The Potter - Sooy Connection

Last Tuesday, the Blog featured a romantic tale of a young New Gretna boy, Steve Potter, who took his first true love, Millie Miller from Tuckerton, to the Latin Quarter in the middle of a buzzing Times Square in New York City.

Steve, looking over a family photo album in the October 16, 2009 photo to the right, has deep roots in our local area history. He is a 8th generation descendant of Yoos Sooy who was born in Amsterdam Holland in 1685 and came to America about 1705. Originally settling in Northern New Jersey; Yoos, his wife, Sarah, and their two children Yoos II and Nicholas resettled in Lower Bank, just a stone's throw from New Gretna, in 1724.

I thought I would present Steve's linage from the present day down to Yoos Sooy for those Blog readers who are into local genealogy. Join me on a trip back through time, as we travel back eight generations to 17th century Holland.

EIGHTH GENERATION -

Stephen Edward Potter Jr. Born 10 October 1929.

Steve retired from a supervisory position with the New Jersey Garden State Parkway. An oysterman, he has been active with the New Jersey Shellfish Counsel. Steve and Millie live on Amasas Landing Road in New Gretna and attend the New Gretna Presbyterian Church. He married Minnie "Millie" Kennedy Miller, daughter of Bateman Miller & Lillian Gray, 30 Oct 1952 in Tuckerton, N.J. Born 15 Oct 1932.

Steve and Millie Miller Potter in their New Gretna home, circa mid 1960's, on Amasas Landing Road where they raised three daughters: Sheryl who married John Price, Linda who married Steve Mears, and Maureen who married Tom Kane. (Photo courtesy of Steve and Millie Potter.)

SEVENTH GENERATION -

Esther Sooy. Born 1905. Died 8 June 1973.

She married Stephen Edward Potter Sr.. Born 1900. Died 10 Jul 1984. Buried in Hillside Cemetery, New Gretna, N.J. They had the following children: Leonard Paul Potter and Stephen Edward Potter Jr.

Steve and Esther Sooy Potter. (Photo courtesy of Steve and Millie Potter.)

October 10, 1923 newspaper clipping.

SIXTH GENERATION -

Samuel Leonard Sooy. Born 5 February 1873. Died 17 September 1941.

He married Mabel May Maxwell, daughter of Samuel Maxwell & Mary Margaret Cramer, 1898. Born Jan 1880. Died 1976. They had one child, Esther Sooy. Samual and Mabel are buried in Hillside Cemetery, New Gretna, N.J.

Len Sooy showing a 13 star flag from a ship he had sailed on to his grandsons, Steve (r) and Paul Potter. (Photo from page 67 of Henry Beck's book, "Jersey Genesis.")

Len Sooy's World War I Draft Registration Card

The 1930 Census shows 59 year old Leonard Sooy and his wife Mabel living in Bass River Township. His son-in-law's family which includes his daughter, Esther Potter, and her husband, Stephen Potter, Sr. and their children, Leonard Paul and baby Stephen, Jr. is living with them. His 74 year old mother-in-law, Mary Maxwell, is also part of the household.

Len Sooy's obituary.

A young Mabel Maxwell from Wading River married Leonard Sooy and moved into the Sooy family farm in New Gretna. (Photo courtesy of Steve and Millie Potter.)

Mabel Sooy in 1948. (Photo courtesy of Steve and Millie Potter.)

Mabel Sooy's obituary.

FIFTH GENERATION -

Daniel Townsend Sooy Sr. Born 13 January 1832. Died 1909 in Bass River Township, N.J.

He married Esther L. Mathis, daughter of Jeremiah Mathis Jr. & Mary Brewer, 1 Sep 1868. Born 1837. Died 1895. Buried in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna, N.J. They had the following children: Daniel Townsend Sooy Jr. and Samuel Leonard Sooy.

Daniel Townsend Sooy, Sr. He lived on the section of the Sooy family property located in the present day Sooy Lane area. (Photo courtesy of Thelma Loveland via Betty Grant.)

The 1880 Federal Census shows Daniel T. Sooy living in Bass River Township with his wife, Esther, and sons Daniel T. and Samuel L.

Samuel Sooy, Daniel Townsend Sooy, Sr.'s brother, lived on the section of the Sooy family property located in the present day Bogen's Lane area. His twin sister, Anna Eliza, married Richard Bogan. Samuel served in the Civil War. His discharge papers are pictured below. He was never married. (Photo courtesy of Thelma Loveland via Betty Grant.)

Samuel Sooy's Civil War discharge papers.

FOURTH GENERATION -

Ebenezer Sooy Sr. Born 3 September 1790. Died 26 Oct 1860 in Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

It is likely that Ebenezer was illegitimate. See comments under his mother, Phoebe Sooy. He married Catherine Loveland, daughter of Samuel Loveland Jr., 11 Apr 1811. Born 9 Sep 1792. They had the following children: Benjamin Sooy, Reuben Sooy, Josiah Sooy, Thomas Cowperthwaite Sooy Sr., Ebenezer Sooy Jr., Samuel Smith Sooy (Twin), Jerusha Ann Eliza Sooy (Twin), Phoebe Sooy, Jemima Sooy, Daniel Townsend Sooy Sr.

Ebenezer Sooy's birth as recorded in the James and Sarra Gale Bible. (Bible page scan courtesy of Nancy Gale.)

The old Sooy farm house, circa 1990, on Sooy Lane just off Route 9 in New Gretna. It was likely built by Ebenezer Sooy and remained in the family until the mid 1990's when the last remnant of the old farm was sold. The last Sooy descendant to live in the house was Maureen Potter, Len Sooy's great grandaughter, with her husband Tom Kane in the early 1980's. The house has since been torn down, and replaced by a modern home.

THIRD GENERATION -

Phoebe Sooy. Born 19 April 1759. Died 19 October 1835.

Phoebe's marital status is somewhat of a mystery. The Sooy Family Genealogy lists Joseph Mathis as Phoebe Sooy's husband (page 81) and does not list any children for the couple. It also states (page 66) that the author, Irwin Gladstone Sooy, believes that the Phoebe mentioned in Leah Blackman's "History of Little Egg Harbor Township" as Ebenezer Sooy's mother (See the paragraph below) is the daughter of Ebenezer Tucker. If this is so, why then isn't Ebenezer's last name Tucker instead of Sooy? Also, Ebenezer Tucker's marital status is well documented. Ebenezer Tucker's second wife was named Phoebe, but she was the daughter of John and Susannah Ridgway.

Leah Blackman (page 360) states "If I have been rightly informed, Joseph, son of Yose Sooy, was the father of Phoebe Sooy, who was the mother of Capt. Ebenezer Sooy, of Bass River." This is Leah's way of inferring that Ebenezer is the illegitimate son of Phebe and would explain the fact that Ebenezer maintained the Sooy last name. When Leah wrote her history in 1880, a respectable lady would not overtly state that a child was illegitimate.

The Little Egg Harbor death records list Ebenezer, age 68, dying on 10/26/1860 as the son of Phebe Sooy. Furthermore, the Ebenezer Sooy bible records found at Atlantic County Historical Society state that "Phebe Sooy departed this life 19th October 1835, aged 76 years and six months.” Note that in both cases Phebe's last name is listed as Sooy which support's Leah Blackman's inference that Phoebe was not married when she gave birth to Ebenezer. It supports the theory that Phoebe was never married.

Murray and Jean Harris, local family genealogists, did extensive research on the Mathis family in the writing of their book entitled "The Mathis Family of Little Egg Harbor." Their research failed to discover that Phoebe Sooy married Joseph Mathis as maintained in the Sooy Family Genealogy. That along with the data discussed in the preceding paragraphs would seem to indicate that the statement that Phoebe Sooy married Joseph Mathis is in error.

Child of Phoebe Sooy: Ebenezer Sooy Sr.

SECOND GENERATION -

Yoos (Joseph) Sooy II. Born 24 October 1710 in New Amsterdam.

Some believe that Yoos Sooy, Sr. and Sarah Van Tienhoven had a son Joos who died as an infant, thus this Yoos is often called Joos II rather than Yoos Jr. The English equivalent of Yoos is Joseph.

The Joseph Sooy II family bible is owned by Norman H. Sooy, Kansas City, Mo. Known as the Baskett Bible and printed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1749, the bible contains the birth records of Joseph and Elizabeth's children and John and Mary Smith's (Elizabeth's parents) children.

Joseph was a slave holder as evidenced by the following advertisement that appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette on 8/9/1750 which names Joseph as a former owner of a runaway slave:

"Run away from the subscriber hereof, a likely young negro fellow about five feet inches high, named Lot, took with him when he went away a flowered jacket and breeches, an ozenbrigs shirt, and a fine shirt with ruffles at the bosom, old shoes, no stocking, and some money. He talks very good English.

It is supposed he is gone towards Allen-town, and from thence to Great Egg Harbor, for rhe formerly lived there with one Higbee, and afterwards with Joseph Sooy.

Whoever secures the said fellow, that his master may have him again, shall have three pounds reward, and reasonable charges, paid by Thomas Hooten.

N.B. All master of vessels, or others, are forbid to carry him off, or entertain, him at their peril."

Yoos Sooy II. married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of John Smith & Mary, 3 Dec 1731. Born 6 Mar 1720. They had the following children: Joseph Sooy, Sarah Sooy, John Sooy, Mary Sooy, Nicholas Sooy, Noah Sooy, Luke Sooy, Elizabeth Sooy, Robecker Sooy, Phoebe Sooy, Jemima Sooy, and Hannah Sooy.

FIRST GENERATION -

Yoos Sooy. Born April 1685 in Holland. Died 28 Sept. 1737. Buried in Lower Bank, N.J. Occupation mariner-merchant.

Yoos came to America about 1705. He carried on the work started by the Dutch West India Trading Company. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church where his three children were baptised.

Yoos and his family left New Amsterdam shortly after his three children were born, settling in Monmouth County, N.J. on the Cheesequake Creek. He was naturalized a loyal citizen of the province of New Jersey by special act of the New Jersey legislature.

He sailed down the New Jersey coast, entered the Mullica River, and settled in Washington Township at what is presently called Lower Bank, the second white settlement in South Jersey. Fort Nassau on the Delaware was the first. There he and his sons purchased thousands of acres from Samuel Driver and became prominent citizens in the area.

He married Sarah VanTienhaven, daughter of Lucas VanTienhaven & Tyryntie (Catherine) Bording, 19 Aug 1707 in New York City. Born 1 Jan 1681. Christen 12 Jan 1681 in New York City, N.Y. They had the following children: Joost Sooy Jr., Nicholas Sooy, Yoos (Joseph) Sooy II, and Lukas (Luke) Sooy

He and his wife, Sarah, are burried on the property that was his plantation and is now the abondoned Pacemaker Yacht Company.

Fred Noyes kneeling at the grave of Yoos Sooy in a field that was once a part of the original Joos Sooy homestead in Lower Bank before the construction of the Pacemaker Boat Company. (Photo courtesy of the William Augustine collection in the Rutgers University Library and printed on page 124 of Henry Beck's "Jersey Genesis".)

Yoos Sooy was buried on his family farm in Lower Bank in 1737. Today, his grave, accompanied by the grave of John Cavileer, and an unknown, is located in the middle of the parking lot of Pacemaker Boat Company in Lower Bank. I bet if Yoos knew how it looked today, he'd be rolling over in his grave. (March 18, 2003 photo by Pete Stemmer.)

The above information was compiled from the Sooy Genealogy by the Sooy Association; The Leek Family of Southern New Jersey by Catherine Leek Mack; and The Mathis Family of Little Egg Harbor by Jean and Murray Harris.

I hope you have enjoyed a peek at Steve Potter's Sooy genealogy. It certainly is one of the oldest in the area.

Pete S

PS- If you are interested in reading more about Yoos Sooy, I would recommend you read John Pearce's book, "Heart of the Pines" which deals with the people and history of many of the Pineland's towns in our area. It is available for checkout, Wednesday and Friday evenings from 6-9 PM, at the Bass River Community Library, located in the Bass River Elementary School. You can also find me there on those days and times. Stop in and say hello.