Gerardus Willemse Beekman (c. August 1653 – October 10, 1723) was a wealthy physician, land owner, and colonial governor of the
Province of New York
The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...
.
Early life
He was christened August 17, 1653 at Corlaer's Hook Plantation, New York, the second son of Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (1623–1707) and Catalina De Boogh. His father was a Dutch immigrant who came to
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...
from the Netherlands on the same vessel as
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...
. Wilhelmus soon became Treasurer of the
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
and later became the Mayor of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Governor of
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
from 1653 to 1664, and Governor of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
Flatbush
Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...
, and in 1689, he was appointed Major of all the horse and foot in Kings County.
From 1690 to 1691, he was a member of
Jacob Leisler
Jacob Leisler ( – May 16, 1691) was a German-born politician and colonial administrator in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in the North American fur trade and tobacco business. In what became k ...
's Council and government, which led to what is known as
Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late-17th century colonial New York in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the southern portion of the colony and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising too ...
, which led to the overthrow of the government of colonial governor Francis Nicholson after the accession of
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
of Orange. When Henry Sloughter came to America in 1691 as Deputy Governor to succeed Nicholson, Beekman was arrested along with Leisler and others. Beekman served 17 months in prison, but was pardoned afterward, unlike Leisler, who was hanged. Gov.
Benjamin Fletcher
Benjamin Fletcher (14 May 1640 – 28 May 1703) was colonial governor of New York from 1692 to 1697. Fletcher was known for the ''Ministry Act'' of 1693, which secured the place of Anglicans as the official religion in New York. He also built ...
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
Province of New York
The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...
. He remained Governor until the arrival of Robert Hunter, from April 10, 1710 to June 14, 1710.
Real estate
In addition to his estate in Flatbush, Beekman owned three large farms in the
Province of New Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherla ...
. One farm extended for two miles along the
Raritan River
The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous areas in the North Jersey, northern and Central Jersey, central sections of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near ...
and contained 1,800 acres, held jointly with Laford Paterson, also of Flatbush, that was purchased for £366. Another farm of 4,000 acres in
Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County is a county located in the north-central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 13th-most-populous county,Proprietors of East Jersey, through his attorney, Rip Van Dam. The third farm was 608 acres on the Millstone River. His sons Christopher, Adrian, and William latet became the owners of large tracts of these lands.
Personal life
On August 29, 1677, he married Magdalena Abeel (c. 1662–1745), the eldest daughter of Christopher Janse Abeel (1621–1684) and Neeltje Jans Kroom. Magdalena's brother was Johannes Abeel (1667–1711), the second mayor of Albany.Henry Whittemore The Abeel and Allied Families 1899, pages 4 to 6 Together they had:
* Divertje "Deborah" Beekman (1674–1737), who married Theunis Hendricksen Wiltse (1674–1741)
* William Beekman (b. 1679), who died young.
* Christopher Beekman (1681–1724), who married Maria DeLanoy (1681–1726), a daughter of Abraham Delanoy (1642–1702) and Cornelia Jacobse Toll.
* Dr. William Beekman (1684–1770), who married Catharine Delanoy (1691–1765); though educated in medicine, he had a successful mercantile career.
* Adrian Beekman (1682–1705), who married Aletta Lispenard (c. 1686–1705), relative of Leonard Lispenard
* Gerard Beekman (1693–1746), who married Anna Maria van Horne (1696-1726)
* Catherine Beekman
He died in New York City October 10, 1723.
Descendants
His grandson, Gerardus Christopher Beekman (died 1778), married Catharine Van Dyke (born 1708), the daughter of John Van Dyke, granddaughter of Jan Janse Van Dyke, and great-granddaughter of Jan Thomasse Van Dyke, who came from Amsterdam in 1652 and is considered to be the progenitor of the Van Dyke family in America.
He was the grandfather of James Beekman (1732-1807) the owner of Mount Pleasant, a mansion on Manhattan that was requisitioned by the British Army during the Revolution. The location of this property is the current
Beekman Place
Beekman Place is a small street located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Running from north to south for two blocks, the street is situated between the eastern end of 51st Street and Mitchell Place, ...