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| Pieter Van Quackenbosch |
The following are variations on the spelling of the last name that I have actually run across: Van Quackenbosch, Quackenbosch, Quackerbos, Quackenbos, Quackenboss, Quackenbush, Quakenbush, Quackinbush, Qualkinbosch, Qualkenbosch, Quakenboss, Quakenbos, Quackenbus, Quackenbuss, Quakinbosch, Quacenbosh, Quackenboosh, Quackenbose, Quawkenboss, Quckanbus, Quakanbos, Quakanboss, Quackanbus, Quackanbuss, Quackkenbosch, Quackelbosch, Kwakkenbos. Quack, and Quak.
Pieter Pieterssen Van Quackenbosch also known as "Peter Quackenbos" and "Pieter
Bont" was born on August 28, 1616 in Oegstgeest, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Nederland (The Netherlands). He was the son of Pieter Janzoon Van Quackenbosch and Nelletjen Pietersze Pietersz. Pieter married Maritje Ariens Quackenbosch in 1639 and they had the following children: Johannes Pieterse Quackenbosch born 1642, Wouter Pieterse Quackenbosch born 1644, Cornelia Quackenbosch born 1650, Reynier Pietersen Quackenbosch born 1652, Marritje Pieterse Quackenbosch born 1645, and 5 others. Pieter is the brother of Gerritt Van Quackenbosch and Tryntje Pietersdochter Van Quackenbosch. Pieter died January 4, 1686 in Schenectady, Albany County, New York.
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Pieter's purchase of the brickyard and property |
His daughter Maritje born 1645 in the Netherlands was probably married to Marten Cornelissen Van Buren 1639 - November 13, 1703. Martin Van Buren, the eight president of the United States, was a great-great-grandson of Maritje (Quackenbosch) Van Buren through her son, Pieter Martenese Van Buren.
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| Pieter Janzoon and wife Maritje Ariens Van Quackenbosch |
There is no record of Pieter Quackenbosch having attempted to settle at New Amsterdam, and he is first heard from at Beverwyck, or Albany, where he seems to have gone immediately upon his arrival in New Netherlands. The unsettled condition of Manhattan under Petrus Stuyvesant may have prompted this move, or it may be that Pieter Quackenbosch came to America with the single purpose of entering the brick business, in which case Albany would be his natural destination because of the abundance of suitable clay throughout that region. Brick making, a relic of the early Roman occupation of Holland, had been a leading Dutch industry for ages, because of the clay deposits in the river beds which were peculiarly adapted to the manufacture of bricks and tiles. The enduring buildings of Holland, which have withstood the storms of centuries, are the result of Dutch skill in the manufacture of bricks, and the exquisite " Delft " and other rich potteries of today are the natural development of the glazed tile of the Hollanders.
As a majority of the colonists had been tempted to America by the offer of the West India Company of a free passage to " farmers and laborers," very few were qualified to enter the pursuit of brick making, and it is not strange therefore, that Pieter Quackenbosch, a man of education, should have chosen a business that was essentially Dutch and especially promising in a new country, and which required, in addition to capital, an intimate knowledge of the chemical and physical qualities of clays. It is a matter of record that he purchased a brick yard in 1668, but prior to that he had leased the same property, and it is more than probable that he had established brick-kilns immediately upon his arrival in Albany. During his time in Albany area, he built Quackenbush house which stands still in Quackenbush Square in Albany, New York.
The sons of Pieter Quackenbosch settled in various parts of the Mohawk Valley and in the settlements near Albany, and with each succeeding generation the several branches of the family gradually drifted further away, until today the name is found from New York to San Francisco, and from Canada to Mexico.
As a majority of the colonists had been tempted to America by the offer of the West India Company of a free passage to " farmers and laborers," very few were qualified to enter the pursuit of brick making, and it is not strange therefore, that Pieter Quackenbosch, a man of education, should have chosen a business that was essentially Dutch and especially promising in a new country, and which required, in addition to capital, an intimate knowledge of the chemical and physical qualities of clays. It is a matter of record that he purchased a brick yard in 1668, but prior to that he had leased the same property, and it is more than probable that he had established brick-kilns immediately upon his arrival in Albany. During his time in Albany area, he built Quackenbush house which stands still in Quackenbush Square in Albany, New York.
The sons of Pieter Quackenbosch settled in various parts of the Mohawk Valley and in the settlements near Albany, and with each succeeding generation the several branches of the family gradually drifted further away, until today the name is found from New York to San Francisco, and from Canada to Mexico.
