Theunis Jacobsen KLAARWATER (Jacob Theunis , Jan Gysbert Theunis , Theunis Jan's vant , Jan van't ) was born in 1624 in Baarn, Utrecht, Netherlands. He was christened in 1636 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. He died in 1715 in New Paltz, Ulster, Colony of New York, British Colonial America. He was buried in His orchard on his farm, Bontecoe‑‑—the name of his orchard, is probably named for Bontekoe,.

Theunis Jacobsen Klaarwater, the founder of the Clearwater (Klaarwater) family in America,
Theunis Jacobsen [Klaarwater] (1636-1715) never used "Klaarwater", but it is used with him here for family line clarity.
He graduated from the University of Leyden in The Netherlands.

He was a soldier. He contracted on 14 June 1656 to work as a farmhand for 4 years for Jeremias Rensselaer in America and sailed from The Netherlands in June of 1656 aboard "Den Otter" and arrived at New Netherlands on 05 September 1656. Theunis Jacobsen [Klaarwater] was at one time a beer carrier in Albany, NY. He bought and sold a lot of land. He helped found Kingston and the Dutch Reformed Church there. Theunis Jacobsen [Klaarwater] married Maretje Hanse [Vos] (born 1659) in about 1676 and they had 11 children in Kingston, NY. Most of the children's "birthdates" on the Family Group Sheet are actually their baptism dates at the Kingston Dutch Reformed Church. Theunis Jacobsen [Klaarwater] took the Oath of Allegiance in 1689. He was granted (with son Jacob and others) by England's Queen Anne 4000 acres to be called "New Paltz" (became Shawangunk, where the Ulster County line on the west meets the Orange County line and the hamlet of Wallkill on the east) near the Catskill Mountains. The surname "Klaarwater was used by his children and later became "Clearwater".

A tablet, designed by Charles R. Lamb, the architect of the Dewey Arch, was erected on the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, 1899, in the Dutch church at Kingston to his memory, and that of some of his lineal descendants by Judge Clearwater of Kingston, his descendant six degrees removed.outside Rotterdam in The Netherlands. A tablet, designed by Charles R. Lamb, the architect of the Dewey Arch, was erected on the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, 1899, in the Dutch church at Kingston to his memory, and that of some of his lineal descendants by Judge Clearwater of Kingston, his descendant six degrees removed. the tablet is of white marble, framed by Corinthian pilasters, with capitals and frieze supported by heavy corbels. Upon the frieze is a scroll, on which is carved a pair of crossed swords on the model of those used by the officers of the continental army, intertwined with oak leaves, the symbol of strength and heroism, surmounted by the words "In Memoriam." At the base of the tablet is the inscription, "Fide Et Fortitudine," intertwined with ivy leaves, the symbol of remembrance and longevity. Each capital is crowned with a scallop shell, the emblem of the Pilgrim. The inscription is of bronze letters executed in high relief and is as follows.

1663 JACOB KLAARWATER 1747 
A native of Holland who fought in the wars of the American frontier. 
1699 ABRAHAM KLAARWATER 1782 
Sergeant in the provincial army during the Colonial Wars. Signer of the Articles of Association 1775. 
Dragoon in the Marbletown Troop of Horse during the war of the Revolution. 
1757 THOMAS KLAARWATER 1830 
Signer of the Articles of Association 1775. Trooper in the Marbletown Horse. Soldier in the Continental Army. 
1787 THOMAS TEUNIS CLEARWATER i860 
Soldier of the War of 1812
Theunis Jacobsen Klaarwater was a soldier of Holland and a graduate of the University of Leyden. He came from Holland to New Amsterdam, went to Esopus (Kingston) and subsequently to Bontecoe. He joined the Huguenot church at New Paltz when he moved to Bontecoe, died 1715, and was buried in the orchard of his farm at Bontecoe.









Theunis Jacobsen KLAARWATER (Jacob Theunis , Jan Gysbert Theunis , Theunis Jan's vant , Jan van't ) was born in 1624 in Baarn, Utrecht, Netherlands. He was christened in 1636 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. He died in 1715 in New Paltz, Ulster, Colony of New York, British Colonial America. He was buried in His orchard on his farm @Bontecoe.