Most of my ancestors came from England, Scotland, and Ireland, so their original language was English. However, If I go back far enough in my family tree, I do have some ancestors who came from other locations in Europe.
My sixth great-grandmother, Elizabeth Wendell was born in August 1704 in the Colony of New York to Abraham Wendell and Catharina De Kalj / DeKay. (She was baptized in the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam on August 20, 1704.) Three of her four grandparents were born in New Amsterdam, New Netherlands, which is what New York City was known as from 1653 to 1664.
I have not researched this branch of my family tree in a long time. My tree in Family Tree Maker has several holes in Elizabeth Wendell's ancestry.
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| Screenshot Elizabeth Wendell's ancestors in Family Tree Maker |
However, others have researched this branch and shared their research in the FamilySearch family tree. (It is important to note that this is a crowd-sourced, open family tree that can be edited by anyone with a FamilySearch account. I have not verified any of the ancestral links in these generations.)
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| Screenshot Elizabeth Wendell's ancestors in FamilySearch family tree as of February 2024 |
Going back another generation, the presumed birthplaces for Elizabeth's great-grandparents are:
Evert Jansen Wendell, born in 1617 in Hanover, Prussia, Germany
Susanna Philippse du Trieux, born 1626 in New York (New Netherlands?) to parents who were born in France
Abraham Staats, born 1620 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Catharina Tryntje Jochemse Wessels, born about 1622 in Leiden, Holland, Netherlands
Jacob Theunisen de Kay, born about 1635 in Gelderland, Netherlands
Hillegonde Theunisse Quick, born 1640 in New Amsterdam to parents born in the Netherlands
Johannes Pietersen Van Brugh, born 1624 in Friesland, Netherlands
Trijntje Catrina Roelofs, born 1629 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
I theorize that it is likely that when Elizabeth was growing up in New York Colony, she was familiar with, if not fluent in, Dutch, German, and possibly French, as well as English.
She married on April 15, 1725, in Boston, Massachusetts, Edmund Quincy, a shipbuilder and merchant, and had 9 or 10 children. I wonder if she taught her children the many languages that she must have known.
I can see that I need to do more research on this branch of my tree.
I descend from Elizabeth Wendell as follows:
Elizabeth Wendell (1704-1769)
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Elizabeth Quincy (1729-1775)
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Dorothy Sewall (1758-1825)
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Louisa May (1792-1828)
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Samuel Sewall Greeley (1824-1916)
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Ethel May Greeley (1875-1931)
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Lowell Townsend Copeland (1900-1974)
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My mother
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Me
This week's theme is Language.
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