Evert or Eeuwout was born in in Amerongen in 1659, the son of Gerrit Theunisz de Ridder and Marrigje Ewouts Rietveld, he was baptized on Saturday the first of May in 1659 in the church of Saint Andries. Members of the de Ridder family still live in Amerogen on the Rhine in the Dutch province of Utrecht, but Evert de Ridder brought a branch of the family to New York in the 1680s. [Read more…] about Evert de Ridder & The Albany-Amerongen Connection
Dutch History
Exchanging New Amsterdam for Paramaribo
In August 1664 four English frigates sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam, demanding the surrender of New Netherland. The colony was provisionally ceded by Peter Stuyvesant. He subsequently sent a delegation to sign the Articles of Capitulation. New Amsterdam was reincorporated under English law as the city of New York. Soon after the Second Anglo-Dutch (Sea) War broke out in which Charles II unsuccessfully tried to end Dutch domination of world trade. [Read more…] about Exchanging New Amsterdam for Paramaribo
Early Dutch Farms at Troy
Between the more formidable island of Papscanee (previously spelled Papsickene, now a peninsula nature preserve) and where the Hoosac River meets the Hudson, more than a dozen streams flow into the Hudson River. Only at the Poesten Kill, which flows through Troy, was there enough farmland, room to grow, and sufficient water-power for the earliest industries. [Read more…] about Early Dutch Farms at Troy
Veeder (Vedder) Family in New York, Rome and Yokohama
Young Alexander and Elihu Vedder were raised in Schenectady, New York. The family had Dutch roots (their parents were cousins). The elder brother was a physician, the younger a painter. In their career choices they showed an outward-looking attitude, cherishing the challenge of foreign experiences while assimilating the riches of cultural exchange. [Read more…] about Veeder (Vedder) Family in New York, Rome and Yokohama
Huguenot Pirates on the Barbary Coast and the Mapping of New Amsterdam
Huguenots were followers of Jean Calvin’s teachings for which they were persecuted in Catholic France. Many were forced to leave the country and settled in the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, and South Africa.
Nicolas Martiau was one of a number of refugees who made their way to America (Virginia) via England. A surveyor and engineer in the service of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntington, he was an ancestor of George Washington. [Read more…] about Huguenot Pirates on the Barbary Coast and the Mapping of New Amsterdam
The Politics of Translating New Netherland Dutch Records
The Oneida County History Center has announced a free virtual lunchtime lecture by Dr. Peter Van Cleave, looking at Adrian van der Kemp and his work translating the records of the New Netherland colony. [Read more…] about The Politics of Translating New Netherland Dutch Records
Story of New Netherland Virtual Talk
The Time and the Valleys Museum in the Catskills, has announced a virtual program The Story of New Netherland: Dutch Colony 1624 – 1664, set to be held on ZOOM on Sunday, July 12th, with historian and former teacher Thomas Riley of New Jersey. [Read more…] about Story of New Netherland Virtual Talk
Janny Venema On Her Time In Albany Translating Dutch Records
This week on The Historians Podcast, Janny Venema tells how she came to Albany, New York, from The Netherlands 35 years ago and went to work translating New Netherland colony early Dutch manuscripts with Charles Gehring. She is retiring now and heading back to The Netherlands. Venema is author of Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652-1664 (SUNY Press, 2003) and a biography, Kiliaen van Rensselaer (1586-1643): Designing a New World (SUNY Press, 2011). [Read more…] about Janny Venema On Her Time In Albany Translating Dutch Records
The Dutch Moment in the 17th-Century
Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History is taking a production break. It will be back with all new episodes on April 21, 2020. In the meantime, BFW is featuring some older episodes that will help you get a feel for the vast nature of early American history.
The Spanish, French, and English played large roles in the origins of colonial America. But so too did the Dutch. During the 17th century, they had a “moment” in which they influenced European colonization and development of the Atlantic World.
Jaap Harskamp: Publish and Be Free
In 2019, Arthur A. Levine in New York and Em. Querido in Amsterdam announced that they were joining forces as an independent publishing house under the name Levine Querido. For me, after decades of living and working in London, that information sparked a flash-back.
Creativity and Nostalgia
A metropolis without immigrants would be unthinkable. The emergence of the modern movement in art and literature coincided with multiple waves of migration and is associated with flux and exile. James Joyce or Ezra Pound felt that being expatriat enhanced their independence. To George Steiner, modernism meant extra-territoriality. [Read more…] about Jaap Harskamp: Publish and Be Free