From notes by Errett VanCleave 1946

Jan VanCleef, the first of The Van Cleave's in the New World, is thought to have been born in or around 1628, in Cleve, Germany, since the Dutch name " Van " meant "born at" and was used in early Amsterdam Church records to identify members. "Cleef " was the Rhineland town and Duchy spelling, of the town of Cleve. So, Van Cleef would mean "Jan, born at the Duchy of Cleef". Some family members claim Jan was born in Amsterdam and that there is no basis for Jan's birth in Germany.

Jan may have been a son of one of the claimants to the Ducal throne of Cleves, when Duke John William died in 1609, leaving no heirs. He had been married twice but had no children. There were 8 heirs who had claim to the throne but it was passed to heirs of the Duke's widow instead, in the Treaty of Zanton in 1614. It is probable that the Father of Jan, Cornelius, fled across the border with his family, and into Holland as a political refugee , taking up residence in Amsterdam. [ The Dutch city of Amsterdam had long been noted for it's policy of tolerance and acceptance of religious and political foreigners].

In 1653, Jan, came to New Netherlands, and landed on what is now Long Island. He is listed as a farmer, in Gravesend, Long Island, in 1656. Gravesend was a community founded by Lady Deborah Moody, an English aristocrat who left London, for relgious freedom. [source "Island at the center of the World" Russell Shorto, published in 2004, by Doubleday, page 159.]

Jan was a representative from the New Utrecht Colony* to the Convention in New Amsterdam on April 10, 1664, that was formed to send delegates to the States General, at the Hague and to the West Indies Company, to present their case about the distressed state of the colony.**

Jan moved to New Utrecht and sometime in 1661, he married Engeltje Louwerens. They had 13 children all born in and around New Utrecht.

In February of 1664, Jan stated that he was 36 years of age, when he made a written declaration of events which happened at New Utrecht.

Jan's name appears in a list of Reformed Dutch Church of New Utrecht's records in 1677 to 1685.

In 1686, he received a Grant of Land from Governor Thomas Donegan. ( No source for this found as yet, need more information ).

In 1687, Jan,took the Oath of Allegiance to the English Government. ( Again, need to find the source material)

A census of 1688, lists Jan as a resident of New Utrecht, having resided there for 34 years with a wife and 4 children still at home.

Jan died about 1699, in New York. Some of his descendents stayed in New York, some moved into New Jersey; first settling in Monmouth Counties and then in Hunterdon, Middlesex and Somerset counties,where some remain still.

Jan's son, Isabrandt, stayed in New Jersey, and his son, Aaron, moved into Rowan County, North Carolina. 5 of Aaron's sons; John, Benjamin, Aaron Jr, William and Ralph and his daughter Jane, who married squire Boone Jr., Daniel Boone's brother, went with the Boones and helped settle Kentucky. The VanCleaves later moved into Indiana spreading further west into Nebraska, California, Washington and Oregon.

* Records show that Jan was a representative from New Brunswick, but it is most likely an error in the record since Jan did not live in New Brunswick at the time.

**Adreian van der Donck was a lawyer and immigrant to New Netherlands. He was the delegate sent to Amsterdam to present the colony's case against the West Indies Compnay and their chosen Governer,Peter Stuyvesant, deploring the state of the colony and asking for Stuyvesant's removal. Many colonists wanted to elect a board of 9 men to govern themselves. [source "Island at the center of the World" by Russell Shorto, part 2 Clash of Wills]