First Time Here?
DeWitts of Dordrecht and Amsterdam
Part 2
DE WITT (Amsterdam)
The first of this old and influential regent family is Pieter
de Witt, born in Amsterdam around 1520, merchant and captain of the civil
guard. He was decapitated on 9th October 1568 and left from his marriage to
Ottilia Sybrands Buijck three sons and one daughter. Among his descendants
we find a lot of Amsterdam government personnel like Pieter de Witt, Raad
(counsel member) (1702), regent of the Dutch East Indies Company, Mr. Jan
de Witt, Raad Secretaries and Raad, Mr. Francois de Witt, burgomaster. The
latter married in 1743 with Alida Johanna de Graeff van Polsbroek. Their son,
Jan de Witt, schepen (local authority, type of police) (1782), Raad (1785)
was a fervent patriot (pro-French activist) and immigrated to France in 1787.
He married on 1st April 1779 in Amsterdam with Johanna Wilhelmina Clifford,
daughter of Jan and Anna Wolters. He stayed in France until 1795 and became
a member of the Amsterdam municipality. He became the Bataafse Republiek (republic
after the French invasion of 1795, changed into a kingdom by Napoleon) ambassador
to Switzerland in 1796. He was very rich and very fond of building. He spent
so much money on building the estate Elsenburgh near Maarssen that he had
to sell it again. He left shortly in Baden-Baden before moving to the Quartier
Breda in Paris to build a number of projects that we so successful that he
left a huge inheritance. He died on 12th September 1809 in a castle at Conde
sur Iton.
He had three sons; one of them died young. The eldest, Jan
Francois de Witt was captain in the French service and died in France in 1805,
both his children died young.
The second son, Willem Cornelis de Witt, was born in Amsterdam
on 26th July 1781 and became a French citizen in 1806. He became auditeur
au conseil d'etat and from 1811 to 1813 sous prefet in Amsterdam. He died
in Paris on 16th May 1834.
In Prilly by Lausanne he had married Suzanna Carolina Temminck,
daughter of Jacob and Alida van Stamhorst on 20th November 1823. They had
two sons and a daughter.
The eldest son, Coenraad Jacob Dyonis Cornelis de Witt,
was born in Paris on 15th November 1824. He became conseiler-general van Calvados
and administrator of the mines in la Grande Combe. He married in March 1850
to Henriette Elizabert Guizot, daughter of prime minister Francois Guizot
and Marguerite Andree Eliza de la Croix-Dillon. Two daughters from this marriage
are still alive; both married to gentlemen named Schlumberger.
The second son, Cornelis Henry de Witt was born in Paris
on 20th November 1828 became depute and under-secretary of state for Internal
Affairs. He was married in Paris on 18th May 1850 with Pauline Jeanne Guizot,
sister of Henriette Elisaberth as mentioned above. From this marriage came
many children among them four sons.
From the above it is clear that the de Witt's in Paris belong
to the very old family of Amsterdam and that there is no relation with the
de Witt's of Dordrecht.
The coat of arms is entirely different. It is an azure field
with a flying, silver dove and three leaves of clover below.
C. A. van Sypesteyn.
1886
