Elias McDonald & Susannah Esselstein

Elias was the second son of Collin McDonald and Gertjen Blass. Elias Mak Tanel was christened on 10 Jul 1774 at Germantown, Columbia, New York, USA in the Reformed Church there (see image above). His sister, Elisabeth, was christened there on 20 Sep 1772. Elisabeth went onto marry Zacharias Barringer, and her eldest daughter Gertje (b. 05 May 1793) was christened there on 12 May 1793, her sponsors were Collin McDonald and Gertje Blass. Several other of Elisabeth's children's baptismal records survive, the next oldest record shows her maiden name as Makdannel (1796), and the others have spellings of McDonnell (1808) and the rest as McDonald. In light of this, I believe Mak Tanel is cognate with McDonald/McDaniel/McDonnell (see Origin of the Surname for a further explanation). Collin and Gertjen's other children were: Jacob (bap. 08 Jul 1770 in Somerset County, New Jersey, USA), Elisabeth (bap. 20 Sep 1772), William (bap. 30 Jun 1776), John (bap. 16 Jan 1780), James (bap. 12 May 1782), and Simon (bap. 06 Oct 1788), all except Jacob born in Germantown, Columbia, New York, USA.

A bit more can be said of Susannah Esselstein's ancestry, as she is a descendant of Marten Cornelisen Van Ysselsteyn, son of Cornelis Van Ysselsteyn, and the progenitor of all Van Ysselsteyns, Esselsteins, Esselsteyns, Esselstynes, Iselstines, Asselstines, and other variations on the name in America during the Colonial period. The Van Ysselsteyn Coat of Arms is shown below.

Van Ysselsteyn means "from (the town of) Ysselsteyn" in Dutch. Surnames were not common among the Dutch at this point in time. Typically, the naming pattern was "child's given name" + "the father's Christian name" + the suffix -se or -sen.

His name is first attested at Fort Orange (Albany), which was a small settlement of approximately 200 people and considered to be "the far West" at the time. A patent drafted in 1661 but not confirmed until 16 Jun 1664 by Governor Peter Stuyvesant granted Marten 2 parcels of land (both numbered 8 on the map to the right) in Schenectady, New York, one was of 22 acres and the other 24, making him one of the original 14 proprietors of Schenectady.

Where Marten and his family went after October 1668 is unknown. They probably went directly to Claverack, where on 12 Jan 1676/7 Marten and Mayke made their joint will (in Dutch), wherein they are described as residing in Claverack. Marten and Mayke both died before 1705, as their eldest son, Cornelis, confirms the transfer of his father's Schenectady property previously given to Van Vetten. They were buried (unmarked or no longer marked) on their family homestead, which remained in the family for seven or eight more generations.

Marten's youngest son, Jacobus Martense Van Ysselsteyn, married Cathalynje Van Deusen, daughter of Teunis Abrahamsen Van Deusen and Helena Roberts, on 05 Dec 1699 at Kingston, Ulster, New York, USA. Their children were:

i. Marten (b. 11 Aug 1700 in Kingston, Ulster, New York, USA)

ii. Helena (b. 28 Mar 1703 in New York, New York, New York, USA)

iii. Baata (b. 26 Dec 1705 in New York, New York, New York, USA)

iv. Isaac (b. about 1710 in New York, USA)

v. Matthais (b. 16 Oct 1715 in New York, New York, New York, USA)

vi. Marytje (b. 02 Jul 1718 in New York, USA)

Family lore states that Jacobus and his family removed to Amboy, New Jersey at the beginning of the 18th century. However, the historical society there has no record of Jacobus, though his sons Matthais and Isaac are attested there in the mid to late 18th century. Jacob died sometime before May 1718 probably in Columbia County, as his wife remarried on 18 May 1718 at Livingston, Columbia, New York, USA, her second husband being Lambert Kool, with whom she had 2 daughters and 4 sons. It seems more likely that Jacobus did not live in Amboy, but that his children (or at least his sons) migrated there in the mid-18th century, especially since some of Isaac's children's baptisms are recorded in Columbia County. Cathalynje died at an unknown date.

Isaac Esselstein was married to Anna Elizabeth Keller (or Kelder), the daughter of Conrad Keller and Maria Barbara Proper. She was born 15 Apr 1722 in Tarbush, Columbia, New York, USA. She was christened in the Gospelhoek, Athens Zion Lutheran Church at Athens, Greene, New York, USA, and the witnesses were Jan Hardik, Justus Falckner, and Geritje Falckner. Their children were:

i. Petrus (bap. 23 Sep 1741 in Athens, Greene, New York, USA)

ii. Conrad (bap. 26 Aug 1743 in Tarbush, Columbia, New York, USA)

iii. Altje (bap. 17 Jul 1745 in Tarbush, Columbia, New York, USA)

iv. Hannes (bap. 31 Jan 1748 in Germantown, Columbia, New York, USA)

v. Marytje (bap. 27 May 1750 in Germantown, Columbia, New York, USA)

vi. Abraham (bap. 28 Jun 1752 in Linlithgo, Columbia, New York, USA)

vii. Jannetje (bap. 25 Oct 1755 in Linlithgo, Columbia, New York, USA)

viii. Agnitge (bap. 22 Sep 1760 in Churchtown, Columbia, New York, USA)

ix. Andreas (bap. 03 Nov 1763 in New York, USA)

In 1765, Isaac is recorded as running an inn in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA. He and his wife died on an unknown date. In his 1908 book, Frank Allaben assumes that the Esselstein lines of Isaac and his brother Matthais died out, as no one with that surname was living in Perth Amboy in the early 20th century. Rather than the lines being extinct, I would argue that some of Isaac's children either remained in Columbia county or returned there upon adulthood.

Abraham Esselstein married Anna Maria Simmon, whose parentage is unknown. She was born about 1746 in New York, USA. Their children were:

i. Elisabeth (bap. 08 May 1775 in Churchtown, Columbia, New York, USA)

ii. Susannah (bap. 23 Sep 1777 in Churchtown, Columbia, New York, USA)

iii. Albertus (b. 17 Jun 1782 in Hillsdale, Columbia, New York, USA)

iv. Janetje (b. 09 Feb 1784 in Claverack, Columbia, New York, USA)

v. Critje (b. 09 Aug 1786 in Claverack, Columbia, New York, USA)

Abraham was christened on 28 Jun 1752 in the Reformed Church at Linlithgo, Columbia, New York, USA. Little else is known about Abraham and Anna Maria.

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