What with all the talk about Penelope Stout and her history, I am sharing notes I have taken from several places regarding her. This is not my research so if you use it, please do not give me credit. I have just gathered it from many places. Kathleen Burnett Newspaper article - Newspaper name and time of publication unknown, author was John T. Cunningham ------------ THE STORY OF PENELOPE STOUT ----------- There is cause to dispute the traditional claim that Penelope vanPrincis Stout of Monmouth County lived to a mature 110 years before she died in 1712, but no one can deny that for indomitable will to live and in number of descendants Penelope has had few equals. Penelopes's story is obscured slightly by discrepanceies in the dates of her birth and other occurrences in her life, but consider first the narrative as it is usually told. Born in Holland (in 1602 according to the usual version,) Penelope vanPrincis joined her young husband and other Dutch settlers headed for New Amsterdam in 1620. Violent storms caught their ship, drove it off course and finally wrecked it off Sandy Hook. --- ON THE BEACH --- All survived, and the passengers and crew set off for New Amsterdam on foot, leaving Penelope on the beach to nurse her desperately ill husband (whose name was never recorded by Penelope and all of the large brood she would later rear.) Indians found the Dutch couple on the beach, killed the husband and left Penelope viciously hacked. The young widow lay unconscious, her skull fractured, her left arm so mangled that it would never again be normal and her abdomen slashed open. Somehow she revived and crawled into a hollow tree, where two Indians found her several days later. ---- SHE PRAYED --- Penelope prayed that they might end her misery and the younger Indian was willing to oblige. The older Indian dissented, carried her over his shoulder to camp, and there nursed her back to health. She stayed with the Indians, working, learning their language and their ways. Some of her shipwrecked friends returned after a time and asked the Indians to give her up. Penelope's Indian benefactor said he would let the young woman decide for herself. Penelope decided to leave, "very much to the surprise of this good Indian," according to Frank Stocktons's version. About two years later Penelope met Richard Stout who had left Nottingham, England, because of parental disapproval of his love affair with a girl they considered socially inferior. He enlisted in the navy, served for seven years and left ship in New Amsterdam when his enlistment ended. Penelope vanPrincis and Richard Stout were married in 1624 (according to tradition), when she was 22 and Richard was 40. Some time after, they moved to Middletown, where through the years their family grew and prospered. Several years after the Stouts came to Middletown, Penelope's old Indian benefactor called on her to warn of an impending attack by his tribe. Penelope and her children fled in a canoe, but Richard Stout and his neighbors stood up to the Indians and argued them out of an attack. So the Stouts lived on into the 18th century. Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questioned the time sequence in a study he made of the Delaware branch of the Stout family in 1915. He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624. This logic seems sound. For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620 and certainly there was no Middletown at the time when the Stout allegedly moved over. Advancing all dates 20 years, however, makes New Amsterdam, Middletown and all else fall in line. His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birh date of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669. That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85. Speaking of the mother, Dr. Streets commented drily: "No medical man, it is safe to say, ever knew of such a case." Penelope vanPrincis Stout died in 1712, either at the age of 110, if you believe traditional accounts, or at the age of 90 if Dr. Streets is correct. Before dying, Mrs. Stout saw her seven sons and three daughters multiplied into 492 other descendants Penelope Stout - First Lady of Monmouth One of the best known chapters of [Monmouth's] early history is the story of Penelope Stout, believed to be the first white woman to set foot on [Monmouth] county soil. During the first half of the 17th century - the exact date is unknown - a ship from Holland was wrecked on Sandy Hook. Among those aboard was Penelope Van Princis, whose husband had become ill on the long sea voyage. The passengers and crew reached shore safely, but hearing of an Indian attack they set out on foot for New York (New Amsterdam), leaving the sick man and his wife behind. Smith's History of New Jersey, published in 1765, relates that a party of Indians found the couple and immediately killed the man. They then mangled the woman, and left her for dead. After hiding for several days in a hollow tree, Penelope was found by a friendly Indian who nursed her back to health. A rescue party found her and brought her to New Amsterdam - now New York - and a short time later she married an Englishman, Richard Stout. Penelope and Richard later returned to New Jersey and had 10 children. The nameless Indian who saved Penelope Stout's life was a frequent visitor and friend. According to the tale, he later alerted the community to a potential confrontation with another band of marauding natives, probably from New York. Most accounts agree that Penelope lived to be 110 and had some 502 descendants at the time of her death, in either 1712 or 1732. Many of her descendants still live in the county. Penelope's story is told at the Spy House Museum Complex in Port Monmouth, New Jersey. Richard Stout, a son of John and Elizabeth (Bee or Gee) Stout, was born in Nottinghamshire, England about 1715. He joined the British Navy and was discharged at New Amsterdam, now New York, about 1640. Richard was one of thirty nine people who founded a settlement at Graves End, Long Island, in 1644. That year, he married Penelope (Kent) Van Princin. Penelope Kent was probably born about 1622 in England. Her father is believed to have been a Puritan Baptist Separatist who was banished from his church and who fled to Holland with his family. Penelope married a man named Van Princin in Amsterdam. In 1640, Penelope and her husband took ship with a group of emigrants to America. The ship was wrecked at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Many of the passengers traveled overland to New Amsterdam, but Penelope husband was ill and could not travel, so they remained near the wreck site. The little encampment was attacked by Indians, who killed Penelope's husband and left her for dead with a fractured skull, a hacked shoulder and a gash in her body that allowed her intestines to protrude. Penelope survived alone for several days until two Indian men came by. The older of the two carried her to his village and sewed up her wounds with a fish bone needle and vegetable fibers. Penelope recovered and lived with the Indians, doing squaw's work and sharing their life. In 1644, a group of white men came to the Indian village and offered to buy the white woman that they had heard of. Penelope's captor asked if she wished to go with the whites and was permitted to do so. In 1664, an Indian came to warn Penelope of a planned Indian attack on the settlement of Grave's end. The Indians did attack and the forewarned settlers were able to defend themselves and put the Indians to flight. Richard Stout walked into the open and demanded a parley. After a conference, the whites and Indians agreed to a truce and a two day ceremonial to celebrate the treaty. The white agreed to buy the lands they had settled on and were never attacked again. The date of purchase from the Indians was January 25, 1664. In 1668, Richard and his family joined with others in forming the first Baptist Church of New Jersey. Richard's will was approved in October 1705 and is on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, New Jersey. Penelope died in 1732. Unknown newspaper "The Story of Penelope Stout" copy found at Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728 Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questions the time sequence in a study he made of the Stout family in 1915. He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624. For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620. His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birth date of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669. That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85. Penelope Van Princis Stout died in 1712, either at age 110 if you believe traditional accounts, or at age 90 if Dr. Streets is correct. ******************************************************* The following sources and information are from: "Early Vital Records of Ohio: - copied by the Daughters of the American Revolution - Complied under the Direction of Miss Irma B. Gobel. This booklet was found at the DAR Library in Washington, DC. "There are still hollow Buttonwood trees near Middlestown as were there in the time when Penelope is said to have taken refuge in one." The Op Dyck Genealogy, page 148, "Among the settlers appear Richard Stout, Samuel Holmes, and others whose descendants in New York and New Jersey have number by thousands. The famous Penelope Prince appears on the records as having remarked that, "the wife of Ambrose London did milk the cows of Thomas Applegate." "She" being questioned knowledged her fault in so speaking, and being sorry for her words, she spoke satisfaction on both sides." **************************************************************************** The following articles, 1 to 3 pages, that can be found in the Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728. Library is open Wednesday - Sunday : 10 AM to 4 PM - phone 908-462-1466. Newspaper, "The Monmouth Inquirer", Thursday, 20 May 1886. Article "First Families of Monmouth, Stout Family" by Edwin Salter. Unknown newspaper and unknown date, "The Story of Penelope Stout" Asbury Park Press, Aug 10, 1980, page A3, "Stout family marks its 52nd reunion at Middletown Church." Talks about and has picture of Penelope Stout First Lady of Monmouth medallion. "The Penelope Stout House, also known as the John S. Hendrickson House", Everett Road, Holmdel, NJ. (Note there is a Holmes - Hendrickson House, Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. This house is part of Monmouth County Historical Association Museums and is open May - October.) "The Mother of the Stouts" by Mrs. Therese W. Seabrook. "My tradition has come through only two persons from Penelope, herself, and I think it more correct than much that is told. The second son, Richard, had a son, John, who was therefore grandson of Penelope. When his grandmother was about 85 years old, he took her on his horse to visit one of her children and when he helped her to alight she insisted upon his putting his hand through the pocket hole of her garment to feel the seam which the Indian sewed up. He was young and bashful but she said, "Johnny, you can tell it to your grandchildren because you will know it's true, and they will tell it to their grandchildren." My grandmother was one of the grandchildren to whom he told the story, and when she told it to me, she would say, "and so I tell it to you in the language, chiefly, in which I heard it."