Reverend Paulus Van Vlecq

~• founder of several Dutch churches in the province of Pennsylvania
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23322661?seq=2

Van Vleck, Paulus

Van Vleck, Paulus a Reformed (Dutch) minister, whose relation to that body was somewhat irregular. The first account we have of him, he was a schoolmaster and precentor at Kinderhook, N.Y., in 1702, and preaching occasionally, from which, on complaint, he was made to desist. He was ordained by Bernardus Freeman †† (the second minister at the Schenectady Dutch Reformed Church) in 1709 as chaplain of the Dutch troops then proceeding to Canada. He was pastor of the Low Dutch Church at Neshaminy, Bucks Co., Pa., 1710-12. He was accused of bigamy in 1712, and left the country in 1715.. See Corwin, Manual of the Ref. Church in America, s.v.

†† for Freeman (1682-1741) see: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Freeman-10424
"A Brief History of The Low Dutch Reformed Church in Lower Bucks County

In 1702 a Provincial Council called Paulus Van Vlecq, a precenter (schoolmaster), at Kinderhook, to answer charges that he preached against the order of the governor of New York. Van Vlecq, aspiring toward the ministry, had been forbidden to preach by the governor for having failed to return to Holland for ordination. Rather than face charges he left the province and headed to Pennsylvania. The Dutch settlers whom he joined there had been among the first people to follow the Quakers into Bucks county. Most of these settlers did not come directly from Holland, but rather from older Dutch settlements in New York and New Jersey. At the time Van Vlecq arrived there was a growing Dutch community along the western bank of the Neshaminy Creek. As there existed no established Dutch Reformed church in this area to serve their spiritual needs, he approached the Presbytery of Philadelphia seeking ordination. He gained their confidence, was ordained, and promptly organized a congregation in Bucks county. The now Reverand Van Vlecq's church at "Bensalem & Shammenji" was established on May 20, 1710. Thus came into being a Dutch speaking Reformed congregation under Presbyterian authority.

As this new ministry flourished, Rev. Van Vlecq set up preaching missions at several other Low and High Dutch communities, among them: Whitemarsh, Skippack and Germantown in Pennsylvania, along with Hopewell and Six Mile Run in New Jersey. His ministry grew, and in 1711 he married the daughter of one of the elders of the Bensalem congregation.

Things changed however, in 1712. He was called to Philadelphia, to answer charges of bigamy before the Presbytery. A rumor had been circulating that he had left a wife in Holland. He denied the charges, but the issue remained unresolved. Later evidence was presented against him, including a letter from his own mother. Rev. Van Vlecq, found to be lying, left his ministry in disgrace.

Van Vlecq's congregation, however, managed to survive. Some parishioners joined with a neighboring Scots Presbyterian congregation, at Abington. The Rev. Malachi Jones, founder of the Abington congregation, received them, and for a time there seemed to be a stronger Dutch presence than Scots-Irish at that church. Some of the Dutch congregants eventually asked Rev. Jones to preach at their church and he obliged. By 1719 the Dutch presence at the Abington church diminished as the Rev. Jones preached more frequently at Bensalem. The Dutch church records were reopened, and the congregation again flourished. In the years that followed however, Scots-Irish settlers came to out number the Dutch at not only at Abington, but also at Bensalem, which by 1730 had quite clearly become a Scots-Irish Presbyterian church."

On May 20, 1710, the church at Bensalem & Neshaminy was formally established with the Reverand Paulus Van Vlecq as pastor of this congregation, as well as one at Germantown. On the same day Rev. Van Vlecq established a church council at Neshaminy & Bensalem, including:

Elders: Hendrick VAN DYCK & Leendert VANDERGRIFT
Decons: Stoffel VAN SANDT & Nicolaus VANDERGRIFT
Members at Neshaminy & Bensalem:
20 May 1710

         Hendrick VAN DYCK & his wife Jannetye HERMENSE, by certificate

         Leendert VANDERGRIFT & his wife Styntye ELSHUERT, by certificate

         Cristoffel VAN SANDT, by certificate

         Nicolaes VANDERGRIFT, by certificate

         Hermen VAN SANDT, by certificate

         Johannis VANDERGRIFT, by certificate

         Gerrit DORLANDT & his wife Gysbertye GYSBERTS

22 Jun 1710

         Johannis VAN SANDT, by profession

         Jacob YSELSTIEN, by profession

         Joris VAN SANDT, by profession

         Baerentye VENKERKCK, by certificate

         Elizabeth BROUWERS, by profession

         Lea GROESBEECK, by profession

         Cattlyntye VAN DEUSEN, by certificate

04 Nov 1710

         Baerent VERKERCK

         Kobus VAN SANDT

         Bartholomeus JACOBSE

         Neeltye KROESEN

         Geertye MARTENSEN

         Rebecca VAN DER KEEFT, widow of Jacobus VANDERGREFT

         Hendrickye JACOBSE, widow of Lauwerense JANSEN, by certificate

         Hester VANDERGRIFT, by profession

         Deborae VANDERGRIFT

23 Jun 1710 [sic]

         Rebeckae VANDERGREFT, wife of Kobus VAN SANDT

         Neeltye FOLCKERS, wife of Joh. V. DEGRIFT

         Maychen V. DE GRIFT, wife of Joris V. SANDT

         Raeghel CURSON, wife of Stoffel VAN SANDT

         Abraham VAN DUYN

         Johannis HERNHARDUS

         Johannis NEAL

         Maria SELE, wife of Jurigen CROSSEN

         Jannetye VAN SANDT

         Andre DE NORMANDE

         Dirck KROESEN and his wife Elisabet

         Jarmetye VAN DEYCK, wife of D. VAN VLECQ

05 Sep 1711

         Jacobus HEYDELBURGH and his wife Anna HEYDELBURGH

         Antye VAN PELT

         Maycken VERKERCK

Pennsylvania Vital Records, Vol. 1

sources

https://www.geocities.ws/oldebucks/baptisms.html