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.