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JESSE KIMBALL VREELAND
Originally published in 1900 |
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JESSE KIMBALL VREELAND, for many years one of the leading
contractors and builders of Hudson County and from 1864 a resident of
Bayonne, was born in Rahway, N. J.. on the 15th of October, 1835, his
parents being Jesse Kimble Vreeland, Sr., and Lockey Brant. His family
is one of the oldest in the State, the branch in Hudson County descending
from Micbael Jansen, who came from Broeckhuysen (North Brabant). He
left Holland. October 1,
1636, in the ship Rensselaerwyck," with his
wife and two children.
He settled at what is now
Greenbush, opposite Albany, as a boercknecht, or
bany, as a boercknecht, or
farm servant. It was not
long before he grew
weary of agricultural
pursuits and the narrow
road thereby opened to
wealth, and engaged in
the fur trade, in which
"he made his fortune in
two years." Such private
speculation being pro
hibited by law, he was
soon brought into difficulty with the authorities. He thereupon abandoned his farm and came
to Manhattan. The date
of this change is not
known, but he was a resident in New Amsterdam
November 4. 1644, on
which date he empower-
ed Arent Van Curler to
settle with Patroon Van
Rensselaer all accounts
and differences. In 1616
he came over to Commu
nipaw and settled on the
bouwerie, owned by Jan
Evertsen Bout. For this " Bouwerie " and part of the stock on it he paid
Bout the good round suns of 8,001) gelders. In the years 1647. 1649, and
1650 lie represented Pavonia in the Council of "Nine," and joined his associates in their crusade against Governor Stuyvesant. In 1649 he was appointed one of the delegates to Holland against the Colonial administration, but owing to the unsettled state of his business he declined the appointment. It was at his house in New Amsterdam that the journal of
Van der Donck entitled "Vertoogh" was written. It was seized, and it
was suspected upon information furnished by Michael Jansen. He was
a signer of the application for the first municipal government in New
Netherland, July 26, 1649.
During the troubles of 1655 the Indians drove him from his home, when, on September 15, they made a raid on Pavonia and killed every man there, except the family of Jansen. From the dangers and uncertainties of border life at "Gemoenepa " lie took refuge on Manhattan. On January 22, 1658, he asked for permission to return to Pavonia and to be relieved from certain tithes. In September, 1661, he had become a man of competence." living on his bouwerie at Gemoenepa. He was one of the first magistrates of the new court at Bergen. In December, 1662, he joined his neighbors in asking the governor for a minister of the gospel, and for whose support he subscribed twenty-five florins. He died in 1663. His wife was Fitje Hartmans, and they had eight children, from whom are descended various branches of the family now represented in Eastern New Jersey. Jesse Kimball Vreeland was of the seventh generation from Michael Jansen and his wife, Fitje Hartmans, the emigrants. His parents were both born and married in Rahway, where lie received his education in the public schools. Afterward he spent several years in the South. He finally removed from Rahway to New York City and thence, in 1864, to Bayonne, N. J., where he was long prominent in both business and public affairs. After leaving school Mr. Vreeland identified himself with the building and contracting business, which he thoroughly learned and successfully followed. He built a large number of public and private buildings, which stand as monuments to his skill and industry, and stamp him as a man of originality as well as enterprise. Mr. Vreeland was also prominent in military and civil life. He served throughout the War of the Rebellion, being connected with the Quartermaster's Department at Port Royal. He also served as Chief of the Fire Department at Bayonne, as a member of the Bayonne Common Council, and as a Commissioner of Appeals, and discharged his duties in each position with acknowledged ability and satisfaction. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religion a member of the congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church. His life was one of constant activity and in every way successful, and during his entire career he won and maintained the confidence of all with whom he came in contact. He died July 23, 1900. Mr. Vreeland married Emma J. Meyer, of Charleston. S. C. They had nine children: Jennie, Emma, Henrietta, Rachel, Jesse, Frederick, Chester, Clarence, and Edna.
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