William Ennis and Cornelia Viervant

There are two different stories passed down in the Ennis family. One is that our ancestors were Scottish. Another is that they were Irish. Both of these stories were recorded by Calvin Ennes in his privately published book, A Bit About the Ennes (1969). He called William Ennis (who was the earliest known of the Ennis/Ennes ancestors) "a farmer of Scot descent" at one point. However, Ennes also cites a legend, saying, "Another Ennis legend (there are many versions of it) tells of three brothers who left the Erne River Valley near Enniskillen, Ireland, and went to Holland. From there they sailed to American with the early Dutch who settled along the Hudson River. Here they intermarried."

I have heard nothing further on these three Irish brothers settling in New Netherland, particularly any by the name of Ennis. The idea that William was Scottish, however, was recorded by Rosalie Fellows Bailey in Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York (New York, William Morrow & Company, 1936, p. 542; a copy is available at Ancestry (paid subscription site)).

Both are possible - variations on the name can be found in Scotland and Ireland. William B. Saxbe Jr., in his article "Four Fathers for William Ennis of Kingston: A Collective Review" (New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 129, No. 4, October 1998, pgs. 227-238) suggested another possible nationality for William- Frisian.

The Frisians are a people living in what is now part of the Netherlands. There was, in fact, a Rebecca Ennes, wife of Frans Goderis, living in Kingston, Ulster, New York (where William and his wife, Cornelia, lived and raised a family). She was William's contemporary. It has been established that her father was Enne Tebbes, a Frisian cloth worker, who never actually came to America. As Frisians, Enne's children would have been using the patronymic system, where a child uses his or her father's first name as their last name. Thus, they would have been called Ennes. 

So, what were the nationalities of William Ennis' parents? Were they Irish, Scottish, or Frisian?

One vital clue is the names of William and Cornelia's children. There is a strong tendency in certain cultures to use a specific pattern in naming children. The Dutch and Frisians typically named their eldest son after one of his grandfathers, usually the paternal one. The second son was named after the other grandfather. The third son was named after the father. The naming of daughters followed a similar pattern, paternal grandmother first, maternal grandmother second, mother third. If a child died young, the next child of the same gender was named after the child who died. The Irish and Scottish used this naming pattern also.

William, whether Frisian, Irish, or Scottish, would probably have used this naming pattern. Cornelia's parents were Dutch and French and the Enneses lived in a Dutch community, thus strengthening the theory that William and Cornelia used the above-described naming system.

According to the Kingston baptismal record, William and Cornelia's children were, in order of birth:

1. Alexander
2. Cornelius
3. Cornelius
4. Catherine
5. Jannetje
6. Jannetje
7. Alexander
8. William

The first son, Alexander, and the second son, Cornelius, and the second daughter, Jannetje, must have died young because their are younger children with the same names. So, if you exclude the third and fourth sons and the third daughter, the list of children's names looks like this:

1. Alexander
2. Cornelius (named after Cornelia's father, Cornelius Viervant)
3. Catherine
4. Jannetje (Dutch equivalent of French name Jeanne; named after Cornelia's mother, Jeanne Le Sueur)
5. William (named after father)

According to the naming tradition, the eldest son, Alexander, and the eldest daughter, Catherine, would have been named after their paternal grandparents, William's parents. This alone does not exclude Enne Tebbes from being William's father. The Frisians who came to New Netherland/New York did not often give their children names that were uniquely Frisian.

However, there are other factors. The name Alexander was not used by any other family in Kingston at or before that time, as a search of the baptismal records will show. It is not a traditional name in the Dutch or Frisian culture. It is also not a typical Irish name. It is a very popular name among the Scottish.

One other clue is an analysis of the Kingston baptismal records made by William Saxbe. Many times in the Kingston records, brothers and sisters would use some of the same baptismal witnesses for their children. He found that there was no such overlap for Rebecca's children and William's children. This makes it even less likely that Enne Tebbes was William Ennes' father. 

The most likely candidates for William Ennes' parents, in my opinion, are Alexander and Catherine Innes of Block Island, Rhode Island. Saxbe, in his article, held a like opinion. Alexander, it is known, was a Scot who fought against Cromwell in the Battle of Dunbar. He was captured and sold as an indentured servant to the Saugus Ironworks. After his term of indenture was finished, he moved to Taunton, where his wife is recorded on the Plymouth Colony court records. They show her as being Irish. The Innes family moved to Block Island, part of Rhode Island, where Alexander died. 

There is one more final clue. One of William's sons, Alexander, had as a baptismal witness one "Thomas Herris". There are no Thomas Herrises recorded in Kingston at that time. However, Saxbe records that Alexander died at the home of William Harris, naming Harris as his heir on his deathbed. William Harris was married to an Elizabeth "Enos" (spelling variation on Innes). Because of these facts and the fact that they had children named Alexander and Catherine, Elizabeth "Enos" is believed to be a daughter of Alexander and Catherine Innes.

Elizabeth and William Harris had a son named Thomas, who moved to Poughkeepsie, New York before the aforementioned baptism. Therefore, this Thomas Harris may have come to Kingston to be his younger cousin Alexander's baptismal witness. The other witness for the baptism was a "Cathryn Honnist". This may be an attempt by the dominie (Dutch Reformed Church minister) to spell the name Innes as he heard it. This type of phonetic spelling was typical at this time.

So, who were William Ennis' parents? Probably, Alexander Innes, the Scottish prisoner of war, and his Irish wife, Catherine

1. William Ennes House, Old Mine Road, Sandyston Township, Hainesville, Sussex County, NJ, Historic American Buildings Survey, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/nj0823/, accessed 24 February 2019.
2. Hoes, Roswell Randall (comp.), Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1997 (originally published by DeVinne Press (New York), 1891).
3. Minisink Valley Reformed Dutch Church Records, 1716-1830, facsimile reprint by Heritage Books, Bowie, MD, 1992.
4. "Old Mine Road Historic District," National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, received and entered 1980, PDF copy of form located at https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/ed3a265f-f45b-4fb9-bdc3-a93088128ca5, accessed 18 Feb 2019.
5. Snell, James P. (comp.), The History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881. Available at Archive.org.
6. Riker, James, Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals, New York: New Harlem Publishing Company, 1904, p. 388. Available at Archive.org.
7. Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. New Jersey Census, 1643-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
8. Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: New Jersey County, District and Probate Courts.
9. New Jersey, Probate Records, 1678-1980, images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-29845-24735-92?cc=2018330&wc=MM1F-Z1T:n1121801475 : accessed 08 Nov 2013), Sussex, Wills 1804-1828 vol A-B, images 19-20 of 548.
10. Will Books, 1752-1907; With Register's Index, 1752-1966; Author: Northampton County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Northampton, Pennsylvania; Notes: Will Book, Vol 1-3, 1752-1800, from Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Pennsylvania County, District and Probate Courts.
11. McDuffee, Alice Louise, Lineage Book, vol. 104, Washington, DC: National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1913, pgs. 31-32.
12. Ennes, Calvin, A Bit about the Ennes, privately printed manuscript, Au Gres, MI, 1969. Transcription available at http://www.boydhouse.com/darryl/ennis/book/cover.htm, last accessed 8 Jan 2019.
13. Gravestone of Henry Courtright, Brodhead-Courtright Farm Burial Grounds, Pike county, Pennsylvania.

1. Saxbe, William B., Jr., "Four Fathers for William Ennis of Kingston: A Collective Review," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 129, Oct 1998, pgs. 227-238.

Records of Baptisms of the Reformed Church at Kingston, Ulster, NY.

Kingston Marriage Register

Page 533, Marriage # 367
1717 10 May.
LAMMERT BRINK, j. m., born in Horly (Hurley), and CORNELIA VIERBRAND, widow of WILLEM ENNES, born in Kingstown. Banns registered, 21 April.

Page 536, Marriage # 415
1719 9 Oct.
CORNELIS ENNIS, j. m., born in Mormel (Marbletown), and resid. in Keyser-Ryk (Kyserike),* and MARYTJEN VAN ETTEN, j. d., born in Horly (Hurley), and resid. in Keyser-Ryk. Banns registered, 13 Sept.
*Note from R. R. Hoes:  "In the present town of Rochester, Ulster Co., N. Y."

Page 546, Marriage # 541
1724 6 Nov.
HENDRIK KORTREGT, j. m., born in Raysester (Rochester), and JANNETJEN ENNES, j. d., born in Mormeltown (Marbletown), and both resid. in Mormeltown. Banns registered, 11 Sept.

Page 566, Marriage # 788
1734 (Date of marriage not given)
ZANDER ENNES, j. m., and ZARA MIDDAG, j. d., both born in Mormel (Marbletown), the bridegroom resid. there, and the bride in Assokan (Shokan).* Banns registered, 15 Sept.

*Note from R. R. Hoes:  "In present town of Olive, Ulster Co., N. Y."

Page 571, Marriage # 832
1736 2 July
BENJAMIN DAVIS, j. m., and HENDRICA GEBRINK, j. d., both resid. in the Co. of Ulster. Married on the presentation of a license of President George Clarke (Acting Gov.)

Source: Hoes, Roswell Randall (comp.), Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1997 (originally published by DeVinne Press (New York), 1891).

Church Members
1745-67 (Machackemeck)

Page 281
1745-June 19. In the presence of Hendrick Kortrecht and Dirk Westbroeck, elders of Mennisink, upon confession of faith and life, as members of our Low Dutch Reformed Church, the following persons were received:
William Ennes and his wife Lisabeth Quick...Maritje Westfael wife of Jan van Etten...

Page 284
1762-April 9. In the presence of William Ennes, elder of the Church of Jesus Christ, were received on confession...

1767-September. These upon satisfactory confession of - the godly truth, in presence of William Ennes and Hendrick Cortregt, respective elders of Naamnach, were received...

From the minute book of the Corporation and Consistory, the Minisink church, Page vii

"Succession of Consistory and their Acts. There has been a succession of Elders and Deacons in the Church of Menessing from August 23, 1737 to May the 11, 1785 when the combined Consistories of Walpeck, Menesing, and Magagkameck, viz.
Isaac Van Campen made a Call on the Rvd. Elias Van
Joannes Decker Bunschooten then Minister of the
Hendrick Wm. Cortrecht Gospel of Schachthook who accepted of the
Joannes C. Westbrook Menesing Call the 9th of July next following
Hendericus Decker and was installed by the Revd. Jacob R.
Jesias Cortrecht Hardenburgh the 29 of August 1785 and
William Ennes also at the same time by the
Frederick Van Demerck above mentioned Consistories received as
J. R. Dewitt their lawful Minister of the
Simon Westfall Gospel as may be seen in Menesing church Harmanus Van Emwigen records."
Jacob D. Gumaar
Elias Cortrecht
Thomas Kyte

Source: Minisink Valley Reformed Dutch Church Records, 1716-1830, facsimile reprint by Heritage Books, Bowie, MD, 1992.

A Bit about the Ennes

Pages 10-12:

WILLIAM ENNES JR. (II), 1711-1804 was the son of William (I). A summary of his biography can best be given by a “Copy of records from the Old Ennis Bible”:

William (Jr.) Ennis, in his own hand viz. 1711 January 10th was I. William Ennis, born at Mormal. (town off Marbletown N.Y., see church records)
        1739 May 18th was I married to me wife Elizabeth Quick.
        1740 Sept. 28th is born my eldest daughter Cornelia.
        1743 Jan. 24th departed this life my said daughter Cornelia.
        1743 April 25th is born my eldest son Benjamin.
        1745 Nov. 30th is born my second son Daniel.
        1748 June 28th is born my second daughter Margaret.
        1751 July 9th is born my third son Joseph.
        1754 Mar. 9th is born my fourth son John
        1756 Nov. 26th is born my fifth son Cornelius (1st).
        1759 Aug. 16th is born my sixth son Alexander.
        1760 Sept. 10th departed this life my son Cornelius (1st).
        1761 Nov. 5th is born my seventh son Cornelius (2nd).
        1764 May 24th Is born my third daughter Catherine.
        1769 Oct. 11th departed this life my sixth son Alexander.
        1778 June 21th departed this life my son John.
        1780 April 20 departed this life my son Benjamin, killed by Indians, being my eldest son.
        1771 April 8 departed this life my dearly beloved wife, Elizabeth, on Wednesday at 2 o’clock.

Source: Ennes, Calvin, A Bit about the Ennes, privately printed manuscript, Au Gres, MI, 1969. Transcription available at http://www.boydhouse.com/darryl/ennis/book/cover.htm, last accessed 8 Jan 2019.

Revised History of Harlem

Resolved Waldron and Johannes Vermilye, the guardians of Cornelia Viervant, offered at auction, Jan. 16th, 1684, a horse left by her late father, but did not succeed in selling it, only 37 gl. being bid. It was afterward bought for 120 gl. by Jan Postmael (the Post ancestor), who at the same time, March 3d, hired 3 cows left by Viervant, for six years, for half the increase. CORNELIS ARENTS VIERVANT was a native of Lexmont, in the Land of Vianen, Utrecht. He m. at Kingston in 1668, Jeanne Le Sueur, sr. of François, the Lozier anc., and d. at Fordham, in 1675, leaving an only ch. Cornelia. She m. William Innis, of Kingston, a son, we suspect of Rev. Alexander Innis, chaplain at N.Y., in 1686. William Innis had chn. Alexander, b. 1694, Cornelius, 1696, etc. Desc. are yet found.

Source: Riker, James, Revised History of Harlem (City of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals, New York: New Harlem Publishing Company, 1904, p. 388. Available at Archive.org.

The History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey

Page 27:
NAMES OF EARLY SETTLERS OF SUSSEX COUNTY.
...
1750. — Benjamin Shoemaker, William Ennes, Gerrit Brinck.

Page 327:
Walpack.
1769.— Constable, Johannes Cortrocht; Surveyors of Highways, Abraham Carmar, William Ennis.

Page 366:
Montague.
VI.— SCHOOLS.
As a part of the school history of the township, it may be proper to state that ground was given for a school-house in the Minisink as early as 1731 by Johanes Westbrook, which is elsewhere described. It is, however, not probable that a school was erected upon it at that early date.

The earliest school recollected by the oldest surviving inhabitant was located near the residence of Jacob Hornbeck, and built of logs, during the beginning of the present century. The first teacher was one Master Cooper, a rigid disciplinarian. His severity caused him to be long remembered by the scholars upon whom it was exercised. A later pedagogue was Master Daniel Kimball, whose terms were twelve shillings per scholar for a period of twelve weeks. He was followed by Master Wright, who is remembered as a skillful penman, and later by William Ennes, after which a Madam Benjamin became the directress of the educational interests of the neighborhood.

Pages 417:
Sandyston.
III.— EARLY SETTLEMENTS, Etc.
Among the earliest settlers in Sandyston was William Ennes, of Scotch descent, who came in 1753 and at once engaged in teaching, having been one of the most renowned among the earlier instructors of Sussex County. He was the pioneer of his profession along the banks of the Delaware, which was the scene of his earliest labors.
Mr. Ennes the year of his arrival purchased the farm now occupied by John Kyte. The deed conveying this property is dated Oct. 5, 1753, and is given by Richard Gardner, one of the 'proprietors,' to William Ennes. He resided until his death upon this and other lands that he purchased, when it passed into the hands of his son-in-law, Simon Cortright, whose birth occurred in Sandyston in 1764, he having been of Dutch lineage.

Page 421:
VI.— SCHOOLS.
The earliest opportunities for education in Sandyston occurred along the Delaware River. The first instructor who is remembered was one William Ennes, already mentioned as an early settler, who afforded various portions of the township in succession the benefit of his superior abilities. He was an able and a worthy man. Although minus an arm, he wielded the rod with a dexterity which filled the hearts of the urchins in the neighborhood with terror and rendered them speedily amenable to his discipline. He was skillful in preparing quill pens for the scholars, which were scattered by him over the room or tossed at the boys with the most absolute certainty of aim.
The earliest school building stood upon the present farm of Ford T. Kyte. It was a capacious structure and was attended by many of the children from the adjoining township of Montague. Mr. Ennis for many years retained his popularity, and was the only teacher at this school.

Page 422:
VIII.— BURIAL-PLACES.
The oldest burial-ground in Sandyston, and possibly in the county, is known as the "De Schmidt burial-ground," near the Delaware River, in the northwest portion of the township.
...
In this inclosure were interred the remains of early members of the Westbrook family, the Cortrights, and the venerable William Ennes and his wife. Many of the graves were marked by common fieldstones, on which were rude inscriptions.
This spot is still devoted to purposes of burial, though not in general use.

Source: Snell, James P. (comp.), The History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881. Available at Archive.org.

National Historic Register

.5 miles south of the Westbrook-Bell House, also set back from the road, is the Ennis House. With Westbrook-Bell, it is one of the two remaining structures from the village of Minisink. It is a small 1 1/2 story rubble stone house with a steep pitch roof and clapboard gable ends. One wall has been removed for an addition to the rear of the house. It was built about 1751, either for, or bought soon after by William Ennis, who kept the first school in the New Jersey Minisink. Between the Old Mine Road and the Delaware River, near Nomanock Island, are the ruins of Fort Nomanock, one of the major defensive structures built and manned by the New Jersey colonial government for the protection of Minisink residents from Indian raids during the French and Indian War. Unlike the Westbrook Fort, Nomanock was especially constructed for the purpose, and housed a small but regular detachment of militia.
...
.5 miles south of the cemetery is the John Wesley Van Auken House, also known as the Ennis Ferry House. This 1 1/2 story frame house was built about 1760 into a bank overlooking the Delaware River on a rough, split-faced fieldstone foundation. It has wood siding and a wood shingle roof. The interior has been somewhat modernized with the construction of an apartment on the upper story and in the rear at the cellar level. Most of the original joiner work detailing remains intact. The fireplace mantel is probably original. The house probably served the first of two ferries in the Dingmans area, known as the Ennis Ferry. During the era of logging on the Upper Delaware, it was a popular night stop for rafters, who brought the logs to downriver markets. The complex includes a handsome and well preserved barn on a high quality stone foundation.
...
The mute and isolated solidity of the Ennis or Westbrook-Bell Houses still conveys a sense of the stark and raw, yet civilized state of life that existed on the earliest American frontier.

Source: "Old Mine Road Historic District," National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, received and entered 1980, PDF copy of form located at https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/ed3a265f-f45b-4fb9-bdc3-a93088128ca5, accessed 18 Feb 2019.

Click each thumbnail to open a full-size version of the image in a new tab.

Click here to view a PDF with information on the William Ennes house in Sandyston, Sussex, New Jersey.

Source: William Ennes House, Old Mine Road, Sandyston Township, Hainesville, Sussex County, NJ, Historic American Buildings Survey, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/nj0823/, accessed 24 February 2019.

Images of probate records are shown below as thumbnails. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger version of the record in another tab.

Will of William Ennis

Source: Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: New Jersey County, District and Probate Courts.

Will of William Ennis (probably a copy of the original above)

Source: Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: New Jersey County, District and Probate Courts.

Will of Henry Courtright

Source: Will Books, 1752-1907; With Register's Index, 1752-1966; Author: Northampton County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Northampton, Pennsylvania; Notes: Will Book, Vol 1-3, 1752-1800, from Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Pennsylvania County, District and Probate Courts.

William Ennes m. 1739 Elizabeth Quick (d. 1771)
...
William Ennes (1711-1804) served as private in Colonel Pawling's regiment, Ulster County, New York militia.

Source: McDuffee, Alice Louise, Lineage Book, vol. 104, Washington, DC: National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1913, pgs. 31-32.

Name: William Ennis
State: NJ
County: Sussex County
Township: Sandyston
Year: 1793
Record Type: June Tax List
Database: NJ Tax Lists Index 1772-1822

Source: Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. New Jersey Census, 1643-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.

Photos are shown below as thumbnails. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo in another tab.

Brodhead-Courtright Farm Burial Grounds, Pike county, Pennsylvania

Note: If you wish to use the photo above, be aware that it is copyrighted. The copyright holder stated: "Non-commercial use of tombstone photos must bear credit to: (c)2011-2016 ATJ. Commercial use requires written permission." The copyright holder can be contacted through Findagrave.