Gerrit Boon (May 15, 1768 in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

– December 2, 1821 in Gouda) was the son of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister Johan Michiel Boon. His father studied in

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage o ...

and moved in 1752 from

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

and in 1774 to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. Gerrit Boon became a sugar refinerer in the city, working for his brother-in-law. He went to the United States in 1790 where he met with

John Lincklaen John Lincklaen (24 December 1768 – 9 February 1822) was the founder of Cazenovia (village), New York, Cazenovia, New York. Lincklaen was the Resident Land Agent for the Holland Land Company in Cazenovia, New York, and later the owner and sales ...

. In 1792, he bought near the

West Canada Creek The West Canada Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in upstate New York (state), New York, United States. West Canada Creek is an important w ...

. Then he moved to a cabin near Cincinnati and Steuben Creek. Boon believed that harvesting

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

could be a year-round activity, so slavery on the sugar plantations could be avoided. In 1794, he gave up the

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

. Boon worked to develop company lands in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, first settling in the town of

Trenton, New York Trenton (called ''Ose-te-a-da-que'', "''in the bone''" by the Haudenosaunee) is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 4,297 at the 2020 census. History The first settlement was developed in 1793 by Gerrit Boon in ...

, where he founded the village now known as Barneveld. Also the Village of Boonville and the Town of Boonville in

Oneida County, New York Oneida County ( ) is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of February 26, 2024, the population was 226,654. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or '' ...

are named after him. He had a budget of $30,000 ($ in dollars) to hire carpenters, masons and other workmen to create a village for the affluent. Boon's efforts were unsuccessful due in part to incomplete knowledge of the region and bad luck. He built a dam and a mill that were washed away by flood waters in 1797. In 1798, Boon returned to

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. His assistant

Adam Gerard Mappa Adam Gerard Mappa (Tournai,Kernkamp, P.M. (2005) "Tussen Reformatie en Revolutie. De familie Paspoort te Delft". In: "De Nederlandsche Leeuw" jg. 122 nr. 1. 25 November 1754 – Barneveld, New York, 15 April 1828) was a Dutch type-founder, Patr ...

took over as the agent of the Holland Land Company and lived in his house until 1809, today called Mappa Hall in

Barneveld, New York Barneveld is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located within the Town of Trenton in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 284 at the 2010 census, when it was an incorporated village. The name is derived from the name of ...

. In 1804 he married Debora Aeneae, the daughter of an

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

professor in mathematics. In 1813 the couple divorced in Amsterdam, living at

Singel (Amsterdam) The Singel () is one of the canals of Amsterdam. The Singel encircled Amsterdam in the Middle Ages, serving as a moat around the city until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ (Amsterdam), IJ bay, near ...

. Boon left Holland and moved to

Heeswijk Heeswijk is a Dutch village. It is located in the province of North Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. History The village was first mentioned in the 12th century as "Albertus de Essuic", and means "settlement in the shrubbery". Heeswijk ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

, but died with small debts at the local shops, and wine dealers in Gouda.

External links

* http://villageofbarneveld.org/content/History * https://archive.org/stream/francisadrianvan00vand/francisadrianvan00vand_djvu.txt * http://oneida.nygenweb.net/misc/wager/ch46.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Boon, Gerrit 1768 births 1821 deaths 18th-century Dutch people Dutch expatriates in the United States People from Boonville, New York People from Delft People from colonial New York People from Trenton, New York