Settlers and Founders: Women of New Jersey, 1600-1700’s

Commemorative medal depicts a scene from the Penelope Stout legend, which
claims that a Native American rescued her after she survived both a Lenape attack and a ship stranding.1

“Penelloppey Prince”: First Lady of Monmouth

The pearly white body of a European woman lay unconscious upon the sandy shoreline in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The year was circa 1640.

Upon awakening to the sounds of seagulls overhead, the woman found her body slashed, her skull fractured, and her left arm mangled as it hung lifelessly at her side. Sensing she was in grave danger and believing her attackers would return, alone and stranded, she crawled into a hollowed-out tree where she hid for seven days2 eating ‘the excrescences that grew from it”3 while holding her entrails in place.

When the dog of a local Lenni Lenape Indian (“The Original People”)4 was drawn by the scent of a human inside a tree, he led his master to her. As the elder Lenape peered in, he found a pale woman in an awful state with bruises and cuts over her entire body, half scalped, and a large wound across her abdomen where she had nearly been disemboweled. The sympathetic native carried her back to his tribal community, where the women of his tribe nursed her back to health.

This courageous woman was none other than Penelope van Princis,5 considered not only the first white woman to grace the New Jersey shores, but also one of the bravest women in American history as a pioneer settler.6

Johannes Vingboons, View of New Amsterdam, 1664.7

Legend has it that as the newlyweds, Penelope and John von Kent,8 traveled to the New World, their ship was hit unexpectedly by a squall that drove it to the banks of Sandy Hook, the spit of land that separates Raritan Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.

While the survivors and crew abandoned the ship and made their way via lifeboats to New Amsterdam (now New York), the ever-faithful wife, Penelope, refused to abandon her husband, who was too ill to cross the windswept shore. Since John had no strength to press forward, they waited in the Navesink woods for aid to be sent, but it never came. They were left for dead. When hostile Native Americans happened upon the couple, they killed John and brutally disfigured Penelope.  

When the elder Lenape found her in the tree, he carried her to the village where her wounds were “sewn with fishbone needles and vegetable fiber,”9 and “her wounds were nursed with spider webs and various herbal remedies.”10 Once Penelope had recovered and was stronger, she was ransomed and sold to the Dutch. Soon after rejoining the Dutch settlers, Penelope met and married11 Richard Stout.12 Stout was an Englishman, ten years her senior, who had served seven years in the British Navy.13

Richard had left his hometown of Burton-Joyce Parish in Nottinghamshire, England, due to his parent’s disapproval of a girl he wanted to marry, someone whom his parents considered socially inferior.14 Before meeting Penelope, Richard settled in Gravesend, Long Island, on a plantation, which he had been allowed to purchase from the Dutch. Richard Stout continued to purchase land, and became a prosperous landowner.

“Van Der Donck’s map of New Netherland, 1656”15

To her credit, Penelope pleaded with her husband to bargain with the Lenape for the very same tract of land in Monmouth County where she once lay unconscious. Her intentions were to create the first settlement in that area.16 The Stouts moved from Gravesend (now a small section of Brooklyn, New York) to Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, after the English took over the rule of New Amsterdam. Richard Stout thus became one of the thirteen (all-male) original Monmouth Patentees.

Penelope and Richard had seven sons: Jonathan, John, Richard, James, Peter, David, Benjamin, and three daughters, Mary, Sarah, and Alice. Alice Deliverance Stout17 married John Throckmorton, II18.  As both Penelope and Richard were associated with those who fled persecution from England to preserve and establish “Freedom of Conscience” in America, they helped to establish the First Baptist Church in New Jersey.19 20 Richard and his son John were among the eighteen charter members.

Whether the story of Penelope Stout is factual or legendary, or a combination, it remains without question that the story’s heroine was aptly named at birth.

The name “Penelope” has existed for over 2,500 years through one of the oldest extant works of Greek literature. “Penelope” is an essential female character in “The Odyssey” by Homer. Penelope is characterized as the loyal and faithful wife of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and represents an unyielding commitment, a force of strength and survival that parallels anything her husband might have displayed on the battlefield.

In the same manner, Penelope van Princis Stout is the embodiment of loyalty and strength as she exhibited bravery and resilience in the face of danger.

Commemorative medal depicts a scene found in some versions of the Penelope Stout legend in which Stout’s rescuer returns to warn her of an imminent attack. The medal gives Stout the honorific title, “First Lady of Monmouth.”21

Penelope Stout stands among the great pioneer women in colonial American and New Jersey history.22

Melissa A. Rendsburg
Somerset, New Jersey, USA
February 24, 2024
Word Count: 871

Notes

  1. For the photo, see: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Penelope_Coin002.jpg&oldid=680180349. ↩︎
  2. Nathan Stout. 1929. The History of the Stout Family: First Settling in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1666. New Jersey; G.A. Chandler. ↩︎
  3. Samuel Smith. 1877. The History of the Colony of Nova-Cæsaria or New-Jersey : Containing an Account of Its First Settlement Progressive Improvements the Original and Present Constitution and Other Events to the Year 1721. Trenton, NJ; W.S. Sharp. P. 66-67. ↩︎
  4. Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/Lenape#etymonline_v_6680. ↩︎
  5. Penelope Ann van Princis Kent Stout (c. 1622-1732), my reputed maternal 10th great-grandmother. ↩︎
  6. “97 Stout Family Descendants Turn Out for Reunion”. 1976. The New York Times. Aug 16, 1976. p.62. ↩︎
  7. For the photo, see: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:GezichtOpNieuwAmsterdam.jpg&oldid=703458134. ↩︎
  8. John von Kent (1595-1643) of Amsterdam, Netherlands. ↩︎
  9. Thomas Hale Streets. 1897. The Story of Penelope Stout : As Verified by the Events of History and Official Records. Philadelphia Pa: Press of A.J. Ferris. ↩︎
  10. William Foster Hayes. 1991. Stout Lady: The Life and Times of Penelope Stout. North Hollywood, Ca: W.F. Hayes. ↩︎
  11. Penelope and Richard married in 1644. Ancestry.com. American Marriages Before 1699 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997. ↩︎
  12. Richard Stout (1612-1705). 1975. Founders and Patriots of America Index. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. p. 212. ↩︎
  13. Herald F. Stout, Captain, United States Navy. The Story of Penelope Kent Van Princin Stout, “Stout and Allied Families, Volume One. ↩︎
  14. Ibid ↩︎
  15. Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library, “Van Der Donck’s map of New Netherland, 1656” New York Public Library Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e99dfb50-79bb-0133-0c3b-00505686d14e. ↩︎
  16. Herald F. Stout, Captain, United States Navy. The Story of Penelope Kent Van Princin Stout, “Stout and Allied Families, Volume One. ↩︎
  17. Alice Stout Throckmorton (1652-1703), of Gravesend, New York, New Netherlands, reputed 9th great-grandmother, marries John Throckmorton, II on December 21, 1670. Their families were neighbors off Kings Highway. Ancestry.com. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. ↩︎
  18. John Throckmorton, II (1642-1690) of Providence, Rhode Island, reputed 9th great-grandmother. ↩︎
  19. Old First Church is located on King’s Highway in Middletown. https://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/the-archaeology-of-the-old-first-church. ↩︎
  20. Old First Church, 69 Kings Hwy, Middletown, NJ. https://www.oldfirstchurchnj.org. ↩︎
  21. For the photo, see: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Penelope_VanPrincis_Stout_Commemorative_Coin_-_Verso.jpg&oldid=502729390 ↩︎
  22. New Jersey Historical Commission. Marker #483. Between Middleton and Holmdel on Evertt Rd, across from Bell Telephone Station. https://nj.gov/state/historical/historical-markers.shtml. ↩︎

Bibliography

Ancestry.com. American Marriages Before 1699 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.

Ancestry.com. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Descendants of Founders of New Jersey. https://www.njfounders.org/founders.

Founders and Patriots of America Index. 1975. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.

Green, Harry Clinton and Mary Wolcott Green. G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Cairns Collection of American Women Writers. 1912. The Pioneer Mothers of America : A Record of the More Notable Women of the Early Days of the Country and Particularly of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Hayes, William Foster. 1991. Stout Lady: The Life and Times of Penelope Stout. North Hollywood, Ca: W.F. Hayes.

Hornor, William S. 1990. This Old Monmouth of Ours : History Tradition Biography Genealogy and Other Anecdotes Related to Monmouth County New Jersey. Baltimore MD: Clearfield.

McFarlane, Jim. 2012. Penelope : A Novel of New Amsterdam. Greer SC: Twisted Cedar Press.

New Jersey Historical Commission. Marker #483. Between Middleton and Holmdel on Evertt Rd, across from Bell Telephone Station. https://nj.gov/state/historical/historical-markers.shtml.

New York Public Library. Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library, “Van Der Donck’s map of New Netherland, 1656”. New York Public Library Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e99dfb50-79bb-0133-0c3b-00505686d14e.

Old First Church, 69 Kings Hwy, Middletown, NJ. https://www.oldfirstchurchnj.org.

Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/Lenape#etymonline_v_6680.

Patch. “Old First Church is located on King’s Highway in Middletown, NJ.” https://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/the-archaeology-of-the-old-first-church.

Pincus, Lionel and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Van Der Donck’s map of New Netherland, 1656”. New York Public Library Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/e99dfb50-79bb-0133-0c3b-00505686d14e.

RootsWeb. Ancestry.Com. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~flgssvc/penelopestout-final.html

Schott, Penelope Scambly. 1999. Penelope : The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman : A Narrative Poem. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Smith, Samuel. 1877. The History of the Colony of Nova-Cæsaria or New-Jersey : Containing an Account of Its First Settlement Progressive Improvements the Original and Present Constitution and Other Events to the Year 1721. Trenton, NJ: W.S. Sharp. umich.edu.

Streets, Thomas Hale. 1897. The Story of Penelope Stout : As Verified by the Events of History and Official Records. Philadelphia Pa: Press of A.J. Ferris.

Stout, Captain Hearld F. United States Navy. The Story of Penelope Kent Van Princin Stout, “Stout and Allied Families, Volume One.”

Stout, Nathan. 1929. The History of the Stout Family: First Settling in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1666. G.A. Chandler, NJ.

The New York Times. 1976. 97 Stout Family Descendants Turn Out for Reunion.

Four Women in a Violent Time : Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) Mary Dyer (1591?-1660) Lady Deborah Moody (1600-1659) Penelope Stout (1622-1732). 1970. New York: Crown Publishers.

The Internet Surname Database. https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Prince.

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:GezichtOpNieuwAmsterdam.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:GezichtOpNieuwAmsterdam.jpg&oldid=703458134.

Wikimedia Commons contributors. “File:Penelope Coin002.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Penelope_Coin002.jpg&oldid=680180349.

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Penelope VanPrincis Stout Commemorative Coin – Verso.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Penelope_VanPrincis_Stout_Commemorative_Coin_-_Verso.jpg&oldid=502729390.

Wikipedia. Penelope Stout. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope_Stout.

©2024, Melissa A. Rendsburg, M.A.