Anneke Jans Bogardus; her farm, and how it became the property of Trinity church, New York

Prefatory Note

IN April, 1892, I was requested by a resolution of the Vestry of Trinity Church to prepare for the use of the History of Trinity Parish, upon which the Rev. Dr. Dix, as Rector of the Church, was then engaged, a statement of the origin of the title of the Corporation and of the various adjudications which have established such title.

I was already familiar with the more important decisions contained in the Official Reports, and entered upon the task with the feeling that a fresh study of them would be all that was necessary to do the task required. But I gradually became interested in the antiquarian view of the subject,~and extended my researches in various directions, gleaning here and there some new material, but more often finding nothing to throw light upon questions still in obscurity.

My material accumulated beyond the proportions suitable for the note to the History of the Parish, and, as some of it appeared to have value as elucidating the occupation and disposition of the Aniieke Jans farm during a period much earlier than that covered by the cases disposed of in the Courts, I concluded to print it for such use as the Church might conclude to make of it.

As I went on with my researches I discovered, from time to time, that I was groping where more experienced explorers had already been, and that if I had been familiar with their work I should have saved myself much time and labor. 1 found, for example, when I had about exhausted all available sources of information, that Mr. George W. Schuyler in his " Colonial New York " (Scribner's, 1885), had a chapter on the Anneke Jans Family and her farm, which told nearly the entire story. My independent studies were not, however, entirely useless, since they have enabled me to add some new facts, and to detect here and there important inaccuracies. I pursued my inquiries as a lawyer would who desired such evidence as would stand examination in Court, and I trust that the statements I have made would stand that test.

The general sources of information as to pedigrees are the baptismal and marriage records of the Dutch Church in Albanv and New York, translations of which are to be found in Munsell's Albany Collections, Pearson's First Settlers of Albany, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Register, and in Valentine's Manual of the Corporation of New York, which contains scattered through its thirty or more annual volumes much antiquarian matter, copies of Dutch conveyances, or " transports," land patents, maps, etc. Mr. Valentine's own contributions are not always entirely accurate, but he had access to the old City Records, and his translations from them are, I think, entirely trustworthy.

An interesting article in Harper's Magazine for May, 1885 (Vol. 70), by James W. Gerard, LL.D., gives a popular account of Anneke Jans and her Farm, which I found of much value. The map at page 842 shows the location of the Farm, but does not attempt to give its actual boundary lines.

The Map in Janvier's " In Old New York," p. 40 (Harper & Brothers, 1894,) is better, as showing other estates which bounded the Bogardus parcels. The treatise of the late learned Murray Hoffman on " The Estate and Rights of the Corporation of the City of New York," contains (Vol. H., pp. 168-242) numerous diagrams showing the boundaries of many of the old estates, with references to the Colonial grants from which the titles of the several owners were derived.

Chapter I. The Anneke Jans Delusions As Worked For Lucre

1 ^ ■ ^HE claim on the part of persons calling themselves

T descendants of Anneke Jans, or Anneke Jans Bogardus, her name after her second marriage, to lands in the possession of Trinity Church, New York, has been by a series of judicial decisions, beginning as far back as 1746, so often defeated and the title of the Church so conclusively established, that the subject at the present day has as matter of research an interest only to the antiquarian. The delusion, however, is constantly encouraged that new grounds have been discovered for making good the claims of the " heirs," a delusion which enables unscrupulous schemers to excite the cupidity or the ignorant and credulous and to gather from them contributions for the expenses of a new attack. The covetous desire is easily excited and when aroused it seems to paralyze the reasoning powers. Whether the story is that large fortunes are held by the English Court of Chancery, or are accumulating in the Bank of England, which only await proper proof of " heirship " in America, or that the buried treasure of the pirate Kidd has been discovered, or that new facts have come to light, which will upset the title of some large estate held quietly for centuries, dupes are easily influenced to contribute their dollars to aid the enterprising person who will undertake to recover the prize.

The old Anneke Jans fable seems never to lose life. It is from time to time revived, and formidable preparations are announced as on foot for a fresh attack upon the title of Trinity Church. The authorities of the Church have done what they could to dispel these delosions and to protect the unwary against schemes devised for mercenary ends. The men and women throughout the country who are, or think they are, of the blood of Anneke Jans are, however, so numerous that the efforts to warn them have been only partially successful.

Some illustrations are here given of the methods by which the hopes of the " heirs " are kept alive and their pockets relieved of superfluous money, or more frequently of meagre savings reluctantly parted with.

In the New York World of April 25th, 1873, appeared a long article of some seven columns " from our own correspondent " at Trenton, N. J., in reference to the Anneke Jans controversy. It contained her will, a map of the property as claimed, and, besides much irrelevant matter, an account of sundry meetings of " heirs," and of the doings of Associations formed in various places for prosecuting the claims, etc. It stated that on the 27th of April, 1867, an association was formed at the Astor House, New York, called the " Anneke Jans Association," with a President, etc., and a representation of the heirs from Pennsylvania. Again, that a general convention of the heirs met at Orange, N. J., on the 23d of December, 1 868, at which a Committee was appointed to prosecute the claim, and that a contract was made that this Committee should have ten per cent, of the amount recovered. At one of the meetings it w^as resolved to raise ;^ 10,000 to meet expenses, and, among other statements made to the reporter, was one that a suit in the United States Court was then pending and waiting to be called for trial. No such suit was then pending^ nor was any suit brought for some fifteen years thereafter.

In 1885, however, one Emma H. Wallace, claiming to be a descendant and heir at law of Anneke Jans Bogardus, did bring a suit, in Equity, in the U. S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, for an account of the income which Trinity Church had received from its lands. She claimed to be a resident of the State of Ohio, and invoked, on that ground, the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts. She issued a circular which contained what purported to be a map of the estate, a copy of the will of Mrs. Bogardus, both taken from the article in the World of April 25, 1873, ^"^ various statements quite fantastic in their character. For example, in reference to Mrs. Bogardus, the circular gave the following account of her origin, and first appearance in the New Colony, and of the grant of lands to her :

" The wife's maiden name was Anneke Webber, and " she was the granddaughter of the ruling sovereign at "that time in Holland. She was received with great " eclat in New Amsterdam. The citizens, wishing her " to make her home there, presented her with a tract of "land extending, &c." . . . "The

*' case is now in court, and the question is, will the heirs " not come forward and contribute sufficient to carry on "the litigation to what eminent counsel believe will be " a successful result ? It is a maxim of the old common

" law that co-heirs are as one body by reason of the ••' unity of rights which they possess. It is a sacred duty " imposed upon all persons by nature and the good " memory of those who gave them birth to contend for " their birthright to the end. Otherwise they will be " untrue to blood and recreant to those honorable prin- "ciples that should dictate their actions and direct their " conduct."

It is scarcely necessary to point out how absurd these statements are. That " it is a maxim of the old com- " mon law that co-heirs are as one body by reason of the " unity of rights which they possess " is nonsense. By the common law of England, which was the law of the colony of New York for more than a hundred years after the death of Anneke Jans Bogardus, the law of primogeniture prevailed and there was, in case of males, but one heir, the eldest son. Females were excluded from inheriting if there were male heirs (2 Blackst. Comm., 210—217), and any lawyer who will examine so much of the pedigree of the children of Mrs. Bogardus as is now accessible, and apply to it the rules of the common law, will be inevitably led to the conclusion, that if at the present day there was nothing wanting to establish a title except proof of " heirship " in the legal sense, there is probably no living person who could make such proof. There are, undoubtedly, many persons who are of the blood of Mrs. Bogardus, but in order to " unite " their claims to any purpose, they must be able to put forward some one or more persons in whom, under her, a legal right has vested by descent or devise. It is true that under the Dutch law primogeniture did not exist, but the English conquest was just after the death of Mrs. Bogardus, and title by descent yrow her children was governed by the English law.*

This notion, however, that all that is requisite in order to establish title to the lands in possession of Trinity Church, is to make proof of descent from Mrs. Bogardus, dates from many years back. When antiquarians began to resort to the old records of marriages and births as preserved in the colonial churches, a laudable curiosity as to one's pedigree easily developed into a ravenous desire to get some one else's property. Mr. Joel Munsell, whose publications, eventually collected and issued as the " Annals of Albany," and as the "Albany Collections," began to appear in 1849-50, has in his history of the Dutch Church in Albany the following : " The book of baptisms and marriages com- " menced by Mr. Dellius in 1683 . . . has been " of great service to many . . . but above all, the " heirs of Anneke Jans are there enabled to make out " their parentage, and get it established by the certificate " of the church master, which having obtained they de- " posit in a capacious wallet, with as much satisfaction "apparently as if they had overcome a great obstacle "and were actually pocketing Trinity Church itself."f

Mrs. Wallace's circular proceeds as follows :

" Mrs. Wallace has organized a joint stock company " to raise the means necessary to carry on the case — " Shares at ten dollars, and half shares, are sold to per- " mit those who cannot aftbrd more to come in and " share in the abundant harvest that is in store for all."

A copy of the curious contract which Mrs. Wallace proposed to Shareholders, and by which she counted on raising money, is printed in full in the Appendix.J

*24 Wend., 625. fi Ann. of Alb., 95-6. JSee Appendix A. S

The close of Mrs. Wallace's circular is as follows :

" It should be added that the settlement of her suit " in the United States Court will practically settle her " claim to the millions of dollars that await the proven " heirs in the treasury of Holland. The Holland gov- " ernment will recognize the decree of the U. S. Supreme " Court as conclusive proof of her heirship, and will pay "• us that money. It is then the duty of all heirs to "^ protect by their efforts and to give all the financial aid " they can afford to the prosecution of the present suit " of Mrs. Wallace, leaving the Holland fund to come " after for distribution.

"New York, February ist, 1885."

The statement that Anneke Jans was of royal blood, " the granddaughter of the ruling sovereign at that time in Holland," is not only fiction, but most childish fiction. She was the wife of a farmer, RoelotF Jans, who came to the Colony as the manager of the Van Rensselaer Estate at Albany, under the first patroon.* Besides, as it is hardly necessary to suggest that there was no " ruling sovereign at that time " in Holland, the governing authority being the States-General and the " millions of dollars that await the proven heirs " in the treasury of Holland will be paid over when the bag of gold, that children are told can be found at the foot of a rainbow, is brought home.

Mrs. Wallace's suit was dismissed for want of prosecution by an order made on the 19th of October, 1885. She never took any steps in it after commencing it.

*In 4 Munsell's Alb. Coll. is the following note: "She is said to " have been the daughter of Tryn Jansen, midwife at New Amsterdam and "connection by marriage of Govert Loockermans. Dutch MSS. III., "55 ; O'Call. Hist, of New Netherlands, I., 142."

During its pendency, however, notices like the following appeared from time to time in the newspapers :

" To the heirs of Anneke-Jans : —

" Mrs. E. H. Wallace, now conducting litigation to " recover from Trinity Church the vast property left by " Anneke Jans, will hold meetings at 14 Clinton Place " on Monday and Friday of the week, from noon until " 9 P. M. Heirs and all interested are invited to attend." (N. Y. Herald, January 25th, 1885.)

" Heirs of Anneke Jans : Meetings Mondays and " Fridays at Cousin Wallace's, 14 Clinton Place. All " Welcome. On the right track this time. Trinity's "doom. Philip Thorpe, M. D." (N. Y. Herald of February 15th, 1885.)

A similar notice was published in the World of Januuary i8th, 1885.

It is believed that considerable sums were received from parties influenced by Mrs. Wallace's circular and these advertisements, but she soon disappeared from the field of operations. The statements on which her suit was based were mainly those which were to be found in the case of Bogardus vs. Trinity Church, 4 Sandf. Ch. Rep., 633.

After the dismissal of Mrs. Wallace's suit the so-called "heirs" rested for a time, but in 1890 a circular indicating the formation of a new organization appeared. These are the first paragraphs :

" To Whom it mav Concern :

" It has been determined that all applications for " membership into ' The Anneke Jans Bogardus Liter- " ary Association ' must be in on or before April ist, " 1890.

" Should any person applying fail to establish the " proper proof, and not satisfactory to our genealogist and " the revisers, the membership fee will be returned. " There will be no further delay in this matter, and this " is the last notification."

This circular is dated February 26th, 1890, is signed by a so-called Treasurer, purports to have been approved by several persons, and to have the name of a legal counsel. It also has the impression of a seal. It was enclosed in March, 1890, to one of the officers of the Trinity Corporation, with a letter from a town in northern New York, containing the following :

" Please find out what this means, and if there is any- " thing in it. I am a poor man and not able to fool " away my money. Now, they have sent to me to send " them $50. You will befriend me very much by " letting me know what to do," etc.

In November, 1890, the same officer received a letter apparently from Brunswick, Maine, which contains the following : " Being interested in the Anneke Jans Bo- " gardus Association, for I am an heir, but want to " know something about what I am paying out $50 " for ; " the letter then goes on to say that the Treasurer of the so-called association " claims, as I understand it, " that Trinity Church has offered to settle with five " hundred heirs for one billion of money, and he claims " now to have received his five hundred [members], and ^'- will not accept any more," etc. Another letter from the same place says : " I am one of the heirs, but have " never joined the association. The membership fee is " $50, and I am a poor woman and could not send it," etc. Similar letters in reference to the alleged claims against Trinity Church were being constantly received from various parts of the country, and in order to check, if possible, what appeared to be schemes for keeping alive for improper purposes the delusion that there was any valid claim against Trinity Church, the officers of that Corporation issued in February, 1 89 1, the following circular :

New York, February 12th, 1891.

To All Whom it may Concern :

As letters are being constantly received from various places in the United States making inquiries about supposed suits pending against this Corporation in respect to its property, or about negotiations assumed to be on foot in respect to the alleged claims of the descendants of Anneke Jans or of other persons, notice is hereby given that no such suits are pending, and no such negotiations are going on, and all persons who suppose themselves to be descendants of Anneke Jans, or otherwise interested in claims hostile to the title of this Corporation, are cautioned against paying out money to any person alleging the pendency of such suits or negotiations.

This circular was signed by the Rector, Comptroller and Senior Warden of the Corporation, was published in journals of wide circulation, and sent to many inquirers. It doubtless saved some individuals from losing their money, but, of course, was unnoticed by the general public.

Little was heard, after the circular was issued, of the " Anneke Jans Bogardus Literary Association," but a new organization has lately been started, evidently for a similar purpose, the representatives of which call themselves the " Anneke Jans International Union," thus appealing to " heirs " in other nations* as well as

*Or more probably intended for the British Provinces. A delegation from Nova Scotia was led by this circular to visit the officers of the Trinity Corporation.

in the United States. The following are extracts from a letter on behalf of this organization, from Nashville, Tenn., under date of June 5, 1893, addressed to an officer of the Corporation of Trinity Church, and signed by a Mrs, Kepler as one of a committee :

" We realize the fact that it is not all of life to Live " Nor all of Death to Die — and when we Die we realize " that we Cannot take our possessions with us — and then "at the Grave the Heirs to the Estate which your fathers " and you have held so many years ask that you give " them at liest a small proportion of what Belongs By " right to them, this matter Could be so easilv and " amakable adjusted if you would only give yourself the " trouble to see what we have and How easily we could " Settle forever theese anuel uprises, and we agree with " our positive proofs to place you into possession law- " fully of the Estate giving you quit claims from Every " rightful Heir thus placing you in a condition to Handle " said real Estate as you pleas, and see that you be en- " rooled on the Court records as the individual and Indis- " putable owners . . . We as the searvants " of the union and also Heirs at law Have given our " word that we will report a victory by a settlement or a " Defeat, also give the reason of the same, and we will " never lay down our armes untill some satisfactory " understanding Can be Had. We have talked verry " strongly of giving over to the State joining with the " Escheater to push our Claims by the Statute of Escheat " in that event we would get Considerable under 25 per "cent while the State would get 75 per cent and you as " a Corporation would be Entirely dispossessed Except " possible your Church and Burrying Grounds. " the escheater Has his papers all ready so that just as

" Soon as we the International union shall relinquish our " Hold and give up our Claim you are destined to have " a more serious time . . . Pleas come to some " Conclusion. State what you will do, and if you wish " I will Come to New York fully preparred to show ^' you records and papers with the assurence that we will " Better your condition an Hundred fold."

This letter was followed by one from a person writing as an attorney at law in Iowa, dated June 25th, 1893, as follows :

. " I, as the Attorney for the heirs of the Anneke " Jans International Union, take the liberty of address- " ing you relative to business of importance connected " with your church corporation.

" Mrs. E. Kepler wrote you some time ago that our '' eastern committee would call on you on the 8th of " this present month, but after considering the matter, " we concluded to postpone the meeting

" It will be to your interest as a church corporation " to make all arrangements necessary to meet with us on " September ist. and to have all legal preparations made " for the successful transaction of the business between " Trinity Church and the heirs of the Anneke Jans In- " ternational Union."

The following letter, dated in October, 1893, from a lawyer in North Carolina, sent to the Trinity Corporation, illustrates the mode in which this last scheme, like the older ones, was " put upon the market."

" A number of letters have been sent to several peo- " pie in this vicinity purporting to come from an organ- " ization called The Anneka Jans International Union, " and which allege that certain property located in New " York City, where Trinity Church now stands as well

" as other property in the immediate locality, was at one " time the property of Anneka Jans, and that the title " has never passed out of the legal heirs of Anneka " Jans. These letters state that negotiations have been " pending for some time in order that Trinity might " compromise, and every letter asks for some money in " order to carry on the litigation which it is proposed to " begin. Several of the heirs have consulted me and " are anxious to ascertain whether or not the Union is a " ' fake ' or whether there is some basis for their " claim. I therefore write you to ascertain whether 9r "not any question of this sort has been raised, and " whether the subject has ever been brought before the " church authorities for their consideration.

" If you will kindly answer and give me any infor- " mation as to the doings of this so-called ' Union ' I " should be under many obligations to you."

The following telegraphic dispatch appeared on page 5 of the New York Times of Monday, March 19th, 1894:

" Trinity Church property claimants.

"Portland, Me. March 18. It is reported here that " the heirs to the Trinity Church property in New " York have succeeded in effecting a settlement of their " claims by which the Church Corporation will pay " them ;$4,ooo,ooo. Many here are heirs, and think " they are at last going to realize."

As the alleged report was without the slightest foundation, the inference is inevitable that the publication was made in order to hasten the sale of shares in the project, to stimulate subscriptions, or to expedite the payment of assessments for the expenses of some promised legal proceedings.

The scene of operations has been lately changed to the Pacific Coast. In an article in the New York Times of December 21st, 1895, the San Francisco Call is quoted as containing in its issue of December 20th the information that the heirs of Anneke Jans will soon be in receipt of a portion of the vast fortune left by her, " variously Estimated at from ^500,000,000 to $750,000,000, of which $80,000,000 is actual cash held by the Bank of Holland " and that the San Francisco heirs '' expect an opinion any day now " in a suit against the Trinity holders. That Mrs. Wallace's circular is the basis of this announcement is apparent from the reference to the millions in the Bank of Holland.*

That these organizations which make their appearance from time to time, in a new form and with a change of name, now in one part of the country and now in another, are devices to defraud the ignorant and credulous, seems plain enough, but they are not novelties.

A paper was recorded in the Register's office of New York nearly fifty years ago (Lib. 521 of Deeds, p. 556, June 12, 1849), purporting to be signed by some six persons as an " Executive Committee to prosecute the claims of the heirs against Trinity Church ; " and long

*Since these pages have been put in type the following telegraphic despatch appeared in the N. Y. Evening Post of January 22, 1896.

" CLEVELAND, O., January 22. — Mrs. E. Keppler, the Secretary or "the Anneke Jans International Union, has called a meeting to be held " February 4, at the headquarters. No. 618 Jennings Avenue, in this City. " All associations of claimants against the Trinity Church Corporation, *' New York, are requested to send delegates to this convention. The ob- " ject of the meeting is to consolidate all organizations and perfect plans " for immediate legal action, as a recent law passed in New York is con- "sidered as favorable to the issue."

The Mrs. Kepler here mentioned is probably the same person whose letter, dated June 5, 1893, has just been quoted. The rival organizations, it would seem, are contemplating the formation of a "Trust," in order to raise more money.

before this, towards the close of the last century, combinations for the same purpose existed. On the 19th of May, 1784, a notice requesting the heirs to meet at Cape's Tavern was published in the " New York Packet" of that date, and on the 3d of March, 1788, the following advertisement appeared in " The Daily Advertiser " :

"To the Public : " WHEREAS the Corporation of Trinity Church, have ad- " vertised for sale, at the Merchants Coffee House, on the first "day of April next, a number of Lots of Land, situate in Cham- " ber's Street, Read Street, and other places within the bounds of " Dominies Hook Patent, in the West Ward of this City : The " Heirs of Annekie Bogardus, and those holding rights under "them, in the said Patent, Do Hereby Give Notice, that they "are determined to support their claim to the said Lands, within "the Grant formerly made to the said Annekie Bogardus. And "this Notice is given, to prevent any person hereafter from pre- " tending ignorance of the said claim ; which the Heirs and those " deriving title from them, are determined to support."*

That after this lapse of time any legal ground can exist for disturbing the title of Trinity Church no intelligent lawyer can believe, but if, by an accurate statement of all the facts now accessible which bear upon any supposed equitable claim of the " heirs," such claim can be shown to be a chimera, perhaps something can be done to check the " anuel uprises " referred to in one of the letters, and the schemes evidently planned to defraud the persons whom family tradition has included in the pedigree of Anneke Jans may be, to some extent, defeated.

Chapter II. The Equitable And Substantial As Well As

TECHNICAL AND LEGAL TITLE

OF TRINITY CHURCH

ANOTHER motive than that of merely showing the futility, in a legal aspect, of the Anneke Jans claims, has led to the inquiries the result of which will appear in the following pages. The title of Trinity Church, under grant from the English Government in 1705, known as Queen Anne's Grant, a grant followed by long and uninterrupted possession of the lands by the Church, has been held conclusive in every Court ; but the so-called " heirs " and their abettors have constantly characterized this long continued possession as wrongful in the first instance, fraudulently obtained and kept and enforced by a rich and powerful corporation against persons impoverished by the wrong.* They have thus sought to bring a moral pressure, a pressure of public obloquy, to bear against the Trinity title. It is not in keeping, is the argument, with the position of a religious corporation to rely upon the lapse of time to sanction a wrong.