Cornelis Masten

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Cornelis Masten’s life was basically a 17th-century survival story, starting in Vlissingen—which today is Flushing, Queens.

Around age 16, Cornelis lost both parents, because why not add orphanhood to the historical drama? Since the local church apparently lost his baptismal record, historians have spent centuries guessing his birth year based on real estate receipts and wedding invites¹ .

For the next five years, Cornelis and his three surviving siblings had to crash under the guardianship of a family friend  and neighbor named John Hinchman. They were stuck there until turning 21, thanks to the English Duke’s Laws of 1665, because the government officially deemed teenagers useless at making decisions.

Once he finally legally became an adult, Cornelis inherited his share of the family's Long Island estate, took the money, and immediately ghosted the area. He moved upriver to Wiltwyck—later renamed Kingston because the English loved renaming things—where he swiped right on Elizabeth Aertse van Wagenen. Elizabeth’s family had recently moved there after their previous farm in Albany was completely destroyed, making them experts in rebuilding from scratch.

Cornelis became a total Kingston socialite. He bought up property and, in a classic move of political survival, swore an absolute oath of allegiance to the British Crown in 1689². He and Elizabeth had three sons and three daughters, with youngest son Aart claiming the title as Herman Wolf's 4th great-grandfather. Unfortunately, records of his marriage have been lost, but he does show up with his wife in baptismal records, including Aart's.

• Johannes (1678 – 1755)
• Dievertje (Deborah) (1680 – ?)
• Cornelius (1681 – 1771)
• Aart (1682 – 1739)
• Annetje (Antie) (1684 – 1739)
• Geeritje (1687 – 1782)

Cornelis Masten Jr.—the 4th great-grandUNCLE of Herman Wolf. Cornelis managed to attach his name to a local piece of real estate: the Cornelis Masten Stone House at 109 Pearl Street, Kingston³. Built between 1725 and 1742, the house, along with the church and the rest of the town, faced a minor setback when the British dropped by on October 16, 1777 to torch the place. The fire took out the roof, but  the stone shell survived.

Since Cornelius Jr. completely skipped the "marriage and kids" phase of life, he couldn’t leave the house to  descendants. Instead, it went to his nephew, Cornelius C. Masten (husband to Catharina van Steenbergen). Eventually, the property was sold to the Consistory of the Old Dutch Church, who turned it into the official parish parsonage.

Now, if you look at certain internet family trees, people love to claim that Cornelius and Elizabeth had another son named "William L. Masten" (1691–1772), who allegedly packed up and moved to Kent County, Delaware. However, actual historians view this claim as absolute wishful thinking bordering on delusional.

There is not a single shred of colonial evidence in Kingston to prove William ever existed. No baptism records, no land deeds, no tax lists, and no wills mention him. Sure, early colonial customs occasionally allowed a youngest son to take a suitcase full of cash and run away from the family estate early. But given the absolute zero-percent trace of primary data in New York, it is safe to say William of Delaware just crashed the wrong Masten family tree.

On January 30, 1712, Cornelis signed his last will and testament and died that exact same day at age 61. Talk about precise scheduling. He was buried in the Old Dutch Churchyard⁴, but he has no tombstone. He either got the cheap package, a random unmarked fieldstone, or his wooden marker rotted away centuries ago⁵.