Margaret MONTRAS

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Margaret was baptized in the Dutch reformed Church at Kingston, NY, 12 Nov 1693, when she was nearly 2 1/2 years old. The register explains that the delay in her baptism was due to the fact that her parents had previously been Roman Catholics.

When about 6 years old, Margaret was taken by her family to live in Newtown, Long Island. When her father died in 1702 or 1703, she was taken by her mother, together with her younger brother John, to the home of her brothers and sister, David, Carel, andAngelica Davids, which was near what is now Ossining, NY. they lived in the Philipsburgh manor, and they attended the Sleepy Hollow Church in the present-day Tarrytown. Here it was, we assume, that Harmen, the 18 year old son of the Dutch farmer Jan Harmse, one Sunday in the winter of 1702-3, saw for the first time the 11 year old Margaret Montras by name. Margaret's mother and brother John left in the spring for Kingston, but Margaret remained behind. On 25 June she reached the legal age for marriage (12 years) under the locally prevailing Dutch law. She and Harmen were married soon after, and their first child was baptized some time between 10 Mar and 2 Nov 1704 - the exact date is missing. the record gives the father's name as 'Harman Montras.' this and subsequent records in the church show that Harmen adopted as his own his wife's surname Montras. the proof is given in 'Origin of the Montross Family of New York' by John Wilson Taylor, one of the authors of this book. Genealogists had previously considered that Jan Harmse and Pierre Montras were half-brothers, both sons of Harmen Janse, and had taken the name Montross for some unexplained reason.

If Harmen had followed the Dutch custom prevailing the New York in the early days, he would have been known as Harmen Jansen, that is, Harmen the son of Jan. But this custom was being discarded and nearly everyone had by 1704 taken a permanent surname. Apparently Harmen's father played with the idea of adopting the name Lemming, since his wife in 1724 was received into membership at the Sleep Hollow Church as Aeltje Lemming, wife of Jan Harmise Lemming. But the futeer was with his son Harme, who had adopted the name Montras 20 years before, and this name, changed by his grandchildren to Montross, was destined to prevail. Margaret's brothers Hendrick and John had already changed the spelling to Montross.

The last record we have of Margaret in on 23 Jan 1726, when she was in Kingston to witness the baptism of her brother John's child, who was named for her. Both margaret and her husband died before 30 Nov. 1739, since neither is mentioned in Jan Harme's will of that date.

Margaret married Harman MONTRAS in 1703. Harman was christened on 7 Oct 1684 in New York City, New York; died between 17 Apr 1720 and 30 Nov 1739. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jacob married ? UNKNOWN about 1742. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]