Jane JOHNSON (c1720/21-c1769), daugther of Wm. Johnson & Jannetje WYCKOFF, of NJ
Jane JOHNSON (c1720/1-c1769), daughter of William Johnson and Janneje Wyckoff, of New Brunswick, Middlesex Co., NJ; the wife of Samuel Fitch (1719-1800), of Middlesex Co., NJ and Berkeley Co., VA (now WV)
by Charles Martin Ward, Jr.
Jane Johnson, born circa 1720/1 in New Brunswick, Middlesex Co., NJ, daughter of William Johnson and Jannetje Wyckoff; died circa 1769; m. 19 Jan 1739, in Middlesex Co., NJ, Samuel Fitch, b. 16 Jan 1719 in Piscataway, Middlesex Co., NJ; d. 15 Dec 1800 in Berkeley Co., VA (now WV), son of Daniel Fitch and Sarah Hull.
The Johnson and Wyckoff families were both of Dutch origin, having settled in New Amsterdam in the seventeenth century.William Johnson (c1693-1782) was a son of Jan Barentse Van Driest and his wife, Jannetje Willemse Van Barkelow.Interestingly, through his mother, William Johnson was a great-grandson of Anthony Janszoon van Salee and his wife, Griet Reyniers, about whom much has been written. William Johnson adopted the Johnson surname, derived from the traditional Dutch use of patronymics. William Johnson was originally Willem Jansen, or in other words, Willem, “son of Jan.”Jannetje Wyckoff, his wife, was a daughter of Martin Pietersen Wyckoff and granddaughter of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff (c1625-1694).William Johnson and Jannetje Wyckoff left Kings County, New York and settled in New Brunswick, Middlesex Co., NJ shortly after their marriage, around 1713.
Samuel Fitch, the husband of Jane Johnson, was a son of Daniel Fitch and his wife, Sarah Hull.Sarah Hull had previously been married to Benjamin Carle.She is known to have had at least two children by her first husband:Rosanna Carle (b.1698) and John Carle (b.1700).A Benjamin Carle served as a bondsman for the marriage of Samuel Fitch to Jane Johnson.It’s likely this was another son of Sarah Hull and her first husband, making Benjamin Carle a likely half-brother of Samuel Fitch.Interestingly, a Benjamin Carle married Sophia Johnson, daughter of Peter Johnson, brother to Jane (Johnson) Fitch.This Benjamin Carle is often incorrectly identified as “Benjamin Coile” based on a misreading of Peter Johnson’s will.The Carle surname was alternately spelled Corle, along with other variants.
Although Samuel Fitch was of English descent on both the paternal and maternal sides of his family, his marriage to Jane Johnson brought him into contact with the Dutch community in New Jersey.Samuel Fitch and his family left New Jersey and settled in Berkeley Co., VA by the early 1770s, if not earlier.There they remained in contact with families from the New Jersey Dutch community who had established a presence in Sheperdstown (now located in Jefferson Co., WV).For example, Samuel Fitch was a plaintiff in a case that pitted him against a distant relative of his wife, Christian Snedeker, in a case of trespass (1772-1773).Snedeker was married to the former Alte Van Arsdalen, whose mother, Sarah Wyckoff, was descended from Jane Johnson’s great-grandfather, Pieter Claesen Wyckoff.Christian Snedeker’s relatives, Isaac and Jacobus Snedeker, served as two of three witnesses to the will of William Johnson, father of Jane Johnson, wife of Samuel Fitch.
The will of William Johnson, of New Brunswick, Middlesex Co., NJ, was written 20 Dec 1768 and proven 20 Apr 1782.The will identifies his children, including his daughter, Jane, referred to in the will as Jean.It should be mentioned here that Jane Johnson’s given name was the anglicized form of her mother’s Dutch given name, Jannetje.
Jane (Johnson) Fitch is traditionally said to have died when her son, John Fitch, was eight years old, placing her death probably about 1769.Samuel Fitch would later marry, as his second wife, a widow, Mrs. Jemima Warner.
The Johnson surname would become a given name for the Fitch family, being perpetuated among the descendants of at least two of her sons, Peter and John.Peter Fitch, her son, was named for her brother, Peter Johnson, who served as co-executor of their father’s estate.
Some researchers in the past have misidentified the parentage of Samuel Fitch, the husband of Jane Johnson, incorrectly placing him as being the same-named son of Samuel Fitch and Mary Smith, whose children lived in Hunterdon and Mercer Counties, New Jersey.The Samuel Fitch who married Jane Johnson may be identified by the fact their marriage took place in Middlesex County, where Daniel Fitch and Sarah (Hull) Fitch resided, and the fact that a Benjamin Carle served as bondsman for the marriage.Benjamin Carle was almost certainly a relative of Sarah (Hull) Carle Fitch, as she had previously been married to a Benjamin Carle, and it’s possible he was a son by her first marriage.
Two family records taken from Bibles identity the Samuel Fitch (1719-1800) who settled in Berkeley Co., VA (now WV) as being the son of Daniel and Sarah (Hull) Fitch, of Middlesex Co., NJ.Although the family records do not specifically mention his wife by name, the factors outlined in the previous paragraph support the conclusion that the Samuel Fitch who married Jane Johnson was the same Samuel Fitch, son of Daniel and Sarah (Hull) Fitch.
Charles Ward
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