The Fulkerson Family Pages
Associated Families: Great Grandmother, Aeltje Rapalje
The name Aeltje Rapalje occurs with some frequency in New Jersey during the 1700s. The given name "Aeltje" (Aeltie, Aelte, Aalte, etc.) was the Dutch equivalent of "Alice."
Dutch spellings of both given names and surnames continued to be used in the British colony of New Jersey, decades after the end of Dutch rule of New Netherland and even regardless of whether a person's paternal ancestry was actually Dutch. The Rapalje (Raparielliet) family in this case originated in Valenciennes, northern France, and were members of the Walloon population who endured religious persecution from the Catholic king of France.
Like many other non-Dutch immigrants who originally settled in the New York-New Jersey area under the auspices of the Dutch West India Company, their unique culture merged with Dutch traditions as they intermarried with Dutch settlers.
The Aeltje Rapalje whom we've established as the spouse of Joseph Volkerts (Fulkerson) was baptized on 16 Sep 1710 near Somerville, Somerset Co., NJ, dau. of Jacob Jeronimus Rapalje (bapt. 25 Jun 1679) and Sarah Abramse Brinckerhoff (bapt. 18 Dec 1680 in Flushing, Queens, NY).
Fulkerson family history passed down through the generations emerged in the form of a letter in 1960, naming her as "Alchea Rappalgee." One of the findings that directly ties this "Alchea" to the Aeltje baptized in 1710 is a later baptismal record: the baptism of Joseph and Aeltje’s daughter Sarah Fulkerson was witnessed by “Abram Rapalje and wife Jenneke.” Abram was Aeltje Rapalje’s brother, a further and steadfast piece of evidence is that Joseph and Aeltje’s first four children were named in accordance with the Dutch tradition of naming the first two male and and two female children after their grandparents. Therefore, the identification of Aeltje as the daughter of Jacob Rapalje and Sarah Brinckerhoff is almost certainly correct.
Aeltje was a direct descendant of Joris Rapalje, who along with the Vignes was one of the first Walloon settlers to New Netherland in 1624 and was father to the first child born in New Netherland, Sarah Rapalje.
Joris later lived at Wallabout in what is now Brooklyn, south of where Dirck Volckertszen the Noorman was a farmer, and Sarah became one of Dirck's immediate neighbors.
There are at least three other family histories (Bergen, Schenck, and Suydam) which have laid claim to this particular Aeltje from 1710 and state she married into their families. This matter has been researched recently with the following conclusions:
The "Alche or Alte Rapalye" who married John Bergen was the daughter of Jeronimus Rapalje (of New Brunswick, d. 1775), son of Teunis Rapalje (of Brooklyn, 5 May 1671 - 1723), son of Jeronimus Rapalje (b. 27 Jan 1643). This Aeltie was born 6 Jan 1744 and was the niece of the Aeltie who married Joseph Volkerts.
The "Altje Rapalje" who married Gilbert Schenck was the daughter of Lt. Daniel Joris Rapalje, (29 Dec 1650-26 Dec 1725, Wallabout, NY) and Sarah [Abraham] Klock. (Tingley, Raymon Meyers, "Some ancestral lines : being a record of some of the ancestors of Guilford Solon Tingley and his wife, Martha Pamelia [sic] Meyers". Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle Pub. Co., 1935.)
The "Aaltje Rapalje" who married Hendrick Suydam is unknown so far. Aeltje, wife of Joseph Volkerts may have married Hendrick after Joseph's death. Or this could be a different Aeltje altogether. The only records known (so far) that tie an Aeltje Rapalje to a Hendrick Suydam are the following church membership lists:
First Reformed Dutch Church of New Brunswick, Church Members - 1788: "Aaltje Rappeljee, widow of Hendrick Suydam."
First Reformed Dutch Church of New Brunswick, Members on May 1, 1794: "Aaltje Rappelje, wife of Hendrick Suydam."
In 2008, Fulkerson cousin Dan Perrigan contributed much to this profile of Aeltje Rapalje, spouse of Bob's 6th great-grandfather Joseph Volkerts.
