Name
Hilletje Tialivisch,[1] also known as Jaleffs,[2] Jaleffs was her last name in her marriage record, which has not been preserved in its original form but only in a copy from the 1680s.[3] Tialivisch was the version recorded by an Amsterdam notary, and is more likely to reflect how Hilletje pronounced her name. Hilletje herself could not write her name.[4] She was also called Hilletje Tobias; Hilletje, Tobias’s wife.[5]
Origin
Hilletje was from the “Oldenburgerlandt” [land of Oldenburg],[6] in present-day northern Germany.
Migration
Hilletje Tialivisch was in New Netherland by 4 July 1655, when she declared her marriage intentions.[7] She and her husband sailed back to the Netherlands on the Gulden Arent [Golden Eagle].[8] They left New Netherland on 13 July 1662[9] and were back in Amsterdam by 18 September 1662.[10]
Settlement
Hilletje Tialivisch was a free resident of New Amsterdam. She probably lived there from at least 1655 (marriage)[11] until 1662 (departure). On 24 October 1662, she used the past tense to refer to her residence in New Amsterdam, which indicates she had left the colony for good.[12]
Biographical Details
Hilletje was born in 1629–1630 (calculated) in the county of Oldenburg. She was thirty-two years old when she gave a deposition before an Amsterdam notary on 24 October 1662.[13] She died at an unknown date after that.
Marriage and Children
Hilletje Tialivisch married Tobias Wilbergen, who was eight years her senior.[14] Tobias Wilbergen from Torreb in Jutland [present-day Torup, Denmark] declared his intentions to marry Hilletje Jaleff from Oldenburglandt in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam on 4 July 1655.[15]
Education
Born in the county of Oldenburg,[16] Hilletje probably spoke Low German. She signed with a mark.[17]
Occupation
Hilletje was probably a trader or craftswoman. On 6 June 1662, Marritje Jacobz sued Hilletje Tobias for payment of thirty guilders. Hilletje had told her to get the money from Timothij Gabrij, who had sold goods for Hilletje and owed her money. However, Hilletje had already let Joannes de Witt claim that money for a debt she owed him, despite Marritje’s claim on that money. Hilletje’s husband acknowledged the debt but said he had no money and would pay after he earned some. The court ordered Marritje to prove that she had a legal lien on Gabrij’s money.[18] The outcome of the case was not recorded.
Marritje Jacobz was not Hilletje’s only creditor. On 12 June 1662, Hilletje Tobias was summoned to pay a debt of 200 guilders to the estate of Sicx van der Stighelen. When she presented a bill showing that Sicx owed her 105 guilders, the New Amsterdam court ordered her to pay the balance.[19]
These two court cases occurred a few weeks before Hilletje and her husband returned to the Netherlands. The fact that Hilletje did not even have thirty guilders suggests they were in difficult financial circumstances, which may have contributed to their decision to leave New Netherland. Whether Hilletje ever repaid her debts is unknown.
Associations
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Hilletje Tialivisch and her husband Tobias Wilbergen knew Sicx van de Stichtel. Hilletje and Sicx owed each other money when he died.[20] On 24 October 1662, Hilletje and Tobias gave a deposition about Sicx’s death at the request of Sicx’s sister Josina van de Stichtel and her husband Cornelis de Bruijn. They were joined by Benjamin van Santen, who had been the supercargo on the Vergulde Arent during their return voyage from New Netherland. They declared that they had known Sicx van de Stichtel in New Netherland, who died with six others in the river near Manhattan at the “Rode Houck” [red corner] near the corn field. They attended Sicx’s funeral.[21]
Hilletje was a business relation of Timothij Gabrij, who sold goods for her. She also knew Marritje Jacobz and Joannes de Witt, to whom she owed money in 1662.[22] Hilletje also knew Anneken Matthijs, whom she sued on 5 July 1661. The details of the case are unknown since it was postponed and never went to trial.[23]
Literature
Evjen, John Oluf. Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630-1674. Minneapolis, Minnesota: K. C. Holter, 1916. The short sketch of Tobias Wilbergen mentions Hilletje Jaleff as his wife (p. 283). Hilletje appears in a list of German immigrants (p. 417).
Riker, David M. Genealogical and Biographical Directory to Persons in New Netherland, from 1613 to 1674. Vol. 4. Higginson Book Company, 1999. As Hilletje Jaleff, she appears in the entry for her husband Tobias Wilbergen.
Source Editions
Fernow, Berthold, ed. Minutes of the Orphanmasters Court of New Amsterdam 1655–1663, Minutes of the Executive Boards of the Burgomasters of New Amsterdam, and the Records of Walewyn van Der Veen, Notary Public 1662–1664. New York City, New York: Colonial Dames of the State of New York, 1907. Summons for debt to Sicx van der Stichtelen (p. 145).
Fernow, Berthold, and Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan. The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini. Vol. 3, Minutes of the court of burgomasters and schepens, Sept. 3, 1658 to Dec. 30, 1661, inclusive. New York City, New York, Knickerbocker, 1897. Case of Helletje Tobias vs. Anneken Matthys (p. 337).
Fernow, Berthold, and Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan. The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini. Vol. 4, Minutes of the court of burgomasters and schepens, Jan. 3, 1662, to Dec. 18, 1663, inclusive. New York City, New York, Knickerbocker, 1897. Case of Marritje Jacobz vs. Hilletje Tobias (p. 90).
Sypher, Frances J., ed. and trans. Liber A of the Collegiate Churches of New York, part 2, Baptisms 1639 to 1697, Members 1649 to 1701, Marriages 1639 to 1701 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015). Marriage intention of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff (p. 492).
Citations
[1] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662, in Hendrick Schaef, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 9 May–29 December 1662, fol. 82v–83r; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/4a5e3219-8108-8ea5-2702-0b7a3e7345f5), image 86 of 128; citing call no. 1367, Record Group 5075: Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam [Records of the Notaries Residing in Amsterdam], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
[2] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, marriage register, 1639–1701, p. 592; imaged, “U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639–1989,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961) > New York > Manhattan > Collegiate Church . . . > image 481 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
[3] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655
[4] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662.
[5] Marritje Jacobsz vs. Hilletje Tobias, 6 June 1662, in Court of Burgomasters and Schepens (New Amsterdam), minutes, vol. 3, 1660–1662, p. 515; imaged, “Digital Collections,” NYC Department of Records & Information Services (https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/), identifier MSS0040_1_2_03, image 519 of 572; citing Minutes of Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam, series 1: Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam records, New York City Municipal Archives, New York City, New York.
[6] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655.
[7] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655.
[8] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662, in Hendrick Schaef, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 9 May–29 December 1662, fol. 82v–83r; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/4a5e3219-8108-8ea5-2702-0b7a3e7345f5), image 86 of 128; citing call no. 1367, Record Group 5075: Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam [Records of the Notaries Residing in Amsterdam], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; citing bundle 57 in West-Indische Compagnie, Loketkas, States-General, Royal Archives [now: Nationaal Archief], The Hague.
[9] John Romeyn Brodhead, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York: Procured in Holland, England, and France, ed. E. B. O’Callaghan, vol. 2 (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1858), 462; citing bundle 57 in West-Indische Compagnie, Loketkas, States-General, Royal Archives [now: Nationaal Archief], The Hague.
[10] Declaration by Jan Reijdersen and Benjamijn van Sande about death of Six van der Stichtel, 18 September 1662, in Jacob Pondt, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 1 July–29 December 1662, p. 256; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/2ba53066-4cd6-766e-c1c7-fb5cda9cd6c9), image 235 of 537; citing call no. 3158, RG 5075, Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
[11] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655.
[12] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662.
[13] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662.
[14] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662.
[15] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655.
[16] Marriage intentions of Tobias Wilbergen and Hilletje Jaleff, 4 July 1655.
[17] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662.
[18] Marritje Jacobsz vs. Hilletje Tobias, 6 June 1662.
[19] Settlement of estate of Sicx van der Stighelen, 12 June 1662, in Burgomasters (New Amsterdam), administrative minutes of resolutions, vol. 2, 1661–1664, fol. 74v; imaged, “Digital Collections,” NYC Department of Records & Information Services (https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/), identifier MSS0040_1_5_02, image 75 of 140; citing subseries 5: administrative minutes of burgomasters of New Amsterdam, series 1: Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam records, New York City Municipal Archives.
[20] Settlement of estate of Sicx van der Stighelen, 12 June 1662.
[21] Declaration by Thobias Wilberch and Hilletien Tialivisch about death of Sicx van de Stichtel, 24 October 1662.
[22] Marritje Jacobsz vs. Hilletje Tobias, 6 June 1662.
[23] Hilletje Tobias vs. Anneken Mattijs, 5 July 1661, in Court of Burgomasters and Schepens (New Amsterdam), minutes, vol. 3, 1660–1662, p. 244; image 248 of 572.
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