The notes below were taken by me from "The Life and Times of Peter Stuyvesant" by Hendrik Van Loon a book published by Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1928. The notes have been paraphrased so as not to infringe and I cannot attest to their accuracy and I hold no responsibility for Mr. Van Loon's possible errors. It is said that Peter's father graduated from the University of Franeker(l?) in 1605 and that he was a poor man and a clergyman. His mother, who died in 1645, came from the province of Gelderland. Peter's father married again after her death. Peter's sister, Anna. came to America with him. Anna had married, Samuel Bayard, a son of a Wallon clergyman and they had several children prior to 1644. After he died she came to New Amsterdam with her brother and in 1656 she was given a lot on which to build a home for her and her children. Young Peter had a lot of experience and started off as only a clerk working for the West India Company, then was responsible for the administration of several trading posts in Brazil. He became a Governor for the Dutch in Curacao and to add to all this he headed an expedition whose purpose was to take control of the Portuguese island of San Martin, and he almost lost his life in the process when his leg was shot off by a cannonball. Needless to say the expedition failed. In the Spring of 1647, Peter, with his artificial leg (what's called a "peg" leg I believe), arrived as the new Governor General for New Amsterdam. He said that the colonists had no discipline and were completely out of control. He blamed all of these troubles on Dominie Everardus Bogardus and Wouter Van Twiller, both of whom sailed back to Holland on September 28th of that same year on a doomed voyage as they both perished in the wreck of the ship Princess off the coast of Wales. The West India Company was founded on the first day of July in 1621 and in its founding charter it was granted a monopoly for trade on the west coast of Africa and the east coast of America which included Brazil so recently conquered and Guiana an important place for the trade in sugar. Early on the Dutch in New Amsterdam had asked for a clerk or Siekentrooster, a person who consoled the sick. The first was, Bastiaen Janszoon who later added the surname of Krol and was said to be a humble man, a reader of the Bible and was a silk worker by trade. He came from Friesland being born in 1595 and got married at about 20 years of age. Arriving in New Amsterdam in 1624 he soon found that since he did not have the authority to marry or baptize anyone the problems he faced were too many for him and he returned to the Netherlands to gain permission. Upon returning he faced a rival in the form of Peter Minuet's brother-in- law. Rather than deal with this Bastiaen handed in his resignation a year later and took a position as a clerk for the company. Krol then spent three years at Albany and became convinced that eventually Albany was going to become of great value and it was thus that he returned to Holland to plead for new investments in this area. He ended up convincing the patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer of his beliefs and returned as agent for him. The company at this time appointed him as the Governor General of the entire New Amsterdam colony. He retained this job from March of 1632 until March of 1633 when the West India Company replaced him with Wouter Van Twiller. Patroons had a great deal of power and were almost monarchs who ruled by their own whims and their own conscience. The 19 leaders of the Dutch West India Company gave them their appointments. Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, for example, never even saw his estates in Albany and handled everything he wanted and desired to do from far away in The Netherlands. He simply gve orders to send the first colonists to the new world and in 1630 the first shipload arrived for Rensselaerswijck with one of my ancestors on board--one Roelof Janszen from the village of Masterlandt in Sweden. As to Wouter Van Twiller--he was quite a character. The text claimed he "was an addle-brained failure". It certainly appears that he was an alcoholic as he was drunk most of the time and even at church services. It was then that Krol went back home for the third time, but once more he returned simply as a clerk again for the company. Then history loses track of him for a time, just as he lost fame and fortune. Seven years later, in 1645, he turned up on a list in New Amsterdam for those accused of scandalous conduct who are not allowed to partake of Holy Communion. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Then I found a note that said Peter Minuet on the 26 day of May in 1626 bought 22,000 acres of land from the native tribes for only $24. I know we all heard that story before, but I still find it astounding. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dominie Jonas Michaelius had been sent to San Salvador by the company, but when the Spaniards and the Portugese had recaptured the city he was transferred to Guiana. He visited home in 1627 and the following year in January he went to New Amsterdam with the assignment as the first Minister to the colony. During the voyage the family was treated in a miserable way by Evert Croger the ship's captain. Jonas was with his wife and three children, his wife was pregnant at the time and she almost died during the voyage and did finally succumb only seven weeks later. Jonas and Peter Minuet did not get along at all and had such terrible disputes that both were called back to Holland in 1632.
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The Dutch In New Amsterdam
Developed Feb 16, 1998