On June 3, 1642, Abram Staes sailed on the ship den Houttuyn from Amsterdam (or Texel) for New Netherland, arriving at Fort Orange on August 4th. The list of the passengers on Den Houttuyn included Domine Johannes Megapolensis with his wife, Machtelt Willems, and children Hillegont, Dirrick, Jan, and Samuel; Abraham Staes, surgeon, with his servant; Evert Pels, beer brewer; and others.³² Trijntgen, however, does not appear on this list. Thus, there is much speculation about when Trijntgen arrived at Fort Orange. The three known ships that arrived at Fort Orange between 1643 and 1645 do not show her presence in their departure from Texel or their arrival at Fort Orange.³³ If she did not accompany her husband in 1642, the advantage for Abram Staes would have been the opportunity to get a house in order at Fort Orange.

  Morevoer, the first child of Abram and Trijntgen was born in 1645. If Trijntgen arrived earlier than 1644, the question remains: when? Complicating the issue is the weather in the Hudson Valley. The Hudson River was frozen and impassible from about November to at least March of each year. Nine-month gestation calculations and knowing about the few ships that arrived in Fort Orange from 1642 to 1645 limit the possibilities for her arrival—not to mention that she is not listed as being on any of the ships. This combination of factors greatly reduces the chances that she did not accompany her husband to Fort Orange in 1642. We simply do not know when Trijntgen Jochemse arrived at Fort Orange.

32 VRBM, 605, 623.
33 A. J. F. Van Laer, Settlers of Rensselaerswyck, 1630-1658 (Albany, 1908), 27–35.