Margaret Hardenbrook Philipse

Margaret Hardenbroeck de Vries Philipse ( – ) was a prominent and wealthy merchant in the colonial Province of New York. She inherited great wealth from her first husband after his early death, and later married another merchant and landowner, Frederick Philipse, who became 1st Lord of Philipse Manor. Early life Margareta Hardenbroeck was born in the Rhine Valley of the Netherlands. She was the daughter of Adolph Hardenbruk (the surname later varied), a German emigrant who lived in New Jersey across from the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, along with her older brother Abel Hardenbroeck, who came as an indentured servant to the Ten Eyck family. Career She established herself in the burgeoning city in the late 1650s working in as a debt-collecting agent for her cousin, Wolter Valck. She also worked as a business agent for several Dutch merchants, trading small items such as pins, cooking oils, and vinegar in exchange for furs.