Gerardus Beekman

He was christened August 17, 1653 at Corlaer's Hook Plantation, New York, the second son of Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (1623–1707) and Catalina De Boogh.{{cite web|last1=Krohn, Deborah, Peter Miller, and Marybeth De Filippis|title=New-York Historical Society {{!}} Colonel Gerardus Beekman, M. D. (1653-1723)|url=http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/colonel-gerardus-beekman-m-d-1653-1723|website=www.nyhistory.org|publisher=New York Historical Society|accessdate=14 September 2016}} His father was a Dutch immigrant who came to New Amsterdam from the Netherlands on the same vessel as Peter Stuyvesant. Wilhelmus soon became Treasurer of the Dutch West India Company{{cite journal|last=Acrelius|first=Israel|author2=Collin, Nicholas |title=New Sweden, or The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware|journal=Collections of the New York Historical Society|year=1841|volume=1|series=2|page=421|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEjjAAAAMAAJ}} and later became the Mayor of New York City,{{cite book|last=Van Rensselaer|first=Mrs. Schuyler|title=History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century. Vol 2.|year=1909|publisher=Macmillan Company|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historycitynewy00rensgoog/page/n269 247], 269|url=https://archive.org/details/historycitynewy00rensgoog}} Governor of Delaware from 1653 to 1664,{{cite book|last=Bernstorf|first=Mrs. Philip W.|title=Directory of the Hereditary Order of Colonial Governors Prior to 4 July 1776|year=2003|publisher=Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors|page=24}} and Governor of Pennsylvania from 1658 to 1663.{{cite book|last=Charles|first=Michael Harrison|title=List of the Colonial Governors Prior to 4 July 1776|year=2006|publisher=Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors|page=30}} His elder brother was Hendrick Beekman.

In 1681, he was captain of militia at Flatbush, and in 1689, he was appointed Major of all the horse and foot in Kings County.

From 1690 to 1691, he was a member of Jacob Leisler's Council and government, which led to what is known as Leisler's Rebellion, which led to the overthrow of the government of colonial governor Francis Nicholson after the accession of William of Orange. When Henry Sloughter came to America in 1691 as Deputy Governor to succeed Nicholson, Beekman was arrested along with Leisler and others. Beekman served 17 months in prison, but was pardoned afterward, unlike Leisler, who was hanged. Gov. Benjamin Fletcher, who succeeded Sloughter, was succeeded by Richard Coote. In 1700, Beekman was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, and then Colonel, under the Earl of Bellomont.

After Bellomont died in 1701, Viscount Cornbury was appointed as his successor and began his administration on the May 3, 1702. His advising Council consisted of: Beekman, William Atwood, William Smith, Peter Schuyler, Abraham de Peyster, Samuel Staats, Robert Walters, Sampson Shelton Broughton, Wolfgang William Romer, William Lawrence, and Rip Van Dam.

In 1710, he was elected President of the Council and Acting Governor of the Province of New York. He remained Governor until the arrival of Robert Hunter, from April 10, 1710 to June 14, 1710.

In addition to his estate in Flatbush, Beekman owned three large farms in the Province of New Jersey. One farm extended for two miles along the Raritan River and contained 1,800 acres, held jointly with Laford Paterson, also of Flatbush, that was purchased for £366. Another farm of 4,000 acres in Somerset County, New Jersey, was purchased in 1702 from Thomas Hart of England, one of the 24 Proprietors of East Jersey, through his attorney, Rip Van Dam. The third farm was 608 acres on the Millstone River. His sons Christopher, Adrian, and William latet became the owners of large tracts of these lands.

On August 29, 1677, he married Magdalena Abeel (c. 1662–1745), the eldest daughter of Christopher Janse Abeel (1621–1684) and Neeltje Jans Kroom.{{cite book|last1=Aitken|first1=William Benford|title=Distinguished families in America, descended from Wilhelmus Beekman and Jan Thomasse Van Dyke|date=1912|publisher=New York and London, The Knickerbocker Press|url=https://archive.org/details/distinguishedfam00aitk|accessdate=14 September 2016}} Magdalena's brother was Johannes Abeel (1667–1711), the second mayor of Albany.Henry Whittemore, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hzAxAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4 The Abeel and Allied Families], 1899, pages 4 to 6 Together they had:

• Divertje "Deborah" Beekman (1674–1737), who married Theunis Hendricksen Wiltse (1674–1741)
• William Beekman (b. 1679), who died young.
• Christopher Beekman (1681–1724), who married Maria DeLanoy (1681–1726), a daughter of Abraham Delanoy (1642–1702) and Cornelia Jacobse Toll.
• Dr. William Beekman (1684–1770), who married Catharine Delanoy (1691–1765); though educated in medicine, he had a successful mercantile career.{{cite web |title=Dr. William Beekman (1684-1770) |url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/dr-william-beekman-1684-1770 |website=www.nyhistory.org |publisher=New-York Historical Society |accessdate=29 September 2020}}
• Adrian Beekman (1682–1705), who married Aletta Lispenard (c. 1686–1705), relative of Leonard Lispenard
• Gerard Beekman (1693–1746), who married Anna Maria van Horne (1696-1726)
• Catherine Beekman

He died in New York City October 10, 1723.

His grandson, Gerardus Christopher Beekman (died 1778), married Catharine Van Dyke (born 1708), the daughter of John Van Dyke, granddaughter of Jan Janse Van Dyke, and great-granddaughter of Jan Thomasse Van Dyke, who came from Amsterdam in 1652 and is considered to be the progenitor of the Van Dyke family in America.

He was the grandfather of James Beekman (1732-1807) the owner of Mount Pleasant, a mansion on Manhattan that was requisitioned by the British Army during the Revolution.{{cite book|last1=York|first1=Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New|title=Genealogical Record of the Saint Nicholas Society: Advanced Sheets, First Series|date=1902|publisher=Society|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco00sain|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco00sain/page/9 9]|quote=James William Beekman (1815-1877).|accessdate=3 February 2017|language=en}} The location of this property is the current Beekman Place. The fireplace mantle of the mansion, which features the Beekman family coat of arms, can be seen at the New York Historical Society.

He is also an ancestor of cartoonist Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born 1948).[http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~addams/other/trudeau.html Ancestry of Garry Trudeau] compiled by William Addams Reitwiesner. Retrieved January 16, 2014

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Category:1653 births

Category:1723 deaths

Category:17th-century American physicians

Category:American politicians of Dutch descent

Category:Governors of the Province of New York

Category:Members of the New York General Assembly

Category:Beekman family