About 1622: Born, Amsterdam, Holland.

About 1640: Married; sailed with husband for the Dutch colony at New Amsterdam (later NY), but the ship was stranded at Sandy Hook, off the coast of what is now Monmouth, NJ; attacked by hostile Indians; husband was killed, along with the ship's crew, while some passengers managed to escape; Penelope was partially disemboweled and a portion of her scalp was removed; she was left for dead but managed to survive by taking refuge in a hollow tree for several days; found alive by passing Indians, with whom she subsequently lived for a year or two; befriended by her rescuer, an elderly Indian man, who had nursed her back to health; eventually taken by her captors to New Amsterdam and released, or found and ransomed by European settlers who had heard of her plight and resolved to save her from captivity.

1644/1645: Married Englishman Richar Stout, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1645: Birth of son John, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1645/1646: Birth of son Richard, Jr., Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam (10 Mar.).

1648: Birth of son James, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam; a "Pennelloppey Prince" mentioned in conjunction with the household of one Thos. Applegate (Sep., Gravesend Town Bk., vol. 1); this is also the year when some sources claim that Richard, Penelope, and children were among those who made an early (but ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to colonize the NJ coast.

1649/1650: Birth of daughter Mary, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1651/1654: Birth of daughter Alice Deliverance, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1654: Birth of son Peter, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1655: Received a furtive visit from her elderly Indian friend who warned her to flee with her family immediately to the safety of the New Amsterdam fort as there were plans for an impending Indian attack on the outlying settlement where they lived (mid-Sep.; this account is offered particularly by those who claim that the Stouts had been part of an earlier attempt [about 1648] at colonizing the NJ coast, which most instead put at the later date of 1663/1664).

1656: Birth of daughter Sarah, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1660: Birth of son Jonathan, Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam.

1663/1664: Moved with husband and children from Gravesend to what is today Monmouth Co., NJ, where, with others, they founded the first permanent European settlement at Middletown.

1667: Birth of son David, Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ.

1668: With husband and others, met to organize the first Baptist church in NJ.

1669: Birth of son Benjamin, Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ.

1690: Lot on Hop River, Monmouth Co., deeded by husband Richard to son Benjamin "for the Joynture of my Loving wife Penelope" (30 Aug.).

1732: Died, Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ.

Penelope Van Princes Stout

Source Documents