It is probable that the allotters under the Kinderhook (Columbia county) patent were also the first settlers of the territory which it covered, and that they may have come as early as 1650. They were emigrants from Holland and Sweden, and came provided with all the means necessary to make themselves good homes, having building material, cattle and farming implements to cultivate the virgin soil of that fertile country. A map of old Kinderhook made in 1763 shows that the village contained fifteen houses scattered along the Creek Ridge. Andries and John Huyck lived a little farther up the Kinderhook, and further east was the home of Richard Huyck. When they came to Columbia county, or from where, is not shown. The earliest preserved record is of Andries Hanse Huyk, of Kinderhook, who married Cathaline Lammerse Van Valkenburg. He made his will August 23, 1705. They had children: Johannes, Lambeert, Berger, Catie, Jochem, baptized July 29, 1685, Cornelis, Anna, Andries, baptized December 16, 1693, Maritie and Margaretje. While not proven, it is highly probable that Andries was one of the original settlers on the Kinderhook patent, and was the original emigrant from Holland. From Columbia county the family came to different towns in Albany county, being found in Rensselaerville, Coeymans, Watervliet and New Scotland. The original spelling seems to have been Huyk, then Huyck and Houck. The family in Scotia, herein recorded, descend from the New Scotland, Albany county, branch, where Adrian Huyck, son of Andries, was born in 1790. He was a descendant of Andries H. (of Kinderhook) and Cathaline L. (Van Valkenburgh) Huyk. His father, Andries Huyck, was a farmer of Albany county, and in 1787 was living in the town of Rensselaerville. He may have moved between this date and the birth of his son Adrian in 1790. Andries Huyck married Rachel Carr and had issue.
(I) Andries Hanse Huyk, of Kinderhook, married Cathaline Lammerse Van Valkenburgh, and had issue.
(II) Burger, son of Andries Hanse and Cathaline L. (Van Valkenburgh) Huyk, was baptized in 1683. He was of Kinderhook, where he married Mayke Goes (Hoes), October 2, 1703. Children:
- Andries, baptized August 20, 1704;
- Johannes, see forward;
- Catharine, September 26, 1708;
- Christyntje, October 11, 1711;
- Jacobus, August 19, 1716;
- Dirk, May 13, 1722.
(III) Hannes, (Johannes), son of Burger and Mayke (Goes) Huyk, was baptized January 13, 1706. He married Catharine Bovie (Bevier), November 24, 1739. Children, baptized:
- Cornelis, June 29, 1740;
- Nicolas, February 14, 1742;
- Andries, see forward;
- Cornelia, February 16, 1746;
- Guertje, April 5, 1751;
- Catrina, December 31, 1752;
- Maria, October 27, 1754;
- Petrus, May 20, 1761.
(IV) Andries, son of Johannes and Catharine (Bovie) Huyk, was baptized May 20, 1744. He was a farmer of Albany county, New York, and died in the town of New Scotland, that county. He married Rachel Carr, and had issue.
(V) Adrian, son of Andries and Rachel (Carr) Huyck, was born in New Scotland, Albany county, New York, February 25, 1790, died in the town of Glenville, Schenectady county, New York, May 23, 1847. He was of the invariable family religion — Dutch Reformed — and was a supporter of the principles of the Whig party. He was a farmer. He married Mary Oliver, born July 16, 1790, died in Glenville, April 18, 1865. She was also a member of the Dutch Reformed church. Children born:
- Jacob A., see forward;
- John P., October 24, 1820, in Albany county, died there March 31, 1838;
- Henry S., August 28, 1825, died February 23, 1839, in Albany county.
(VI) Jacob A., eldest son of Adrian and Mary (Oliver) Houck, was born in New Scotland, Albany county, New York, October 2, 1814, died at Glenville, Schenectady county, April 10, 1900. He was reared on the farm in Albany county and in Schenectady county, where his parents removed when he was a boy. He adopted his father's occupation and became a prosperous, well-to-do farmer, owning a well improved farm in Glenville, on which he died. He married (first) Mary Fowler, born in Glenville, about 1815, died while still a young woman, leaving three children:
- A daughter, died in childhood.
- Perry, now of Guilderland, a farmer; married (first) Christina Van Wie; (second) Rose Sager, of Glenville; children: Hattie, Frank and Douglass.
- John H., a farmer of Glenville; married Lucretia Jenkins; children: Abbie; John, married Ella Vedder and has one child, Clara May.
Jacob A. Houck married (second) in Glenville, Elizabeth A. Secor. born in the town of Berne, Albany county, New York, 1840. She survives him and resides in Schenectady, having disposed of a part of the home farm. She is a member of the Dutch Reformed church. She is a daughter of Captain Francis and Catherine (Brunk) Secor. Captain Secor was born in Berne, Albany county, in 1818, died there at the age of forty-four years, a son of Colonel Cornelius and Mary (Shaver) Secor, both native-born residents of Albany county. Colonel Secor was a son of Daniel Secor, of France, emigrant ancestor and founder of the Albany county Secor family. He was reared a Catholic in religion, but on arriving at mature years became a convert to Protestantism. He was greatly persecuted for his change of faith, and his life was threatened. He resolved to come to the American colonies, and secretly made his preparations. His intentions became known, and he was forced to flee with nothing but the clothes he wore and his newfound treasure, "The Bible," which he strapped under his clothing, and slipping into the river, swam silently across unobserved. He settled first in New York state in the Black River country, later locating in Albany county, where he took up two hundred and forty acres of land, then in a wild state. He obtained a clear title to the land by purchase from the patroon, improved it and converted it into a fertile farm. His son, Colonel Cornelius Secor, married Mary Shaver, and had eight children. His son, Captain Francis Secor, married Catherine Brunk and had five children:
- Elizabeth A., married Jacob A. Houck.
- Cornelius, married Elizabeth Gallup, and has six living children (1910).
- Mary E., married Peter Pollock, both deceased, leaving four children.
- Lydia, married Isaac Gallup, who survives her, a resident of Coeymans, Albany county, and had five children.
- Jacob, now of Schenectady, married Belle MacKeaver, and has two children.
By the marriage of Jacob A. Houck and Elizabeth A. Secor, six children were born.
- Edward, born July 27, 1867; a farmer and fruit grower of the town of Ballston Spa, Saratoga county; he married Annie L. Dougal; children: Everett and Stanley.
- Maryette, born May 13, 1869, died 1901; married William Morrison, and left a daughter May.
- Catherine A., born May 7, 1871, unmarried.
- Julia, born May 27, 1873, died March 23, 1875.
- Lucretia, born July 9, 1876, died July, 1903; married Francis Gray, now of Schenectady.
- Charles, born April 8, 1880; a carpenter and builder of Schenectady; he married Della Lunis, and has a son Louis.