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.