Francis Rombouts

Francis Rombout (22 June 1631 – 1691) was the 12th Mayor of New York City, (formerly New Amsterdam), from 1679 to 1680. He was one of three proprietors of the Rombout Patent, and father of pioneering Colonial businesswoman Catheryna Rombout Brett.

Francis Rombout
12th Mayor of New York City
In office
1679–1680
Preceded byThomas Delavall
Succeeded byWilliam Dyre
Personal details
Born(1631-06-22)June 22, 1631
Hasselt, Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Died1691 (aged 59–60)

Biography

Frans Rombout was born on June 22 at 1631 in Hasselt (Belgium), the second son of Jan Rombout, who was a taxreceiver for the Archdeacon of Liege, and Johanna Haenen.

Francis Rombout emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1653 aboard the ship Nieuw Amsterdam. He engaged in trade as a merchant, while yet a youth. In the year 1658, he enrolled himself among the burghers, or citizens, though he had been for several years previously a trader here. His trading operations as a merchant were tolerably extensive, though he did not rank among the wealthiest of the inhabitants. He was probably worth, as near as can be estimated, about ten thousand dollars, which was then, however, considered an independent fortune. Rombout bought his first stone house at Nieuw-Amsterdam, in the Heerestraat, now Broadway in Manhattan.

Rombout held several offices of trust among his fellow-citizens. In 1673, 1674, 1676, 1678, 1686, he was an Alderman. Afterward, in 1687, the city having been divided into wards, he was returned as Alderman of the West Ward. he afterward held the office of Justice of the Peace, until his death. His political principles were of a liberal character, and his manners and address grave and dignified. Rombout's dwelling was on Broadway, west side, near Rector street, extending to the North river shore. it embraced a large garden and an orchard. At the time of his mayoralty, the city contained about 3,500 inhabitants.[1] Rombouts Avenue in the Bronx is named for him.

On May 31, 1665, Rombout married Aeltie Wessels in the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam. She died sometime prior to August 5, 1675, when he then married Anna Elizabeth Masschop. Widowed a second time, he married, on September 8, 1683, Helena Teller Bogardus Van Bael. It was the third marriage for both of them. Helena Teller was born about 1645, the daughter of William and Margaret Doncheson Teller of Schenectady.[2] Helena had seven children from her previous marriages, and from this marriage, another three were born. She and Rombout had two boys and a girl. The boys died young but the girl, Catharyna, born on 5 September 1687, survived. Catharyna later married British Royal Navy lieutenant Roger Brett.[3]

The Rombout Patent
The Hudson River shore of the Rombout Patent in the town of Wappinger, New York

The Rombout Patent was a legal instrument issued by King James II of England in 1685 sanctioning the right of Francis Rombouts and his partners Gulian Verplanck and Jacobus Kip to own some 85,000 acres (340 km2) of land they had purchased from Native Americans. The Patent included most of what is today's southern Dutchess County, New York.

Rombout, had gone into the fur-trading business with Verplanck. A license for the pair to purchase an 85,000 acres tract of the Wappinger people land was granted by Governor Thomas Dongan, February 8, 1682.[4] They were joined in 1683 by Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first native-born mayor of New York City and patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor in Westchester County, who offered to put up one-third of the money in return for a one-third interest in the parcel. Purchase was completed on August 8, 1683, the $1,250 or so price paid in guns, shot, powder, blankets, wampum, alcohol, cloth and other goods. Before a patent could be issued to the trio, however, Verplanck died, and his widow Henrica married Jacobus Kip. The Rombout Patent was finally granted in 1685 to Verplanck, Rombout, and Stephanus Van Cortlandt on October 17, 1685,[5] with the Verplanck interest passing down through the Kip line.[4][6]

Maps

See a period map of the Patent here at the Mount Julian Historical Site.

Map of the Philipse Patent showing Rombout Patent directly to the northwest
Draft of the lands disputed by Philipse Patent against Beekmans & Rambaults (1753)

See also

References
  1. Sketches of the Mayors of New York
  2. "William Teller, of Holland, founder of the Teller family in America, was born in 1620, died in 1701. He arrived at New Netherlands in 1639, and in the same year was sent by Governor Kieft to Fort Orange, now Albany, and subsequently was quartermaster at the fort. He lived in Albany from 1639 until 1692, when he returned to New York where he was a merchant. He was one of the five patentees of the town of Schenectady in 1684; although he never lived there. The Teller family is prominent in the history of Albany and Schenectady counties, where they had large interests. William Teller married (first) Margaret Donchensen, and had six children; (second) Maria Varleth, and had three additional children." Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Teller, Schenectady Digital History Archive
  3. "Deacendant of Mayor Rombout, Elected in 1679. Once in the Shipping Business". The New York Times. October 22, 1929. Retrieved 2008-07-26. Mr. Brett was a descendant of Lieutenant Roger Brett, who married Katrina Rombout, only daughter of Francis Rombout, Mayor of New York in 1679 ...
  4. The History of Putnam County, New York. Frank Hasbrouck, editor, 1909
  5. "Vest Pocket Tours of the Hudson Valley". Fishkillridgecommunityheritage.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  6. Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements, Volume 2, p. 744
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