Wyllem had sailed to New Amsterdam by1658 where he married and
begun to establish a life for himself and his wife Cornelia Van
Salee. Eventually Wyllem sailed back to The Netherlands to see
his family. By this time his brother Harman Jansen was married
to Willempje (Willimetie) Warner and had a 5 year old daughter
Jannetye and a 4 year old son Reynier Harmans.
In the early months of 1662, Wyllem, Harman with his wife and
young children along with a fellow Borculo resident, Adriaen Hendricks,
set out on their long journey. Later they would all list their
occupations as farmers.
Their journey would have begun by heading west until they reached
the frozen waters of the Ijssel river. From there they would have
followed it north on it's winding journey to the Ijsselmeer. Here
they would have faced what I suspect would have been a bitter
fifteen mile journey to the other side of the Ijsselmeer with
the goal of reaching Medemblik. From there the would travel south
across land to Amsterdam where they stayed for about a month.
The first part of their ocean journey would take them out from
the port of Amsterdam north along the Dutch coast to the island
of Texel. Arriving at Texel they would find their ship “De
Trouw” (The Faith) anchored awaiting favorable winds.
The “Schipper” of Record: Jan Jansz. Bestevaer. On
the ship's record, its departure is listed as Amsterdam with a
destination of “Nieuw A'dam (New Amsterdam). It is not clear
why they joined the ship at Texel. It is possible that by the
time they had arranged for their passage the ship had already
departed for Texel to wait for favorable winds. This would not
be the first trip for De Trouw. Between 1659 and 1664 De Trouw
and her “Schipper” Jan Jansz Bestevair would make
the crossing six times.
On the De Trouw passenger list their names appear as follows:
Willem Jansz from Berckeloo
Harmen Jansen from Berckeloo, wife and 2 children 5 and 3
Adriaen Hendricks farmer from Berckeloo
This is where we find the origins of the many American variations
of the name (Burkelow, Burklow, Bartlow, Barkalow, Bartlow, Barkuloo,
Barricklow etc..) The family surname prior to this would have
been Lubberdinck (Lubberding). The source of this name would have
been their farm located near Geesteren. As was traditional, if
they would have relocated to another farm they would have assumed
the name of that farm. Having departed their farm they registered
as Wyllem Jansz or Harmen Jansen “van Berkeloo” or
Wyllem and Harman “From Berkeloo”.
After sailing from Texel on 24 March 1662, they would have crossed
the North Sea to the south of England. It would have been traditional
to use the southern or “winter route” crossing the
Atlantic just north of Bermuda. After passing the coast of Virginia
they would have turned north to Nieuw Nederland (New York). Such
voyages usually took from 6 to 8 weeks. They arrived in New Netherlands
June 12th 1662 as the van Berkeloos.
Six years before their arrival, the settlement of New Utrecht
had established itself and began to grow. Records indicate that
two years before their arrival there were already eleven “substantial”
houses. As with many settlements of it's time, New Utrecht had
a Block K-house with palisades, or defenses established for protection.
This small settlement surrounded by the forest home to many Indian
which were considered “savages. After being ordered by the
Governor to build the defenses they also clear the forest back
within gun-shot range for better defense.
