"I have gathered a posie of other men's
flowers, and nothing but the string that binds them is
mine own."
Michel Eyquem de
Montaigne (1553-1592)
Table of Contents
The Roll Family Theme Song
When our men came back
from Europe after World War II, they brought with them
the bouncy Roll Out the Barrels, a song with a melody composed in
Czechoslovakia in 1928 by Jaromír
Vejvoda. In Czech it was named Škoda
lásky or unrequited love.
Crown
of Thorns Hermitage
This is our other Web site. If you are
not interested in learning about our religious beliefs, you probably will not want
to go here.
Priming the
Genealogical Well
Pour a bucket of water in before pumping
Out behind grandfather's house, on the
path to the print shop, was the well. A bucket full of
water was kept there at all times, because the hand pump
would not work unless water was first poured in to prime
the well.
Book One: The Roll Genealogy
Chapter One: The Genealogical Data
The
Roll Family Database
This online database is
maintained by William Henry Roll, the owner of The Roll
Family Windmill, and consists of linked family group
sheets of a good part of the Roll family. Collateral
families are included.
Genealogy
of the New Jersey Rolls
Martha Roll and Thelma
Lynn Kennedy compiled this genealogy in 1984. This online
book is the 911 page second digital edition, updated by
Hansel Haycox in 1999. You can view the book online or
download it.
Chapter Two: The
Families
The
Origin of the Roll Family
Jan Mangels
(c.1635-c.1705), who tradition says was born in Utrecht
in the Netherlands, is the progenitor of the Roll family
in America. An amazing amount is known about him as the
Dutch kept careful records.
The Origin
of the Name Mangel Rol
The Earliest Roll Ancestor
c.1610-c.1670
Both Mangel Rol's given name and his
surname suggest an occupational origin. The
origin of his name is shrouded in mystery. Since his name
has not been discovered in any of the old records, it has
been reconstructed based on the evidence.
The Gaston
Family
A genealogy, Gaston Family Lines Of
Somerset, found in the "Somerset County
Historical Quarterly," states that John Gaston, the
eldest son of the John of Scotland, is believed to have
been the grandfather of Mary Gaston, who married Rev.
James Cauldwell, who came to New Jersey about 1732 and
settled at Long Hill, New Jersey. John Roll, son of Isaac
Roll, married Sarah Cauldwell, their daughter.
The Lennon
Family
The author's grandmother, Marguerite
Wilks (1893-1982), wrote an essay in 1954 about her
children's Wilks and Lennon ancestors, who came mainly
from Ireland and England.
I Did
Not Die
Chapter Three: The Ships
Bought
and Sold for English Gold
The Caledonia and the Darien Disaster
The story of the ship Caledonia
is inextricably entwined with the loss of Scotland's
nationhood, largely a result of the failed Scottish
Colony of New Caledonia on the Isthmus of Darien, now
Puerto Escoces, on the Caribbean coast of Panama. The
ship also carried many immigrant Scotch families to New
York and New Jersey.
Chapter Four: The Places
§1. The Fatherlands
America! America! God shed his grace on
thee...
Our Homeland
In these times of trouble, it is well to
remember our homelands and their people. We happen to
live in the United States of America, a nation proud of
its freedoms.
Lady
Liberty
I lift my lamp beside the golden door
A gift from the people of
France, the Statue of Liberty was constructed by Frederic
Auguste Bartholdi in Paris.
God Save the King
A Dual Anthem
The melody and lyrics of God
Save the King may date back to the seventeenth
century. America, better known as My Country
’Tis of Thee, is sung to the same melody,
indicating perhaps the closeness between Great Britain
and the United States of America.
Het Wilhelmus
The Dutch National Anthem
The Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus,
has 15 eight-line verses. It was written between 1569 and
1578. Based on older songs, it was named after William of
Orange, the leader of the Dutch revolt against Philip II
of Spain. The first and sixth verses are usually sung on
national occasions.
§2. Places in General
Where on
Earth
Historic or current place names?
The confusion about place names for
events in the historical and genealogical literature is
not going to go away. House numbers, street, city,
municipality, county, territory, state, country, and
empire names changed over time. The question arises as to
which place name one should record as the location for an
event in a genealogical database? Links to place name
search engines are provided.
New
Jersey Counties
1675-Present
A map shows the boundaries and dates of
incorporation of the various counties of New Jersey, and
a table provides the dates of incorporation, parent
counties, and the county seats.
§3. The Roll Ancestors
in North America
The Hometown
of the William Henry Roll Family
Blythe, California
A unique and isolated desert town in the
Lower Colorado River Basin of the Desert, the "land
of little rain," and an integral part of the
author's children's Indian, Mexican, and Spanish
heritage.
Jacob Adriaensen Van Woggelum's Albany
Lot, 1652
Broadway East Side, Columbia to Steuben
Albany, New York
The book Collections on the History
of Albany, published in 1871, contains a diagram of
the location of Jacob Adriaensen Van Woggelum's lot in
the Village of Beverwyck, now Albany, NY.
The Canastagione
Patent, 1682
The New Netherland Frontier
Jan Mangels Roll,
progenitor of the Roll family in America was deeded a
large tract by the sachems of the Mohawk Turtle Clan in
what is now Saratoga County. The land was called
Canastagione or the Corn Field, and was located north of
the Mohawk River, across from the village of Niskayuna.
The area is now known as Clifton Park.
The
Original Canastagione Deed, 1682
The Clifton Park
Patent Map, 1682
The
Location of Canastagione in 1749
Maps Showing the Location
of Canastagione in 1866
Willow
Brook, 1740
Willow Brook and Watchogue Road
Graniteville, Richmond County, New York
Johannes Mangelse Roll,
Sr., built a stone house in 1740 on the westernmost of
the Three Soldiers Lots. His farm consisted of 80 acres.
A chart shows the provenance of the Three Soldiers Lots.
The
Anthony and Abigail Swaim House, 1744
South Springfield Avenue
Springfield, Union County, New Jersey
The house on South Springfield Avenue was
built by Anthony Swaim in 1744 for himself and his wife
Abigail. He was a joiner, a skilled woodworker who
crafted such structures as doors and stairs.
Chihuahua,
Mexico
The Chihuahuan Windmill
Our childrens' maternal grandfather José
"El Indio" Martínez aka Herrera was born in
Baborigame, Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua, Mexico. He came
to the United States to pick cotton, and became a farmer
and landlord.
Sonora,
Mexico
The Sonoran Windmill
Our childrens' maternal grandmother Rosa
Mendez was born in Altar, Altar, Sonora, Mexico. She was
José's helper on the farm and with the quartos, rooms
that they rented to farm workers.
§4. Roll Ancestors in Europe
The Town of
Wognum
North Holland, the Netherlands
The Van Woggelum family may have
originally come from Woggelum, North Holland,
Netherlands. The town of Woggelum is now called Wognum.
No link has been made other than the name.
The Wognumse
Buurt
Alkmaar, North Holland, the
Netherlands
In 1654, the western walls of the city of
Alkmaar point like an arrow toward Woggelummerbrug on the
Haut Vaart canal. Some sources indicate that the Van
Woggelum family lived here before their voyage to
America.
The
Spiringbuurt
Alkmaar, North Holland, the Netherlands
At the time of her second
marriage to Jacques Kinnekom, Anneken Pieters and her two
orphaned sons lived in the Spiringbuurt, a neighborhood
in the old section of Alkmaar.
§5. Unconnected
Families in Europe
Unconnected
Roll Families in the Netherlands
in the 16th, 17th, and 18th
Centuries
Opperkoopman Heyn Rol sailed in 1618 from
Hoorn in North Holland for Java in the East Indies on a
voyage of incredible adventure. Heyn is one of the
unconnected persons with the Roll surname discussed in
this article.
Unconnected
Roll Families in Other Parts of Europe
in the 16th, 17th, and 18th
Centuries
Von Roll families lived in the Swiss
cantons Geneva, Bern, Soleure, and Uri, and in Alsace,
France, and Baden-Wurttenberg, Germany. Some French Roll
families were in Alsace, Savoie, and the Rhône-Alpes.
Those in Switzerland were in cantons Fribourg, Soleure,
Solothurn, and the valley of the Argue.
Chapter Five: The
Churches
§1. The Reformed Dutch
Church
History
of the Early Reformed Dutch Church
New Amsterdam, New Netherland
(external link)
The Reformed Dutch Church, organized in
New Amsterdam, New Netherland, in 1628, is still a living
organization. The first services were held in an empty
loft room above the Dutch colony's mill. This is the
church's official Web site, and contains information
useful to the genealogist.
Church
Order of the Dutch Reformed Church
This book of discipline was drawn up in
the National Synod, held in 1618 and 1619, and accepted
as a concord of ecclesiastic community by the Reformed
Churches in the Netherlands. Many of the Roll ancestors
were members.
Liturgy of the Reformed Dutch Church
This is an old undated
document laying out the ground rules for the liturgy of
the church. The history of religion is an important
element in genealogy.
The Port
Richmond Reformed Dutch Church
Port Richmond, Richmond, New
York
A collection of notes outline the history
of the Reformed Dutch Church at Port Richmond, Staten
Island, New York.
§2. The Presbyterian
Church
The First Presbyterian Church
Main Street and Springfield
Avenue
Springfield, Union, New Jersey
This church, built in 1791, is of
handmade cypress shingles and hand-wrought nails. It was
built by members of the church, many of whom are buried
in the old cemetery across the street.
Chapter Six: The Records
§1. Roll Family Records
A Letter From
Genealogist R. J. Franz
After the author's father, David Hedges
Roll, Sr., passed away, we found in his estate a number
of documents related to the family genealogy. We had
heard family stories about our ancestry, and had a
passing interest in the subject. In March, 1997, we
discovered this letter from R. J. Franz, a genealogist
researching the family, in our father's papers, and this
is what started us on our quest.
The Jonathan
Smith Roll Family Bible
A transcription from the Jonathan
Smith Roll Family Bible at Rutgers University,
Special Collections, shows data for the family of
Jonathan Smith Roll (1828-1904) and Lucinda Kidd
(1834-1902).
Roll Family
Members of the DAR
Some of the Roll family members of the
Daughters of the American Revolution trace their lines
mostly to John Roll of Elizabeth, Essex County, New
Jersey, a sergeant in the Revolution in Capt. Peter
Layton's company of Morris County, New Jersey, militia.
Variant
Surname Spellings
There were no fixed spellings for
surnames in times past. A chart shows some variants with
secondary source references.
§2. General Records
Containing References to the
Roll Family
New Jersey
Reformed Dutch Church Records Online
A growing number of birth,
marriage, and death records are available online. This
collection of links is in no way complete, but serves as
an example of what can be found.
Genealogies
of the First Settlers of Passaic Valley
John Littell, 1851
John Littell's book is one of
the early and classic New Jersey regional genealogies for
Essex and Morris Counties. Genealogies are one to five
pages each, and the family names are in alphabetical
order. A good portion of the early Roll and related
families are included.
Year
Book of the Holland Society of New York, 1915
Burials in the Village of Bergen in New
Jersey
The 1915 Year Book of
the Holland Society of New York contains the records
started by R. Van Giesen, in his capacity of
undertaker in Bergen, New Jersey. The entries span the
years 1666 to 1749, and include additional information
such as the name of the spouse or parent, residence, and
who was buried with the pall.
New York
Year
Book of the Holland Society of New York, 1916
Domine Selyns' Records
The 1916 Year Book of
the Holland Society of New York contains a
transcription of the pastoral book of Domine Henricus
Selyns, minister of New Amsterdam. The manuscript
contains a register of the 566 persons who were members
of the Reformed Dutch Church, arranged according to the
streets of the city.
Domine Selyns' Streets
An Analysis
The map presented in
Appendix A of the the Year Book of the Holland
Society of New York, 1916 does not identify the
street names well. The information given in the text can
have various interpretations.
Eglise Françoise à la Nouvelle York
Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1688 to 1804
This is a rare book; only
500 copies were printed by the Huguenot Society of
America in 1886. Long before 1688 many Walloon and
Huguenot families had found their way to Manhattan
Island, refugees from religious persecution in Europe.
The Staten Island Census
1707
The census is extracted from Stillwell,
John E. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, Data
Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and
New Jersey. Although Stillwell misidentifies the
census, this is obviously a census of Staten Island,
dating from about 1707.
Census of Slaves
North Division, Staten Island, 1755
E. B. O'Callaghan's The
Documentary History of the State of New-York
contains a slave census of the North Division of Staten
Island, taken in 1755, which shows Roll family ancestors
were slave owners.
§3. Records at Other Sites
Free Online
Records
New Jersey and New York
This is not intended to be a complete
list, but rather a suggestion of what is available. As
you discover online records, be sure to add them to your
list, as it may be difficult to find them again.
§4. Help Interpreting
the Records
Interpreting Roman Numerals
MDCCLXXXVI
is given as a year in a
book, what does it mean? You only need to know the value
represented by each of the seven letters I, V, X, L, C,
D, and M, and one simple rule to master the
interpretation of dates given in Roman numerals.
Double Dating
1695/96 or 1696 N. S.
Double dating came about when the new
Gregorian Calendar was introduced in 1582 to correct the
growing error in the old Julian Calendar, but some
countries took centuries to accept the improved calendar.
Indeed, some places used both systems.
Help for Interpretation of Records in
French
It is worth learning the information
presented here if you wish to pursue your ancestry in
French speaking countries. The records of your French
ancestors almost certainly are waiting for you to
discover and interpret them.
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