In that time period it was not unusual for a young boy to take a wife. Girls even married at 12, 13 and 14, so take that into consideration. ----- Original Message ----- From: "l. s." <lemaes63@msn.com> To: "dutch" <Dutch-Colonies-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 9:41 AM Subject: [DUTCH-COLONIES] Evert Pels "boy" > Hello, > I am wondering if anyone knows any more about this person. I am wondering > how the name Hendrick was given to this "boy" The one who was taken > captive by the Indians in 1659. It was written he took a wife among the > Indians. But, looking at the possible birth day for this boy, he would > probably be only 16-17 years old. His parents married Dec. 1641. Even if > he was an early baby, he would be quite young to take a bride. Is it > possible he may have been called Pels "boy", because he was a young boy > who worked for Evert? And yet, he seems to have been given a name. Who has > that record? > How were possible birth dates given to Everts children. I have only found > three that were baptized. I kind of was guessing on some of them, by > checking the possible marriage dates and subtracting 18-20. I would love > to have better church records or family Bible records. > Thanks for any information, > LeemaeGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : > http://explorer.msn.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >

The issue here is a boy who was living among Indians (I assume Algonquins) and at what age did males wed in that society? I haven't the faintest idea, but I certainly cannot say without study whether 17 was too young. Among the colonial Dutch in the 17th century, the normal age for marriage was 21 for males and 18 for females. If a girl was as young as 16 when she married, she was most likely pregnant. If she were younger than that, the normal practice was for her not to marry and so have the child out of wedlock. Apparently the Dutch thought that younger than 16, a girl was not mature enough to make an informed choice of marriage partner. There is certainly no evidence in New York State's colonial records that girls were marrying as young as you suggest. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donna Stark" <donnaStarkKy@fewpb.net> To: <dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 12:14 PM Subject: Re: [DUTCH-COLONIES] Evert Pels "boy" > In that time period it was not unusual for a young boy to take a wife. > Girls > even married at 12, 13 and 14, so take that into consideration. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "l. s." <lemaes63@msn.com> > To: "dutch" <Dutch-Colonies-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 9:41 AM > Subject: [DUTCH-COLONIES] Evert Pels "boy" > > >> Hello, >> I am wondering if anyone knows any more about this person. I am wondering >> how the name Hendrick was given to this "boy" The one who was taken >> captive by the Indians in 1659. It was written he took a wife among the >> Indians. But, looking at the possible birth day for this boy, he would >> probably be only 16-17 years old. His parents married Dec. 1641. Even if >> he was an early baby, he would be quite young to take a bride. Is it >> possible he may have been called Pels "boy", because he was a young boy >> who worked for Evert? And yet, he seems to have been given a name. Who >> has >> that record? >> How were possible birth dates given to Everts children. I have only found >> three that were baptized. I kind of was guessing on some of them, by >> checking the possible marriage dates and subtracting 18-20. I would love >> to have better church records or family Bible records. >> Thanks for any information, >> LeemaeGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : >> http://explorer.msn.com >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> >> > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >