The Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum at 5816 Clarendon Road is searching for descendants of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff and Gretje Van Ness Wyckoff, who established the farmhouse in 1652.
Anyone who bears the name Wyckoff, regardless of spelling, they are looking for you. Records show the original spelling is Wyckoff…it was written by an English clerk who witnessed Pieter make his mark on legal documents.
Over time, the same thing happened again and again as the family moved westward and subsequent generations found the pronunciation of their name phonetically interpreted by people who had never seen it.
Today, there are approximately 59 known variations of the family name based on information from census records between 1790-1900, after which no new spellings have appeared.
Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff Street, Wyckoff Gardens, and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center were named after descendants of Pieter and Gretje.
The Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum has 15 generations of Wyckoff genealogy to share with Pieter and Gretje’s descendents to learn, embrace and discover their shared lineage.
For more, call 718-629-5400 or send an email to education@wyckoffassociation.org.
