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| Hand drawn map of Kings County showing New Utrecht and Gravesend Towns, c. 1770s |
Origins of Some Place Names
Lack of historic houses in Bensonhurst
today, does not mean there never were such buildings in the neighborhood. In
fact, it was while flipping through the pages of Charles Andrew Ditmas' Historic
Homesteads of Kings County, a copy of which is available in the Archives of
Brooklyn College, when I learnt of the existence of a house that once stood
mere blocks away from where I live now. But as always, my interests tend to
lean towards genealogy and linguistics rather than architectural history, which
is why I am prone to talk more about origins of names of places rather than
designs of houses that once stood in those places. For example, there were three types of names that Europeans gave to their settlements in the New World. One type reminded them of their home in the old country: New Amsterdam (original name of New York), New Utrecht, New Amesfoort (original name of Flatlands) or Gravesend. The other simply described the physical layout of the land from sandy shores to wooded areas. Strictly speaking, these were toponyms and modern names of these places hide a clue to the root languages of those words, such as Dutch Breuckelen (marshy land), Midwout (middle of woods), Vlacke Bosch (flat bush) and Boswijck (land of woods) or Algonquian Manahatin (the island of hills), Quinnehtukqut (place of the long river) or Massa-adchu-es-et (place of the great hill).
Interestingly, the only English settlement in Brooklyn (or for that matter entire New York City) was established by a woman. Lady Deborah Moody had left her home in Gravesend, England in 1639 and established a town with the same name in 1643 where McDonald Avenue and Gravesend Neck Road intersect today. The "Avenue U" stop on the F-train is where the two roads cross, in case you wish to visit. According to the Gravesend Historical Society, established in 1996, the word comes from Anglo-Saxon grafes-ende meaning "at the end of the grove." However, the alternative definition comes from Old English Graves End meaning "the end of the ditch or moat, or the fortified end of the cultivated land." Note the spelling (Gaaves End) on the map from 1770s, above.
It seems some names of towns in Europe also carry a description of the land. Thus, Amsterdam from Aemstelredamme that means a dam over a river Amstel, which in turn means area abundant in water. And Utrecht from Uut Trecht where "uut" means "downriver" and Trecht is Dutch name of Traiectum (crossing river), a Roman fort built in the middle of first century. Or even the town of Breukelen in Utrecht, Netherlands, which too was established on a marshland. In case it is not yet evident, it should be noted now that Brooklyn as we know it today was originally settled by the Dutch. The name originally applied to a town (1646) located in the Kings County, and as the population grew and borders expanded a city (1834) bore the name. The City of Brooklyn grew with every decade annexing one town after another (including New Utrecht) and by 1896 had reached the limits of the county. With the consolidation (1898) of New York City, Brooklyn became one of the five boroughs and names of old towns became names of neighborhoods. Brooklyn Heights is a historic neighborhood that is a site of the original town.
The third type of place names were honorifics to certain potentates (or their spouses). These include such names of colonies as Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Carolina and Georgia. Pennsylvania, which was named in honor of Admiral William Penn, also serves as description of the land. And the case of New York is unique, as it seems to include elements of all three types of place names.
After the acquisition of power by the British in 1664, the Dutch city of New Amsterdam was renamed to New York. Since there is a city in northern England called York, it would seem that the name change followed earlier pattern of naming places by the settlers in remembrance of their home. The meaning of the word York indicates the pattern of naming places according to the way they look, as in English York comes from Old Dutch Jorvik that derives from Old English Eoforwic that comes from Celtic Eborakon meaning "a place of yew trees". However, when the name change occurred it was to honor James II of the House of Stuart who at the time was the Duke of York. If James was a king when the British took over, our city, methinks, would have been called James Island, Jamesylvania, Jamesland, or some other variation of the name.
Only one place in Brooklyn, to my knowledge so far, derives from the name of a people: the Wallabout.
Only one place in Brooklyn, to my knowledge so far, derives from the name of a people: the Wallabout.
A Neighborhood Upon A Hill
The neighborhood where I live literally means "Benson's sandy hill" or more properly "a sandy hill on property belonging to the Benson family". The Old English hyrst from, which -hurst is derived, described an elevated area (hill) comprising mostly of sand and covered with trees. We already know from names of towns that inland Brooklyn was densely covered with woods and that marshes and sandbars ran along the shoreline. However, since the original farms from which Bensonhurst came to be were located in close proximity to water, the above given definition becomes apparent.
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| Arthur W. Benson's 1851 US Passport Application |
Arthur W. Benson was born in the town of Bucksport, Maine on December 16, 1812. His origins are obscure except for the facts of his date and place of birth, which are attested in several sources. The earliest document to his name dates from May 21, 1851, when 38 year old Arthur W. Benson filed for US Passport for himself "& Lady" who presumably was his wife Jane. Few months later, Arthur "with his lady" arrived at the port of Folkestone in England from France. It is very likely that Mr. and Mrs. Benson were on their honeymoon as the next records, the 1855 New York State Census and the 1856 Brooklyn City Directory, show them settled in a stone house on 92 First Street in Brooklyn with a ten month old child and three servants. Interestingly, the same census record shows Arthur as resident of the city of Brooklyn since 1830 and owner of land.
Indeed, Arthur W. Benson's name appears numerous times within the pages of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. The earliest mention was made in the December 11, 1836 issue of the paper, when Benson along with dozen other residents of the Third Ward of the city "offered their services to collect and receive subscription or donations from their fellow citizens, in money, provisions or clothing" for the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. He was also member of the committee of the Brooklyn Institute, director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, trustee of the Brooklyn Hospital and as early as 1863 president of the Brooklyn Gas Light Company. Arthur W. Benson was also involved in real estate, whereby he would procure large tracts of land, develop it and then sell it back in portions to those who desired to own a piece of Brooklyn property.
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| 1834 October 28, New York Daily Advertiser |
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| 1859 June 20, Brooklyn Daily Eagle |
The Progenitor
Unlike Arthur W. Benson, Egbert Benson was born in New York to family of Bensons whose lineage is well documented. But just like Arthur W., Egbert was also erroneously credited as the progenitor of the name Bensonhurst. From printed publications such as books and newspapers to private blogs and government pages online, all show Egbert Benson (1746-1833) as the other person after whom the neighborhood was named. The earliest source of this error was in May 16, 1897 issue of The New York Times, under headline: "QUEST FOR RURAL HOMES, Toilers of Greater New York to Gain by Long Island Rapid Transit." With expansion of railroad systems, access to land was an attainable goal and developers did their best to lure people to all the corners of the City of Brooklyn. When describing the place called "successful cottage city" and "villa settlement" the name given was "Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea," which "was named after Egbert Benson, the first President of the New York Historical Society, and the owner of one of the seven farms." This mistake was repeated several times by other reporters and historians alike at later times. That there was a man named Egbert Benson who owned "one of the seven farms" that made up Bensonhurst is true, but it was not the same Egbert Benson who was "the first President of the New York Historical Society."
The arduous task of sifting through pages and pages of family records where namesakes are a commonality is a specialty of a genealogist. That a real estate developer, whose attention is given to selling lands rather than historical details, makes such an error as to credit one Egbert Benson for the deeds of the other is therefore understandable. To help make this story a bit more comprehensible, I created the following video clip. (Note: I realize the music is a bit too loud and the low quality of images and speed with which they move may not exactly help to untangle the confusion of all the names, but I hope in case it is not helpful, you will overlook the shortcomings of the clip and find your answers within the text of this post).
Egbert Benson was born on June 21, 1746 to Robert Benson and Catharine Van Borsum, who were first cousins. Both parents were fourth generation descendants of Dirck Benson, the progenitor of the family in the New World. It is useful to familiarize ourselves with this individual before proceeding with our story.
According to Sebastian Visscher Talcott's Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families published in 1883, Dirck Benson was from Groningen, Netherlands and married in Amsterdam the native of that city named Catalina Berck, who was born in 1625, shortly before their arrival to New Netherlands in 1848. James Riker, author of Revised History of Harlem (City of New York), Its Origins and Early Annals in 1904 wrote that "Dirck Bensingh, as commonly called, was not a Hollander, but a Swede, according to the tradition in the family...and this is borne out by the original form of the name. Perhaps, to be more exact, Dirck was a Dane. We have traced him from Groningen to Amsterdam." But in 1914, John Oluf Evjen who published Scandinavian Immigrants in New York 1630-1674, made no mention of Dirck's Danish background and instead wrote that "Dirck Bensingh...was a Swede who, after he had left Sweden, resided for some time in Groeningen."
Although it is not certain if Dirck was a Swede or a Dane, it would seem he may not have necessarily been Dutch, even though the eminent Teunis G. Bergen in his 1876 publication, The Bergen Family: or the Descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen, called him "a Netherlander". It is interesting to note here that Teunis' ancestor, by his own account, was actually from Norway, but the Bergen family has always been known in Brooklyn and all other parts of its vicinity, as being of Dutch stock. By the same token, Dirck Benson and his descendants were also known having Dutch ancestry.
On August 2, 1649, Dirck Benson purchased south half of Hendrick Egbertsen's lot located northeast of the fort in New Amsterdam. The deed for this transaction is the first available record in the New World, in which his name was spelled as Dirck Bensich. A digital record "of the original typescript of the Dutch transcription by A.J.F. van Laer" was made available by the New Netherland Institute, in which on page 226 of transcription or 228 of digital file, the name was spelled as Dirck bensich, that is "bensich" with lower case "b".
In 1654, Dirck Benson left New Amsterdam to a fur trading settlement of Beverwijck (land of beaver, also Beverwyck, current Albany) near Fort Orange. While there, Benson left number of records in which his name was spelled out in numerous other ways: Dirck Bensick, Derick Bensick, Dirck Bensinck, Dirrick Bensick and Dirck Bensingh. Sometimes between January 9 and February 12, 1659, Derick Benson died, leaving his pregnant wife with four children. After his death, few records were made by his widow, wherein his name was spelled as Dirk Bensingh, but his heirs would later change the surname to its current form of Benson (in New York and elsewhere) and Bensen (mostly in New Jersey).
On February 8, 1690, a Mohawk village known as Skah-nehtati (the other side of pines) was attacked by the French forces from Canada. This was a counter attack in retaliation of raids undertaken by the Iroquois in the summer of previous year on French Lachine (the China). The village of Schenectady was located northwest of Beverwyck and a trading route existed between the two settlements at the time. On that fateful February night in 1690, among the massacred inhabitants of the village was a Dutch surgeon named Reynier Schaets, husband of Cateryna daughter of Dirck Benson, the immigrant. After her husband's death, Cateryna Benson Schaets stayed in Albany, and remarried in 1696 to Englishman Jonathan Broadhorst, but her brothers, each having his own family, relocated back to New Amsterdam. Maria Benson, who married Volkert Janse Van Hoesen, son of immigrants Jan Franse Van Hoesen and Volkie Jurriaanse, had a son Reiner, who was baptized on 10 January 1692 and named in honor of his uncle, Doctor Schaets.
Our story continues with Samson, the second son of the immigrant and his wife Catalina. He married Tryntje (Catherine), daughter of Matthew Abramse Van Deusen and Helen. Samson and Tryntje had thirteen children, whose names were:
The fourth child of Robert and Dinah was the one whose heirs sold the farmlands that became Bensonhurst-By-the-Sea. Egbert Benson (1789-1866) was the namesake of Judge Benson (1746-1833) and this fact alone confused the future historians about the origins of the word Bensonhurst. To make matters more complicated, Egbert's mother, Dinah Cowenhoven (also spelled Kowenhoven, Kouvenhoven, Couvenhoven, sometimes with prefix "van" or even Americanized Conover) was grand-aunt of Maria, wife of Egbert. Confused? Let's take a look at a diagram below to help us understand this whirlwind of names.
As the diagram shows, John Van Cowenhoven was married to Catherine Remsen. They had number of children, two of whom were Nicholas (1744-1793) and Diana, also spelled Dinah (1762-1847). Nicholas Cowenhoven's wife was Jane Lott (they were married in 1763) and his sister, Dinah, was married to Robert Benson. Nicholas and Jane had a son who was born on 17 March 1769; his name was John Nicholas and he married Susan Martense in 1802. A daughter was born to John Nicholas and Susan on 6 April 1803, whose name was Maria (1803-1867). Maria Cowenhoven married in 1820 Egbert Benson (1789-1866) and they had eight children. Some sources indicate that Judge Benson married very late in his life to Maria Conover. We know that the judge was never married and that Maria Conover was actually Maria Cowenhoven, who was wife of Egbert Benson, nephew of Judge Benson.
At the risk of redundancy but for the sake of clarity, let us spell it out again. Egbert Benson was born on 1 September 1789 to Robert Benson and Dinah Cowenhoven. On 17 May 1820, Egbert (not the judge) was married to Maria Cowenhoven born on 3 April 1803. Maria was grandniece of Dinah Cowenhoven, Egbert's mother. Maria's grandfather, Nicholas, known as Judge Cowenhoven of New Utrecht, owned the large tract of land in the same town. Upon his death, Judge Cowenhoven's lands went to his son, John Nicholas Cowenhoven, and when the latter also died on 3 November 1806, his property was bequeathed to his daughters, Maria and Jane.
Maria Cowenhoven's property was transferred to her husband when she married Egbert Benson (1789-1866) in 1820. The large tract of land was located mostly within the confines of the town of New Utrecht with small portion of it encroaching beyond the Gravesend line. In 1852, as the map of Kings County below indicates, the total property belonging to Egbert Benson equaled 240 acres.
The map above shows a doted line that ran from "Bath & Coney Island Plank Road" toward the home of Denyse located nearby "Indian Pond" and from thence further northeast, this was then the borderline between the towns of New Utrecht and Gravesend. The line that began by the Denyse property corresponds to current Bay Parkway and the Indian Pond is the site of Seth Low Playground. Roughly parallel to the dotted line is the road, indicated by a straight line, that began at Gravesend Bay, crossed Bath Avenue and passed through the center of New Utrecht, that's the modern 18th Avenue, one of the oldest streets in the Kings County.
The southeast corner of Egbert Benson's property located in Gravesend bordered a marshland, which also included either a brook or spring flowing ultimately into the Gravesend Bay. This only confirms that what became known as "Bensonhurst" was a land mostly comprised of sandy hills more so than densely populated woods. In fact, Henry Isham Hazelton, in the second volume of his 1925 The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, Counties of Nassau and Suffolk, Long Island, New York, 1609-1924 wrote that "Bensonhurst was built on gravel. The huge bed on which it stands is mixed with enough sand and loam to make vegetation grow luxuriantly."
Four of the eight children listed above, preceded their parents in death, because Egbert Benson died on 25 February 1866 and Maria on 22 June 1867. George Martense Benson, who was married to Margaret J. Voorhees, died exactly six months after his mother's passing. All were laid to rest in the New Utrecht Cemetery located today on 16th Avenue between the 84th and 85th Streets. Margaret J. Benson, widow of George M., had divided her husband's portion of the inheritance between herself and her children, namely Margaret, Egbert and George.
The above map shows divisions of Egbert Benson's (1789-1866) lands between his living heirs in 1877, with largest portion going to his youngest child, Richard Hoffman Benson and smallest portion to his grandchildren. Margaret J. Benson died on 23 March 1882 and left her properties to her daughter Margaret and son Egbert; the youngest, George, had died in 1869. The fact that the map above shows "Geo. Benson" as owner of land is an error on part of the cartographer, who must have used old deeds as reference, for it is very likely that the most recent copies of land deeds were not yet available. In any case, such maps were constantly changing, as ownership of land changed hands more than once within a single decade.
On 15 December 1883, Robert Benson, the eldest son of Egbert and Maria, died leaving all his property divided between his sister Susan, brother Richard H., and two children of his deceased brother, George M., viz: Margaret (who by then had married John F. Berry) and Egbert.
In 1885, as the old Egbert's lands were exchanging hands between his heirs, a man by the name of James D. Lynch appeared on the horizon. Lynch was a well known real estate developer in New York and Brooklyn, and his arrival to New Utrecht preceded the birth of Bensonhurst. He began to negotiate with the Benson family as soon as he arrived and by 1887 had acquired his first portion of their property.
Susan Benson died in September of 1886 devising all of her property to her "heirs...Richard H. Benson, a brother, Margaret Berry, a niece and Egbert Benson a nephew." Susan's property was the first to be acquired by James D. Lynch, a deed for which was obtained on 29 October 1887. By then Richard H. was no longer living in New Utrecht, instead making his permanent home in the City of Brooklyn. Thus seeing no further use for the lands of his forefathers, he too eventually sold his portions to Lynch, with his niece and nephew following suit shortly.
This is how Hazelton described the process of building of Bensonhurst by Lynch:
"As soon as he owned a tract large enough for his purposes, Lynch began to develop the land. This means that he set two hundred men with ninety wagons and carts at work to perform a task which looked interminable. This force 'skinned' the land and levelled it off like a lawn. John J. Morrissey was the contractor; Samuel H. McElroy the surveyor, and B.S. and G.S. Olmstead were the landscape architects. Parfitt Brothers were the architects, and Colonel Goerge E. Waring the sanitary engineer."
The area was built quickly and already as early as July 1888, the first "absolute auction sale" took place offering a choice of 340 Lots within the territory of "the new seaside resort." "From this it would seem as if New York were really to have a select, quiet, healthy suburb, particularly adapted to the needs of lawyers, bankers and merchants, whose occupations are sedentary, within easy distance by a delightful trip through the historic and picturesque old town of New Utrecht" (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 24 July 1888).
The 1890's Atlas created by Robinson, shows portion of "Bensonhurst-By-The-Sea" located in Gravesend (gray) and New Utrecht (green) towns; the street that is running through the territory, indicated in red, is the 86th Street above which a D-train runs today.
On the south side of Cropsey Avenue that bordered the "resort", between the 21st and 22nd Avenues, the last property belonging to the Benson family was still intact when Bensonhurst was being developed. This portion of the property was not sold to private developers but rather to government for public use as a park. The portion of the 1898 map (above) shows existence of two structures located nearby the Bensonhurst Park (frame houses indicated by yellow shapes ), one of which was the old Benson homestead. In the same vicinity, on the corner of Cropsey Avenue and Bay 22nd Street, there was also a hotel once called "Bath Beach Hotel". With the development of the area, the name was changed to Bensonhurst Hotel.
The first recorded use of the word "Bensonhurst" was in the February 26, 1888 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. On this day, an announcement was made for a "Dinner Party at Mapleton" which listed the attending guests, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. John F. Berry (Margaret Benson) "of Bensonhurst." The 1889 Lain's Brooklyn Directory showed John F. Berry residing at Batch Beach, Long Island, which in essence was exactly where "Bensonhurst-By-The-Sea" was created. Unfortunately, the idea of the resort settlement did not take place, and the lands developed by Lynch would not be fully populated until 1920s.
Modern Bensonhurst is located northwest of the original "Bensonhurst-By-The-Sea" which is known today as the Bath Beach neighborhood. Curiously, the same neighborhood is where Benson Ave is located today, which was formed during the life of Egbert Benson (1789-1866); the street runs parallel between 86th Street and Bath Ave and crosses the 18th Avenue.
Today, Bensonhurst is associated with the Italian-Americans in Brooklyn. The neighborhood obtained its residential make up in 1920s. One block from my house is the 18th Avenue, portions of which have been renamed to Christophoro Colombo Boulevard in honor of the Italian explorer. Despite the change of demographics in the past decade (Italians are being replaced by the incoming immigrants from China), a visitor to the neighborhood can still see remnants of the Italian culture in such places as Da Vinci Pizzeria, Caffe Italia, Villabate Alba Pasticceria, Doris Fashions, Strazzullo Law Firm, SAS Italian Records, Italian Tile Imports, Frank and Sal Italian Market and Federation of Italian-American Organizations, just to name a few.
As you walk about the neighborhood, you will certainly notice interesting architectural designs of various houses, from flat facades to intricately designed roof moldings. And if you are interested in architectural history, perhaps you will describe what you see more elaborately compared to what you read here. But I hope, when it comes to the origins of Bensonhurst, you will be able to refer to this page with confidence. That said, I am more than happy to receive your comments and criticism.
Welcome to Bensonhurst.
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First of many ads of Bensonhurst by the Sea
1888 July 24, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |
Egbert Benson was born on June 21, 1746 to Robert Benson and Catharine Van Borsum, who were first cousins. Both parents were fourth generation descendants of Dirck Benson, the progenitor of the family in the New World. It is useful to familiarize ourselves with this individual before proceeding with our story.
According to Sebastian Visscher Talcott's Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families published in 1883, Dirck Benson was from Groningen, Netherlands and married in Amsterdam the native of that city named Catalina Berck, who was born in 1625, shortly before their arrival to New Netherlands in 1848. James Riker, author of Revised History of Harlem (City of New York), Its Origins and Early Annals in 1904 wrote that "Dirck Bensingh, as commonly called, was not a Hollander, but a Swede, according to the tradition in the family...and this is borne out by the original form of the name. Perhaps, to be more exact, Dirck was a Dane. We have traced him from Groningen to Amsterdam." But in 1914, John Oluf Evjen who published Scandinavian Immigrants in New York 1630-1674, made no mention of Dirck's Danish background and instead wrote that "Dirck Bensingh...was a Swede who, after he had left Sweden, resided for some time in Groeningen."
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| From page 39 of Teunis G. Bergen's The Bergen Family |
On August 2, 1649, Dirck Benson purchased south half of Hendrick Egbertsen's lot located northeast of the fort in New Amsterdam. The deed for this transaction is the first available record in the New World, in which his name was spelled as Dirck Bensich. A digital record "of the original typescript of the Dutch transcription by A.J.F. van Laer" was made available by the New Netherland Institute, in which on page 226 of transcription or 228 of digital file, the name was spelled as Dirck bensich, that is "bensich" with lower case "b".
In 1654, Dirck Benson left New Amsterdam to a fur trading settlement of Beverwijck (land of beaver, also Beverwyck, current Albany) near Fort Orange. While there, Benson left number of records in which his name was spelled out in numerous other ways: Dirck Bensick, Derick Bensick, Dirck Bensinck, Dirrick Bensick and Dirck Bensingh. Sometimes between January 9 and February 12, 1659, Derick Benson died, leaving his pregnant wife with four children. After his death, few records were made by his widow, wherein his name was spelled as Dirk Bensingh, but his heirs would later change the surname to its current form of Benson (in New York and elsewhere) and Bensen (mostly in New Jersey).
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| From page 207 in Teunis G. Bergen's The Bergen Family |
The Descendants
Whatever his actual ethnicity, we know that Dirck Benson came to New Amsterdam with his wife Catalina, and after few years they moved to Albany. The Bensons had five children, whose names and vitals were as follow:- Dirck, born on 9 November 1649 in New Amsterdam
- Samson, born on 4 July 1652 in New Amsterdam
- Johannes, born on 8 February 1655 in Beverwyck
- Cateryna, born on 12 February 1657 in Beverwyck
- Maria, born on 15 July 1659 in Beverwyck, six months after her father's death
On February 8, 1690, a Mohawk village known as Skah-nehtati (the other side of pines) was attacked by the French forces from Canada. This was a counter attack in retaliation of raids undertaken by the Iroquois in the summer of previous year on French Lachine (the China). The village of Schenectady was located northwest of Beverwyck and a trading route existed between the two settlements at the time. On that fateful February night in 1690, among the massacred inhabitants of the village was a Dutch surgeon named Reynier Schaets, husband of Cateryna daughter of Dirck Benson, the immigrant. After her husband's death, Cateryna Benson Schaets stayed in Albany, and remarried in 1696 to Englishman Jonathan Broadhorst, but her brothers, each having his own family, relocated back to New Amsterdam. Maria Benson, who married Volkert Janse Van Hoesen, son of immigrants Jan Franse Van Hoesen and Volkie Jurriaanse, had a son Reiner, who was baptized on 10 January 1692 and named in honor of his uncle, Doctor Schaets.
Our story continues with Samson, the second son of the immigrant and his wife Catalina. He married Tryntje (Catherine), daughter of Matthew Abramse Van Deusen and Helen. Samson and Tryntje had thirteen children, whose names were:
- Catalina, born in 1675
- Dirck, born in 1677
- Teuwes (Matthew), born in 1679
- Harmon, born in 1681
- Samson, baptized on 13 April 1684
- Robert, baptized on 1 January 1686
- William, baptized on 30 October 1687
- Elizabeth, born on 6 October 1689, and baptized seven days later
- Johannes, baptized 3 July 1692
- Helena, baptized 14 February 1694
- Maria, baptized on 5 February 1696
- Henricus, born in 1698
- Catalina, born in 1707
Samson Benson moved from Beverwyck to New Amsterdam in 1696, so this year should be a used to determine the place of birth for his children. Some of them died in their youth, but those who survived left many descendants who are extant to this date. Our concern is to the sixth and eighth children of Samson and Tryntje, respectively Robert and Elizabeth.
Robert Benson, who must have been born sometimes in December 1685, married Cornelia Roos on 14 March 1708. He died in 1715, and next year his widow married Anthony Rutgers. Children of Robert and Cornelia were:
- Elizabeth, baptized on 24 November 1708
- Tryntje, baptized on 3 March 1710
- Tryntje, baptized on 1 June 1712
- Robert, baptized on 27 November 1715
Elizabeth Benson, who was born on 6 October 1689, died on 10 November 1751. She married Egbert Van Borsum, with whom she had a daughter, Catherine. On 18 August 1738, Catherine Van Borsum (born in 1718 and died in 1794) married her cousin Robert (born in 1715 and died in 1762) the only son of Robert (1685-1715) and Cornelia. Thus we have:
Robert Benson and Catherine Van Borsum had six children:
- Robert, born on 30 October 1739, died on 25 February 1823
- Henry, born on 17 November 1741, died single in August 1823
- Mary, born in 1743, died in 1745
- Egbert, born on 21 June 1746, died single on 24 August 1833
- Cornelia, born in 1748, died in 1749
- Anthony, born in 1752, died in 1794
Egbert Benson, who was born in 1746 and died in 1833 as a single man, was the one of the founders and the first president of the New York Historical Society. The main reason why Egbert Benson was not the one after whom Bensonhurst was named was because he was never married, and thus had no children who would have owned land in the Town of New Utrecht. In fact, just like Arthur W. Benson, Egbert Benson is unlikely to have ever been to New Utrecht.
According to Talcott, Egbert spent most of his childhood in the home of his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Benson Van Borsum, located "on the corner of Broad and Beaver streets, New York" and "attended an English classical school where he prepared himself for college". He enrolled in Columbia University (then Kings College) in 1761 and graduated with Bachelor of Arts in 1765, and three years later obtained his Masters of Arts degree. In 1769, Egbert Benson moved to Dutchess County, New York to practice law, having been admitted to the bar a year prior. His accomplishments are too numerous to be given in detail, so only a list of highlighted achievements is presented below:
1773-Chairman of the Committee of Safety in Dutchess County
1775-Member of the Dutchess County in the Provincial Convention
1777-The First Attorney-General of the State of New York
1777-1781-Member of the State Assembly for Dutchess County
1781-Procurator charged with duty "to prosecute in behalf of Congress all debts to, or frauds committed against, the United States."
1781-Member of Congress from New York
1788-Regent of the University of State of New York
1794-The Fifth Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
1801-Chief Judge of the Second Circuit of the United States Court
.jpg) |
| Lieutenant Colonel Robert Benson (1739-1823) |
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| Judge Egbert Benson (1746-1833) |
When he died in 1833, Judge Egbert Benson was buried next to his second brother Henry, in Prospect Cemetery, located then in the Town of Jamaica, Queens County. Although the cemetery dates from second part of 17th Century, when the Dutch founded their towns in the area, no other Bensons have been found to be buried in the Prospect Cemetery. If we but look at the dates of death, we can see that at the time of Henry Benson's demise in August of 1823, Judge Benson was his only relative, their elder brother, Robert, having died in February of the same year. Both Henry and Egbert were bachelors throughout their lives and perhaps after burying his brother and having no other place to go, Judge Benson arranged for his final resting place to be next to Henry. It is unfortunate fact that for the most part of the 20th Century, the Prospect Cemetery was left without proper caretakers and thus had fallen into disarray. However, although the original bronze plaque is now missing, inscriptions on Egbert Benson's stone are still visible.
Unlike his brothers, Robert Benson's legacy is a bit more everlasting. Born in 1739, he married Dinah, daughter of John Cowenhoven and Catherine Remsen. In 1939, to commemorate two hundredth year of his birth, descendants of Robert Benson placed a marker upon his grave which is intact to this date. Robert died on 25 February 1823 in New York City and was buried in the burial grounds of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church of New York City. When laying of the grid system plan took effect in first part of 1800s, it eventually affected burial grounds in the city of New York. As old burial grounds came to be in the way of paving streets, many remains of old parishioners had to be removed from one church graveyard to another. And such was the case for the burial ground where Robert Benson was laid to rest in 1823. In 1875, together with the remains of his wife and other members of his family, body of Robert Benson was removed from the church yard in New York and laid to rest in the Green-Wood Cemetery. For a while, his whereabouts were lost to his heirs, until in 1939 Philip A. Benson, Arthur D. Benson and John C. Lowe, all descendants of Robert Benson, had located his final resting place and marked it with a bronze plaque. It reads:
In Memory of
Robert's widow, Dinah Cowenhoven, who died on 20 May 1847, bore eight children by him:
Unlike his brothers, Robert Benson's legacy is a bit more everlasting. Born in 1739, he married Dinah, daughter of John Cowenhoven and Catherine Remsen. In 1939, to commemorate two hundredth year of his birth, descendants of Robert Benson placed a marker upon his grave which is intact to this date. Robert died on 25 February 1823 in New York City and was buried in the burial grounds of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church of New York City. When laying of the grid system plan took effect in first part of 1800s, it eventually affected burial grounds in the city of New York. As old burial grounds came to be in the way of paving streets, many remains of old parishioners had to be removed from one church graveyard to another. And such was the case for the burial ground where Robert Benson was laid to rest in 1823. In 1875, together with the remains of his wife and other members of his family, body of Robert Benson was removed from the church yard in New York and laid to rest in the Green-Wood Cemetery. For a while, his whereabouts were lost to his heirs, until in 1939 Philip A. Benson, Arthur D. Benson and John C. Lowe, all descendants of Robert Benson, had located his final resting place and marked it with a bronze plaque. It reads:
In Memory of
Lt. Col. Robert Benson
Born October 30, 1739 - Died February 25, 1823
Aide-De-Camp to Governor George Clinton
in the Revolution
Clerk of New York State Senate
Clerk of New York Common Council
Robert's widow, Dinah Cowenhoven, who died on 20 May 1847, bore eight children by him:
- Robert, born on 26 December 1785, died single on 27 June 1872
- Catharine, born on 8 December 1786, died on 24 December 1818
- John, born on 7 March 1888, died on 24 May 1788
- Egbert, born on 1 September 1789, died on 25 February 1866
- John, born on 27 September 1790, died in 1823
- Elizabeth, born on 21 September 1791, died single on 31 January 1881
- Maria, born on 5 June 1793, died on 21 February 1875
- Jane, born on 13 March 1794, died on 21 March 1887
The fourth child of Robert and Dinah was the one whose heirs sold the farmlands that became Bensonhurst-By-the-Sea. Egbert Benson (1789-1866) was the namesake of Judge Benson (1746-1833) and this fact alone confused the future historians about the origins of the word Bensonhurst. To make matters more complicated, Egbert's mother, Dinah Cowenhoven (also spelled Kowenhoven, Kouvenhoven, Couvenhoven, sometimes with prefix "van" or even Americanized Conover) was grand-aunt of Maria, wife of Egbert. Confused? Let's take a look at a diagram below to help us understand this whirlwind of names.
As the diagram shows, John Van Cowenhoven was married to Catherine Remsen. They had number of children, two of whom were Nicholas (1744-1793) and Diana, also spelled Dinah (1762-1847). Nicholas Cowenhoven's wife was Jane Lott (they were married in 1763) and his sister, Dinah, was married to Robert Benson. Nicholas and Jane had a son who was born on 17 March 1769; his name was John Nicholas and he married Susan Martense in 1802. A daughter was born to John Nicholas and Susan on 6 April 1803, whose name was Maria (1803-1867). Maria Cowenhoven married in 1820 Egbert Benson (1789-1866) and they had eight children. Some sources indicate that Judge Benson married very late in his life to Maria Conover. We know that the judge was never married and that Maria Conover was actually Maria Cowenhoven, who was wife of Egbert Benson, nephew of Judge Benson.
At the risk of redundancy but for the sake of clarity, let us spell it out again. Egbert Benson was born on 1 September 1789 to Robert Benson and Dinah Cowenhoven. On 17 May 1820, Egbert (not the judge) was married to Maria Cowenhoven born on 3 April 1803. Maria was grandniece of Dinah Cowenhoven, Egbert's mother. Maria's grandfather, Nicholas, known as Judge Cowenhoven of New Utrecht, owned the large tract of land in the same town. Upon his death, Judge Cowenhoven's lands went to his son, John Nicholas Cowenhoven, and when the latter also died on 3 November 1806, his property was bequeathed to his daughters, Maria and Jane.
Maria Cowenhoven's property was transferred to her husband when she married Egbert Benson (1789-1866) in 1820. The large tract of land was located mostly within the confines of the town of New Utrecht with small portion of it encroaching beyond the Gravesend line. In 1852, as the map of Kings County below indicates, the total property belonging to Egbert Benson equaled 240 acres.
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| 1852 map of Kings County showing parts of the towns of New Utrecht and Gravesend |
The map above shows a doted line that ran from "Bath & Coney Island Plank Road" toward the home of Denyse located nearby "Indian Pond" and from thence further northeast, this was then the borderline between the towns of New Utrecht and Gravesend. The line that began by the Denyse property corresponds to current Bay Parkway and the Indian Pond is the site of Seth Low Playground. Roughly parallel to the dotted line is the road, indicated by a straight line, that began at Gravesend Bay, crossed Bath Avenue and passed through the center of New Utrecht, that's the modern 18th Avenue, one of the oldest streets in the Kings County.
The southeast corner of Egbert Benson's property located in Gravesend bordered a marshland, which also included either a brook or spring flowing ultimately into the Gravesend Bay. This only confirms that what became known as "Bensonhurst" was a land mostly comprised of sandy hills more so than densely populated woods. In fact, Henry Isham Hazelton, in the second volume of his 1925 The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, Counties of Nassau and Suffolk, Long Island, New York, 1609-1924 wrote that "Bensonhurst was built on gravel. The huge bed on which it stands is mixed with enough sand and loam to make vegetation grow luxuriantly."
The Inheritance
Egbert Benson and Maria Cowenhoven had eight children, whose names were:- Susan, born on 3 July 1821, died single on 25 September 1886
- Robert, born on 15 March 1823, died single on 15 December 1883
- Egbert, born on 21 September 1824, died single on 23 August 1843
- George Martense, born on 31 July 1826, died on 22 December 1867
- Leffert Lefferts, born on 15 March 1828, died single, in battle, on 2 April 1863
- Maria Elizabeth, born on 14 July 1830, died on 14 February 1832
- Henry, born on 29 June 1834, died on 29 February 1844
- Richard Hoffman, born 21 May 1837, died on 29 September 1889
Four of the eight children listed above, preceded their parents in death, because Egbert Benson died on 25 February 1866 and Maria on 22 June 1867. George Martense Benson, who was married to Margaret J. Voorhees, died exactly six months after his mother's passing. All were laid to rest in the New Utrecht Cemetery located today on 16th Avenue between the 84th and 85th Streets. Margaret J. Benson, widow of George M., had divided her husband's portion of the inheritance between herself and her children, namely Margaret, Egbert and George.
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| Portion of Mathew Dripps' 1877 Atlas of the Townships of New Utrecht, Gravesend, Flatbush, Flatlands and New Lots, Courtesy of the Brooklyn College Archives & Special Collections |
The above map shows divisions of Egbert Benson's (1789-1866) lands between his living heirs in 1877, with largest portion going to his youngest child, Richard Hoffman Benson and smallest portion to his grandchildren. Margaret J. Benson died on 23 March 1882 and left her properties to her daughter Margaret and son Egbert; the youngest, George, had died in 1869. The fact that the map above shows "Geo. Benson" as owner of land is an error on part of the cartographer, who must have used old deeds as reference, for it is very likely that the most recent copies of land deeds were not yet available. In any case, such maps were constantly changing, as ownership of land changed hands more than once within a single decade.
On 15 December 1883, Robert Benson, the eldest son of Egbert and Maria, died leaving all his property divided between his sister Susan, brother Richard H., and two children of his deceased brother, George M., viz: Margaret (who by then had married John F. Berry) and Egbert.
In 1885, as the old Egbert's lands were exchanging hands between his heirs, a man by the name of James D. Lynch appeared on the horizon. Lynch was a well known real estate developer in New York and Brooklyn, and his arrival to New Utrecht preceded the birth of Bensonhurst. He began to negotiate with the Benson family as soon as he arrived and by 1887 had acquired his first portion of their property.
Susan Benson died in September of 1886 devising all of her property to her "heirs...Richard H. Benson, a brother, Margaret Berry, a niece and Egbert Benson a nephew." Susan's property was the first to be acquired by James D. Lynch, a deed for which was obtained on 29 October 1887. By then Richard H. was no longer living in New Utrecht, instead making his permanent home in the City of Brooklyn. Thus seeing no further use for the lands of his forefathers, he too eventually sold his portions to Lynch, with his niece and nephew following suit shortly.
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| Portion of Susan Benson's Will, filed in 1884 |
This is how Hazelton described the process of building of Bensonhurst by Lynch:
"As soon as he owned a tract large enough for his purposes, Lynch began to develop the land. This means that he set two hundred men with ninety wagons and carts at work to perform a task which looked interminable. This force 'skinned' the land and levelled it off like a lawn. John J. Morrissey was the contractor; Samuel H. McElroy the surveyor, and B.S. and G.S. Olmstead were the landscape architects. Parfitt Brothers were the architects, and Colonel Goerge E. Waring the sanitary engineer."
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| Portion of Elisha Robinson's 1890 Atlas of Kings County, New York |
The area was built quickly and already as early as July 1888, the first "absolute auction sale" took place offering a choice of 340 Lots within the territory of "the new seaside resort." "From this it would seem as if New York were really to have a select, quiet, healthy suburb, particularly adapted to the needs of lawyers, bankers and merchants, whose occupations are sedentary, within easy distance by a delightful trip through the historic and picturesque old town of New Utrecht" (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 24 July 1888).
The 1890's Atlas created by Robinson, shows portion of "Bensonhurst-By-The-Sea" located in Gravesend (gray) and New Utrecht (green) towns; the street that is running through the territory, indicated in red, is the 86th Street above which a D-train runs today.
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| Volume Two of the 1898 Atlas of the Brooklyn Borough of the City of New York, Courtesy of the Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections |
On the south side of Cropsey Avenue that bordered the "resort", between the 21st and 22nd Avenues, the last property belonging to the Benson family was still intact when Bensonhurst was being developed. This portion of the property was not sold to private developers but rather to government for public use as a park. The portion of the 1898 map (above) shows existence of two structures located nearby the Bensonhurst Park (frame houses indicated by yellow shapes ), one of which was the old Benson homestead. In the same vicinity, on the corner of Cropsey Avenue and Bay 22nd Street, there was also a hotel once called "Bath Beach Hotel". With the development of the area, the name was changed to Bensonhurst Hotel.
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| 1888 February 26, Brooklyn Daily Eagle |
The first recorded use of the word "Bensonhurst" was in the February 26, 1888 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. On this day, an announcement was made for a "Dinner Party at Mapleton" which listed the attending guests, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. John F. Berry (Margaret Benson) "of Bensonhurst." The 1889 Lain's Brooklyn Directory showed John F. Berry residing at Batch Beach, Long Island, which in essence was exactly where "Bensonhurst-By-The-Sea" was created. Unfortunately, the idea of the resort settlement did not take place, and the lands developed by Lynch would not be fully populated until 1920s.
Modern Bensonhurst is located northwest of the original "Bensonhurst-By-The-Sea" which is known today as the Bath Beach neighborhood. Curiously, the same neighborhood is where Benson Ave is located today, which was formed during the life of Egbert Benson (1789-1866); the street runs parallel between 86th Street and Bath Ave and crosses the 18th Avenue.
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| Search result for "Bensonhurst" in Google Maps |
Today, Bensonhurst is associated with the Italian-Americans in Brooklyn. The neighborhood obtained its residential make up in 1920s. One block from my house is the 18th Avenue, portions of which have been renamed to Christophoro Colombo Boulevard in honor of the Italian explorer. Despite the change of demographics in the past decade (Italians are being replaced by the incoming immigrants from China), a visitor to the neighborhood can still see remnants of the Italian culture in such places as Da Vinci Pizzeria, Caffe Italia, Villabate Alba Pasticceria, Doris Fashions, Strazzullo Law Firm, SAS Italian Records, Italian Tile Imports, Frank and Sal Italian Market and Federation of Italian-American Organizations, just to name a few.
As you walk about the neighborhood, you will certainly notice interesting architectural designs of various houses, from flat facades to intricately designed roof moldings. And if you are interested in architectural history, perhaps you will describe what you see more elaborately compared to what you read here. But I hope, when it comes to the origins of Bensonhurst, you will be able to refer to this page with confidence. That said, I am more than happy to receive your comments and criticism.
Welcome to Bensonhurst.
