Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

the beginning of the eleventh century,
when members of the family held exten-
sive landed estates in Holland. Research
as yet failed to establish a connection
between the Ameri< an family of the name
and the ancient Dutch house. Kikcr in
hi-^ "Annals of Newtown, New York," in
an extensive article devoted to the Suydam
family, states that they owe their
name to a custom in vogue among the
Dutch founders of families, of assuming
the title of the place in Europe whence
they had emigrated to America. The first
ancestor of the Suydams in America was
Heyndrycke Rycke or Rychen. Early
Dutch colonial records inform us that he
was "from Suydam," but unless either
Schiedam or Saardam be intended, which
is perhaps to be questioned, doubt must
be raised as to the locality. From the ear-
liest years of the New Amsterdam colony,
members of the family have rendered dis-
tinguished services to America during her
several wars, and have established a rep-
utation for stern integrity, honesty, hos-
pitality and respectability. The family
has held a place of importance socially
among the old Knickerbocker families of
Xew York, and has intermarried since the
time of its founding with the foremost
families of the State.
(1 ) Ilendrick Rycken, immigrant an-
cestor and founder of the Suydam family,
emigrated from Holland to America in
i(>>'>3, settling on the outskirts of the city
of Xew Amsterdam, at what was then
called Smith's Fly, where he purchased
a house and land on the shore of the East
river, in 1678. He was a blacksmith, and
pursued his trade in that locality until
forced to move by the continued annoy-
ance and danger of the snakes which in-
fested the low land in that section. This
property, which he subsequently sold to
Dirck Van der Cliff (after whom Cliff
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HKHiRAl'IIV
[89
Street, Xew York, took its name).
bounded by the Easl river, Shoemaker's
land, and Maiden Lane. Ilendrick
ken had been in Xew York fourteen
'c la- purchased this property,
and this transaction -cems to have been
the beginning of a successful career for
him. In his monograph on Ilendrick
Rycken, the Rev. J. Howard Suydam,
D. D ,
>ays
:
I a farmer,
a distance from the built-
since it was
'
up portion of the city. If so, it was a wo
Structure, long, having a low ceiling, and a roof
ing very near to the ground. Near by there
was a garden of flowers, containing many colored
tulips, which at this particular period were
ducing a strange mania in Holland. There
also a garden of vegetables, for which the
Dutch were ever famous. The milk for the fam-
ily came from the cows which flourished on the
sweet clover in that pasture field; and the table
was never without the schnapps, or the tankard
of beer. On the site of Hcndrick Rycken's farm
was fought the battle of Golden Hill, on January
18, 1770, which marked the first bloodshed
in the American Revolution. It is usually stated
by historians that the first blood was shed at
Lexington, but such it not the fact. In 1678-79
he removed to Flatbush, where in April, 1679, he
united with the church, with his wife Ida
(Jacobs) Rycken. Rycken was one of the
twenty-six patentees of the town of Flatbush,
under the patent granted by Lieutenant-Governor
Dongan, in 16S5. He later acquired a large estate
in Flatbush and other places, and assumed
a place of prominence in the life and affairs of
that locality. The family ranked high among the
1 Id
Dutch families of the day.
Ilendrick Rycken died in 1701. In his
will he enjoins upon his wife a careful at-
tention to the religious education of their
children. Issue. 1. Jacob. 2. Ilendrick.
Ryck, mentioned below. 4. Ida. 5.
Gertrude. 6. Jane.
It is a curious though well established
fact that, about the year 1710, the sons of
Hendrick Rycken adopted the surname of
Suydam, and from these three are de-