This family name in Holland is Wiltsee, but some branches spell it Wiltsie, as does the family herein recorded.
(I) Phillippe Martin Wiltsee, of Fort Orange and Waalbogt, was born in the latter part of the sixteenth century in Holland (probably at Tirlamont), and died in Swaanendael, March, 1632. He was a soldier under Mewrice toward the close of the war between Holland and Spain, and emigrated with his wife, two children and two servants to America on the ship "New Netherlands" in 1632. He was one of those detailed to build Fort Orange. When the Indians forced the first colonists to return to New Amsterdam, he and his family settled at Waal-Bogt. Wishing to visit the colony at Swaanendael, he took with him his sons, Pierre and Hendrick, and was killed by the Indians in the fort, he at that time being sick. His wife was Sophia Ter Bosch, born in Holland. After the death of her husband she is believed to have returned to Holland with the younger members of the family. Children, first two born in Holland prior to 1621:
- Tyntje, died 1646; married Adam Roelantsen, the first school teacher in New Amsterdam;
- Pierre (see Hendrick M.);
- Macheltje;
- Hendrick M.,
- Martin,
- Maria.
(II) Hendrick Martensen, son of Phillippe Martin and Sophia (Ter Bosch) Wiltsee, was born in Waal-Bogt, New York. He was on the sea in 1623, coming to America with his parents, but must have been then a young boy. He and his brother Pierre are said to have been taken prisoners by the Indians when the settlement at Swaanendael was destroyed and their father killed, in 1632. They were taken to Quebec in 1633 and given to the Jesuit fathers, who kept them a year under their training. They were then taken to the Huron country, and made their escape in 1640. They spent two years at Esopus trading with the Indians, then went to sea for several years as sailors. Hendrick M. was a freeholder in Newtown, Long Island, in 1655. In 1658 he went from Fort Orange to Quebec with the Mohawk Indians as interpreter. He had a lawsuit in New Amsterdam in 1660. He was commander of a vessel in that year, and wrote a letter to Governor Stuyvesant from the Island of Aruba, Dutch Antilles. He was a soldier in Kingston, New York, between 1660 and 1667, and was erroneously reported killed in 1663. He had a son Hendrick, baptized in New Amsterdam, 1669. He was on the list of inhabitants in Newtown, Long Island, in 1675, and purchased land at Hell Gate in 1681. He was mentioned in the Newtown patent by Governor Dongan in 1686. Up to about 1690 his name is always written Hendrick Martensen, then he began to assume his ancient tribal, or national, name in signing documents and records. On the baptismal record of the old Dutch church in New York City where his granddaughter, Margaretta, was baptized July 6, 1701, his name is signed "Hendrick Martense Wiltsee." He married Margarita Meyerings, daughter of Jan Meyers and Fenntje Straitsman, and widow of Herman Jansen Fenette, who lived in the Dutch colony at Fort Maigriette in Brazil, and had four husbands, of whom Jan Meyerings was the first. Children:
- Sophia, born 1660;
- Jennetje, 1663;
- Barbara, 1665;
- Marten, 1667;
- Hendrick, 1669;
- Myndert, 1672;
- Theunis, 1674;
- Jacob, 1676.
(III) Marten, son of Hendrick M. and Margarita Wiltsee, was baptized in Esopus, New York, April 3, 1667. He married, in Flatbush, Long Island, June 26, 1690, Marretje, daughter of Cornelius Barent Van Wyck and Anna, daughter of Rev. Theodorus Polhemus and Catherine Van Werven. Children baptized:
- Cornelis, 1691;
- Hendrick, 1693;
- Johannes, 1695;
- Margarett, 1697;
- Maria, 1702;
- Catharine, 1704;
- Anatie, 1706;
- Sophia, 1709;
- Martine, 1711.
(IV) Cornelis, son of Marten and Marretje (Van Wyck) Wiltsee, was baptized July 23, 1691, and lived in Flushing and Jamaica, Long Island. He removed to Dutchess county, New York, in 1734. He married, in 1712, Rachel (Ruth), daughter of Jeremiah Smith, of Hempstead, Long Island, who removed from New England to Long Island because not in accord with the teachings of his sect. Children:
- Elizabeth, baptized 1713;
- Martyn, 1715;
- Anna, 1717;
- Jermyas, 1718;
- Marrja, 1720;
- Rutie, 1722;
- Cornelis, 1723;
- Jacobus, mentioned below;
- Hendrick, 1726;
- Johannes, 1728;
- Jacob, baptized 1732.
These children were all born in Jamaica, Long Island.
(V) Jacobus (James), son of Cornelis and Rachel (Ruth) (Smith) Wiltsie, was baptized April 12, 1724. He was a farmer of the town of East Fishkill, Dutchess county. The family were prominent in Peekskill and were largely engaged in the early river transportation business. (Uncles and cousins of James, descendants of Marten, spell their name Wiltse.) James married and had issue, among whom was a son William.
(VI) William, son of Jacobus (James) Wiltsie, was born in East Fishkill, Dutchess county, New York, in 1750. He removed to the town of Bethlehem, Albany county, New York, 1795. He purchased a farm in South Bethlehem from Stephen Van Rensselaer, buying possession from Nicholas See, who had previously taken up the land and made some improvements on it. William Wiltsie died in 1797, and the property passed into the hands of his children, the youngest son, Ambrose, finally becoming the owner, and at his death, in 1856, it became the property of his eldest son Ambrose (2), who had previously worked it on shares with his brothers. William Wiltsie, according to the census of 1790, was in that year a resident of the town of Half Moon, Albany county, coming to Bethlehem from there. He was a soldier of the revolution, serving in the Second Regiment, Dutchess County Militia, commanded by Colonel Abraham Brinkerhoff. (See New York in the Revolution, p. 139.) He married and had issue, the youngest being Ambrose, born in Half Moon, Albany county, the others most likely in Dutchess county.
(VII) Ambrose, youngest son of William Wiltsie, was born in Albany county, New York, June 20, 1787. He was about nine years of age when his father removed to South Bethlehem, where Ambrose died February 15, 1856. He became a substantial farmer and a highly respected citizen of the town. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a liberal supporter. In politics he was a strong Democrat. His entire life, from his ninth year, was spent in the town of Bethlehem. He married Magdalena Miller, born December 25, 1784, in Connecticut. Her parents settled in the town of Coeymans from Dutchess county the same year her husband's father settled in Bethlehem, 1796. She died in September, 1878, aged ninety-four years. She was a daughter of John Miller, born in Alsace, Germany, and during the revolutionary war came to America with General Lafayette and fought for the cause of freedom. After the war he settled in Connecticut, where he married Zabrina Bradford. Later he removed to Dutchess county, then to Coeymans, Albany county, New York, where he died. Children:
- Hannah, married George Lasher, a farmer of Bethlehem; had issue.
- Sarah, married George Coonley, a farmer of Bethlehem.
- Ambrose (2), a farmer of Bethlehem; married (first) Hannah E. Whitbeck; (second) Catherine Kimmey, widow of Frederick Slack.
- James, a farmer of Coeymans; later engaged in the coal trade in the city of Albany, where he died after his retirement from business. He had a son Ambrose, died a young man, by his first wife, Catharine Coonley; his second wife was Margaret Bender, now of Albany.
- Dr. David, a graduate of Albany Medical College; practiced his profession for many years in Chicago. Late in life he returned to his boyhood home, where he died at the farm of his brother near South Bethlehem, in town of Bethlehem, Albany county; he married, but had no issue.
- Hiram, see forward.
- William, married, and died, leaving sons David, Peter, James, and a daughter, Elizabeth, all of whom married.
- John, (q. v.).
(VIII) Hiram, son of Ambrose and Magdalena (Miller) Wiltsie, was born April 17, 1822, in Bethlehem, Albany county, New York, and died on his farm in New Scotland, same county, January 8, 1895. He settled on a farm in Feurabush in 1863, and was one of the largest land owners in the town. He was a successful farmer, and bore the best of reputations as a man. He was upright and always reliable, had a scrupulous regard for his word and despised a lie. He was an active and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a Republican after the formation of that party. He married, October 13, 1847, Charlotte Ann, daughter of Henry Y. Schoonmaker, born March 26, 1791, died September 1, 1864; she was born in Bethlehem, Albany county, New York, March 10, 1831, who yet survives him, being almost eighty years old. She resides in the town of Bethlehem, and is a well-known and much respected woman. Children:
- Evaline K., born in Bethlehem, May 3, 1850; married Harman Van Derzee, farmer of New Scotland, whom she survives; child,
- Harman H., married Rachel Wiltsie, and lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Hester, born March 6, 1852; married Peter Van Nattan, a farmer of Bethlehem; child,
- George C., married Ivy Albright, and has a daughter Ruth.
- Martha Alida, born January 22, 1858; married Rev. Andrew Schriver, a minister and presiding elder of the Methodist Episcopal church; now retired at Chester, New York; children:
- Hiram, married Ruth Edgecomb;
- Newman;
- Paul Revere;
- Charlotte A.;
- Franklin A.
- Franklin A., born October 17, 1863; a farmer of Bethlehem; married (first) Adelaide Cole; no issue; (second) Harriet Dimon; child, Marion.
- Annie B., born September 19, 1866; married Hiram J. Nodine, of Coeymans; she is now of Philadelphia; two children: Charlotte W., and Ambrose James, see forward.
(IX) Ambrose James, son of Hiram and Charlotte Ann (Schoonmaker) Wiltsie, was born on the farm near Feurabush, New Scotland, October 9, 1873. He was educated in the town public schools, Cazenovia Seminary and Albany Business College. He then retired to the farm which he inherited at his father's death. The estate comprises two hundred and forty acres, of which two hundred are under cultivation, and twenty acres in fine fruit orchards, with substantial and roomy homestead, farm and other necessary buildings. These were erected by his father, who left the estate in good condition. Ambrose J. is a modern farmer and maintains his farm in perfect condition, and it is regarded as one of the very best in Albany county. Everything about the farm bespeaks the careful, thrifty man of business who does not depend so much on his muscle for success as he does upon scientific handling of his acres with careful method and system. He is a member of the Reformed church, and a Republican. He married, in New Scotland, February 24, 1897, Elizabeth Loucks, born November 9, 1870, educated at Albany Normal College, prominent in local, church and social circles, and a woman of excellent business capacity. She is a daughter of John Albert and Susan (Slingerland) Loucks. Her father was born July 19, 1841, was a thrifty, prosperous farmer and fruit grower of New Scotland, owning large landed estates, and is now (1910) living retired in the village of New Scotland. He was a son of James Harris Loucks, of Schoharie valley, and his wife Hester, daughter of John Albert Slingerland, and sister of the late William H. Slingerland, of Slingerlands. James Harris Loucks was a son of John, and grandson of Peter, who came from Holland in 1772, and settled at Sharon, New York, then almost a wilderness. His wife was Betsey ————, who bore him six children, David, William, John, Andrew, Sarah, and Mary. John Albert and Susan (Slingerland) Loucks had five children.
- Elizabeth, married Ambrose J. Wiltsie.
- Anna, born April 20, 1871, married John V. D. Bradt, a farmer of New Scotland.
- James Harris (2), born November 13, 1877; a graduate of Albany Law school, class of 1908; now (1910) a practicing attorney of Albany; married Sarah Creble, daughter of Francis and Sarah (Callanan) Creble (see Creble IV); they have a daughter, Frances Elizabeth.
- Agnes Estelle, born December 13, 1887; a graduate of Albany Girls' Academy; unmarried.
- John A. (2), born July 23, 1894; at home; in Albany high school.
Susan (Slingerland) Loucks, mother of Mrs. Ambrose J. Wiltsie, is a daughter of Peter, granddaughter of Maus, and great-granddaughter of Peter Slingerland, a descendant of Teunis Cornelis and Engeltie Albertse (Bradt) Slingerland, of Holland, who emigrated to America from Amsterdam in 1650.