Here’s some great information compiled by Lanaii Kline and published in the August 2011 STFA newsletter:
The Mysterious Luke Stoutenburgh of South Carolina
Printed August 15, 2011
STFA Annual Newsletter
by Lanaii Kline
Jacobus Stoutenburgh, son of Tobias Stoutenburgh and Anneke Van Rollegom, had an older brother named Lucas. Luke’s 1691 baptism in New York City was witnessed by Bartholomaus Leroux and Geertruydt Van Rollegom. Bartholomew LeRoux, a silversmith, was married to Anneke’s sister Geertruyd. Lucas and his brother, Tobias, were apprenticed to their uncle, Bartholomew.
On June 7, 1713, Tobias, son of Luykas Stoutenburg and Sara Beating, is baptized in New York City. The witnesses are his paternal grandfather and his maternal aunt. I have not found a record of Luke and Sara’s marriage in New York City, but it is probable that they married in 1712.
It would appear that Sara Beating died as Luke and Helena van Pelt, his wife, became members of the Reformed Dutch Church in New York City by certificate on May 27, 1717. This meant they were members of another church elsewhere. Their daughter, Helena Stoutenburgh, is baptized in New York City on December 10, 1718. Maternal grandparents, Teunis and Helena van Pelt are her sponsors.
The Stoutenborough branch of the Stoutenburg tree appears to sprout from Anthony Stoutenborough who in some records is known as Anthony Stoutenburgh. In several trees that I have seen, he is identified as the son of Luke Stoutenburgh and Helena van Pelt. Most of these trees estimate Anthony’s birth to be 1720. This seems to be based on Helena Stoutenburgh’s baptism in 1718. Young men generally did not marry until about age 25. Anthony married in 1745.
Teunis, whose named was Anglicized as Anthony, settled at Staten Island where many van Pelts settled. He remained at Staten Island where he died in 1783. His surname is written in records as Stoutenburgh or Stoutenborough. Although I have found no record of Anthony’s baptism, it is probable that Helena van Pelt is his mother and that his namesake is Teunis van Pelt, Helena’s father.
Then I discover(ed) that Lucas Stoutenburgh petitioned in 1716 and in 1717 the governor of the Province of Carolina to locate there. He was a resident of Charles Town in 1717 when he signed a petition to the king of England concerning the Indian uprisings. He was clearly well-established in Charles Town by November 3, 1718, when he is a member of a jury.
Lucas Stoutenburgh’s Silvermark
By 1718, Luke Stoutenburgh was working as the first silversmith in Charles Town. It was in the South Carolina records that I found the existence of a son, Luke. There is no mention in the records of children, Tobias, Anthony, or Helena, nor wife Helena.
Luke Jr. was not 21 when his father, on December 16, 1738, drew up a will. However, Luke Jr. was on a list of jurors in 1740. This meant Luke Jr. was born between Dec. 17, 1717 and 1719. Sister Helena’s baptism in December 1718 would place his date of birth in the first two months of 1718 or in the last three months of 1719. The records that I have seen make no mention of who Luke’s mother is or where he was born. However, Luke and Helena van Pelt were married by May 27, 1717 when they became members of the Dutch Church in New York City.
In 1734, Sarah, the wife of Luke Stoutenburgh was buried at the Circular Church in Charleston. Luke had become a member of this church by 1724 if not earlier. Luke the elder married again in 1741 to Sarah Perroneau, the widow of William McKenzie. Things are not adding up. I was beginning to think that Luke Stoutenburgh had two families, one in New York and another in South Carolina.
Luckily I was given a crucial piece of information that convinced me Luke, son of Tobias, was not a bigamist. The will of George Beadon of South Carolina in 1705 names a daughter, Sarah. Sarah Beadon–Sarah Beating; phonetical spelling of a name was common at this time. I was also reminded that there were two Luke Stoutenburghs baptized between 1691 and 1697. Although Luke the bigamist would make a more interesting story, I think that we are dealing with two Luke Stoutenburghs who are contemporaries.
It would seem that Helena van Pelt’s husband was Luke, son of Isaac, and Sarah Beating’s husband was Luke, son of Tobias.
Luke Stoutenburgh of South Carolina became a large landowner as did his son, Luke. Only one of the younger Luke’s children survived. That son, William, died in 1784. It seems that he had no heirs. A lawsuit against the executors of his estate indicated that his extensive landholdings were decimated by the British by the end of the Revolutionary War.
I came across a picture of an oil portrait of Isaac Stoutenburgh (1738-1799) painted in the latter part of the 18th century. He was Jacobus Stoutenburg’s first cousin once removed and the grandson of Pieter Stoutenburg’s son, Isaac.
