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E-mails John Riper (Rotterdam,
Netherlands) and Dorothy Yereance (New York State, USA)- 1995
On this page all about:
Who has information for me about the names
RIEPER or RIPER, originally from the Altes Land, Germany?
John Riper
Hi John,
I don't know if this
will help you but, it is a copy of an obituary in the Passiac Daily News. I don't know the
year it was published. I came across it when I was doing a search on the name YEREANCE.
50 Years Ago
Dr. Van Riper Dies
Dr. Cornelius Van Riper, dean of
Passaic physicians, died at 77 at the home of his daughter in West Roxbury, Mass. He was
"an ideal physician," the Passaic Daily News said in an editorial, which also
said he was held "in whole-hearted affection by a multitude of people."
Dr. Van Riper was born in what is
now Delawanna. He was graduated from New York University in 1863 and after studying
medicine in the office of a physician he opened his own office and an apothecary shop in
Passaic in 1866. In addition to treating patients and supplying their medical needs, Dr.
Van Riper was active in municipal affairs. He served on the board of education and
municipal council. He was a banker and governor of the Passaic General Hospital.
Dr. Van Riper bore one of New
Jersey's oldest names. He was a descendant of Jurian Tomassen, a Dane from the community
of Ripa in Jutland. Tomassen married Pryntje Hermans after his arrival in the New World in
1663. In 1684 he became one of the original Acquackahonk patentess. When he died, his
children took the names of Juriance, which later became Yereance and Auryanseh, and Van
Ripen, which subsequently became Van Riper.
Dorothy Yereance
Hi Dorothy,
Thanks for your message about
Dr. Cornelius Van Riper. I appreciate it very much.
My family originates from "Das Alte Land" (the Old Land) near Hamburg (South
West of River Elbe) in Northern Germany, not far from Denmark. It is known that the name
Ri(e)per comes from Konrad von Ripen who landed in Das Altes Land in 1371, however nobody
seems to know where this Konrad came from. It is not inpossible that Konrad also came from
Ripa, Denmark. Therefore your message can be of great value to me.
Next summer I intend to spend my summerholidays in Denmark. Maybe I can find out more
there.
Thanks again and kindest regards from Rotterdam, Holland.
John Riper
Dear Dorothy,
As I told you last month I
have visited Denmark for holidays. Because of your article I went to the town
"Ribe". This resulted in the following message that I today have sent to the
newsgroups -.german and -.misc. Thanks again.
In his book Familienkunde des Alten Landes (Verlag der Zentralstelle fuer
Niedersaechsische Familiengeschichte; Hamburg 1927) Heinrich Borstelman wrote in a
chapter about typical "Altlaendische" familynames under the name Rieper :
First mentioned in 1371 (Urkunde
des Depositums des Grafen Alexander Kielmannsegg in Guelzow, Staatsarchiv Hannover): KONRAD
V.RIPEN farms out land near den Utwegen im Kirchenland Middelsten Lu.
In the past the following variations on the name RIEPER appeared: V.RIPEN, RIBERN,
RIPER, RYPER, RIPERS and RIEPER.
The name RIEPER can be
explained as rope-maker, also as surveyor (Low-German: reper). The above mentioned form V.RIPEN,
however, points much more to a place-indication. In East-Frisian the word 'Ripe' means
something like 'border' (of a street, of a river), and according to Dr. Iellinghaus
in his book Holsteinische Ortsnamen a 'Riep' is a 'side-way'.
"Insignia Civitatis Ripensis" (1768)
Last month Dorothy Yereance sent
me via soc.genealogy.surnames the text of a newspaper article about a Dr. Cornelius van
Riper, who appeared to have been a descendant of "a Dane from the community of
Ripa in Jutland". Being in Denmark for holidays anyway, I last week visited the town Ribe
in Jutland, the oldest preserved Danish town. From historical books and maps in a local
antiquarian bookshop I soon found out that till about the 16th century the name of this
town was Ripen; on two old maps also written as Rypen and Riepen.
Furthermore I found quite a lot of people with the name Riber and a single Ribern
in the telephoneguide of Ribe (Rieper, Riper etc. do not appear). Consequently I think
that, although Mr. Borstelman did not mention this possibility (almost 70 years ago...),
it is very well possible that the names "Rieper" and "Riper" originate
from the Danish town Ribe. Would like to receive reactions to this theory.
Regards John Riper
Hi John,
I received your message about
your trip to Denmark and found it very interesting. Thank you for remembering to send a
reply. I hope you had a nice vacation. I am sending you a copy of an excerpt from a book
sent to me by the Passaic Historic Society in the state of New Jersy, USA. I live in New
York State 60 miles north of New York City. New Jersey is just south of New York State. I
hope footnote #2 will be of some interest to you.
EXCERPT FROM: "HISTORY OF
THE CITY OF PATERSON AND THE COUNTY OF PASSAIC NEW JERSEY"
By William Nelson
Published 1901, Paterson , NJ
Urian Tomason (Van Riper).
In April, 1663, Juriaen (1.)
Thomasse (Uriah, son of Thomas) from Rypen, (2.) in North Jutland, sailed from
Holland in T'Bonte Koe, "The Spotted Cow," in
company with eighty-seven other passengers - men, women and children - in quest of fortune
in the New Netherlands.
The notices of the young immigrant are extremely scanty in the early, records. He does not
seem to have owned any lands at Bergen, although he evidently settled there soon after his
arrival. He married Reyke Harmsse, May 15, 1667. He and his wife were witnesses at the
baptism of their grandson, Jurjaen, son of Thomas Jurjaense and Jannetje Straet, Sept. 1,
1693, as set forth in the Acquackanonk church records, which contain no other mention of
him, a fact which makes it seem unlikely that he settled at Acquackanonk at all. His death
is recorded at Bergen, as having occurred Sept. 12, 1695. He probably died there.
Ryke Harmsse (doubtless his widow) was a witness
at the baptism of another grandson, Jurie, son of Jan Juriance and Neeltje Gerrebrantze,
in the Acqnackanonk church Feb. l0, 1703. She owned lot No. 2, in the Goutum sudivision.
The date of her death is unknown.
- (1.) The name-sometimes written Juriaen,
Jeuriaen, etc. pronounced Yoo-re-awn.
- (2.) Ripen is a city in the diocese of the
same name; it has a venerable antiquity, and once was a considerable seaport, until the
harbor became filled up. The Dutch wrote the name Rypen; in modern Dutch, Rijpen,
indicating the sound of the long i. It may be noted here that some early members of the
family called themselves indifferently Van Ripen, and Van de Ripe. The latter name would
indicate an original emigration from a small town in North Holland, called de Rijp, dating
from the year 1400, and now 2,000 inhabitants, with four churches, two harbors and a fine
canal. In Passiac and Bergen counties the name is almost universally written Van Riper; in
Hudson county some families write it Van Rypen. The descendents of Juriaen Thomasse were
among the last of the Acquackanonk settlers to adopt a family surname, but for a century
more rang the changes on Juriaense, Thomasse, Aelte, Gerritse, Harmsse, etc, etc.
Dorothy Yereance
Dorothy,
This is great. Just the
material that I am looking for. Here in Holland there is an association for stammering
people the "Charles van Riper Vereniging", named after an American
speech-pathologist Dr. Charles Van Riper. This association sent me in 1980 a brief
autobiography of Charles Van Riper, which starts as follows:
So this Charles thought (and so did I), that
his roots were in Holland! Thanks to your message however, I know that he too is a
descendent of Juriaen from Denmark.
Thanks a lot and kindest regards,
John Riper
© 1997 John Riper |