Anneke Jans and the Webber Controversy

For generations descendants of a Wolfert Webber claimed that property on Manhattan Island in New York had illegally been taken from their family by the Trinity Church.

Pieter Van Brugh (1666–1740), Mayor of Albany, New York, in the periods 1699-1700 and 1721-1723, was descended from Norwegian immigrants. His mother's parents were Anneke Jans (1605–1663) and Roelof Janse (1602–1637), who was born on a small island in Norway (that was ceded to Sweden in 1658). Roelof received a grant of 62 acres of land on the Hudson River on Manhattan Island in nowadays New York. After her husband's death in 1637, Anneke was married in 1638 to the Rev. Everardus Bogardus (1607-1647) of the Trinity Dutch Reformed Church on Manhattan Island. 


Anneke Jans and Everardus Bogardus

  
Anneke Jans became famous through a long series of lawsuits initiated by her descendants, who claimed (1) ownership of real estate on Manhattan and (2) royal descent. 
F.A. Virkus writes in "The Compendium of American Genealogy":

"Anneke (Webber) Jans (1605-63), [..] dau. of Wolfert Webber (b 1565), 
said to have been son of William, 9th prince of Orange and later King of Holland".

It was even said that Anneke Jans, "daughter of Wolfert Webber, 4th King of Holland, whose father was William, Prince of Orange", was born in "the King's Mansion in Holland" in 1605.

The first and only person who held the title "King of Holland" was the great Napoleon's brother Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1778-1846) who ruled The Netherlands in the period 1806-1810. The compendium probably refers to Prince William I "the Silent" of Orange (1533-1584), stadtholder of Holland. In 1565 - the supposed birth date of Wolfert Webber, -William was still married to his rich - but mad - 2nd wife, Anna of Saxony (1544-1577), and he was still married to his 4th wife when he was murdered in 1584. During his life William of Orange did recognize only one illegitimate son, Justinus (1559-1631). It wasn't until 1815 that one of William's descendants in the female line, Willem I Frederik of Orange-Nassau (1772–1843), became the 1st King of The Netherlands. 

I have never seen any reference to a Wolfert Webber in Dutch sources. Over the years the legend has been questioned, thoroughly researched and disproved. In 1973 George Olin Zabriskie published an article about it in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, volume 104, p.p. 65-72 and 157-160 entitled "ANNEKE JANS, FACT AND FICTION". 

Apparently, Anneke Jans was born in 1605 on Flekkerøy, a Norwegian island, as a daughter of Tryntje Jonas, a midwife. In 1623 in Amsterdam, Holland, Anneke married Roelof Jansson, a fellow Norwegian. Together they arrived in the new world in 1630. As a widow with 6 children, Anneke married Dutchman Everardus Bogardus. Bogardus had arrived in New Netherland in 1633, from Amsterdam on a sailing ship named "Sontberg". Everardus went to live with Anneke on a farm, and they had 4 more sons. The farm was henceforth called "Dominé's Bouwerie".
Bogardus died on September 27, 1647, in the Princess Amelia shipwreck near Swansea, Wales, while en route to Amsterdam. By 1664, Anneke Jans had died, too. Anneke's only son from her 1st marraige was Jan Roelofs (1633 - aft. 1670). The sons with 2nd husband were Willem (1638 - 1711), Cornelius (1640 - 1666), Jonas (1643 - 1689) and Pieter Bogardus (1645 - 1703).

See also: A Webber-related Genealogy, Baptisms in New Amsterdam, The Wolfert Webber - Anneke Jans Legend and Anneke Jans' details, wikipedia.org, Wikitree.com, or Wegen van Evert Willemsz. Een weeskind op zoek naar zichzelf, 1607-1647 .