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42 Founding Fathers of New Netherland

Historical map of the Netherlands (1658) with the Zuyder Zee




The participation of New Netherland‘s founding fathers in both government and commerce set the pace for rapid economic and political development. Unfettered by the staid practices of the Old World paradigm, they also began to fashion virtually every aspect of colonial life into a New World paradigm. The trend continued unabated even after the Dutch colony’s disestablishment by the British in 1664. Moreover, the threads of history leading back to New Netherland clearly show an unambiguous and significant contribution their legacy lent to American posterity and the American way of life.

During the New Amsterdam era, Wall Street (“de Waal Straat” back then) was formed in the space between two palisades built to protect the citizenry from marauding Indians. Soon afterward it became a slave market and hub of commercial trade. In 1792 the Buttonwood Agreement was signed by 24 stockbrokers outside of 68 Wall Street and laid the foundation for the New York Stock Exchange.

On 11 May 1661, Frans Jacobsen van Oudewater (1635 – 1665), his wife Geertruid Gerrits and their two small children, Thys and Maritje, boarded de Vergulde Bever from its anchorage in the Zuiderzee. Seventy-eight days later the ship entered New York Harbor and dropped anchor off the coast of the southern tip of Manhattan, or the area of land that is now known as Battery Park. It’s likely Petrus Stuyvesant, 7th and Last Director-General of New Netherland, personally greeted them and their fellow passengers as they stepped ashore.

Kiliaen van Rensselaer, co-founder and original director of the Dutch West India Company, was instrumental in assigning Cornelius Jacobsen May (1580 – 1623) as the first Director-General of New Netherland. Kiliaen’s descendant Stephen Van Rensselaer (1764 – 1839) founded the forerunner of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1824. It is the oldest technological education and research institute in the English-speaking world.

Governor May first sailed to America in 1614. He was essentially a partner in the New Netherland Company formed in Amsterdam that year. He explored and surveyed the Delaware Bay region (Cape May of New Jersey is named after him). After the establishment of the Dutch India Company in 1624, May later skippered the ship New Netherland that delivered the first Dutch colonists to New Netherland. He took up his post as the first governor of the province upon his arrival at Governors Island, Manhattan.

42 Ancestors – 23 Direct * (paternal grandparents)

Epke Jacobse Banta *
Birth 1619 in Village of Minnertsga, Het Bildt, Friesland Province, Netherlands

Death 23 Oct 1686 in Hackensack Township, Bergen, New Jersey

Wilhelmus Hendrickse Beekman
Birth 28 Apr 1623 in Hasselt, Overijssel, Holland
Death 21 Sep 1707 in New Amsterdam, New York

Reverend Guilliam Bertholf *
Birth 20 Feb 1656 in Sluys, Vlaeden, Holland
Death 20 Feb 1724 in Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey

Gijsbert Theuniszen Bogaert
Birth 1595 in Reusel-de Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Death December 26, 1646 in Oatskill, Greene, New York

Cornelis Aertszen Breyandt *
Birth 1619 in Steenwick, Overijssel, Netherlands
Death 1653 in New Amsterdam, New York

Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff *
Birth 1604 in Vorden, Vorden, Gelderland, Netherlands
Death 16 Jan 1661 in Brooklyn, Kings, New York

Frans Sijmonsen Brouwer *
Birth 1596 in Katwijk, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Death 21 Mar 1692 in New York, New York, New York

Jacques Caudebec *
Birth 1664 in Bolbec, Pays d’Caux, Nourmaundie, France
Death aft 1767 in Deerpark, Orange Co., NY

David Demarest *
Birth 1620 in Beauchamp, Cambray, France
Death 16 Oct 1695 in New Milford, Bergen, New Jersey

Jiles Douwesz Fonda *
Birth 1604 in Bommel, Gelderland, Netherlands
Death 1662 in Albany, New York

Hendrick Hendricksen Kip *
Birth 24 Apr 1600 in Nieuwenhuishoek, Ruurlo, Gelderland, Netherlands
Death 1680 in Manhattan, Kings, New York

Francois LeSueur *
Birth 16 Apr 1625 in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France
Death 30 Nov 1671 in New Harlem, New York

Cornelius Jacobsen May, 1st Director-General of New Netherland *
Birth abt 1580 in Schellinkhout, Venhuizen, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Death 1623

Frans Jacobsen van Oudewater *
Birth 1635 in Oudewater, Utrecht, Netherlands
Death 1665 in Bergen County, NJ

Hildebrand Pietersen *
Birth 1613 in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Death 1639 in New Amsterdam, New Netherland

David Provoost *
Birth 1608 in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Death 1656 in New Amsterdam / Manhattan Island, New Netherland

Pieter Quackenbosch
Birth 1616 in Valkenburg, Katwijk, Holland, Netherlands
Death 1687 in Albany, Albany, Province of New York

Kiliaen van Rensselaer
Birth 1585 in Fort, Hasselt, Overijssel, Netherlands
Death 7 Oct 1643 in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Jan Martense Schenck
Birth 1631 in Amersfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands
Death 1687 in Flatlands, Kings, New York

Jacob Janse Schermerhorn
Birth 1622 in Schermerhorn, Waterland, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Death 20 May 1688 in Schenectady, Schenectady, New York

Peter Jansen Slot
Birth 1640 in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Death 1688 in New York, New York

Hendrick Jansen Spiers
Birth 1619 in Aschwaerde, Stift, Bremen, Germany
Death 12 May 1679 in Pemmerpough, New Jersey

Jan Gerretsen Stryker
Birth 1615 in Ruinen, Drenthe, Netherlands
Death 1697-03-03 in Flatbush, Kings, New York

Albert Albertse Terhune *
Birth 13 Aug 1618 in Huinen, Putten, Gelderland, Netherlands
Death 1685 in Flatlands, Kings, New York

Lubbert Gysbertsen van Blarcom *
Birth 1601 in Blaricum, Gooiland, Netherlands
Death 1655 in Bergen, New Jersey

Jan Janszen van Bresteede *
Birth 1596 in Bredstedt, Schleswig, Denmark
Death 1641 in New Albany, Albany, New York

Marten Cornelissen van Buren
Birth 30 Jan 1637 in Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Death 13 Nov 1703 in Kinderhook,Columbia,New York

Jan van Cleave
Birth 1627 in Cleve, Gutersloh, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Death 1699 in Kings, New York

Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt
Birth About:1617-00-00 in Wyck, Duurstede, Netherlands
Death 4 Apr 1684 in New Amsterdam, New York

Gerret Wolfertse van Couwenhoven
Birth 1579 in Amersfoort, Netherlands
Death 1662 in New Amsterdam (New York,NY)

Cornelius Hendrick van Ness *
Birth 1602 in Vianen, South Holland, Netherlands, On The Haverdijk
Death 1684 in Fairfield, Essex, New Jersey

Claes Martenszen van Rosenvelt
Birth 1623 in Tholen, Bergen, Limburg, Netherlands
Death 10 Dec 1660 in New York, New York, New York

Cornelius Aertsen van Schaick *
Birth 1610 in Westbroek, Maartensdijk, Utrecht, Netherlands
Death 1669 in New Amsterdam, New Netherlands, New York

Petrus Stuyvesant, 7th and Last Director-General of New Netherland
Birth 13 Oct 1602 in Scherpenzeel, Weststellingwerf, Friesland, Netherlands
Death Feb 1672 in New York, New York

Steven Coerte van Voorhees *
Birth 1600 in Hees, Drenthe, Netherlands
Death February 16, 1684 in Flatlands, Kings County, New York

Jacob van Winkle *
Birth 1599 in Winkle, Holland, Netherlands
Death 1657 in New Amsterdam (New York,NY)

Jan Aertsen Vanderbilt
Birth 1627 in Bilt, Utrecht, Netherlands
Death 2 Feb 1705 in Bergen, New Jersey

Cornelius Arentsen Viervant
Birth 1666 in Lexmont, Land of Vianen, Utrecht, Netherlands
Death 1678 in Kingston, Ulster, New York

Douwese Janzoon de Vries *
Birth 1580 in Harlingen, Harlingen, Friesland, Netherlands
Death 1653 in New York

Lubbert Westervelt
Birth 1620 in Meppel, Drenthe, Netherlands
Death 1686 in Hackensack, Bergen, NJ

Pieter Claesen Wyckoff
Birth 26 Jan 1624 in The Netherlands
Death 30 Jun 1694 in Long Island, New York

Albrecht Zabriskie
Birth 1638 in Insterburg, Prussia, Kaliningrad, Prussia
Death 1711 in Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey

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SOURCE

The Holland Society of New York

The Patricians, A Genealogical Study – Ebook Editions US$7.95

Author at Harrod’s Deli – London

Steven Wood Collins (1952 – ) Antiquarian, Genealogist, Novelist

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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