I’ve written extensively about my husband’s roots in the West Indies, but I have almost no historic connection to that part of the world. There is one notorious character on my family tree however who lived for a time in the Dutch colony of Suriname, located on the northern coast of South America.
The Reverend Eggo Tonken van Hoevenberg was my 5th great grandfather. He was born in the Netherlands about 1710 and studied there to become a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. The reverend sailed to Suriname in 1743, to take a position in the coastal city of Paramaribo. Apparently, after only two days in South America, he experienced what was called a “nervous breakdown”, and was sent back to Holland in 1744. Supposedly completely recovered, he returned to Paramaribo in 1749 (one of course has to wonder about the quality of mental health care in the 18th century). After just a few months, he was removed as minister, so he left for New York City. He seems to have encountered more problems being accepted by the church hierarchy there, so he moved north to the area of Livingstone Manor in Sullivan County, New York and held a clerical position there until 1767.
Chronically controversial, his qualifications to lead a church in New York were questioned. The Dutch Reformed “Classis” (a ruling body of church elders) recorded that after performing clerical duties there for a year, he was called before church officials to present his credentials, which he apparently couldn’t provide. Criticized by one of the elders, “Rev. Hoevenberg challenged that gentlemen with the sword”.
So was Eggo truly insane? As usual, there is more than one side to the story. In a letter written by him in 1749 to a Classis elder named Brouwer, Eggo painted a picture of plotting, intrigue, and personal feuds during his time in Suriname. He referenced The Governor, who was Jan Jacob Mauricius at the time, along with a woman he called Madame Duvoisin:
“The Governor, after some difference with me about ecclesiastical affairs, in which he meddled altogether too much: and about some civil matters, affecting a minister as a shepherd of souls, and relating that gentleman’s evil conduct; as appeared from his own hand-writing, in the hands of Madame Duvoisin… on my coming out of church at a certain time, having been conducting a prayer meeting the adjutant, Herschel by name, called out after me, ‘God damn it, the fellow is crazy’…. if [the government] gave me no satisfaction, they must not be surprised, if, by the law of nature I myself took satisfaction… For this reason, I was chased as a rebel out of the colony.”
Jan Jacob Mauricius was dealing with number of problems during his governorship of Suriname in the 1740s. In addition to the activities of the runaway slaves of the Maroon community, he encountered resistance from the local planters, called the “cabale”. One of his fiercest opponents in the cabal was Madame Audra Duvoisin, the wife of one of the Paramaribo elite. Along with the intrigue, protest actions, and personal insults between the government and the planter class, she was personally accused of plotting to have the governor recalled to Holland.
Was Eggo suffering from some sort of mental illness? It seems that he was caught up in a dangerous environment of anti-government sentiment and conspiracies. He clearly had no patience with the interference of the governor in religious matters. Could the government have used character assassination to discredit the reverend? Apparently that sort of tactic hasn’t gone out of fashion, even in today’s world.
Sources
- Olde Ulster: an historical and genealogical magazine v.9, January 1913.
- Ecclesiastical Records, State of New York, Volume 5, 1905
- Lith, Charlotta Elisabeth van der (1700-1753), Huygens Instituut
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