Captain Peter Adolph, buried 1702/3 in Sandwich, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday

 This tombstone was photographed at the Old Town Cemetery in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

HERE LYETH Ye BODY OF CAPt.

PETER ADOLPH, OF NEW YORKE

AGED 48 YEARS, WHO DYED

SHIPWRACK IN THIS BAY

16th OF MARCH, 1702/3 &

WAS WASHED ON SHOARE

3 MILES BELOW THIS TOWNE. 

I found this interesting gravestone whilst wandering around looking for ancestors in this ancient burial ground in Sandwich, Massachusetts.  Located on Cape Cod, there were many tombstone for drowings and accidents at sea.  Who was Captain Peter Adolph?

Pieter Adolfz Van der Grost was baptized 8 July 1657 at the Reformed Dutch Church in New Amsterdam (now New York City), son of Adolph Pieterszen and Aefje Dircks.  He married Janneken Van Brosum at the same church on 1 January 1679, and they had eight children.  His will was proved on 29 May 1704. 

His 8 June 1696 will reads " Peter Adolph De Groot, being of perfect memory, do make this my last will and testament. First, I have nominated and appointed for my heir my beloved wife, Janeke Adolph, for one half of my estate of houses, lands and goods. And the other half to the four children which I have procured with her, named Adolph, Egbert, Agie, and Peter De Groot. I give to my son Adolph £10 for his birthright, and to my son Peter £5 for the sake of his name. My wife is not to be obliged to make any inventory or to give any account. Witnesses: Abraham Abrahamsen, Andries Abrahamsen. Timon Van Borsum and Cornelius Vielie are made executors. Proved 29 May 1704, and Cornelius Vielie is confirmed as executor"  [New York (County) Surrogates Court Abstract of Wills on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York (Volume 1, 1665 - 1707). Collections of the New York Historical Society (New York: Printed for the Society, 1892) pages 388-389.]

Captain Adolph was lost at sea in a shipwreck while sailing from Boston to New York.  The crew washed up on Scorton Beach in East Sandwich, and they all were buried in nearby cemeteries.  Adoph's widow gave a bell to the meetinghouse at Sandwich in gratitude for giving her husband's body a Christian burial.  It is known as the Captain Adolf Bell, and the meetinghouse is known now as the First Church of Sandwich, Massachusetts.  The bell is now on display inside the church. 

For the truly curious:

Find A Grave memorial for Capt. Peter Adolph:    https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86541132/peter-adolph    

 More about this family from Rootsweb:    https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~brouwergenealogydata/genealogy/p655.htm  

Wikipedia article on the First Church of Sandwich, Massachusets:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Church,_Sandwich_Massachusetts    

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Captain Peter Adolph, buried 1702/3 in Sandwich, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 3, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/06/captain-peter-adolph-buried-17023-in.html: accessed [access date]).