Van Voordt, a patrician family at Utrecht, Netherlands, members of which were Mennonites ca. 1561. Mennonite meetings were held in the home of Cornelis van Voordt. Probably Cornelis was not a member of the church, though he was in sympathy with it. Anna, his wife, and Jan, his son, were baptized by Elder Dirk Philips shortly before Christmas of 1561 in a meeting held in his home. In February or March 1562 a meeting here was surprised by the police and a number of Mennonites were arrested and tried. Cornelis and his wife, who were not present when the meeting was surprised, were forever banished from Utrecht, Holland, and Zeeland, and their property was confiscated. Jan van der Voordt, who was apprehended, recanted and was probably released. Berghuys is of the opinion that the Jan van der Voort who was ordained as a preacher or elder of the Utrecht Mennonite congregation was identical with this Jan van Voordt. This is, however, doubtful, for he would have been about 75 years old in 1606.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 852. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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