Biographical note
The Meserole family was one of the original five families who settled in the areas that are now the Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Jean Miserol (d.1695), a French Huguenot, came to New Amsterdam, now New York City, in 1663. Originally from Picardy (now Picardie), France, Jean left France for Holland where he married Jonica Carten (d. 1712). With their young son Jan (1662-1712), Jean and Jonica immigrated to New Amsterdam and arrived on April 16, 1663. Soon after, they joined the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1667, Jean bought a farm in New Utrecht, now the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge. He then bought another farm, Kyckout (or "the Lookout"), that ran along the East River. Today, this farm would be located in Williamsburg between North 1st Street and Broadway. Jean lived at this farm until his death in 1695.
Jean and Jonica's son Jan married Marytje Covert in 1682 and they had five children; Margrietje, Debora, Jan (later anglicized to John), Cornelius, and Jannetyje. Jan and Marytje Miserol's eldest child, Margrietje, married Carel de Beauvois (alternately spelled Debevoise) in 1705. John Miserole (d. 1756), Jan and Marytje's eldest son, married Elizabeth Praa (1691-1754), daughter of Pieter Praa, a prominent land owner in what would be the present-day neighborhood of Greenpoint. John and Elizabeth Miserole both inherited and purchased land, resulting in their ownership of nearly all of the land that comprises present-day Greenpoint, as well as the riverfront area of Williamsburg, from 1727 to 1750.
Adrian Meserole compiled and wrote Genealogy of the Meserole Family of Greenpoint. In 1915, this volume was later expanded upon by Francis Vandervoort Morrell (1844-1922), also a descendent of the Meserole family.
Variations of the family name include Miserol, Miserole, Meserole, and Messerole. The Meserole family was one of the most established families in Greenpoint and Meserole Avenue in Greenpoint was named after them.
Sources:
- Meserole, Adrian. Genealogy of the Meserole Family of Greenpoint. Additions by Francis V. Morrell, 1915.