Esther and John B. Acker, Loyalists (Part 4 in Acker Series)

 Since we now know that Esther and John Acker were from Philipsburgh, and their oldest 2 children were born in New York, we turn our attention to the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, then Philipsburgh Manor, in Westchester County, just north of New York City. (see Acker Pedigree Chart, see Parts 1, 2, 3 of Acker Series)

Old Dutch Church, when we visited, June 2024

Their son Henry was 90 when he died on 8 November 1869, so that means he was born between November 1778 and November 1779.  He was born in New York.  Their daughter Catherine was 84 when she died April 10, 1867, so that means she was born between April 1782 and April 1783.  Her death record says she was born in the US.  Since the evacuations to Shelburne all came by ship from New York City, I am going to assume she was born in New York too. 

The obvious record to look for would be for a baptism for Catherine in 1782/83.  I decided, in the interests of not missing anything, to start in Old Dutch Church baptism records for 1790 and work backwards.  After all, events can be recorded much later than the date they took place.

Pretty soon I got scared.  Parents were bringing in all their kids to be baptized at once.  Usually the youngest was an infant, and it looked like when they brought that baby in, they baptized all their other kids too, at ages 2, 5, 7....Why were they doing that?  Why weren't the older kids baptized already?  I was afraid it was because there was a war going on, and everyone was displaced, or afraid to leave their homes, or the church was being used as a fort, or no records were kept, or they were destroyed, or.....almost anything.  

Me in front of Old Dutch Church and Graveyard, June 2024

Sure enough, the records completely stopped in 1785.  A notation even said it was because of the war.  So absolutely no baptism for Catherine.  There were a few scraps, found somewhere else and stuck in the right order, for 1778 and 1779.  No baptism for Henry, tho.  

I thought I might get lucky and find a marriage for Esther and John.  Since Henry was probably born in 1779, they were probably married in 1778 or 1777.  So I looked thru marriages.  No dice.

Well, Esther and John were probably born at Philipsburgh, so I could look for their baptisms, at least.  Esther had her children over a 22-year period.  If she was 46 at the birth of her last child in 1797, she would have been born in 1751.  If she was 17 when she had Henry in 1779, she would have been born in 1762.  So I looked for Esther's baptism between 1751 and 1762.

Child and Birthdate	Esther’s Possible Age	Esther’s Possible Age
Henry 1779	17 - Esther’s possible birthdate 1762	28
Catherine 1783	21	32
Stephen 1784	22	33
Jacob 1788	26	37
John 1791	29	40
Timothy 1793	31	42
Esther 1797	35	46 - Esther’s possible birthdate 1751

Thank Goodness I found somebody!  A lot of children were baptized on April 24, 1759, including Hester, daughter of Hendrick Krankheyt, sponsors Abraham Storm and Hester Danels.

I had already noticed name changes after the United States became a country.  There were plenty of Ackers after 1790, but not before.  Before 1790, there were tons of Eckers, but no Ackers.  To make sure, I matched a Jacob Acker after the War to the same man beforehand, when he was Jacob Ecker.

It was the same way with the Cranks.  Plenty of Cronks and Cranks after the Revolution, but beforehand, they were Crankheit.  Or Cronkheit, Cranckheyt, Krankheyt, and any other way you can think of.  Crankheit means sickness, so I can see why a person would want to change it.  Yes, it is the same name as news anchor Walter Cronkhite, and yes, we are related to him.

I also noticed that most children were named after their godparents.  So it made complete sense that Hester Krankheyt was named after Hester Danels, that she became Esther Crank after the War, and that she named her first son Henry after her father Hendrick.  I was quite sure this Hester was our girl, but it was proven when we DNA matched to descendants of her brother Jan Crankheyt. 

The baptisms of Esther's youngest siblings showed that Hester Danels (Daniels) was actually their mother, and Hendrick and Hester's marriage record proved it.  (Hester's name is spelled Eesther on one record).  Occasionally, parents did serve as their children's godparents.

Where were Esther, John, and their children during the War?  What did they do to earn passage to Nova Scotia and a land grant?  I can't find any evidence of military service or any other reason.  And where were all the other Krankheyts and Eckers?  Why didn't they evacuate too?  Weren't they Loyalists?

Parr Street, Shelburne, 2017

Esther and John's land grant was in town, on Parr Street.  A land grant in town was highly desired.  People who got those were merchants; the richest ones got land on the waterfront at the dock.  Still, Parr Street is only 6 blocks from the water.  The people who got grants in town were the earlier evacuees.  John's witness statement said he was a cordwainer, a person who makes shoes from scratch, as opposed to a cobbler who cobbles worn shoes back together.  Cordwainers crafted especially expensive shoes from fine leather; the word comes from Cordoba, Spain, which exports quality leather.  Where would you practice such a trade?  On Philipsburgh Manor, where the only people who could afford it would be the lord and lords of other manors?  In New York City?

1784 map with Loyalist grants, no streets laid out

1899 map of town with streets - Parr Street is 6th from and parallel to the harbour
simplified map of Shelburne today - Parr Street connects King Street and John Street - arrow points to Visitor Center

John swore that Samuel Davenport was a merchant who left all his lands in Philipsburgh and escaped to New York City in 1777.  Did John and Esther do that too?  Did they marry and baptize their children in the city?  The original Shelburne immigrants, the Port Roseway Associates, were wealthy men from New York City.  

A John Acker, yeoman, took the oath of fidelity to King George III between 13 January and 26 February 1777 in the presence of New York Royal Governor Tryon and the Mayor of New York City.  Is he our John B.?

A Philip Acker also took the oath.  George and Jacob Acker served in the New York Volunteers.  Thomas and William Acker drove carts in His Majesty's Service.  Are any of them relatives?

So you see we have more questions than answers.

References:

1. Henry Acker in Nova Scotia Births, Marriages, and Deaths, death number: 1816-00026, https://archives.novascotia.ca/vital-statistics

2. Catherine Shultz in Nova Scotia Births, Marriages, and Deaths, death number: 1816-00058, https://archives.novascotia.ca/vital-statistics

3. Hester Krankheyt, Baptism, #1650, p. 105, The Register of Baptisms, The Archives of the Reformed Church in America; New Brunswick, New Jersey; Record Book of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow; Members, Baptisms, and Marriages, Indices, U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926, Ancestry.com

4. "Walter Cronkhite boat named after one of his Dutch ancestors, Wyntje de Theunis,"1979-08-26, https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition/116643732/?xid=637, Newspapers.com - Newsday (Nassau Edition), Hempstead, New York, www.newspapers.com

5. Hendrikus Crancheyt and Esther Daniels, Marriage, #1741, p. 53, Holland Society of New York; New York, New York; Tarrytown 2 and Gravesend, Book 52, U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926, Ancestry.com

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer

7. Maps of Shelburne 1784, 1894, https://dylansthoughts.home.blog/2019/03/19/reflection-5-settlement-of-shelburne-nova-scotia/

8. John Acker in entry for Samuel Davenport, New York, p. 215, Coldham, Peter Wilson. American Migrations 1765-1799: The lives, times, and families of colonial Americans who remained loyal to the British Crown before, during and after the Revolutionary War, as related in their own words and through their correspondence. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000, Ancestry.com database American (Loyalist) Migrations 1765-1799

9. Entries for George, Jacob, John, Philip, Thomas, and William Acker, pp. 23- 24, Burns, Brendon S., The Loyal and Doubtful: Index to the Acts of British Loyalism in the Greater New York and Long Island Area 1775-1783, First Series Vol. 1, Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, Arlington, VA, 2023