Chloe Cooley, Adam William Vrooman, and My Family Tree

I've written a few times about my Van Every ancestors ties to slavery.

• The Labors of Hercules
• Myndert Frederickse and Hercules
• The Labors of Jurden, Negro Servant
• Following the Citations

I am back again with their ties to another slave. A historical one, that many Canadian schoolchildren might have been able to tell me about ten years ago if they read my posts.

Who was Chloe Cooley?

Chloe Cooley was a young black woman held as a slave in Fort Erie and Queenston, Upper Canada in the late 1700s, as the area was being settled by Loyalists from the United States. Her owner forced her into a boat to sell her in 1793 across the Niagara River in the United States.

This incident was observed by several witnesses, who petitioned the Executive Council of Upper Canada. Although charges were dropped against Cooley's owner, the incident is believed to have led to passage of the Act Against Slavery, 1793, in Upper Canada. It prevented slaves from being imported into the province and provided for gradual abolition of slavery within a generation among those held there. 

Who was the Loyalist owner? Adam Vrooman. (Some sources give his name as William)

Source (Wikipedia entry)

About 1784 Adam Vrooman and my ancestor, McGregory Van Every likely shared a lot. 

Source: Niagara Historical Society Publication Number 27.

Geo Vanevery is almost certainly McGregory. No known son or close kin of McGregory was named George. McGregory is listed as one of the original 1782 settlers in the First Census of Niagara, 25th of August, 1782. 

In that census there was one male slave, belonging to Thomas McMicken. That slave had been incorrectly assigned to McGregory by some researchers, which I clarified in Following the Citations in 2012. Vrooman isn’t in the original census, so he arrived between 1782 and 1784. 

Why would Adam Vrooman and McGregory Vanevery share a lot?

Good question. I have a couple possible answers. 

1) They were cousins. Or at least the families were close.

Looking at my family tree, it suggested a Sara Meyndertse married a Jacob Vrooman in the early 1700s. There was no specific date, and no source. It's continually frustrating that I wasn't very good at citing sources in early research. 

Sara appears to be the great-granddaughter of Myndert Fredericksen. McGregory was the great-grandson of Myndert, so second cousins with Sara. His children would have been third cousins with any children of Sara and Jacob.

Wikitree says Adam’s parents were Jacob Vrooman and Rachel Van Woert. And that Jacob and Rachel were married in 1743. 

Wikitree has no definite spouse of Sara Meyndertse, but questions whether she married Jacob Vrooman. If you look at the entry, you will see I added her entry in 2011. Since then someone has questioned her spouse. Did I make a mistake? 

FamilySearch agrees with me, as does Ancestry, and they both cite New York Marriages, 1686-1980 for a 1742 marriage. So I have now added that as a source. 

So there is a possibility there was a brief marriage between Sara and Jacob Vrooman, and that Jacob's children, including Adam, were not actually DNA cousins with my ancestors, though the families may have remained close. There is also a possibility there were two Adam Vroomans, marrying separate women.

2) There are also suggestions that Abigail VanEvery, daughter of McGregory married either a Peter Vrooman or an Isaac Vrooman. There are also suggestions that this Vrooman spouse died in 1782 in New York. I am not certain what Abigail and a possible child did at that time, but joining her father in Niagara is certainly a possibility. Possibly along with some Vrooman kin. 

Back to the events of 1793. 

There was growing sentiment in Canada to free slaves, and owners were deciding to sell before being forced to free. Vrooman arranged a sale across the Niagara River in New York. Cooley fought back. 

Vrooman beat Cooley, tied her up and forced her into a small boat, aided by two other men. (Wikipedia entry above)

Who were the two other men? 

Adam’s brother, Isaac, and one of the sons of McGregory Van Every. (Canadian Encyclopedia)

[Another Isaac]

Which son of McGregory? Every source I can find refers to the third individual in the same format. I suspect there is no document that specifically identifies him

Records suggest, when Adam arrived in Niagara, he had another slave named Tom. Even if Adam was the owner, if the lot was a partnership with my ancestor, and they had familial ties, my ancestor likely directly benefitted, and likely approved. McGregory died in 1786, but at least one of his sons was close enough with Adam Vrooman ten years later to provide his assistance in what Canadians call the Chloe Cooley Incident. 

Chloe Cooley received a postage stamp earlier this year. 

Note: There are no known images of Cooley, so all images are artistic renderings.

Other resources:

• Historical Marker Database
• Archives of Ontario
• Recognizing the Legacy of Chloe Cooley, Canada Post Magazine, Jan 30, 2023
• National Program of Historical Commemoration

  

Amanuensis Monday: Myndert Frederickse and Hercules

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

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This week I look at records concerning my 8th great grandfather, Myndert Frederickse(n), and his slave, Hercules. I discussed these records several years ago, but haven't posted the transcriptions.

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Source: Albany Chronicles: A History of the City Arranged Chronologically, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time; Illustrated with Many Historical Pictures of Rarity and Reproductions of the Robert C. Pruyn Collection of the Mayors of Albany, Owned by the Albany Institute and Historical and Art Society. J. B. Lyon Company, printers, 1906 - Albany (N.Y.), p. 112.

1686…August

Mayor Pieter Schuyler and Common Council hold first session, among the minutes recorded appearing the following transaction: “The court of (the) mayor and aldermen having considered ye case of ye negroe of Myndert Frederikse called Hercules, who hath stole a chest of wampum belonging to ye poor of ye Lutheran parich out of ye house of his master, where he went in at night throw ye window, all which he confesseth, and considering how evil consequence it is and how bad example it is for ye negers, the court have ordered ye sd neger Hercules to be whipt throw ye towne att ye cart tale by ye hands of ye hangman forthwith, for an example to oyrs, and his master to pay ye costs.”

Source: Bi-centennial History of Albany: History of the County of Albany, N.Y., from 1609 to 1886, Volume 2, WW Munsell & Company, 1886, p. 463.

The Mayor’s Court, as it was called, possessed the powers and duties of a Court of Probate of Wills, and those now held by Surrogates. They also decided the time and place of holding elections. The first meeting, or Court, of the Mayor and Aldermen was held at City Hall in Albany, August 31, 1686. It was both a Court of Justice and a meeting of the Mayor and Aldermen for the transaction of municipal business.

Among the legal cases was one of a negro, Hercules, charged by Myndert Frederickse with stealing wampum out of his house, belonging to the churchwarden of the Lutheran Church. The negro, having confessed the theft, was sentenced “to be whipped through ye town at ye carte tale by ye hangman, for an example to others.” His master was ordered to pay the costs.

Source: The Manual of the First Lutheran Church in the City of Albany, First Lutheran Church (Albany, N.Y.)., Samuel P. Sprecher, Thomas Spencer Lloyd, J. Munsell, 1871 - Albany (N.Y.) - p. 102.

Among the early records of the common council we find the following curious entry:

Att a Court of Mayor and Aldermen held for ye Citty of Albany, ye 17th day of August, 1686. Present Peter Schuyler, Jan Jans Bleeker, Johannes Wandel, Dirck Wessels, Adrian Gerritse, Levinus Van Schaik. Hercules, ye negro of Myndert Frederickse being brought before ye Court by warrant of ye Mayr to answer ye fellonious taking out of his master’s house a small chest wherein some bags of wampum was contained, belonging to ye Poor of ye Lutheran Church, and being examined doth confess ye fact yt upon Thursday night last he came to his master’s house, and finding ye window of ye chamber open, went in and stole away ye small chest wherein ye money of ye poor of ye Lutheran Church was kept, and broke ye chest open without ye gate, at ye water side with an axe. Ordered, yt ys sd Negro be committed and secured in ye Common Goale till ye next Court of Sessions, when he is to be brought to his tryall. – Albany Records, III, 4.

Source: Swan of Albany: a history of the oldest congregation of the Lutheran Church in America, Henry Hardy Heins, First Lutheran Church, 1976 - pp 34-35.

It had been hoped by many in both congregations that the new pastor would be able to make it to Albany in time to minister to the venerable Myndert Frederickse in his last illness. He was the sole remaining elder of the Albany congregation, and we have encountered him already in the 1680 accounts of the courtroom scene and the church deed. Old Myndert was a blacksmith from Oldenburg, widely celebrated up and down the river for his craftsmanship, and in addition to his regular business he had been given the post of armorer at Fort Frederick. His home and shop in Albany were on the approximate site of the present office building at 41 State Street. He had an assistant named Hercules, who was once hailed into court (1686) on a charge of stealing the Lutheran Church’s poor box, containing some bags of wampum, from the elder’s home and breaking into it with an axe.

But unfortunately, events conspired to keep Pastor Falckner in New York City until mid-spring…They reached Albany too late, and found that the old blacksmith was dead. Among the treasured possessions in his will, the loyal old churchman had specifically mentioned, “my church book with the silver chain and clasps.”

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Notes:

1) The 1871 transcription appears to be an attempt at a faithful transcription of the original court record, down to spelling and abbreviations. The case appears to have been noted in several historical collections because the verdict of the trial was announced at the first meeting of The Mayor's Court on August 31, 1686. However, it appears the case had been previously discussed and sent to trial at a meeting on August 17th, of a court under a different name. Albany was officially chartered as a municipality on July 22, 1686. [source]

2) When I last discussed this, I hadn't found a copy of Swan of Albany, but only had access to snippets of a preview from Google Books. I found a copy not too long after. This isn't the only section of the book with information on Myndert and I will share some other selections later. I assume the amount of text I will quote will be minimal enough to not crossover fair-use guidelines.

3) Swan of Albany uses the word 'assistant' to describe Hercules at Myndert's death. Is that a euphemism or does it indicate my ancestor ultimately freed his slave? I have seen a transcription of Myndert's will, and Hercules isn't mentioned in it. Even if he were to be freed upon Myndert's death, I think that would be stated in the will, suggesting it may well have happened prior.

The Labors of Jurden, Negro Servant

A year ago I learned my 8th Great Grandfather, Myndert Frederickse (son of Frederick Van Iveren), owned a slave named Hercules.

My research at the time uncovered the possibility of another, more recent, slave owner in the Van Every family tree, however the status of the individual (slave/servant) was uncertain, so I decided to wait and see if I could uncover any additional information.   Unfortunately, I have been unable to clarify the confusion, but I figured the month of February, and African American History Month had returned, and I would post what I know.

McGregory Van Every, my 5th great grandfather, and the great grandson of Myndert Frederickse, was a United Empire Loyalist, and fled the US after the Revolution, settling in Niagara with his sons.

In 1784, a map was published showing his farm to be in Township I [Niagara Township, Lincoln County] Lots 10 and 37 on the [Niagara] River where he had cleared eight acres and harvested corn with the help of his slave or negro servant, Jurden."⁽⁵⁴⁾ McGregory Van Every was age 61 in 1784.

(54.) Niagara Historical Society. Volume 27; and Ottawa Archives State Papers, No. 25.

Source: Warner Cemetery, An Important Piece of Canada's Heritage Worth Preserving, The Loyalist Gazette, Robert Collins McBride, Spring 2000.

Jurden is also mentioned in Mary Blackadar Piersol's, The Records of the Van Every Family, with the same ambiguous definition, and without any additional information.  The original sources don't appear to be online, but obviously they are a bit unclear on Jurden's status.

Our history books tell us that the Canadian territory was a safe-haven for slaves- but while slaves who managed to cross the border may have been guaranteed their freedom upon arrival, apparently slavery wasn't abolished there completely until 1834.

Black slaves lived in the British regions of Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries — 104 were listed in a 1767 census of Nova Scotia, but their numbers were small until the United Empire Loyalist influx after 1783. As white Loyalists fled the new American Republic, they took with them about 2000 black slaves: 1200 to the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), 300 to Lower Canada (Quebec), and 500 to Upper Canada (Ontario). The Imperial Act of 1790 assured prospective immigrants that their slaves would remain their property. As under French rule, Loyalist slaves were held in small numbers and were employed as domestic servants, farm hands, and skilled artisans. [source.]

The Wrong Side of History

Today’s Open Thread Thursday topic at Geneabloggers:

Over the next few years – with the sesquicentennial of the United States Civil War – there will be more of a focus on ancestors who fought in the conflict as well as those ancestors who supported certain causes and movements such as states’ rights or the abolition of slavery.

It is said that history is written by the winners. However, with the advent of blogging and the ability for almost anyone to have a platform where they can write and express their opinion, the stories of those on the losing side of these causes and movements are being told.

How do you handle telling such stories, especially if your ancestor was pro slavery or, for example, anti women’s suffrage? What if there is no evidence as to their opinions or positions yet they fought for the losing side in a war, such as World War II?

Is there, in fact, a “wrong side” of history?

I’ll start by providing my thoughts on the final question. No. There is a ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ side of most wars – whether they are fought on a physical or intellectual battlefield. (Sometimes there’s a stalemate.) However, those who lose these wars weren’t necessarily ‘wrong.’

I also don’t attribute the telling of the stories to the internet. The losing side has had a voice in history since Gutenberg. I read Mein Kampf in high school. Yes, it was presented in the context of the writings of a madman, but I read Hitler’s words. I also read the Communist Manifesto. I’ve also read speeches given by William Jennings Bryan. Whether a student is encouraged to read the works of those whose opinions weren’t favored by history depends entirely upon the quality of the school. However, it doesn’t depend upon the internet. It’s possible the internet is providing this information to a greater number of individuals – acting as a school-replacement for those who need one.

Fortunately, I have no knowledge of relatives who fought on the losing side of World War I or II. Since I can trace my maternal ancestry back to Germany, I can assume I have some distant cousins, but our most recent common ancestor would likely have lived during the 17th century. My Great Uncle, Sam, was accused of pro-German sympathies, but his accuser was an ex-wife, who might not be the most reliable source.

That said, there are several descendants of Thomas and Katherine Stoughton whose political beliefs are in opposition to my own. From William Stoughton, Chief Magistrate over the Salem Witch Trials to political commentator, Patrick Buchanan. I find the presence of John Kerry and Franklin Roosevelt, along with the poets Harold Hart Crane and Oliver Wendell Holmes in the same list of descendants ample balance.

I do have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, and others who were United Empire Loyalists. I’ve blogged before about my discovery of a slave-owning ancestor.

I’m careful not to infer what someone’s thoughts or beliefs were, unless they were written down. I record the facts as they are known. My second great grandfather, Ebenezer Denyer, served the Confederacy in the State of Texas. He is not known to have owned any slaves. The Denyer family lived in Texas prior to the state joining the US. A sibling of Ebenezer’s fought for the Republic of Texas against Mexico in 1841. Was Ebenezer’s service during the Civil War more Pro-Texas than Pro-Slavery or Anti-Union? I can’t answer that. (I can raise the question, though.)

The political battles today can still get rather heated.  I have good friends with whom I disagree strongly on some issues.  I have no idea what 'side' I will be viewed on in 20, 40 or 80 years.  I don't believe in hiding information about ancestors from future generations.  I will respect  kin and refrain from blogging about some things if the relative in question has close living descendants.  But if the event in question happened 150 years ago or more, I'm not going to hesitate much blogging about it.

Slave Records and Genealogy Research

There’s a new Carnival on the Geneablogger block. It’s one to which I likely wouldn't have contributed until just a month ago.

It’s the Carnival of African American Genealogy, and the theme for the first edition is: Restore My Name: Slave Records and Genealogy Research.

Five questions are asked, from which the blogger can choose to respond.

1. What responsibilities are involved on the part of the researcher when locating names of slaves in a record?

2. Does it matter if the record(s) are related to your ancestral lines or not?

When I see these questions, my first thought is to drop the two words “of slaves." What’s our responsibility when seeing any name in a record? If the person is a part of our family history, our first and foremost responsibility is obvious – write the information down. For me, this responsibility applies equally for those related by blood, marriage, or property. (At least with female slaves, we don’t know if their names might not become more important in our research down the road. And while less common, there’s a possibility with male slaves as well.)

What responsibility do we have to share the records? This is a fascinating question. I look up an ancestor’s obituary in newspaper microfilm. Their obituary is surrounded by other obituaries. I’m certainly not responsible for sharing all those obituaries on various surname message boards, or wherever.

There are people who do. There are people who photograph and transcribe cemeteries. It’s a wonderful thing. But a responsibility? No.

While I am unaware of recent African ancestry (Mankind originated in Africa), I have experienced, I feel, a small sliver of the frustration those of African American heritage feel in their research. My maternal grandmother’s known ancestry stretches back to the 1500s. The ancestry of my three other grandparents end abruptly in the mid-1800s. Not all, but many of the records from the shtetls in which they lived were destroyed by the Nazi or Communist regimes that overran Eastern Europe in the mid 20th century. Some of the records that survive are being entered into online databases, but it’s slow.

How would I feel if I learned a European genealogist came across records detailing the names of those killed in a pogrom, and decided not to release the information?

Angry.

I think it's a rare occurrence, but if a researcher comes across records
A) They know are scarce
B) in a manner unavailable to most genealogists
And they intentionally hide those records, they are performing a disservice to the genealogical community.

However, if the records are readily available to others, that responsibility disappears. All of our time is precious, and there is no reason we need to spend it resharing information that can be found easily by someone else -- Unless that is our desire. Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness are always welcomed.

3. As a descendant of slave owners, have you ever been pressured by family not to discuss or post about records containing slave names?

Up until very recently I had no idea I was a descendant of slave owners. When I made the discovery, I discussed with my mother how we felt about the information. The ancestor lived in 17th century New York, and there are indications he may have freed the one slave he’s known to have had. Neither of us felt the information needed to be kept private. (It really couldn't be, since it already appeared in print in several places.) So I wrote about it in a blog post. I didn’t give any other family members time to weigh in on the matter. If I had, I would have had to ask a whole lot of people, since the ancestor goes back ten generations for me, and I'm sure he has a lot of descendants.

4. As a descendant of slaves, have you been able to work with or even meet other researchers who are descendants of slave owners?

N/A

5. Have you ever performed a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness involving slave ownership records? Or were you on the receiving end of such kindness?

I haven't had the opportunity yet. Some people might consider my blog post, Labors of Hercules, such an act, though I don't. It contains very little if any genealogical information on my ancestor's slave. However, the blog post is likely to help any descendant of the slave owner researching their roots to make the discovery a lot quicker than I did.

The Labors of Hercules

On Monday, Luckie Daniels at Our Georgia Roots posted a passionate plea for a more open discussion on slavery issues, and for those with information on slave records not to withhold it.

At 12:17 a.m. Tuesday morning, before I shut the computer down for the night, I commented that I was unaware of any slave ownership in my ancestry, so I had nothing to contribute to a conversation, but I agreed that those with information had a duty to share it in some manner.

I arrived home from work Tuesday afternoon approximately 4:15 p.m., retrieving the copy of The Records of the Van Every Family from my mailbox. By 4:30 I knew I would never again be able to say what I had written 16 hours before. My 8th great grandfather, Myndert Frederickse, owned a slave.

I always knew it was possible I'd uncover ancestors with slaves, as I do have a second great grandfather, Ebenezer Denyer, who fought for the Confederacy. But my research on my 19th century Southern ancestors turned up no signs. And it's very easy to forget that slavery existed in the North, too. There were 10,000 slaves in the state of New York as late as 1820. [source]

I didn't discover the information on my ancestor in some dusty archive. It's in a family genealogy published in 1947, and oft-cited in surname discussion groups online. However, this passage hasn't been discussed:

There are other references to Myndert in the early New York records, important only insofar as they give a picture of life among the Dutch colonists...."Hercules, ye negro of Myndert Frederickse confessed to the fellonius taking out of his master's house a small chest containing wampum belonging to ye Poor of ye Lutheran Church which he broke open without ye gate by ye waterside with an ax."

Mary Blackadar Piersol, author of the genealogy, cites The Annals of Albany, by Joel Munsell. I found the work scanned on Google Books, and the below two clippings.

[Source]

[Source]

The Annals of Albany isn't the only location I've found that this case is cited. It appears in several other Albany histories, as well as a 1944 issue of The Journal of Negro History.

I've also uncovered another brief mention of Hercules, several years after the 1686 incident. He's referenced in Swan of Albany: a history of the oldest congregation of the Lutheran Church in America, by Henry Hardy Heins, 1976, page 34. Unfortunately, Google Books doesn't allow a 'full view' of the page, and I have only been able to grab a few 'snippets.'

The teasers here are tantalizing. A discussion of Myndert's last illness? (He died in 1706, so this would have been 20 years after the trial of Hercules.) Hercules is referred to as an "assistant." It's possibly a euphemistic whitewash, but it could also mean that Hercules had been freed in those twenty years, and remained in the employ of his former master as a free man. If the latter, it suggests a possible story of forgiveness and redemption.

The book isn't at any library near me, so I am going to have to see if I can order it through inter-library loan to learn the details of its content.

While I haven't learned much if any genealogical information about Hercules, I have added him to my database using iFamlyforLeopard's "Associated Person" field.