Follow Up on Isaac and Leah Sperling

In the post Isaac and Leah Sperling, I tried to understand whether they were siblings or cousins. I have enough information now to sort out the problem, which is complicated by the repeated use of first names in the family. A family tree at Ancestry.com provided me with the reference to the document that seems to make it all clear as mud. Below is the portion of the transcript available to me.

"Isaac Sperling, son of John Sperling and his second wife Catharine, resided in North Brunswick Township, Middlesex county. He was a Revolutionary soldier, serving in the Second Regiment, Middlesex County Militia, of which his future father-in-law John Gilliland was a lieutenant and his future brother-in-law Daniel Gilliland was a first sergeant. Elizabeth Gilliland Sperling was the daughter of John Gilliland and Leah Sperling. Isaac and Leah were first cousins. Isaac and Elizabeth were married in October of 1787, according to the pension papers.

This record (number 3078 of the GSNJ collection) consists of one page torn from a Bible and filed with pension application W6159. The entries, which appear to be all in..."

Being familiar with the script on the documents of the time, I am thankful to whoever read the originals and wrote out this summary for us. Big dollop of gratitude for that.

Now to put this information together with the rest of the family tree. If I strip an ahnentafel down to just those parts required to identify the individuals in the reference above, I construct the following,

1 Jan Michiel Sperlingh (German immigrant) m. Geertje Pieters
+2 Daniel m. Elizabeth unk
++3 Leah (b.1740) m. John Gilliland
+++ 4 Elizabeth (b.1767) m. Isaac Sperling (b.1759)
+++ 4 Leah (b. 1781) m. Abraham Sperling (b. 1759)
+2 Leah (b.1709)
+2 Petrus
+2 John m. 2nd wife Catherine
++3 Isaac (b.1759) m. Elizabeth Gilliland (b. 1767)
++3 Abraham (b.1759) m. Leah Gilliland (b.1781)

What I have done with the colors is show where an individual's presence is repeated. Isaac (b.1759) and Leah (b. 1740) are 1st cousins, as explained in the reference above. Isaac then married Leah's daughter. The same relationships are repeated with Abraham (b.1759). He is Leah (b.1740)'s first cousin, and he marries her daughter, Leah (b.1781).

Notes: 1. I list both Isaac and Abraham as b.1759, but those are baptismal dates, and there's no reason to believe they are twins. 2. I list Jan and Geertje's daughter Leah as born 1709, but I don't know the actual date, only that this is the earliest assumption, since that is the year her parents were married. 3. I don't know the birth order of Jan and Geertje's children, but placing John after Daniel makes sense to explain the 19 year gap in the age of first cousins. Other than that, their birth order is strictly random at this point.

Afterthoughts about the Six Mile Run Baptismal Record of 1750

I really shouldn't try to analyze these records when I'm lacking sleep. Taking a look at what I wrote in my last post, none of it seems plausible. The easier solution is that the baptismal record for Six Mile Run refers to Jan Sperling, a son of Jan Michiel Sperlingh, perhaps even a junior, and his wife, a Geertje, to be sure, but not Geertje Pieters (Pouluse).

Records indicate there was, indeed, a Jan Sperling in the area at the appropriate time. I posted some of those earlier, here and here. One piece of evidence I haven't presented is the quasi-census of Sparling head of households represented by the Middlesex County tax records. What is interesting about these is that one John is named as John, Jr, clearly implicating a John, Sr.

In addition to John, Jr., the tax lists name Daniel, Joseph, Charity, John, Peter, Abraham, Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sparling. I believe all these individuals are related, although not all siblings. Currently, I propose that Jan Michiel Sperlingh, the elder, had at least three sons, Daniel, Peter and John, Jr. As I proceed, I'll compare the records to that hypothesis and either preserve or reject it.

Sperling Baptism, Six Mile Run DRC, New Jersey, 1750

Much discussion surrounds the individual "Geertje," who married Jan Michiel Sperlingh, Dec 10, 1709 in Hackensack, NJ. The issue is her surname and/or patronymic. Suffice it to say, she is known by a variety of name forms, Geertje Pieters, as on her marriage record, or Geertje Pauluse Jacobs or she may be the individual, Geertje Pieters Hartje. It's a matter of not knowing which name her father signed on any particular record at the time Dutch names were in flux in the colonies in conjunction with uncertainty concerning Geertje's preference or need when identifying herself.

We do know, however, this individual when she is mentioned along with Jan Michiel Sperlingh as in this baptismal record I found a few days ago. What is interesting about this latest bit of information is that the suffix of the child's name suggests it was a girl, whereas, I previously only had records indicating the couple's two sons, Daniel and Peter.

This record is from the Somerset County Historical Quarterly, by Somerset Co. Historical Society (N.J.) Somerset Co, ed. Honeyman, A. Van Doren, Plainfield, NJ, 1919. It's taken from the list of baptisms for the Six Mile Run Church from 1743-1805, p.125.

1750, July 1, parents: Sperling, Jan and Geertje; child: ----rtje (?)

The only disturbing aspect of this record is the late date. If this is the same Geertje identified as the daughter of Pieter Pouluse and Treyntje Hans Jacobs, her baptismal is dated 1691 at Bergen, NJ, and that makes her age 59 at this child's baptism. Alternately, if we make a guess that she was between 15 and 18 (a typical marriage age for girls) when she married Jan Sperling in 1709, then she is again between age 56 and 59. It's also possible the child baptized in 1750 is not an infant.

This record is also helpful in verifying the identity of Jan Sperling as he was listed as a member of the Six Mile Run church during the time of John Frelinghuysen. Those lists and their source are provided in my post Forty Years at Raritan.

John Michael Sparling in NJ

I've culled the internet for references to Jan Michiel Sperling, hoping to verify any connection between him and Daniel, Isaac, Leah or George Sparling (Sperling). I haven't...yet. What I have found is a community of Dutch immigrants who gather in their churches, where the young folk meet, mingle and eventually marry and build families of their own. In the meanwhile, they brew ale, mend shoes and pots and are farmers and, when they have to be, soldiers.

Below is my attempt to organize (what I hope are) relevant bits of information.

New Jersey-only references to John (Jan, Johannes) Michael (Michiel) Sparling (Sperling) arranged by date

.

Dec 10, 1709. A marriage recorded in the Dutch Reformed Church between Jan Michiel Sperling and Geertie Pieters. Location: Hackensack, Bergen, NJ (Residence: Acquiggenock [Passaic])

between 1720-1748. Head of family, Jan Sperling, joins the Reformed Dutch Church. Location: Six Mile Run, Somerset, NJ

1730. John Michael Sperling serves as the appraiser for the will of Charles Androvet. Location: Six Mile Run, Somerset, NJ

Jun 18, 1752. John Michael Sperling serves as witness of the will of John Vleet. Location: Six Mile Run, Somerset, NJ

1752. Daniel Sperling and Johannes Sperling appear on a list of freeholders in the source, "First Settlers of Piscataway and Woodbridge," p551, O.E. Monette. Location: New Brunswick, Somerset, NJ

1752-1772. Two, individual John Sparlings appear on John Piatt's "Cobbler Census." Location: Somerset, NJ

NJ militia. George, Abram, Isaac, James, Joseph, Peter and John Sparling appear on the Revolutionary War Rolls.

Sarah 1793-1867. The inscription on the gravestone of Sarah Van Pelt reads, "wife of John Sparling." Location: Dayton, Middlesex, NJ

1813. John Michael Sperling serves as a witness to the will of Abraham Sperling. John Gilliland Sperling is Abraham's son mentioned in the will. Location: North Brunswick, Middlesex, NJ

If you can add to this list, amend, correct or help me make any connections, the help is warmly appreciated. In the interest of clarity, I omitted my sources, but can provide them on request. In addition to the names above, there is a host of associated Van Pelts, Van Cleefs (Van Cleaves), Gillilands, Vliets (Vleets, Fleets), Vunks (Vonks), Piatts and others who may have known or married Sperlings over the course of the 18th century in New Jersey. I have more information to offer anyone who is interested.