No direct proof that Hansen was a Norwegian can be produced. Nothing definite is known of him before he appeared about 1680 in Albany and Schenectady, where he spent the remainder of his life. But the tradition in his family maintains that he was a Norwegian, and when Dr. Toll, who in 1847 wrote his Narrative, asked his uncle where the ancestor came from, the uncle answered without hesitation that he came from Norway in Holland. To this Dr. Toll remarks that many of the Dutch immigrants had only the slightest knowledge of geography, and that it was natural for them to assume, when they heard that a man had come from Norway, that this place was in Holland. He adds that it is a settled point in philosophy that the larger element dominates the smaller, and that this also holds good for immigrants coming into a community in which they are outnumbered. Almost everything was turned into Dutch among those pioneers. It must likewise be remembered that the uncle referred to lived only forty, fifty, or sixty years after the ancestor; that is to say, at a time when the tradition still was strong and unimpaired. After having weighed the various points in the accessible material, Dr. Toll reaches the conclusion that Karel Hansen Toll was "absolutely and unequivocally" a Norwegian. As regards the name "Toll," the doctor, who is aware that it is to be found also in Sweden, Russia, and other countries, says that it is "conclusively Norwegian, although its origin might be Scandinavian.'' Ordinarily the name Karel Hansen was used, but in legal documents and mortgages Toll was always added. A receipt for salary in 1726, while Hansen was a member of the colonial legislature, shows that he then spelled his name Haensen. There are indications, writes Dr. Toll, that Hansen was a seaman and was imprisoned in a fortress in Porto Cabello in South America. From this place he succeeded in getting away by swimming out to a ship in the harbor. This ship took him to New York. At this time he must have been twenty-five years old, as it is assumed that he was born about 1655. This was in 1680, and soon thereafter Hansen appeared in Schenectady, where, in 1683 or 1684, he was married to Elizabeth Rinckhout. He first lived at Hoffman's Ferry in Glenville, near Schenectady, and he advanced in "prosperity and honor." lie was an enterprising and energetic man, bought and sold real estate, operated a farm, sold grain, and was highly regarded in his community. In 1684 he bought 40 acres of land from the authorities in Schenectady. Rachel, a sister of Hansen, was married in 1697 to Jeremiah Tickston. The latter's name is on the membership list of the Dutch Reformed church for 1699. In this church his daughter Eve or Neeltje Toll was married to Evert Van Eps. Among the Indians in the neighborhood of Schenectady, Hansen seems to have had the name of "Kin-ge-go," which means a fish. He is said to have acquired this name when the Indians heard of his long swim at the time he got away from the prison in Porto Cabello. In 1712 Karel Hansen Toll sold a plot of land on the south side of Union Street, including the courthouse plot 100 by 200 feet, for 50 pounds sterling, and in the same year he bought 38 acres in Maalwyck for 400 pounds sterling.
Here he made his home, and he or his son Daniel built in 1717 a solid house of stone, which was one of the best structures in the district. A drawing of this house is to be found in Dudley Toll Hill's book. Together with some other heirlooms a drawing of this original stone house is in the possession of the Schenectady County Society. It had stone walls twenty-four inches thick, and was torn down and rebuilt of wood in 1843. This house is now owned and occupied by Dudley Toll Hill, a descendant in direct line. In this same neighborhood, also Arnt the Noorman Bradt, who will be mentioned later in this article, had at one time some property. Besides his daughter who has already been mentioned, Hansen had three sons, Daniel, Simon, and Abraham. The last-mentioned had no children, but the two others formed each a branch of the Toll family which in course of time became quite large. Simon stayed on the property in Maalwyck, while Daniel, who had acquired the title of captain, received the father's real estate in Booken Dale or Popendaal, now Beukendaal. Daniel died in 1748 in a battle in Beukendaal with the Indians. His brother Simon commanded the colonists when they withdrew to the house in Beukendaal, where they held the Indians at bay until a troop of soldiers arrived. (Notes and Documents Karel Hansen Toll By A.N. Rygg (Volume XIV: Page 244))
"I have for some years been aware of the fact that a Norwegian named Karel Hansen or Karel Hansen Toll was prominent in Schenectady, New York, and in wider circles, towards the end of the seventeenth and during the first third of the eighteenth century. In the hope that it might be possible to add to our scant knowledge of this man, I recently wrote to one of Karel Hansen's descendants on the mother's side, namely Dudley Toll Hill, editor of the Schenectady Gazette, and asked if there was any available printed material. Mr. Hill answered that he, in 1941, had published a book, Genealogy of the Toll Family (of Daniel and Simon) Branches, with Allied Families of the Former, Together with a Brief History of the Founder, Karel Hansen Toll. Another member of the family, Dr. Daniel J. Toll, had, in 1847, published A Narrative, Embracing the History of Two or Three of the First Settlers and Their Families, of Schenectady, Interspersed with a Few Anecdotal Eccentricities and Antiquities, Together with a Description of the Winter Evening Visits, Recreations, and Supper, and Strictures on the Change of Times. There were two other good primary sources: Jonathan Pearson's Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady from 166£ to 1800 (Albany, 1875); and John Sanders' Centennial Address to the Early History of Schenectady and Its First Settlers (Albany, 1879). All these volumes are to be found in the New York Public Library; Dr. Daniel J. Toll's Narrative is in the department for rare books."
One of Hansen's descendants, Johannes, studied theology at Union College in Schenectady in 1799 and later became a pastor in the Dutch Reformed church. Karel Hansen Toll, a son of Simon, was adjutant in the Fourteenth New York Regiment in 1777 in the War of Independence. He was born in 1746 and lived until 1845. Many of the descendants, of whom several had the same name as their ancestor, are buried at the cemetery in Beukendaal, where a monument was erected in 1902 on the family plot. It has been told of the original Karel Hansen Toll that he, together with some others, in 1721 helped to erect a stockade as a protection against the Indians around Front, Washington, State, and Ferry streets; that is to say, around what then constituted Schenectady. Karel Hansen in 1714 was elected a member of the colonial or provincial legislature. He served in this capacity for twelve years, until 1726, and is regarded as the first Norwegian who sat in a lawmaking assembly in America. He died in 1757 or 1738.
(It has been mentioned that Karel Hansen Toll possibly may have been born in this country of the parents, Hans Carelsen Toll (or Hans Carelsen Noorman) and his wife, Neeltje Cornelise Egmont, but this seems to be only an assumption.)
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