Jan Theunissen PIER (1631 – 1676) was Alex’s 10th Grandfather; one of 2,048 in this generation of the Shaw line.

Jan Theunissen Pier was born 19 Oct 1631 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His parents were Teunis Jansz PIER and Jannetje ARENTE. He married Martije JANS about 1656 in Holland He emigrated with his wife and child Rachel in 1661, sailing on the De Saint Jan Baptist. His brother, also our ancestor,  Arent Teunissen PIER, wife and 2 children age 7 & 4  were also aboard.  Jan died in Apr 1676 in Brooklyn, Kings, NY.

Jan Teunissen [Pier] from Amsterdam, wife and 2 children 4 & 1 1/2

Martije Jans was born in 1635 in Reusel-de Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. Her parents were Abram JANS (1608 – 1663) and Trijntjen SIJMONS (1612 – 1647).  After Jan died, she married Willem Jansen Roman on 12 Apr 1676.  Maritje died in 1686 in Ulster, NY.

Child of Jan and Martije:

Children

1. Rachel Jansen PIER (See Adrianus Franciscusz  De LANGET‘s page)

2. Teunis Theunissen Pier

Teunis’ wife Catrina Tomasse Cadmus was born 2 Sep 1662 in New Amsterdam, New York. Her parents were Thomas Cadmus and Maritje Ariansen. Catrina died 27 Apr 1748 in Bergen, New Jersey.

Bergen Church Marriage Records shows: Teunis Jansen Spier [sic] from New York, and Catharyna Thomasse  from Bergen NJ m. Oct 6 by preacher at Bergen. Listed Sept 14 1684.

The ancestor of the New Jersey Pier family is Tunis Jansen Pier, the son of Jan Theunis and Maritie Jans. Tunis Jansen came from New Amsterdam NY to Bergen New Jersey in 1684. He later moved to Belleville, NJ where he purchased considerable land. Surnames as we know them did not come into general use in Colonial NY until 1687 and thus Tunis can be found in the records under Pier, PEER, ASPEERE, Spier, SPEER and JOHNSON (an anglized version of his patrony mic of JANSEN, meaning “son of Jan”) He is also found as Teunis Johnson alias Piere, with variant spellings of both Johnson and Piere. In the 17th century, names were written as heard, that is, phonetically, and if a Dutch individual had his name written by an English clerk, the result could be quite different than his actual name.

So it was that the Pier and the Spier families became confused. Not only did the two families originate about the same time period in New Jersey, they were in the same location. Teunis Jansen Pier’s daughter Rachel Teunissen Pier also married Hendrick Hanse Spier, the son of Hans Spier. The Pier and Spier families were further mixed up in the records because the names of Teunis and Hans were quite often used. If a man named Teunis Pier stated his name to a clerk, what did the clerk hear? Teunis Spier or Teunis Pier? Chances were that Teunis could neither read nor write so he would have no idea if his name were recorded correctly.

Tunis Jansen Pier’s will was written 1 Oct. 1727 and proved 9 April 1729. In it he lists wife Catherine and children Johanus, Thomas, Abraham, Jacob, Rachel and Janitee. Executors were his sons Johanus and Abraham. He lived Newark, Essex Co. NJ. Witnesses were Jno. Cooper, Gerret Wouterse, Matheus van Deusen. He left bequests to his wife Catrina and four sons and two daughters – it is from these four sons that the New Jersey Pier and Peer families came. It can be found in Lib. B,p. 119 New Jersey Wills.

Sources:

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/5549541/person/-1438855066

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=802614&st=1