Married Life, Marrietje:

Dirck and Marrietje may have had fifteen children. They were: Harmtje Harmsie (cr. 1661), Femmetje (Phoebe) (cr. 1663), Jan Derick (cr. 1665), Geertruy Dircksen and Catherine (cr. 1667), Teunis Dericksen (cr. 1669), Paulis (cr, 1672), Denys Dericksen (cr. 1678), Lysbeth Dircksen (cr. 1681), Annetje Dircksen (cr. 168d), Marretje Dircksen (cr. 1686), Peter Dircksen (cr. 1688), Lodewick Dircksen (cr. ?), Barentje Dircksen (cr. ?), and Andrias (cr. ?).

While Dirck was married to Marrietje, the record shows that he lived in Brooklyn in 1661, in 1673, and in 1687. One can only surmise that they lived in Brooklyn throughout the intervening periods.

It should be noted here that, beginning in 1664, New Amsterdam was renamed New York after an English fleet seized the Dutch colony.

There is an interesting historical sidenote here that may have had some impact on our family history a couple of generations later. Robert Beverly, on page 77 of his book The History and Present State of Virginia (written in 1705) gives an account of events just prior to, and after, the English conquest of New Holland in 1664.

Let me start with a direct quote, "... The Indians at the Head of the Bay (Chesapeake Bay) drove a constant trade with the Dutch in Monadas, now (in 1705) called New-York; and, to carry on this, they (the Dutch) used to come and return every Year by their Frontiers of Virginia (the Dutch sailed up the Chesapeake Bay which was the northern border of Virginia up to the Potomac River), to purchase skins and furs of the Indians to the Southward (south of New Holland –which included New York and New Jersey –into what became Pennsylvania, Maryland, and into the headwaters of the rivers of Virginia). This Trade was carried on peaceably while the Dutch heldMonadas; and the Indians used to call on the English (in Virginia), to whom they would sell part of their furs, and with the rest go on to Monadas. But after the English came to possess that place (Now Holland), and understood the advantages the Virginians made by the Trade of their Indians, they inspired them (the Indians to the south of New Holland/New York) with such hatred to the Inhabitants of Virginia, that, instead of coming peaceably to trade with them, as they had done for several Years before, they afterwards never came, but only to commit Robberies and Murders upon the people.”

So, during the time from 1664 until 1676, the English in New York were inciting the Indians against the Virginians to monopolize the fur trade. Also during that time, the tobacco trade in Virginia hit rock bottom with the result that the planters rebelled under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon –Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. Beverly lists 4 causes for the rebellion, but the chief one for our interest was the attacks against the people of Virginia by the Indians. Bacon and his followers set out to punish the Indians and eventually garner the fur trade for themselves. The rebellion was a two-part episode: one part being Bacon’s fight with Indians to wrest the fur trade for himself, and the other part being Bacon’s fight with the Governor and Assembly of Virginia for official sanction which was refused. Virtually the whole of the turmoil was caused by greed –of the Virginians, the Indians, and the English traders of New York.

According to Beverly, the Indians came to resent the English virtually from the start; not for their presence, but rather, for their inequality, misunderstanding, and infighting concerned with trade. That resentment was renewed with each injury from one generation to another until the Indians were annihilated or driven into the west. Today we think mostly of the Indian wars in the West but they hardly compare with what happened in the East during colonial times –if only in terms of duration. In the West they only lasted through the heart of the 1800s –less than 100 years. In the East, they lasted from 1607 until the 1790s –almost 200 years. There were also many more Indians in the East due to the lush land and natural resources.

The lucrative fur trade was almost certainly known and talked about by the Workman Family. It’s impossible to know what impact that knowledge might have had directly on Jan Derick and Abraham; but, Joseph, Sr., Joseph, Jr., Shanton, and Washington became involved in the fur trade in a big way–their lives revolved around it Was the knowledge of events centered on 1664 the spark for their passion? I don’t know –no one knows; but, it certainly could have been, in my estimation.