Onderdonk, Henry, Jr., 1804-1886

Henry Onderdonk (1804-1886) was an educator and historian, a collector of Long Island antiquities, and the author of many works based on his findings among local records. Later, he became a founder (1863) and councilor (1868-1886) of the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society), and a contributor to the Society's library and manuscript collections upon their formation.

Henry Onderdonk was born June 11, 1804, at Manhasset, NY, the son of Joseph Onderdonck, a farmer, and Dorothy Monfoort. Henry commonly rendered his name with a "Jr."; it is supposed that he did so to distinguish his name from that of his eminent relative, Henry Ustick Onderdonk (1789-1858), the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania. Onderdonk graduated from Columbia College in 1827 and received an A.B. degree from Harvard in 1828. He married Maria Hegeman Onderdonk (1801-1875), daughter of George Onderdonk and Sarah Rapalije in 1828, and had two children, Elizabeth (1829-fl. 1909) and Adrian (1831-1888). Henry took up teaching, becoming principal of Union Hall Academy at Jamaica from 1832 to 1865, after which he devoted himself to literary pursuits. He was also a director of the Long Island Bible Society. Onderdonk died at Jamaica on June 22, 1886 and is buried in Monfort Cemetery in Port Washington, NY.

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