Genealogy Richard Remmé, The Hague, Netherlands » Rachel de la Montagne (1634-1664)

Persoonlijke gegevens Rachel de la Montagne 

• Alternatieve naam: Rachel MONTANYE
• Zij is geboren in het jaar 1634 in Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.
• Zij is overleden op 4 oktober 1664 in Wiltwyck, now Kingston, Ulster County, New York, zij was toen 30 jaar oud.
• Een kind van Jean Mousnier de la Montagne en Rachel de Forest
• Deze gegevens zijn voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 4 december 2022.

Gezin van Rachel de la Montagne

Zij is getrouwd met Gysbert van Imbroch.

Zij zijn getrouwd in het jaar 1657 te Fort Orange (now Albany, New York), zij was toen 23 jaar oud.

Kind(eren):

1. Elisabeth van Imbroch  1659-< 1709 
2. Johannes van Imbroch  1661-< 1733 
3. Gysbert van Imbroch  1664-> 1733 

Notities over Rachel de la Montagne

Rachel Mousnier de la Montagne, the oldest daughter of Dr. La Montagne and his first wife Rachel DeForest, was born in Leiden, Holland, in 1634.  No baptismal record in Leiden can be found for Rachel, but she is named as an underage (under 25) child of Rachel DeForest in the Orphanmasters' records in Leiden in 1654.  As a young child, Rachel traveled to the colony of New Netherland with her family in 1636 aboard the Rensselaerswyck and she grew up in New Amsterdam.

When her mother died in 1643, it was probably Rachel who had to assume the major care of baby Willem, even though she was just nine years old.  Even after her father remarried and his new wife took over the care of the household, Rachel seems to have remained close to Willem. It was Rachel and Willem who went to Fort Orange (now Albany) in 1656 with their father and stepmother, although both Jan and Maria stayed in New Amsterdam.

In 1657 Rachel married Dr. Gysbert Van Imbroch.  They were probably married in the Reformed Dutch Church in Fort Orange, but those church records have been lost.  Rachel was the second wife of Dr. Van Imbroch, who had kept a shop in New Amsterdam from 1653-1655.  Some accounts assert that he received his medical training from Dr. La Montagne and may even have acted as his asssistant for a while.  He may have accompanied the Montagnes to Fort Orange to complete his training.

Dr. Gysbert Van Imbroch and his wife Rachel de la Montagne were among the first settlers at the new village of Wiltwyck, now part of Kingston, NY.  They joined the church by letter on 16 December 1662. Dr. Van Imbroch practiced medicine and was appointed magistrate.

On 7 June 1663, a concerted attack was made by parties of Esopus Indians upon both Wiltwyck and New Village (Hurley).  New Village was completely destroyed, but the attack at Wiltwyck was less successful. Parties of Indians had entered the village in the morning, carrying maize and beans to sell, and under this pretext had distributed themselves in different houses.  Suddenly a number of men on horseback came dashing through the mill-gate, shouting that Indians had destroyed New Village.  At once the Indians already in the houses began seizing women and children and setting fire to the houses. Twelve houses were burned before the wind changed.  Some of the Indians took the captives into the forest, while others remained near the gates to ambush the men, most of whom were working in outlying fields.  By nightfall, the colonists had regained control of the village and had started to replace the palisades.

The count revealed sixty-two inhabitants missing:  twenty-one (mainly men) dead and forty-five (mainly women and children) taken into captivity.  Among these was Rachel de la Montagne.  She is named in the list of captives as Van Imbroch's wife, but letters from New Amsterdam refer to her as La Montagne's daughter, so that some authors have assumed incorrectly that this was another, younger, child of Dr. La Montagne.  Rachel's daughter Lysbeth was not captured either.  This is another mistake.  Dr. Gysbert Van Imbroch was one of the authors of the report to Director Stuyvesant about the calamity.  In that report captives are carefully listed as either men, women, or children. There is no child from the Van Imbroch family on the list of forty-five, nor is there any mention of a Van Imbroch child being rescued at any point.

It took two months for the settlers to mount a force for the rescue of the captives, a force led by Capt. Martin Cregier of New Amsterdam. In the meantime, Dr. La Montagne sent a band of five Mohawk Indians from Fort Orange to rescue Rachel, which they did successfully by buying her back from her captor.  By the time the party from Fort Amsterdam arrived, Rachel was already back in Wiltwyck, ready to lead the military party to the Indian fort where the prisoners were kept, thirty miles to the southwest of Wiltwyck.

The expedition set forth on 26 July 1663 and reached the Indian fort within a day, only to find it deserted.  The Indians had retreated with their captives into the Shawangunk mountains.  Another month passed before a second attempt could be made.  This time the Indians were taken by surprise, many of the Indians were captured, and twenty-three of the captives were recovered and brought back to Wiltwyck.

Dr. Gysbert Van Imbroch and his wife Rachel de la Montagne both died within two years of the Indian attack, for reasons unknown.  However, Rachel had borne a child shortly before her death on 4 October 1664, so it is assumed that complications of childbirth were responsible for her death.  Dr. Van Imbroch died on 29 August 1665.  The Wiltwyck court records state: "Mr. Van Imbroch on the same day of his death requested verbally and in writing that his left estate should be inventoried and sealed up until the same time when friends from the Manhatans should arrive for the purpose of then being done by them for the best interest of the minor children... Therefore for this purpose were expressly sent off and have arrived here Jacob Kip and Willem Monjour DelaMontagne, both brother-in-law of the deceased."

The three guardians for the children, appointed by the court, were Jacob Kip, Willem de la Montagne, and Willem Beeckman, schout at Esopus.  The inventory of Dr. Van Imbroch's estate was detailed and showed considerable wealth.  Since the "children's house" was not sold until 1673 by Willem de la Montagne, it looks as if the guardians hired a woman to look after the children in their own house.  Willem de la Montagne was the logical person to administer the estate and collect debts owned to Dr. Van Imbroch, since Willem had entered into partnership in a wine-importing business with Dr. Van Imbroch the previous year. ; As Willem was given use of the "village-house" in his capacity as schoolmaster and voorleser at Esopus, he did not live with the children.  After his marriage and the sale of their own house, the Van Imbroch children undoubted lived with Willem and Elenora in Esopus, but they moved as adults to New York City.

It is assumed that both Rachel de la Montagne and Dr. Gysbert Van Imbroch are buried at Wiltwyck or Esopus, now part of Kingston, NY.

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