1. WOLFAERT1 VAN KEULEN was born Bet. 1500 - 1520 in Probably Cologne, Bishopric of Cologne (now Germany).
Notes for WOLFAERT VAN KEULEN:
In the early 1500s, Wolfaert van Keulen was born at or near Cologne (Keulen in Dutch). His so n Mathij is
believed to have been born in the 1540s, also Cologne. In 1567, Cologne was taken ove r by the Spanish. The
Catholic conquerors were very hard on wealthy Protestants, imprisoning large numbers an d executing many. As
the van Keulen family were both well off and Protestant, most chose to flee for the saf ety of the Netherlands.
Mathij Wolfaertse van Keulen appeared first in the records of Antwerp in 1570. It is be lieved that his son, Jan
Mathijs van Keulen was born in Antwerp @ 1580. In 1585, Antwerp fell to the Spanish. No thing is known of
Mathij Wolfaertse beyond this date, but brother Jacob Wolfaertse appeared in London i n the early 1590s. Jan
Mathijs' firstborn son Mathij Jansen van Keulen, was christened at the Austin Friars Du tch Reformed Church of
London on 2 Feb, 1602, but Jan was listed as a merchant of Amsterdam. Subsequent record s involving Jan
Mathijs van Keulen and his family are found in the courts and churches of Amsterdam. Ma thij Jansen van
Keulen immigrated to America @ 1636, where he married Margiet Hendrickse, and they ha d 4 children.
Mathij's grandchildren, through youngest son Matthys, adopted the surname "Van Keuren " in 1716, creating an
artificial Dutch name. There has yet to be a Van Keuren, Van Kuren, or Van Curen that i s verified to be a
descendant of any immigrant other than Mathij Jansen van Keulen.
Other family names closely linked to Mathij van Keulen's family:
Peersen(Person, Personius), Jansen(Jonson, Johnson), Van Steenberghen(Van Steenbergh, S teenbergh, Vann),
Van Vliet(Van Vleet, Van Fleet), Dubois, Westbrook, Terwilliger, Swart, and Hover(Huber )
Children of WOLFAERT VAN KEULEN are:
