Hi Ann, > I am helping a woman with her DAR application and need some help concerning > Gideon Vervalen (1742/3-1820), son of Moses and descendant of Johannes > Verveleen. In secondary sources I continually see his birth date listed as > 10 Feb 1742 and once I saw it as 13 Mar 1743. His obituary just says he died > in his 83rd year as does his tombstone record in J. Wilson Poucher's "Old > Gravestones of Dutchess Co New York"(Manchester Bridge Cemetery). Can anyone > give me a citation for a date of birth? > > I am also looking for proof for his first wife's birth. She was Jane > Low/Jenny Louw and the date of birth I have seen in secondary sources is 27 > and 29 Nov 1763 and also 1765. Both of these dates are suspect because he > would have been over 20 years older than her! She was the daughter of > Wilhelmus Louw and Sara Marsten. > > Thanks so much for any help you can provide! > Ann Andersen Gideon Verveelen was baptized at the Poughkeepsie Reformed Church in Dutchess County, New York on 13 Feb 1743 Gideon #286 Bapt. Date: 13 Feb 1743 Parents: Moses Van Feele, Hester de Graaff; Sponsors: Gideon Van Feele, Susana de Graaff [sponsors are the paternal grandparents] The above is taken from an Arthur C. M. Kelly transcription of the Poughkeepsie Church records, and was included on the CD version, entitled: New York Births and Baptisms: Southeast Region 1660-1916. If, as you say above, Jenny Louw was the daughter of Wilhelmus Louw and Sarah Masten, then her date of birth would have to be before 1765, and her baptismal record has not survived. There is a gap in the records at Poughkeepsie between 1745 and 1764. However, an 18 or 20 year difference in their ages would not be out of the question. The first child of Wilhelmus Louw and Sara Masten baptized at Poughkeepsie was Jacob on 17 Feb 1765: Jacob #343 Bapt. Date: 17 Feb 1765; Parents: William Low, Sara Masten; Sponsors: Petrus Low & w Maria Freer However, to the best of my knowledge, Jenny Louw, the wife of Gideon Verveelen, has not been positively identified. Have the secondary sources you refer to above provided any rationale for this placement? Gideon Verveelen and Jenny Louw baptized 7 children at Poughkeepsie: 1. Hester, bpt 24 Oct 1790 2. Peter, bpt 18 Dec 1791 3. Isaac, bpt 3 Oct 1792 4. Abraham, bpt 3 Oct 1792 5. Jacob, bpt 24 Jul 1794 6. David, bpt 14 Sep 1796 7. Daniel, bpt 22 Feb 1798 Regards, Pam Sears p.s. Please trim the digest and change the subject line in the future. Many thanks :-).