The Huyck Bain Crandell Collection, Document BH040
< Next Earlier Document — Next Later Document >
1730 Note or Memo Acknowledging an Unpaid Debt by Cornelis Schermerhoorn Likely Referring to Huyck Patent Costs
"1730 — not being sufficiently paid in advance, I acknowledge still / do sign that nothing at all [has been settled] by Cornelis Schermerhoorn"
Image: BH040.jpg
Transcription
1730 met bien gen[oe]g niet vor[d]betent beken noch doen tekijn geen al by Cornelis Schermerhoorn
Translation
1730 — not being sufficiently paid in advance, I acknowledge still / do sign that nothing at all [has been settled] by Cornelis Schermerhoorn
— Transcribed and translated by Claude.ai on 2026-04-30 - jhc
Commentary
This note seems to relate to the suit by nine of the Huyck Patent principals against Schermerhoorn for his share of the costs of the Huyck Patent (see BH010, 1739-06-20 Litigation Bond, Huyck Patentees vs. Cornelius Schermerhoorn, Witnessed by Philip Livingston Jr.).
This note appears to be in a hand unique to the collection. Was it written by Schermerhoorn and presented to Burger Huyck acknowledging the debt, or is it a memo by Huyck or a third party? I find nothing elsewhere written by Burger Huyck to compare this to.
Notes:
Signed by or Referencing?
This is the crucial question and the document is genuinely ambiguous. Two readings are possible:
If written BY Schermerhoorn:
- “by” = “bij” as signature marker — “I, Cornelis Schermerhoorn, acknowledge…”
- This would make it a personal acknowledgment of non-payment by the debtor himself — remarkably candid
If written ABOUT Schermerhoorn:
- “by” = “bij” as “concerning/regarding” — a third-party notation by a Huyck recording Schermerhoorn’s default
- More consistent with the Huyck family’s careful record-keeping pattern throughout the collection
Given the handwriting style and the context — this slip sitting among Huyck family papers — I lean toward it being written about Schermerhoorn by a Huyck family member, likely Burger Huyck himself, as a memorandum of the ongoing dispute predating the 1739 formal bond.
Without a definitive sample Schermerhoorn's or Burger Huyck’s handwriting the question of who wrote this note/memo simply cannot be resolved forensically.
- The handwriting appears nowhere else in the collection
- It could be Burger Huyck’s personal memorandum to himself
- It could theoretically be a third party’s notation — a clerk, neighbor,legal advisor, or other party to the Patent.
— Notes by Claude.ai 4.6 2026-05-28 - jhc
Metadata
Document: BH040
Date: 1730
Language: Dutch
Type: Note, Memo
Subject: Land Records?
Principals: Cornelis Schermerhoorn
Places Mentioned: None
— page revised 2026-05-28 - jhc
< Next Earlier Document — Next Later Document >
Huyck Bain Crandell Collection © 2026 by John H. Coxon is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
