Jan ten Bruggencate in Surinam
On 28 May 1791 Gerrit ten Bruggencate (dutch link) and his wife Johanna Boom, appear before the court in Almelo to ask permission to postpone the decision of what to do with the inheritance of their son Jan. They state:
That they had just received a letter from Demararij, written by Lotharius Kessing, and dated 10 March 1791, that their son Jan ten Bruggenkate had died there on 1 March 1791, and that he had made a will on 26 Feb 1791, which designated his parents as sole heirs. But that they do not know what the condition of the estate of their son is, and whether the assets will be enough to cover the debts, and so they ask that they be allowed to accept the will under protest, as to be able to figure out what to do.
Demerarij was a settlement in Dutch Guyana, a dutch colony on the North side of South America between the Marowijn River on the east and the Corentijn River on the west. The Dutch had interests there from about 1666, with exception of a short period from 1804 to 1816, when the English ruled there. Both France and England had interests in this and neighboring areas.
I don’t think it was a pretty world, conflicts between the European powers, the Indians, and the slaves. Around 1790-1795 there were many slave riots, and lots of unrest. Did Jan die as a result of a riot, a disease, or an armed conflict? I will probably never know. I also have not been able to find the court record, to find out if Jan had more assets than debts.
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