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Return to: Special Features 
 
Our Dutch (and a few French and English) Ancestors in New Netherland (New York) 
 
 
  New Year's Day 1636 in Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York) by George Boughton 
 
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS 
 
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   View of Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York)
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Although I have known for more than 25 years that I had Dutch, French, and Walloon ancestors who settled in New Netherland, specifically in and around the present-day city of Kingston, New York, I did not know until recently (early 2025) that I had many more Dutch and French ancestors who settled in the colony, at New Amsterdam--located on the tip of Manhattan Island--at New Utrecht in what is now the New York borough of Brooklyn, and also Staten Island, as well as what is now Albany, the capital of the State of New York, long before the English took over in 1664 and renamed the place.
 What this means is that in addition to having ancestors who settled in Virginia during the earliest days of English colonization, I also have ancestors who were present during the earliest years of one of the world's greatest cities--New York--when it was in its infancy. 
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Without exception (so far as I know), these hardy pioneers were all from my mother's side of the family. Two of them -- father and son -- settled in Kings County, Long Island, in what is now the borough of Brooklyn. Two other father-son pairs settled in New Amsterdam, at the tip of Manhattan Island. One other father-son set went to live upriver, about a hundred miles from Manhattan, at a village called Esopus or Wildwyck. So did a father-in-law-son-in-law pair. Another settled at Fort Orange (now Albany). Others ended up at Harlem, on the northern end of Manhattan Island, in what was then a small village surrounded by bouweries (farms). 
 
MAPS 
 
ANCESTRAL SITES TO VISIT 
 
VIDEOS 
YouTube video: New York, A Documentary Film: From 1624 to 1664 
YouTube video: NBC LEARN: New Netherlands 
YouTube video: What's Left of New Amsterdam 
YouTube video: Why Doesn't the U.S. Know About its Own Dutch Origins? 
YouTube video: How New Amsterdam influenced America 
 
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS 
 
Our NEW NETHERLAND ANCESTORS in ORDER of ARRIVAL 
Click on each link for more information about an individual or family. 
NOTE: I may have many more early New York ancestors than those listed here, but these are the ones I can confirm through both documentary and DNA evidence. 
  Frederick Lubbertsen and wife, Trintje Hendricks 1633 New Amsterdam and New Utrecht, Kings County (Long Island) Our earliest known adult ancestors in New Netherland. See LUBBERTSEN Family Tree
   Nicholas Stilwell 1639 New Amsterdam, Gravesend, Kings County (Long Island) and Richmond County (Staten Island) Our earliest known English ancestor in New Netherland. See STILWELL Family Tree 
  William Golding/Goulding/Golder/Goulder abt. 1640 Manhattan, Gravesend, Kings County (Long Island), Monmouth County, NJ Our earliest known Irish ancestor in New Netherland. Reportedly "The First Irishman in New York." See GOLDING Family Tree 
  Joseph Golding/Goulding/Golder/Goulder abt. 1640 Gravesend, Kings County (Long Island) Son of the above See GOLDING Family Tree 
  Christoffel Harmenzen and wife, Moederke Gerrits 1652 New Utrecht, Kings County (Long Island) Killed by Indians in the Peach War, 1655  See VAN ZANDT Family Tree 
  Gerrit Stoffelse Vansand and wife, Lysbeth Cornelis Gerrits 1652 New Utrecht, Kings County (Long Island) Son of the above See VAN ZANDT Family Tree 
  Dirck Claessen and first wife, Trintje Roelofs 1653 New Amsterdam (Manhattan) and Harlem Farmer and Pottery Maker See CLAESSEN Family Tree 
  Christian Barentsen and wife, Jannetje Jans 1653 New Amsterdam (Manhattan)  See VAN HORN Family Tree 
  Barent Christiansen Van Horn and wife, Geertje Dircks 1653 New Amsterdam (Manhattan) Son of the above and Son-in-Law of Dirck Claessen See VAN HORN Family Tree 
  Jacob Leendersen Van de Grift and wife, Rebecca Frederickse 1657 New Amsterdam (Manhattan) Son-in-law of Frederick Lubbertsen See VAN DE GRIFT Family Tree 
  Philippe Casier and wife, Marie Taine Arrived 1660 on The Gilded Otter. Settled at Harlem. See CASIER Family Tree 
  Mathese Blanchan and wife, Magdeline Jorrise  Arrived 1660 on The Gilded Otter, Settled at Esopus/Wildwyck. See BLANCHAN Family Tree 
  Louis Dubois and wife, Catherine Blanchan 1661 Esopus/Wildwyck Son-in-Law of the above  See DUBOIS Family Tree 
  Jan Jooseten Van Meteren and wife, Macyken Hendrygksen 1662 Esopus/Wildwyck  See VAN METER Family Tree 
  Joost Jans Van Meteren and wife, Sarah Dubois 1662 Esopus/Wildwyck Son of the above and son-in-law of Louis Dubois See VAN METER Family Tree 
  Gabriel Thomson Strudles and wife, Jannetje Dircks circa 1662 Albany  No Biography or Family Tree Posted Yet 
  Jan Janse Verkerk and wife, Maycke Gisberts 1663 New Utrecht, Kings County (Long Island)  No Biography Posted Yet See VERKERK Family Tree 
  Jean Jacques Guyon and wife, Sarah Casier 1664 Richmond County (Staten Island)  No Biography Posted Yet See GUYON Family Tree 
  Samuel Holmes Abt. 1665 Gravesend, Kings County (Long Island) Son of the Reverend Obadiah Holmes of Newport, Rhode Island No Biography Posted Yet See HOLMES Family Tree 
 
 
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