Francis Rombout was the 12thMayor of New York City,, from 1679 to 1680. He was one of three proprietors of the Rombout Patent, and father of pioneering Colonial businesswoman Catheryna Rombout Brett.
Biography
Frans Rombout was born on June 22 at 1631 in Hasselt, the second son of Jan Rombout, who was a taxreceiver for the Archdeacon of Liege, and Johanna Haenen. Francis Rombout emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1653 aboard the ship Nieuw Amsterdam. He engaged in trade as a merchant, while yet a youth. In the year 1658, he enrolled himself among the burghers, or citizens, though he had been for several years previously a trader here. His trading operations as a merchant were tolerably extensive, though he did not rank among the wealthiest of the inhabitants. He was probably worth, as near as can be estimated, about ten thousand dollars, which was then, however, considered an independent fortune. Rombout bought his first stone house at Nieuw-Amsterdam, in the Heerestraat, now Broadway in Manhattan. Rombout held several offices of trust among his fellow-citizens. In 1673, 1674, 1676, 1678, 1686, he was an Alderman. Afterward, in 1687, the city having been divided into wards, he was returned as Alderman of the West Ward. he afterward held the office of Justice of the Peace, until his death. His political principles were of a liberal character, and his manners and address grave and dignified. Rombout's dwelling was on Broadway, west side, near Rector street, extending to the North river shore. it embraced a large garden and an orchard. At the time of his mayoralty, the city contained about 3,500 inhabitants. Rombouts Avenue in the Bronx is named for him. On May 31, 1665, Rombout married Aeltie Wessels in the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam. She died sometime prior to August 5, 1675, when he then married Anna Elizabeth Masschop. Widowed a second time, he married, on September 8, 1683, Helena Teller Bogardus Van Bael. It was the third marriage for both of them. Helena Teller was born about 1645, the daughter of William and Margaret Doncheson Teller of Schenectady. Helena had seven children from her previous marriages, and from this marriage, another three were born. She and Rombout had two boys and a girl. The boys died young but the girl, Catharyna, born on 5 September 1687, survived. Catharyna later married British Royal Navy lieutenant Roger Brett.
The Rombout Patent
The Rombout Patent was a legal instrument issued by King James II of England in 1685 sanctioning the right of Francis Rombouts and his partners Gulian Verplanck and Jacobus Kip to own some of land they had purchased from Native Americans. The Patent included most of what is today's southern Dutchess County, New York. Rombout, had gone into the fur-trading business with Verplanck. A license for the pair to purchase an 85,000 acres tract of the Wappinger people land was granted by Governor Thomas Dongan, February 8, 1682. They were joined in 1683 by Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the first native-born mayor of New York City and patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor in Westchester County, who offered to put up one-third of the money in return for a one-third interest in the parcel. Purchase was completed on August 8, 1683, the $1,250 or so price paid in guns, shot, powder, blankets, wampum, alcohol, cloth and other goods. Before a patent could be issued to the trio, however, Verplanck died, and his widow Henrica married Jacobus Kip. The Rombout Patent was finally granted in 1685 to Verplanck, Rombout, and Stephanus Van Cortlandt on October 17, 1685, with the Verplanck interest passing down through the Kip line.
Maps
See a period map of the Patent at the . showing Rombout Patent directly to the northwest
