Seek Fund to Preserve Old Gravesend Cemetery

Between Gravesend avenue, Lake street and the Village road is the oldest public cemetery in Kings County, having been established nearly 400 years ago and containing the names of the thirty-nine patentees of Gravesend, settled by Lady Deborah Moody in 1659. . .

. . . Most of the headstones of a date earlier than the Eighteenth Century are in the same condition [inscription indecipherable by the action of time and the elements], though there are many of those over a hundred years old still to be easily read. They mark the graves of Thomas Tilton, Samuel Holmes, John Lake, William Compton, Samuel Spicer, James Hubbard, John Tilton, John Bowne, John Griggs, Bayrent Juriansen, Obadiah Wilkinson, Ralph Cardell, Thomas D. Lavall, John Tilton Jr., John Cook, Nicholas Stillwell, Elias Bridges, Ann Wilkins, William Williamson, John Guinans, John Poland, John Applegate and William Golding. These were the original patentees who settled Gravesend in 1635.

Then, too, there are also a number of other graves occupied by the Holland Dutch who later had possession of the town. Among the latter interments are those of Mrs. Alletta Ann Still, who, when she died in 1910, at the age of 83, was counted the richest woman in Gravesend. Since possession was given to the commissioners under the act, there have been interred over 400 bodies, all of them being relatives of the older settlers. The majority of the interments and the advanced age of the majority of those buried, indicates the healthfulness of the vicinity. Among these are John I. Voorhees, 62; William K. Vanderbilt, 70; Anna M. Johnson, 76; Susanne Graue, 76; Louise Van Sicklen, 73; Sarah Emmens, 83; Joseph B. Denyse, 67; A. V. Stillwell, 79; Stillwell Voorhies, 80; Peter H. Rumph, 78, and his wife, age 74; Jacobus Van Sicklen, 84; John Denyse, 63; Mary Morris, 76; David Snedeker, 87; John Johnson, 72; Gertrude Ryder, 83; William H. Morris, 75; Isaac Ryder, 63; Clara Hambeck, 83; Catherine Stillwell, 73; James R. Aldrich, 70; Cather Van Riper, 67; Sarah Snedeker, 75; Daniel C. Lake, 70; Jane Harland, 85; John H. Kouwenhoven, 76; Joachim Harloff, 89, and Lucy Caldwell, 103.

The only person having a plot there who was not related to the early descendants was John Y. McKane. He had one of the finest plots in the cemetery, which is still preserved, and in which a brother, Robert J. McKane, is buried. His own remains are interred in Greenwood Cemetery. . .

~ Brooklyn Daily Eagle (New York), Sun., 22 Jul 1917, pg. 6
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Contributed by MARLA (ROTHERY) DE BELLOY WOSNAK:
Maiden name is Van Dyke; surname is Stillwell Wilkins. Ann Van Dyke was probably born before 1625.

John E. Stillwell, The History of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, Progenitor of the Stillwell Family In America (New York: n.pub., 1929), p.88. Does not identify her family name.

Benjamin Marshall Stilwell, Early Memoirs of the Stilwell Family, Comprising the Life and Times of Nicholas Stilwell (New York: The National Printing Company, 1878), pg. 273. Calls her Ann Van Dyke, a Hollander.

She married 1st ca. 1640 Lieut. Nicholas Stillwell.

Witnessed the baptism of Peter Billiou, son of Pierre Billiou and Francoise DuBois, on 6 Jun 1668 at Reformed Dutch Church, New York City, New York (sponsors Nicolaes Stillwell, Annetie).
I"Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in New York", New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vols.5- (1874-): 7:127. Pieter; parents: Pieter Belou, Francyn de Bou."Records of the Reformed Dutch Church in New York", New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vols.5- (1874-): 7:127. Pieter; parents: Pieter Belou, Francyn de Bou.]

Children by Nicholas:
~ Ann Stillwell b. 1643
~ Alice Stillwell b. ca. 1644
~ William Stillwell b. 11 May 1648
~ Capt. Thomas Stillwell b. 9 Jul 1651, d. between 21 May 1704 and 9 May 1705
~ Daniel Stillwell b. 13 Nov 1653, d. 1719?
~ John Stillwell b. between 1654 and 1660
~ Mary Stillwell b. 1660
~ Capt. Jeremiah Stillwell b. 13 Jan 1663, d. ca. 1749
[John E. Stillwell, The History of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, Progenitor of the Stillwell Family In America (New York: n.pub., 1929), p.88]

Ann Van Dyke was granted administration of the estate of Lieut. Nicholas Stillwell on 17 Jun 1672; granted to widow Anne Stillwell.
Will dated 22 Dec 1671 proved 17 Jun 1672, called "Nicholas Stillwell of Staten Island, husbandman, being sick and weake in body but of perfect and sound understanding." Mentions "youngest son Jeremiah," to receive one iron grey mare of about 4 years old; "well beloved and affectionate wife Anne, all my estate consisting of land, housing, cattle, corne, oxen, horses, mares, sheep, swine...lying and being upon Staten Island." Appoints his wife Anne as executrix.
Administration of Lieut. Nicholas Stillwell's estate was granted on 17 Jun 1672, granted to widow Anne Stillwell.
[New York Co. Surrogate's Court, Record of Wills, v.1-2, 1665-1699; FHL film #0874513 (Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971, 1982-83), Microfilm of original records in the Surrogate's Court, New York Co., New York, pp.93-94.]

After the death of her first husband, Anne Stillwell left Staten Island and returned to Gravesend, Long Island, where on 21 Jun 1672 (while residing at Dover, Staten Island) she purchased from Jan Jansen Van Ryn the house and lot No. 18, with the meadow reserved, which Van Ryn had originally purchased from Nicholas Stillwell. Anne, with children Mary, Jeremiah, and possibly John, took up residence at Gravesend. Her son, Capt. Nicholas Stillwell, was a neighbor.
[John E. Stillwell, The History of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, Progenitor of the Stillwell Family In America (New York: n.pub., 1929), p.89.]

Married 2nd at Gravesend, Kings Co., Long Island, New York, on 29 Dec 1672 William Wilkens.
[John E. Stillwell, The History of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, Progenitor of the Stillwell Family In America (New York: n.pub., 1929), p.88, 89.
Tunis G. Bergen, "Marriage Records, Gravesend, L. I.", New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol. 4, no. 4, p. 199 (1873): 4:199. William Wilking to Ann Stillwell wid. of Gravesend.]

Married 3rd at Long Island, New York, on 13 Jan 1679 William Foster.
[John E. Stillwell, The History of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, Progenitor of the Stillwell Family In America (New York: n.pub., 1929), p.88, 89]

On 20 Jun 1683, "William ffoster, and Anne his wife," quit claimed to Jeremiah Stillwell of Gravesend, one half of lot formerly belonging to John Johnson bounded by lands of John Emans.
[Ibid., p.89-90]

Ann Van Dyke died circa 1686 at Long Island, New York.
[Ibid., p.89]

Bio includes data from The Brouwer Genealogy Database.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~brouwergenealogydata/surname_index.htm