Wolfert Acker

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Wolfert Acker (1667 – 1753) was a colonial-period American; Washington Irving's short story "Wolfert's Roost" features him.

His name was recorded in all combinations of Wolfert or Wolvert as given name, and Acker, Echert, or Ecker as surname.

Acker was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York and died at his sizable home, "Wolfert's Roost" (or "... Rest") near what has been since 1854 the site of Irvington, New York in Westchester County, New York. On December 20, 1692, on land belonging to Frederick Phillipse, he married Maretje Sibouts of the Armen Bowerymboth (which later came into the ownership of Phillipse).

He was a quiet man whose favorite phrase was "Rust in Lust" (peace in quiet), but always found himself working for very loud and active governors; he was, at one point, privy counsellor to Peter Stuyvesant, before eventually retiring to Wolfert's Roost. His broom-carrying wife was noticeably more dominating and, in spite of his elevated social status, she was at times accused of witchcraft.

He had three sons, Steven, Siber and Abraham (and each son was married and named a son Wolfert). From Abraham's line came Abraham II and Wolfert II (Wolfert Acker, the American "patriot" and Whig coordinator who lived in Marlborough, New York (where his house, Hill House, still stands) and founder of the Acker Ferry between Newburgh, New York and what became in 1913 part of Beacon, New York). Abraham's connection to the Van Tassel family is cited in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and it was through their association with a rebellious Van Tassel scion during the revolutionary period that the Ackers lost Wolfert's Roost.

Wolfert served the Dutch colonial government as collector of Philipseburgh in New Netherlands until the ascension of Peter Stuyvesant, at which point he retired to Wolfert's Roost. He was also one of the first Deacons of Sleepy Hollow's Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow) and is entombed beneath the floorboards of the church along with other Elders, beside Lord Frederick Philipse I and his wife.

William Owens believes that, despite his high status, Wolfert may have been a tenant of Frederick Phillipse ((1626-1702) - early settler, founder of the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow). Tenant or not, Wolfert did have the second largest house in the region, second only to Philipse Castle (or Philipse Manor House, which still stands)

Wolfert's property was passed along in his family for some time, but eventually broken up and sold off. One person who bought his land was Washington Irving who took an existing structure and made his romantic Sunnyside out of it. The actual Wolfert's Roost was burned down by the British after the brother-in-law of Catriena Ecker Van Tassel shot at the British sloops with a goose-rifle charged with nails. (Van Tassel provided the name "Catriena Van Tassel", in Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", for the character modeled on her niece, Eleanor Van Tassel Brush.)

Wolfert's brother, Jan Ecker, was first deacon of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow and was still living in May 1716. Wolfert Acker became the second deacon and later an Elder. However, by May 1716, he and his wife Maritie were two of eight members no longer on the roll. They were not dead since their name continued to appear as baptismal witnesses until 1734. ^[1]

As evidenced by Catriena's last name, spelling variations from Acker to Ecker and Eckelr occurred early on and are common.

[edit] Other Wolfert Ackers

Name	Birth	Death	Marriage	Spouse	Number of Children	Occupation
Wolfert Acker (of den Bosche, North Brabant, Holland)	?, den Bosche	?, Sleepy Hollow, NY	?, den Bosche	Jemima (of den Bosche)	2?	Elder of the Old Dutch Church at Sleepy Hollow
Wolfert Acker	1667, Midwont, Long Island, New York	1753, “Wolfert’s Roost,” Irvington, Westchester, New York	Dec. 20, 1692 on Frederick Phillip’s land	Maretje Sibouts	3: Steven Acker, Siber Acker, and Abraham Acker	Collector of Phillipseburgh, Deacon and Elder of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow