Another Interesting Story of An Ancestor - Penelope Stout

Penelope Stout is my maternal 7th great grandmother -- through the Weaver line.


"Endavey" originally submitted this to The Davey/Williams Family Tree on Ancestry.com on 8 Sep 2007

The Saga of Penelope Stout

The Richard STOUT family was one of the first white families who helped settle in old Monmouth, New Jersey. But the following story which is documented in New Jersey history books concerns the near disasterous arrival of Penelope in the new land.

Penelope VAN PRINCIN and her first husband sailed from Amsterdam on a Dutch ship, headed for New Amsterdam, now New York. But off the coast of New Jersey the ship wrecked. All managed to disembark but Penelope's husband who had been sick the whole journey and was too ill to travel. Everyone was fearful of an Indian attack so they left him and promised to send help. Penelope refused to leave her husband alone on the beach. 

Soon a band of Indians found them there. They promptly killed the man. Then they cut , mangled and partially scalped the woman in such a manner that they left her for dead. She had strength enough to crawl to some logs not far distant and getting into a hollow one stayed within it for several days, subsisting in part by eating the mushrooms that grew from it. The Indians had left some fire on the shore which she kept together for warmth.

Penelope survived alone and gravely wounded for eight days. At that time two Indians appeared and started discussing her fate. The younger Indian wanted to finish her off but the older Indian wrapped her in a blanket, tossed her over his shoulder and took her to his wigwam where he nursed her back to health.

After some time the Dutch of New Amsterdam, hearing of a white woman among the Indians, concluded who it must be and some of them came to her relief. She was given the choice of staying with the Indians or returning to the white people. She chose to return but remained friends with the old Indian for many years to come. On one occasion he came to see her and after some time told her of an impending Indian attack on her people. She told her husband but he did not want to believe her. She said that her Indian friend had never lied to her so she gathered her children and found a canoe the Indian had left for her. Richard then considered what she had told him and gathered together all of the neighbors. They set up guard and about midnight heard the dismal war hoop, presently they come upon a company of Indians. They told the indians that if they persisted in their bloody designs, they would sell their lives very dearly. Their arguments prevailed, the Indians desisted, and entered into a league of peace, which was kept without violation for many years.

From this woman, thus remarkably saved, with her scars visible, through a long life, is descended a numerous posterity of the name Stout. Penelope went on to have a total of 10 children, seven sons and three daughters. She lived to reach the age of 110 with more that 500 descendants.

Can you believe that?

The coins front reads Penelope Stout. We believe the back reads First Lady of Monmouth, 1622-1732.. I have yet to find any information on when it was Commemorated. According to How Deep Our Roots The native is Tisquantum, The chief who found and saved her. It seems there is some type of monument in New Jersey as well, here is the breakdown.

Here is the story I've included in  my Family Tree Maker:

http://www.angelfire.com/on/myfamilyt ree1/VanPrincis.html
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Van Princis Lineage

This line has been traced back to Baron Van Princis, who was the father of Penelope Van Princis.
Penelope Van Princis was born about 1622 in Amsterdam, Noord, Holland and died about 1732 in Middleton, NJ.
Penelope married to Richard Stout about 1644 in Gravesend, Long Island, New York.
Richard Stout was born about 1615 in Nottinghamshire, England and died October 23, 1705 in Monmouth, NJ.
Richard and Penelope Stout had the following children:
John
Deliverance
Richard
James
Penelope
Peter
Sarah Pike
Jonathon
David
Benjamin

I am still researching info on these children. If you have any info regarding them, please email me at:
Email: Lotzofkidz@montana.comBelow is an excerpt from Monmouth: A Page in History. This publication was prepared by the Department of Public Information/Tourism, Hall of Records Annex, Freehold, NJ. It describes the history of Monmouth County, New Jersey and is used by local teachers as a history guide.

Penelope Stout - First Lady of Monmouth
One of the best known chapters of [Monmouth's] early history is the story of Penelope Stout, believed to be the first white woman to set foot on [Monmouth] county soil.

During the first half of the 17th century - the exact date is unknown - a ship from Holland was wrecked on Sandy Hook. Among those aboard was Penelope Van Princis, whose husband had become ill on the long sea voyage. The passengers and crew reached shore safely, but hearing of an Indian attack they set out on foot for New York (New Amsterdam), leaving the sick man and his wife behind.

Smith's History of New Jersey, published in 1765, relates that a party of Indians found the couple and immediately killed the man. They then mangled the woman, and left her for dead. After hiding for several days in a hollow tree, Penelope was found by a friendly Indian who nursed her back to health.

A rescue party found her and brought her to New Amsterdam - now New York - and a short time later she married an Englishman, Richard Stout.

Penelope and Richard later returned to New Jersey and had 10 children. The nameless Indian who saved Penelope Stout's life was a frequent visitor and friend. According to the tale, he later alerted the community to a potential confrontation with another band of marauding natives, probably from New York.

Most accounts agree that Penelope lived to be 110 and had some 502 descendants at the time of her death, in either 1712 or 1732. Many of her descendants still live in the county.

Penelope's story is told at the Spy House Museum Complex in Port Monmouth, New Jersey.

Other sites about Penelope Van Princis & Richard Stout

History of Richard & Penelope Stout
Stories of New Jersey-Osage Elementary School

Penelope Van Princis StoutBirth: 1622, NetherlandsDeath: 1732
Middletown
Monmouth County
New Jersey, USA
The early Dutch settler Penelope Van Princis Kent Stout, dubbed the "Mother of Middletown", may also be New Jersey's most famous survivor. The daughter of Baron Van Princis (a.k.a. Van Prinzen), she was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1622. After her marriage to John Kent c.1640, bride and groom set sail for New Amsterdam (present day New York), but near the end of the journey their ship ran aground near what is now Highlands in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Although the other stranded passengers resumed their journey on foot, Penelope stayed behind in the Navesink woods with Kent, who had become too ill to travel. There the couple fell prey to hostile Indians who, after killing her husband, left Penelope to die. Partially scalped and bleeding from an abdominal wound, she was rescued by friendly Indians and eventually recovered from her injuries. After her return to the European settlements, Penelope married an English-born colonist, Richard Stout, with whom she had a large family. In time the Stouts came to settle in Middletown, NJ, where Penelope lived to the ripe old age of 110. Several of the Stouts' colonial era descendants are interred in the Presbyterian Burial Ground off King's Highway in Middletown, and while the exact location of Penelope's grave is unknown, she, too, was buried in this Monmouth County town. (bio by: Nikita Barlow)


Search Amazon for Penelope Stout Burial:
Unknown, Other.
Specifically: Actual Site in Middletown Unknown
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 11, 2002
Find A Grave Memorial# 6082496

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Penelope Stout - First Lady of Monmouth
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One of the best known chapters of [Monmouth's] early history is the story of Penelope Stout, believed to be the first white woman to set foot on [Monmouth] county soil.

During the first half of the 17th century - the exact date is unknown - a ship from Holland was wrecked on Sandy Hook. Among those aboard was Penelope Van Princis, whose husband had become ill on the long sea voyage. The passengers
and crew reached shore safely, but hearing of an Indian attack they set out on foot for New York (New Amsterdam), leaving the sick man and his wife behind.

Smith's History of New Jersey, published in 1765, relates that a party of Indians found the couple and immediately killed the man. They then mangled the woman, and left her for dead. After hiding for several days in a hollow tree, Penelope was found by a friendly Indian who nursed her back to health. A rescue party found her and brought her to New Amsterdam - now New York - and a short time later she married an Englishman, Richard Stout.

Penelope and Richard later returned to New Jersey and had 10 children. The nameless Indian who saved Penelope Stout's life was a frequent visitor and friend. According to the tale, he later alerted the community to a potential confrontation with another band of marauding natives, probably from New York. Most accounts agree that Penelope lived to be 110 and had some 502 descendants at the time of her death, in either 1712 or 1732. Many of her descendants still live in the county.

Penelope's story is told at the Spy House Museum Complex in Port Monmouth, New Jersey.

Richard Stout, a son of John and Elizabeth (Bee or Gee) Stout, was born in Nottinghamshire, England about 1615. He joined the British Navy and was discharged at New Amsterdam, now New York, about 1640.
Richard was one of thirty nine people who founded a settlement at Graves End, Long Island, in 1644. That year, he married Penelope (Kent) Van Princin.

Penelope Kent was probably born about 1622 in England. Her father is believed to have been a Puritan Baptist Separatist who was banished from his church and who fled to Holland with his family. Penelope married a man named Van Princin in Amsterdam.

In 1640, Penelope and her husband took ship with a group of emigrants to America. The ship was wrecked at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Many of the passengers traveled overland to New Amsterdam, but Penelope husband was ill and could not travel, so they remained near the wreck site.

The little encampment was attacked by Indians, who killed Penelope's husband and left her for dead with a fractured skull, a hacked shoulder and a gash in her body that allowed her intestines to protrude. Penelope survived alone for several days until two Indian men came by. The older of the two carried her to his village and sewed up her wounds with a fish bone needle and vegetable fibers. Penelope recovered and lived with the Indians, doing squaw's work and sharing their life.

In 1644, a group of white men came to the Indian village and offered to buy the white woman that they had heard of. Penelope's captor asked if she wished to go with the whites and was permitted to do so.
In 1664, an Indian came to warn Penelope of a planned Indian attack on the settlement of Grave's end. The Indians did attack and the forewarned settlers were able to defend themselves and put the Indians to flight. Richard Stout walked into the open and demanded a parley.

After a conference, the whites and Indians agreed to a truce and a two day ceremonial to celebrate the treaty. The white agreed to buy the lands they had settled on and were never attacked again. The date of purchase from the Indians was January 25, 1664.

In 1668, Richard and his family joined with others in forming the first Baptist Church of New Jersey.
Richard's will was approved in October 1705 and is on file in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, New Jersey. Penelope died in 1732.

Unknown newspaper "The Story of Penelope Stout" copy found at Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728

Dr. Thomas Hale Streets questions the time sequence in a study he made of the Stout family in 1915.

He said that all dates in recorded accounts were about 20 years too early, thus making the date of the shipwreck about 1640 rather than 1620 and making the date of the marriage to Richard Stout about 1644 rather than 1624.

For example, there was no New Amsterdam in 1620.

His most telling rebuttal hinged on the known birth date of Penelope's 10th and last child, David, born in 1669. That would have made Mrs. Stout a mother at age 67 and Richard a father at 85.

Penelope Van Princis Stout died in 1712, either at age 110 if you believe traditional accounts, or at age 90 if Dr. Streets is correct.

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The following sources and information are from: "Early Vital Records of Ohio: - copied by the Daughters of the American Revolution - Complied under the Direction of Miss Irma B. Gobel. This booklet was found at the DAR Library in Washington, DC.

"There are still hollow Buttonwood trees near Middlestown as were there in the time when Penelope is said to have taken refuge in one."

The Op Dyck Genealogy, page 148, "Among the settlers appear Richard Stout, Samuel Holmes, and others whose descendants in New York and New Jersey have number by thousands. The famous Penelope Prince appears on the records as having remarked that, "the wife of Ambrose London did milk the cows of Thomas Applegate." "She" being questioned knowledged her fault in so speaking, and being sorry for her words, she spoke satisfaction on both sides."
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The following articles, 1 to 3 pages, that can be found in the Monmouth County Historical Association Library, 70 Court Street, Freehold, NJ 07728. Library is open Wednesday - Sunday : 10 AM to 4 PM - phone 908-462-1466.

Newspaper, "The Monmouth Inquirer", Thursday, 20 May 1886. Article "First Families of Monmouth, Stout Family" by Edwin Salter.

Unknown newspaper and unknown date, "The Story of Penelope Stout"

Asbury Park Press, Aug 10, 1980, page A3, "Stout family marks its 52nd reunion at Middletown Church."
Talks about and has picture of Penelope Stout First Lady of Monmouth medallion.

"The Penelope Stout House, also known as the John S. Hendrickson House", Everett Road, Holmdel, NJ.
(Note there is a Holmes - Hendrickson House, Longstreet Road, Holmdel, NJ. This house is part of Monmouth County Historical Association Museums and is open May - October.)

"The Mother of the Stouts" by Mrs. Therese W. Seabrook. "My tradition has come through only two persons from Penelope, herself, and I think it more correct than much that is told. The second son, Richard, had a son, John, who was therefore grandson of Penelope. When his grandmother was about 85 years old, he took her on his horse to visit one of her children and when he helped her to alight she insisted upon his putting his hand through the pocket hole of her garment to feel the seam which the Indian sewed up. He was young and bashful but she said, "Johnny, you can tell it to your grandchildren because you will know it's true, and they will tell it to their grandchildren." My grandmother was one of
the grandchildren to whom he told the story, and when she told it to me, she would say, "and so I tell it to you in the language, chiefly, in which I heard it."

* * * * * * * * Excerpts from a STOUT-L posting by Linda St out Deak:

I traveled today to Amsterdam and went to the Scheepsvaart (maritime or Ship Navigation, esp. Atlantic) Museum. It is a splendid old granite building on the water a fifteen minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. I was looking for Penelope's name on a passenger list. I had to find the ship upon which she sailed.

107.1 Kath Hans Jelisz. (owner) Jacht (yacht or sailboat ) WIC (West Indies Company) 1647 Nieuw Amsterdam voor 06-06 -1647

Kreeg in Juni 1647 de opdracht tot kaapveren. November 1648 bij Sandy Hook gestrand. Did not return

This has to be Penelope's ship. I scanned the doctoral thesis (in Dutch) of a J.A. Jacobs from Leiden University on the ships sailing to the new world from Holland between 1609- 1675. The average was 3.75 ships per year, about five ships per year in the period 1639-1648. It is very unlikely that a ship other than the Kath was beached at Sandy Hook.

Children:
    i. John STOUT Sr. was born in 1645 in Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherlands, Dutch Colony, was christened in OR, Gravesend, Kings, New York, died on 24 Nov 1724 in , , New Jersey, English Colony, at age 79, and was buried in Hopewell, Mercer, New Jersey.
    ii. Richard STOUT was born on 10 Mar 1645/46 in Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherlands, Dutch Colony, died on 10 Jul 1717 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey, at age 71, and was buried in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey.
    iii. James STOUT was born in 1648 in Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherlands, Dutch Colony, was christened in OR, Gravesend, Kings, New York, and died after 1714 in NJ.
    iv. Penelope Mary STOUT was born in 1650 in Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherlands, Dutch Colony and died in 1692 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey, at age 42.
    v. Mary STOUT was born about 1650.
    vi. Deliverance Alice STOUT was born in 1652 in Gravesend, Long Island, Kings County, New York and died about 1702-1703 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey, USA, about age 50.
    vii. Alice 'Alse' STOUT was born about 1652 in Gravesend, Long Island, New York.
    viii. Peter STOUT was born in 1654 in Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherlands, Dutch Colony, died in 1703 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey, at age 49, and was buried in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey.
    ix. Sarah Elizabeth STOUT was born in 1656 in Gravesend, Long Island, New Netherlands, Dutch Colony, died on 29 Dec 1714 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, at age 58, and was buried about Jan 1714/15 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey.
    x. Johnathan STOUT was born in 1660 in Gravesend, Long Island and died on 24 Nov 1722 in Monmouth Co NJ, at age 62.
    xi. David STOUT was born about 1667 in New Jersey, died about 1732 in Amwell, Hunterdon, New Jersey, English Colony, about age 65, and was buried in 1732 in Stout Burial Plot, Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
    xii. Benjamin STOUT was born in 1669 in Gravessend, Li, NY, died on 10 Jun 1734 in New Castle, Delaware, at age 65, and was buried in New Castle, Delaware.

Another version - click on link:

Stories of New Jersey
The Story Of Penelope Stout