We know that Wilhelmina Dewees married Nicholas Rittenhouse in New York in 1689 and moved with him to Germantown shortly thereafter. And also by the later 1690’s and early 1700’s, several other Dewees names began to appear in Germantown including Garret and Zytian who seem to have been the parents and Cornelius and William who seem to have been brothers of Wilhelmina.

One thing that connects the generations is that after Garrett Dewees died, Nicholas Rittenhouse as her attorney, sold land for the widow Zytian.

She came, apparently with her parents and two brothers, from Holland to America, probably not too long before her marriage to Nicholas Rittenhouse in New York in 1689. They then moved to Germantown.

As Wilhelmina neared death, she made a list of her personal items and to whom they were to go. In many places this is referred to as her will -- I believe that is incorrect nomenclature. I have seen this list cited and quoted in many places and amazingly enough no one has ever thought to comment on who the recipients were. I suspect some people, without thinking much about it, believe it is just a list of her children. But I have analyzed the named persons herein and I am convinced that most are her grandchildren. That raises two questions:

• Did she include all her grandchildren or at least all her granddaughters?
• Is it possible all are grandchildren and none her children?

Consider the persons named by Wilhelmina in the order she named them:

Peggy Rittenhouse. I first thought this must be William’s daughter of that name, but I now think she was actually Matthias’ daughter of that name. Because the second line item names four daughters in one sentence.

Marya Rittenhouse, Susanna, Margryta and Anna. William supposedly had 4 daughters named Marya, Margaret, Susanna and Barbara. These are the four named in the same line item assuming Anna was one and the same as Barbara.

Susanna Gorgas. Marya Gorgas. When John Gorgas died in 1741, his will mentioned wife “Sophia” and daughters Susanna and Mary and about 4 sons.

Wilhelmina Rittenhouse. Daughter of Henry.

Marya Engel. Daughter of Catherine.

Scyntia Gorgas. She’s the only named person that so far as I can determine, had to be a daughter and not a granddaughter. Unless Scyntia had a daughter of the same name who no one knows about. Maybe she died not long after 1737. But also note that this is the only bequest where money was involved, Scyntia was to pay 6 florins. So I think this was daughter Scyntia, one and the same as the witness, Seyten Gorgas -- this daughter clearly had her name spelled many different ways.

Marya Jensen. Mary Rittenhouse, according to Barton, married John Jensen, the one who only had sons. But I believe Marya married my Jan Jensen and from his will we know he only had one son and he had four daughters with Marya being the oldest. So, whether Wilhelmina meant daughter Marya or granddaughter Marya is not clear -- but if it was a granddaughter, it helps prove the connection to my Jan Jensen and I think would also imply all of Jan’s other daughters were born after 1737.

On the other hand, if all of Jan’s daughters were by wife Elizabeth Papen, then of course Wilhelmina would have not been including them and would have been referring to her daughter Marya Jensen.

Gertrude Engel. Catherine supposedly had 4 daughters -- why only two mentioned? And why were the Engel girls not listed together? I can’t explain why the two were not named together, but the answer to the other question may be that two of Catherine’s daughter were born later.

Susanna Heilig. Wilhelmina’s daughter Susanna had a daughter Susanna, so this could be either one. But there is no mention of the other supposed Heilig daughter Elizabeth, who again may have been born later.

Henderych Rittenhouse. Matthias Rittenhouse. These last two are a bit of a dilemma too. They were either Wilhelmina’s two youngest sons, with no mention of her oldest son, or they were Henry’s sons Henry and Matthias. Henry’s only daughter was mentioned, so maybe these were his sons. But I doubt it since I’m pretty sure Wilhelmina had other grandsons not mentioned.

In the final analysis, I think Wilhelmina named two of three sons and none of her grandsons and I believe she named all of her granddaughters and just one daughter -- but I can’t prove that in any absolute sense.

All three major works I found on the esteemed Rittenhouse family -- Barton’s, Rubicam’s and Cassel’s -- agree that Nicholas was the son of William and Elizabeth.

The way Kephart tells the story is that the Rittenhouse family -- the parents and three children -- came to America in 1689 and landed at New York. William and his wife Elisabeth (and presumably daughter Elisabeth) went immediately to Germantown while the sons (Nicholas and Gerhard) “lingered a short time among the Dutch of New York” and then also followed to Germantown. But Nicholas returned shortly thereafter to New York where he married Wilhelmina DeWees.

William, son of Nicholas and Wilhelmina is said to have been born 1 Apr 1700.

Nicholas succeeded his father in the paper-making business.

Nicholas had a son Matthias and Matthias had a son David who was born 8 Apr 1732 and died 26 Jun 1796. David Rittenhouse was a celebrated American astronomer and inventor. He was a surveyor and the first director of the US Mint.

David Rittenhouse was admired by Thomas Jefferson for his intellect and the diversity of fields of endeavor in which he engaged and in which he had an interest. And to be admired for that by Jefferson is high praise because that is one of the things Jefferson was admired for.

At an address at a White House dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners, John F Kennedy said “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House -- with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

Jefferson, if asked, might have said such a thing about David Rittenhouse.