400 YEARS IN North America -- Our Family in New Amsterdam

400 YEARS IN NORTH AMERICA

OUR FAMILY SETTLES NEW AMSTERDAM (NEW YORK)

“The Rest of the Story”

In 2019, I was researching early immigrants in our family tree in anticipation of the 400 year commemorations of the first American colonies. In this process,, I discovered a coincidence (a trick of fate) that left me amazed.  I wanted to share this improbable story with all of my family; and to that objective have written this Post. Please forgive me for holding the hooker until the end.

The distinguished gentleman in this portrait is Dr. Claes Peterszen,, who was a renowned physician and magistrate, and a major investor in the Dutch West Indies Company.  Dr. Peterszen was nicknamed Dr. Tulp (Tulip) because of the flower painted above his office door, and it is under that name that he appears (as we see him here) in  Rembrandt’s painting, “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp.”  On or about the 24th day of January, 1624, Dr. Peterszen participated in a ceremony of momentous historical and personal consequence.  

On that day, Dr. Peterszen was tasked with administering the oath of allegiance to the West Indies Company to 30 families of Walloon refugees who had agreed to become the first settlers of the colony of New Netherlands.  Each of these men and women had agreed to exchange six years of service to the Company for grants of land in the colony.  A few couples were older, but most were in their teens or early 20’s.  The company had been careful to recruit an equal number of males and females, but not all were married when they embarked.  Four couples would be married at sea, and one was married on Jan. 21, four days before their ship sailed. 

As the Dutch entered what is still known as the “Golden Age” of their nation, most natives were enjoying the comforts and prosperity flowing into the Netherlands.  They were not eager to depart on dangerous adventures and hardships.  However, the Netherlands was filled with Religious Refugees fleeing oppression in other parts of Europe.  The pragmatic tolerance of the Dutch made this emerging nation a center for refugees. 

The 30 Walloon families standing before Dr. Peterszen had, until recently, been residents of the University Town of Leiden.  They were originally from the area we know today as Belgium, and spoke a Romance language (Walloon) closely related to French.  As Protestants, they had fled the Catholic forces of Spain and France to find refuge in the Netherlands along with other persecuted groups.  Their fellow refugees included Flemish (speakers of a form of Dutch, also from Belgium), Jews (both Sephardic and Ashkenazi), and English Puritans and Separatists.  

In Leiden, the Walloons and the English refugees lived in close proximity and shared the same church building for their services.  Both groups were primarily employed in the flourishing textile industries.  A few worked as printers, during a time when 1/2 of all the books published in the world were printed in Leiden. The Walloon families were neighbors and co-workers with the British religious refugees who had sailed on the Mayflower to Plymoth 4 years earlier in 1620.  Led by William Brewster, the Pilgrims had declined an offer by the Dutch to settle in the area they claimed as New Netherlands, and instead opted to join the Virginia Colony in Jamestown (founded in 1607).  Poor navigation brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth rather than Virginia.  

Notable among the Walloons pledged to the Dutch West Indies Company that day was Peter Minuit (Minnewit) who would later serve as Director/Governor of the New Netherlands from 1626-1631, and who firmly established the settlers on the Isle of Manhattan.  Minuit was neither a settler nor an employee of the Company.  He had offered his services as a volunteer.

Of the 30 families pledging their allegiance under Dr. Peterszen’s direction, two are of special interest — Guillaume (Guleyn) Vigne (Vienje) and his wife Adrienne Cuvelier, and Joris Rapalje and his new bride Catalina Trico.  Guillaume, Adrienne, and Joris were all natives of the ancient  city of Valenciennes. Known for its manufacture of lace and textiles, Valenciennes was a site of frequent religious warfare and persecution.  Many of the city’s Protestants fled to the Netherlands for refuge, and helped establish the lace textile manufacturing industries.  

We don’t know if the two couples knew each other in Valenciennes or Leiden, but they would certainly come to know one another aboard the crowded ship and among the small population of the New Netherlands.  Guillaume and Adrienne were older.  They were married about 1610 in Valenciennes, and subsequently immigrated to Leiden.  They had three daughters who sailed with them to the New World.  Their oldest, Christine (or Christina as she is sometimes called) was born between 1610 and 1613, probably in Valenciennes.  Maria was born about 1613 in Valenciennes or Leiden.  Rachel was born after the family reached Leiden, and was baptized on March 16, 1623 in the Leiden Walloon Church.  Thus, when the family sailed from Amsterdam, we can estimate that Christina was about 13, Maria about 11, and Rachel about 2.  

The Vigne family may have had more knowledge of their destination than their companions.  After Henry Hudson’s initial voyages, the premier explorer of the mid-Atlantic area was the Dutchman Adriaen Block.  Block’s most important, and final, voyage of exploration was made in 1614 (10 years before the settlement).  The details of his explorations are chronicled in his writings, and demonstrated by the historic 1614 map of the region.  Among the men who accompanied Block were four brothers Francoys, Leonard, Paulus, and Steffan Pelgrom.  Their father, Gheeraert Pelgrom had two wives.  The first, Antonia van Dijcke was the mother of the two elder boys; while the second, Susanna Cuveilier was the mother of the younger two.  Though no conclusive evidence has been found, it is believed that Susanna and Adrienne Cuvelier were related, and that the Vigne’s decision to join the 1624 expedition was fueled by information related through family ties.

In contrast to the Vigne’s who were probably in their early to mid thirties, Joris Rapalje and Catalina Trico were still in their teens.  The clerk of the Walloon Church of Amsterdam, who recorded their marriage on January 21, 1624, gave their ages as 19 and 18.  They were both illiterate and made their marks on the page.  No parents or guardians signed the marriage register.  This has been interpreted as indicating that the bride and groom were probably orphaned and alone in the world (or at least alone in Amsterdam).  It is not known if Joris and Catalina knew one another before leaving Leiden.  Their hasty marriage 4 days before their ship embarked for the New Netherlands, was specially arranged by the Dutch West Indies Company, at the couple’s request.  

As reported there were 30 families traveling to settle in the New Netherlands.  The total number of immigrants was about 120.  In addition to the settlers, there were soldiers hired by the Company to protect the settlers and man fortifications to be built at selected sites.  This group was divided between two ships — De Eendracht and Nieuw Nederland.  De Eendracht is usually translated as “Unity,” meaning one; while Nieuw Nederland is easily recognized as New Netherlands.  De Eendracht (Unity) sailed on Jan. 25, 1624.  We know that Joris and Catalina sailed on the De Eendracht.  There is no clear evidence on which ship Guillaume, Adrienne, Christina, Maria, and Rachel made the voyage on.  The Nieuw Nederland set sail on, or shortly after March 30, 1624.  Both ships followed the same course, attempting to make safe crossing while avoiding Spanish, Portuguese, or French privateers.  

The Atlantic crossing took three to four months depending on wind conditions. From Amsterdam, they crossed the inland sea, and then entered the North Sea.  They stayed well off the Canary Islands and the coast of North Africa.  Using the trade winds, they sailed westward north of the Bahamas, and up the Atlantic Coast of North America.  The geographical feature on which they keyed their voyage, was the wide estuary of the river Henry Hudson had named Mauritius, but which most sailers called by the name we use today — the Hudson River.

Noten Island or Nut Island (today known as Governor’s Island) was the initial staging area for the settlers.  Here we understand the passengers from De Eendracht awaited the arrival of the Nieuw Nederland.  The small tear-dropped shaped island was covered with walnut and chestnut trees.  Across the Bay from Nut Island, was the Island the Mohawks called “Ganono,” which translates as “place of reeds.”  But the name we know it by is based on the Delaware name, “Mannahata” which translates as “hilly Island.”  While waiting for the second ship, the settlers explored a land rich in fish and shellfish, including oysters, clams, mussels, conchs and periwinkles.  They hunted the abundant wild fowl which included many varieties of ducks.  In addition to the nuts,  they found strawberries, pigeon berries, and wild grapes.  

The Dutch West Indies Company was eager to ensure its claim to all of the area, and believed that this was best accomplished by placing settlements strategically on primary river-ways. Since the most immediate source of riches in the new colony was fur trading, the Company also desired to place settlements in strategic trading locations. Therefore, leaving 8 soldiers to hold the mouth of the Hudson, they distributed the 30 families across three settlements.  They placed two families and six soldiers at a settlement on the Connecticut River (which they called the Fresh River).  Then they settled two families and 8 soldiers on the Delaware River (which they called the South River).  The remaining 26 families and soldiers, were sent about 150 miles up the Hudson River (which they referred to as the North River).  

We know that Joris and Catalina were in this last group of settlers, and we believe that the 5 Vigne’s were also.  In 1614, Dutch fur traders had built a fort, which they called Ft. Nassau on an Island, located where the Mohawk River flowed into the Hudson River.  The intersection of the rivers was a key gateway for native peoples, and an ideal place for a trading post.  Ft. Nassau was destroyed by a flood in 1618, and the rebuilt fort was named Ft. Orange.  The Dutch settlers, including the Vigne and Rapalje families, spent two years at Ft. Orange (which would become the city of Albany).  

For shelter, the newly arrived Europeans initially dug square pits in the ground and lined them with wood, and covered them with bark roofs.  They planted crops, and in the first fall harvested grain, “as high as a man.” That winter (1625) they bought 5,295 beaver pelts and 463 otter skins.  

In that same year (1625), the marriage of Joris and Catalina bore fruit; their first child, a daughter, was born.  Sarah Joris Raphalje was the first European child born in what would become the State of New York.  Thirty years later, Sarah would refer to herself, the “first born Christian daughter of New Netherland.”  That same year, Guillauame and Adrienne added a son to their growing family.  Named Jan, he was the second European child, and first male born in what would be New York.  

During these two years, the first Director of the Colony, William Verhulst, proved corrupt and inapt.  In the meantime, the Walloon adventurer, Peter Minuit, had explored widely, and then returned to Amsterdam, taking with him samples of dyes, drugs, gums, herbs, plants, trees, and flowers. In Jan. of 1626, Minuit left Amsterdam to return to New Netherlands, where he landed on May 4.  Shortly after his arrival, a council of settlers met and voted to banish Verhulst and his wife.  The Colonists then voted to make Minuit their new leader.  

Minuit moved quickly to purchase the Island of Manhattan, and christened what he intended to be the capital city — New Amsterdam.  He then traveled up-river to deal with a developing crisis at Ft. Orange.  He gathered the settlers from this distant outpost, and transferred them to Manhattan, leaving only soldiers and fur traders.  Similarly, he recalled the settlers from the other two outposts on the Fresh and South Rivers.  He brought all the settlers together on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, and proceeded to build a fort at that location.  In addition to the wall (from which Wall Street takes its name), the newly resettled Walloons built two windmills, one for grinding grain and one for sawing lumber.

Both the Vigne and Rapalje families would build houses on Pearl St. near the fort.  Eventually both families would also own land and establish homes in the village of Breucklen (Brooklyn) on the long island across the bay from Manhattan.  Of the 30 original Walloon families brought by the Dutch to the New Netherlands, only 4 would survive, remain in the New World, and leave descendants.  The Vigne and Rapalje families were among these four.  Their survival against these odds is remarkable of itself.  However, what would happen 312 years later is, at least to me, more remarkable.

THE REST OF THE STORY —

On Nov. 14, 1938 (312 years after the Dutch settlers moved to Manhattan),  Wilmer H. Jackson wed Myrtis Lee Heard, in Pitkin, LA.  The groom was a descendant of Joris Rapalje and Catarina Trico through their oldest daughter Sarah Joris Rapalje (the first daughter of New Netherlands).  The bride was a descendant of Guillaume Vigne (Vienje) and Adrienne Cuvelier through their oldest daughter Christina Vigne.  Over three centuries after they swore allegiance to the Dutch West Indies Company and sailed into the unknown to settle a New World, the descendants of these two Walloon families met and were wed.  

In later posts, I will tell the REST OF THE STORIES of each of these two families.