Genealogy Overview
Since its founding in 1969, the Van Zandt Society has gathered much information. The Society contacted Van Zandts of all spellings across the country to join. At that time, only basic information was known about the Adam Wensel van Santen, Gerret Stoffelse van Sand, and Joseph Janse Van Zante lines; however, it was not known whether these men were related to one another. Many other fundamental questions were also unanswered regarding how lines with Vinzant and Vinsant fit into the genealogical picture. In New Jersey, there was another family whose earliest ancestor was Jacobus Van Zauen, whose descendants later adopted Van Zant and Van Zandt as their official surnames.
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Over five decades, research conducted and shared by hundreds of people has revealed much information about each immigrant ancestor, including when they arrived, where they settled, with whom they married, and their children's names. But, whether they were related remained elusive until the advent of DNA testing for genealogical purposes became available about twenty years ago. We now know that the three men, Adam, Gerret, and Joseph, were not related to one another—at least not along their paternal lines. (A Jacobus Van Zauen line DNA sample has not yet been studied.) Still, the original ancestors had many things in common. They each left the shores of or near the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century to embark on a radically different life in the often rough and dangerous New World settlements, which were little more than commercial outposts of the West Indies Company (WIC).
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Gerret Stoffelse van Sant arrived in 1652 as an 8-year-old child with his father, Christoffel Harmenszen, and his stepmother, Tryntje Claes. In 1655, Christoffel died during an Indian uprising in New Amsterdam, and Gerret was his only living offspring, as identified by Orphans court records. Through his eight sons who reached adulthood, Gerret became the common ancestor to approximately 60% of those who carry some form of the name Van Sant in America today. Born in Amsterdam in April 1644, Gerret's ancestry reaches back to his father's origins in Ostfriesland (East Frisia, Lower Saxony, Germany).
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Second to arrive on the shores of New Amsterdam was the Adam Wensel van Santen family. Adam, with his wife, Jannetje Jans, and their two young children sailed on “de Bruynvis” (the Brownfish) on June 19, 1658. No records have been found for Adam after this time, suggesting that he either died during the Atlantic crossing or shortly after his arrival. Jannetje Jans married Isaac Abrahamszen on April 5, 1659, and gave birth to several more children. Adam’s only living son, Johannes, was born on April 22, 1657, approximately one year before the family’s migration, passed the name van Santen, and later Van Zandt, to many descendants who initially settled in and near today's New York City.
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Joseph Janse Van Zante and his wife Seitje Marcelis Van Bommel were married in 1688. The precise date of Joseph Janse Van Zante’s arrival in the New World is unknown. However, in 1715, when he became a naturalized citizen, he claimed he had already lived in Albany, New York, for 30 years. Joseph and Seitje had ten children, including eight sons and two daughters. This branch of Van Zandts resided in and near Albany for many generations and is often called the Albany line.
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Some descendants of each branch have used the spelling Van Zandt over the centuries. Regardless of the DNA test results, the Van Zandt Society remains united in its mission to perpetuate the memories of all people descended from these three immigrant ancestors and others who may have adopted this fine name.
Adam Wensel van Santen
The Adam Wensel line (or the New York line, as we sometimes call it) descends from Adam Wensel van Santen, who set out for New Amsterdam (New York) from Holland in 1658. He died either aboard ship or shortly after arrival, and his family descends through the only son of whom we have record, Johannes.
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Johannes, b. ca. 1657, married Margaret Vanderpoel on October 20, 1681, in Albany, NY. Johannes supposedly had a first wife, Margaret Wynants. However, the Dutch patronymic tradition of using a form of the father's first name after one's given name may explain why Margaret was shown as Wynants on some records. It is now believed that the two wives were probably the same person since Margaret Vanderpoel's father was Wynant Vanderpoel.
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Johannes had seven daughters: Ytje (Ida), Jannetje (died young), Jannetje, Catherine, Margaret, Maria, and Cornelia (died young). He had five sons: Adam (died age 16), Johannes (died age 14), Wynant, Isaac, and Bernardus.
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Wynant remained in New York City and became very successful. He produced a large family of seventeen children, from whom Dwight Van Zandt, first president of the Van Zandt Society, and Arlene Williams, our first secretary, are descended.
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Isaac married Sarah Coe and disappeared from any records after 1737 in New Jersey. Some speculation remains as to whether or not he traveled south.
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Bernardus married Betitje Laton and moved to Blawenburg, New Jersey. This marriage produced many descendants, some of whom settled in upper New York State, Missouri, Michigan, and perhaps in North and South Carolina.
Gerret Stoffelse van Sand
Gerret Stoffelse, also known as Gerret Stoffelszen, was born in April 1644 in Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (today's Netherlands). He was the son of Christoffel Harmenss (or Harmenszen), born about 1618, probably in Kleverins (Cleverns) near Jever, in Ostfriesland (East Frisia, Germany), and Moeder Gerrits. Moeder was Christoffel's first wife, whom he married in Amsterdam on June 28, 1643. She was baptized in Amsterdam on November 2, 1623, and buried there on July 17, 1644, at Saint Anthony's burial grounds. Moeder was the daughter of Gerrit Janszen and Vroutgen Pieters. Christoffel died in September 1655 in New Amsterdam.
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Gerret arrived in New Amsterdam in the spring of 1652. Once he reached adulthood, he settled in the village of New Utrecht, which is part of Brooklyn on Long Island. Gerret/Garrett married Elizabeth (Lysbeth) Cornelius and had eleven children. In the late 1690s, he and several of his sons began purchasing large tracts of land in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was also about this time that Gerret Stoffelse and his sons started using the surname "van Sand" or "van Sant." Since Gerret and several of his adult sons moved to Bucks County around 1698, this group became known as the Bucks County line. However, it should be noted that a few of Gerret's sons continued to migrate south and settled in Delaware and Maryland.
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Gerret and Lyseth had two daughters, Tryntje and Jesinah, and one son, Josias, who died at a young age or did not marry. Their remaining eight sons, who grew to maturity and married, have descendants living in almost every state of our nation.
Gerret died before June 20, 1706. The eight sons include:
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Stoffel married Annetje Jansz about 1692 in New Utrecht and had three children. After Annetje's death, Stoffel married Rachel Corsen (aka (Raeghel Courson) and had a large family. Stoffel and Annetje's son Stoffel moved to Connecticut and was the father of John, who eventually settled in New Jersey and became the ancestor of most of the Van Sants now living in South Jersey. Stoffel and Rachel's son Joshua settled in Maryland. Stoffel purchased 300 acres of land from Henry Paulin in Middletown, Bucks County, PA, in 1706. Stoffel was named in honor of Gerret's father, Christoffel Harmenszen.
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Cornelius married twice and moved to Maryland. He was buried in 1734 at Welsh Tract, Cecil County, Maryland. Cornelius was named in honor of his mother's father, Cornelius Janszen Van Ooten.
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Born Harmen Gerritse, Harmen married three times and is the Vansant ancestor of most of the Van Sants who still live in Southeastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey. Harmen was likely named in honor of his father, Gerret's grandfather, Harmen.
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Albertus or Albert married twice and settled in New Castle, Delaware.
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Johannes, or John, married Leah Groesbeck and died in his early thirties. He died in Bensalem, Bucks County, PA, leaving a few minor children.
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Jacobus married Rebecca Vandegrift. They had a large family that had roots in Southampton, Bucks County.
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Joris (George) married Micah (Maike) Vandegrift (sister to Rebecca, who was married to Joris' brother Jacobus). Joris and Micah had at least thirteen children and settled in Kent County, Maryland.
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Garret, the youngest born in 1691, married Clauchey, settled in Wrightown, Bucks County, and had two sons and three daughters. His son Cornelius left no issue, and his son Garret had three daughters; therefore, the Vansant name did not continue in this line.
*The Three Worlds of Christoffel Harmenszen is a limited-edition coffee-table book that traces the migration of Gerret Stoffelse van Sand's father from Ostfriesland to Amsterdam and finally to Nieuw Amsterdam in the 1600s. Published in 2010 by the Van Zandt Society's former editor, Laurie Van Sant, it is still available for purchase. Learn more.
Joseph Janse Van Zante
"The Albany Line," as the Joseph Janse line is sometimes referred to, was begun by Joseph Janse and his wife Seitje Marcelis Van Bommel, who were married in 1688. Having lived in Albany, New York, for about 30 years, Joseph came to court in 1715 to become naturalized. When asked for his surname, he responded that he had never used one but was from the Santander family. From that time, he had been called Van Sant and Van Santen. The next generation changed the spelling to Van Zandt, Van Zant, and Van Zante.
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Some say that Joseph mentioned he was of Spanish descent. Though this is questionable, the tradition has continued in various families through the generations and is a means of identifying members of the Joseph Janse line. He may have come from the Spanish Netherlands, an area that was controlled by Spain and overlaps with Belgium today.
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Joseph and Seitje had ten children. Their daughters were Jannetje, Anna, Maria, and two named Celia. Their sons: Gerrit, Anthony, David, Gysbert, and Johannes. Of the three lines, Joseph Janse's line remained in the Albany area until well into the 1800s, when some descendants started to move westward.
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Contact
Frank X. Shelley III
726 Chapel Hill West
Horsham, PA 19044