Egbert Gerritsen Constapel came of age as a Dutchman under British rule.

After England seized control of New Netherland, the region’s Dutch culture experienced gradual anglicization in the decades that followed.^[1] Some change came by choice, but other change was mandated.

Among the English mandates was a ban on the Dutch practice of using patronymics as last names. Patronymics are last names based on a father’s first name, like “Jacobsen” (Jacob’s son) or “Petersen” (Peter’s son). This meant each generation would have a different last name than the previous. The English required Dutch families to adopt standard surnames so they could more easily identify family units.^[2]

Our family chose “Constapel,” the Dutch form of “Constable.”

Exactly why we chose Constapel is unknown. However, it could be connected to our family’s military service. Both Egbert and his father Gerrit, our first ancestor in the New World, served in local militias.

Whatever the case may be, it is important to note there is currently no evidence suggesting that the Constable surname was used during Gerrit’s lifetime. Egbert is the first “Constable” on record.

The Constable surname first appears on March 30, 1707 in a baptismal record at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, where Egbert was listed as “Egbert Gerritse Constapel.”^[3]

The chaos of this period could be why his early life remains largely obscured to us today. His baptismal and marriage records currently remain undiscovered (if they exist at all).

Still, we know he was born in New Netherland, likely sometime in the mid-to-late 1660s. He would have moved to the Kingston area with his father Gerrit before reaching adulthood.

Sometime in the early 1690s, he married Marritje (pronounced “Maria”) Hendricks Bond. They lived together in Hurley, a village just west of Kingston. Their home was small, according to early 1700s Ulster County tax records, with only one chimney.^[4]

He was listed as a member of the militia for the Town of Hurley in 1715.^[5]

Egbert and Marritje had nine children, according to baptismal records at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, New York:

1. Geesje, daughter baptized Nov. 6, 1692^[6]
2. Gerrit, son baptized Oct. 6, 1695^[7]
3. Hendrick, son baptized May 8, 1698^[8]
4. Johannes, son baptized Jun. 9, 1700^[9]
5. Femmetje, daughter baptized Feb. 13, 1704^[10]
6. Rebecca, daughter baptized Dec. 22, 1706^[11]
7. Abraham, son baptized Nov. 12, 1710^[12]
8. Benjamin, son baptized Aug. 3, 1712^[13]
9. Antjen, daughter baptized Apr. 19, 1719^[14]

It is believed that all Constables of Dutch descent in the United States can trace their lineage back to Egbert and Marritje.

The first two generations of Egbert’s descendants remained in the Hudson Valley. Gerrit and his family stayed in Hurley, while Abraham settled in Marbletown with his family and Benjamin settled in Montgomery with his.

Our last name during this period appears variously in records as “Constapel,” “Konstapel,” “Constapell,” “Konstapell,” “Constabel,” “Konstabel,” “Constaple,” “Konstaple,” “Constabile,” as well as “Constable.”

In one 1755 Ulster County land record, the author spelled the last name three different ways over the course of the document. This was not uncommon for the time.