Marriage Certificate

The journey

On the 15th of May, 1639, my wife and I, newly-married in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk, walked up the gangplank on the ship Den Harinck, prepared to set sail from Amsterdam for America, from the Old World to the New. With us we carried our worldly possessions, a bible, a spare shirt and pants for me, a dress and chemise for Volkjie, and the little bit of food the captain allowed us, otherwise our provisions were to be provided for by the ship's steward on the journey that was expected to take two months.

One does not wish to remember the journey. I was a seagoing man who had sailed the North Atlantic for its fish, but my wife was unfamiliar with the waves, the storms, the motion of the ship that left her sick for most of the journey. Thus, it was relief that we arrived in New Amsterdam early in July. Compared to Old Amsterdam with its population of 200,000, its busy port, many beautiful homes, tall churches, and bustling markets, this New Amsterdam was disappointing. This place of perhaps a 100 souls was founded no more than 15 years earlier. All that it had to show for itself were a few cabins constructed of logs, and a wharf where beaver pelts were gathered, having been traded with the local Algonquian Indians in exchange for paltry items of not much value. The city, if I may call it that, was at the far end of New Netherlands Bay where the Hudson River emptied into the Atlantic.

Thank God we did not intend to stay here with the miserable souls who were left to contend with the rain, the mud, general gloom that was so unlike the city of Amsterdam we had left.  Our destination was up the Hudson River to Ft. Orange, an outpost of the Dutch West Indies Company, where the patroon, Kiliaen van Rensselaer established his colony and would give us land in exchange for work..

The future

Jan and Volkje settled down, went to work, raised a family, and prospered. They are the progenitors of the tens of thousands of individuals in the Unites States with the surnames Van Husum, Van Hoesen, Van Huss, and with other minor variations.

Dam Platz Amsterdam 1659, by Jacob van der Ulft, Musee Conde, Chantilly

The marriage of Jan and Volkje

Jan and Volkje married a month before sailing for America. The marriage took place in Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk on the Dam Platz.*

Some say they were Dutch, others say Frisian, an ancient tribe of people who lived along the coast and were first mentioned by the Romans. What we do know is that Jan came from Husum and Volkje from the island of Nordstrand.

Both city and island were part of ancient North Frisia.

Korte Tuinstraat

Korte Tuinstraat,** where they lived in Amsterdam, can still be located on Google Maps. It is a short walk from Tuinstraat to the Dam Platz and the New Church. It is also a short walk to the house of Rembrandt van Rijn, Holland's most famous painter of the same period.

 [Note. This is a draft article that concerns the marriage of Jan and Volkje Van Husum. The original working image of the marriage certificate comes from jeanhounshellpeppers.com. I have included her translation below with some minor changes.]

Marriage Certificate of Jan Van Husum and Volkje Nordstrand

The image is not original. It is a digital recreation of the marriage certificate of Jan Van Husum and Volkje Nordstrand.

                                                          The 30th of April 1639

Present for signing "Jan Franz van Housum, varensgezel", seafaring man, age 30 years, living in "Cortetuijnstraat," having no parents but assisted by his cousin Anna Jans, of the same (street) and Volckje Juriaens "dr von" (from) Noortstrant, age about 21 years,  same address, having no parents, but assisted by Isaack Pietersen, acquaintence.

Requesting their three Sundays' proclamation, in order to have the before mentioned marriage  solemnized and consummated, in so far as there are no lawful objections, and if fully that they are free persons, not related by blood, whereby a Christian marriage could be prevented, such grounds do not exist, their banns are allowed.

* The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) was destroyed by fire in 1645 and rebuilt in its present day Gothic style. The New Church was new, even in 1639, at the time of Jan and Volkje's marriage, because the Oude Kirk (Old Church) in Amsterdam had become too small for the growing congregation. Today, the former church is operated as a museum.

**Tuinstraat translates as "Garden Street." It is located in the Jordaan District just off of central Amsterdam. Corte is not Dutch, it may be Spanish, translating as "court."  One looking for the address where Jan and Volkje lived would be advised to look for a courtyard on Tuinstraat, assuming that a 17th century courtyard still exists.

Tuinstraat, Amsterdam

Getting Married

Prior to setting sail in May of 1639 for America, Jan Van Husum and Volkje Juriaens lived on Tuinstraat in Amsterdam. This fact comes from the marriage certificate kept in the Nieuwe Kerk where they were married, dated April 30th, 1639.

Detail of marriage Certificate of Jan Franz Van Husum and Volkje Juriaens

[Note. One immediately notices that there are variations in spellings of names and places. Jan's name is spelled "Jan Franz Van Housum". Volkje's name is spelled "Volckje Juriaens dr van Noortstrandt". Tuinstraat is spelled "Tuijnstraat." Spelling conventions have changed over time. Moreover, spelling may depend on whether the language is Dutch, German, of English.]

Tuinstraat, Amsterdam

Tuinstraat (meaning "Garden Street") can still be found in Amsterdam, near the Dam Platz and the Niewe Kerk where Jan and Volkje were married. From the Dam Platz, head past Rembrandt's studio towards the Jordaan District.It is not too far from the Anne Frank House.

The marriage certificate's reference to "Corte" (Spanish for courtyard) likely refers to courtyard. Keep in mind that the Dutch provinces were once part of the Spanish empire, not achieving formal independence until 1649, ten years after the newly weds left.

Dam Platz and New Church, 1659, Jacob van der Ulft, Musee Condee, Chantily

The couple married in the relatively close Nieuwe Kirk located in the Domplatz.

The Marriage of Jan Franz Van Housum and Volckje Jurriaens van Nordstrandt

Jan Franz Van Husum (Housum) and Volkje Juriaens (Jurriaens) married in Amsterdam on April 30, 1639. At the time, they were living on Tuinstraat, near the Dam Platz, with its Royal Palace and the Nieue Kirk where the ceremony took place. The church they were married in was devastated by fire in 1645 and rebuilt in its present day Gothic style.

The couple was married in the Dutch Reformed Church.

The marriage ceremony was performed under the rites of the Dutch Reformed Church, which reflects the fact that Holland was in the midst of its own Protestant Reformation. The Dutch Reformed Church was a more tolerant version of Lutheranism which held sway in large sections of northern Europe. And Lutheranism was a more tolerant version of Christ's teaching than Roman Catholicism. The Roman Catholic faith was the official religion of Holland ruled by the Spanish, who were then fighting the Dutch people for political control.

The Translation

The marriage certificate is written in Old Dutch using Gothic script, also called Blackletter. As with any old document, spellings may vary. The first few words, "Compareerdey als woren, literally translates as "Appearing as before," but is used in the sense "Present for signing.".

The certificate translates as follows:

                                              On 30 April 1639

Present for signing Jan Franz Van Housum, sailor, age 30, living in Corte Tuijnstraat, having no parents but assisted by his cousin, Anna Jans, and Volckje Juriaens, from Noortstrant, age about 21, of the same address and having no parents, but assisted by her acquaintance Isaack Pietersen.

Requesting their three Sundays' proclamation, in order to have the before mentioned marriage solemnized and consummated, in so far as there are no lawful objections made, and if fully that they are free persons, and not related by blood, whereby a Christian marriage could be prevented, such grounds do not exist, their banns are allowed.

The translation with a few minor variations comes from the site Vanhoose History and Joyce Lindstrom's Book on the Van Huss Family in America. I would not include the word daughter after Volckje Jurianes name, preferring to think that "dr" or "dv"  is short hand for "de van" meaning, from the, or the French "de" which also means from. The word "bekende" or acquaintence probably better translates as witness. The word sailor probably comes from the Dutch word "varensgezel", but the spelling seems to have changed. It might also translate simply as sea man or boats man.

In research Jan is often referred to as a sailor, but I have not come across any references to his sails except on the Den Harinck, the ship the two of them sailed on in going to America. Once in America the couple settled in Beverwyck (today's Albany, New York) up the Hudson River, and Jan became a businessman and property owner.

Jan's home in Amsterdam, Corte Tuijnstraat, is a location that still exists. "Corte" is a Spanish word for court, a holdover from the fact that Holland was then part of the Spanish Netherlands.Google Map.

The Anne Frank House is just a minute away from Tuinstraat, and it is a ten minute walk to Nieuwe Kerk on Dam Square where the couple married. The church burned down six years after the marriage, and a new church was built at the same location in Gothic style. (See images of the New Church in Amsterdam).

Nortstrandt, Noortstrand, Nordstrand

Volckje's former address "von Noortstrand" refers to the island of Nordstrand. (Again, the spelling depends on the language. Variations also entered over time, just as with Van Husum to Van Huss.) The island is part of the chain of islands that made up North Friesland. Don't confuse these islands with Friesland which is a part of Holland.

On a modern map of the North Sea, these islands are located to the east of Amsterdam, north of Germany, and off the western coast of Denmark. I have included Von Blaeu's map of the area made after the flood. The smaller detail below shows the flooded areas of the island with small horizontal dashes.

The town of Husum, not on the map, is located by the sea to the east of the island of Nortstrandt. The island and the city both suffered greatly in the flood of 1634. this same flood killed Volckje's parents and probably was the calamity that brought the couple together, as Volckje was taken to Husum after the flood.

Map by Von Blaeu and detail, showing the island of Nortstandt (Nordstrand), shortly after the flood of 1634.


*
The fact that Jan was called Van Housum at all was principally to distinguish him from other Jans and the inclusion of the name Fransse or Franz designated his father. When looking at Dutch records in America, one will again come across the tendency to use a place name to distinguish individuals. Thus, I came across one "Jan Pieterson Van Husum" in looking at the records of New Netherlands, but it was clearly a different individual.

Volckje or Volkje's father was called Juriens, and she hailed from the island of Noortstaat (Nordstrand). There were other Juriens in the same colony where Jan and Volckje lived. One Captain Juriens later came under their care.