the modern city of Brooklyn). The area had been purchased from the Carnarsie tribe of Algonquian Indians, and had been settled since about 1636. By the time Adrian arrived in 1651 there would have been a few villages surrounded by small farms.

The farms in the village of Flatbush would have been in long, narrow tracts branching off the the main road, which had originally been an Indian trail. Central among the tracts was a strip of land set aside for the church - Flatbush was the site of the first Dutch church on Long Island, built in 1654. The Dutch Reformed Chruch was the center of community life. The church was supported through taxes, and school was associated with the church.

Adrian would have likely lived in a typical Dutch house. “A Dutch house was long and low, seldom more than a story and a half high, with a steep sloping roof that covered the front porch (called a “Stoep”), and the stoep was the gathering place for all the family and their friends in the evening. The women knitted and spun, and the men discussed the last town meeting or politics in general or just sat silently over their long pipes and pots of home-brewed beer... Inside the house the kitchen must have been the most attractive room of all. It certainly was the most popular one in the winter because it was the only one that was warm. The floor was usually covered with white sand which retained the patterns made by sweeping with a broom. Tin pans and pewter hung on the walls and there was usually a dresser in the corner holding a shining array of blue or brown dishes, plates, bowls, and platters.” (From “Long Island Story” by Jacqueline Overton, 1929.)

In 1665 Adrian was chosen constable. Various land transfers to and by him are on the Long Island records and his name is on the Flatbush rate sheets in 1675, 1676, 1683, and 1698. His will was made jointly with his second wife, Elizabeth, on 20 March 1696 and recorded 9 May 1700 at Flatbush, Kings County, New York. His will only names his daughter, “Marrittee” and stepson, Lubbert Gysbertsen. Most likely his death prompted the recording of his will, and likely he had provided for his other children before his death.

His first wife is unknown. Adriaen Hendrickse Aten married second Lijsbet (Thomas) Lubbertse, widow of Gysbert Lubbertse. She was born in London, England, and had previously married Gysbert Lubbertsee in New Amsterdam’s Reformed Dutch Church on 24 February 1655.

The Aten childrens’ education probably occurred as an adjunct to their attending the Dutch Reformed Church. “Some insight to educational standards of that time is provided in a 1682 agreement between provincial authorities and the first schoolmaster, Carl de Bevoise. School was to begin at 8 am and run to 11 am; then an afternoon session was held from 1 to 4 pm. Each session was to be opened and closed with prayer. Children were to be instructed in common prayers and catechism. The schoolmaster was instructed to be friendly with his students. There were to be 9 months of school from September to June. The agreement with the schoolmaster also provided that he would be chorister of the church and ring the bell for service. He would read a chapter of the Bible between the 2nd and 3rd ringing of the bell. Compensation was provided as, ‘the residue of his salary shall be 400 guilders in wheat, of wampum value... with the dwelling, pasturages and meadow appertaining to the school.” (From “A History of Long Island”, by Peter Ross, 1902.)

Spouses

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1: (Unknown)

Adrian Hendrickse ATEN (1630 - Apr 1700) & (Unknown)

Hendrick ATEN (abt 1661 - 17 Jul 1750) & Maria DEMOTT (1678 - )

Pierterje ATEN (1663 - 1715)

Annetje ATEN (1667 - 1741)

Thomas ATEN (1670 - )

Jan/John ATEN (1672 - 1742)

Helena ATEN

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2: Lijsbet THOMAS

Birth: abt 1635 London, England

Adrian Hendrickse ATEN (abt 1630 - Apr 1700) & Lijsbet THOMAS (abt 1635 - )

Maritje ATEN (31 Mar 1678 - 1715) & Johannes DEMOTTE

Paulus ATEN (14 Nov 1680 - )

Abraham ATEN (abt 1682 - )

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