Hans Hansen Bergen (
c. 1610– 30 May 1654) was one of the earliest settlers of the Dutch colony of
New Amsterdam, and one of the few from
Scandinavia. He was a native of
Bergen, Norway. Hans Hansen Bergen was a
shipwright who served as overseer of an early
tobacco plantation on
Manhattan Island,[1] before eventually removing to Brooklyn's
Wallabout Bay, where he was one of the earliest settlers and founded a prominent Brooklyn clan.
Bergen was married to
Sarah Rapelje, the first female child of European parentage born in the colony of New Netherland[4] and whose chair is preserved in the collection of the
Museum of the City of New York.[5] Following Bergen's death in 1654, his widow remarried Teunis Gysbert Bogart.[6][7][8][9]
Along with his father-in-law,
Joris Jansen Rapelje, Bergen acquired and managed several pieces of property. In 1647, Bergen received a patent for 400 acres (1.6 km2) in the
Wallabout Bay area of present-day
Brooklyn.[10] Rapelje was a substantial property owner, as well as one of the
Council of Twelve Men. Following his land grant, Hans Hansen Bergen moved to the area on western
Long Island now located within the
borough of Brooklyn, where he made his living as a farmer. Apparently illiterate, Bergen signed his name to official documents with a simple 'H'.[11] Following Bergen's death, in 1662 two of his sons settled at what is today's
Bedford, Brooklyn, near their Rapelje grandfather.[12]
Bergen is a place name which today appears frequently in Brooklyn. The neighborhood of
Bergen Beach carries Bergen's name[13] as do two
New York City Subway stations at
Smith Street and at
Flatbush Avenue. Descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen owned the land that became Bergen Beach, which they subsequently sold to entrepreneur Percy Williams, who developed it into a summer resort.[14] Some also believe that
Bergen County, New Jersey as well as
Bergen Township take their names from this early Norwegian settler,[15] although the evidence is inconclusive.[16][17][18]
Descendants
The descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen continued to reside in Brooklyn and
Kings County, New York for centuries, and owned extensive tracts of land across Brooklyn.[19] As late as the mid-19th century, Bergen family members grew up in Brooklyn speaking Dutch.[20] Several family members – including
John Teunis Bergen and
Teunis Garret Bergen – represented the area in the
United States Congress, as well as owning the forerunner of The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper.[21]
An early history of the family of Hans Hansen Bergen and his descendants was written by
Teunis Garret Bergen in 1866.[24][25]
References
Footnotes
^Evjen, John O. (1916). Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630–1674. K. C. Holter Publishing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1916.
^Evjen, John O. (1916). Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630–1674. K. C. Holter Publishing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1916.
^Bergen was also sometimes referred to in early records as Hans Noorman, Hans Hanszen, Hans Hanszen Noorman, Hans Hanszen de Noorman, Hans Hanszen Van Bergen in Norweegan or simply Hans Hansen.
[1]
^Evjen, John O. (1916). Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630–1674. K. C. Holter Publishing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1916.
^Bergen, Teunis G. (1876). The Bergen Family – or the descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen. J. Munsell, Albany, New York.
^Shorto, Russell (2004). The Island at the Center of the World, The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America Doubleday. New York
^Sarah Rapelje, Hans Hansen Bergen's wife, became the ancestor with her second husband Teunis Gysbert Bogart of the actor
Humphrey Bogart, who also descended from Hans Hansen Bergen as well.
[2]
^Stiles, Henry Reed (1869). A History of the City of Brooklyn . Reprinted by Heritage Books.
^Westervelt, Frances A. (1923). History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630–1923. Lewis Historical Pub. Co. New York.
^In his 1916 book Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, author John Oluf Evjen rejected the idea that
Bergen County, New Jersey, had been named for Hans Hansen Bergen. "Hans Hansen had no property on the west of the Hudson where Bergen lay. Bergen in New Jersey was founded after his death."
[3] But the records of
Princeton University, formerly the College of New Jersey, mention the Bergen family "after whom Bergen County in New Jersey is named."
[4]
^Teunis G. Bergen first published his authoritative history of the family in 1866, and later updated it a decade later in 1876. With its small printings, the book became sought after by early
genealogists and collectors.
[5]