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Kiliaen van Rensselaer

Privatizing Colonization: The Patroonship of Rensselaerswijck

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Detail of map of Manor of Rensselaer made by Claude Joseph Sauthier on order of NY Gov William Tryon, engraved and printed in London by William Faden, 1776Privatization is not a new concept; indeed, it was actively promoted by the United Provinces of the Netherlands to supplement its foreign policy by delegating certain responsibilities to the East and West India Companies. Formed as a joint-stock trading venture, the West India Company (WIC) was given a charter to monopolize trade from the Cape of Good Hope west to the outer reaches of New Guinea.

It had the power to raise its own armies and navies, make alliances with local sovereigns within its sphere of operations, and, if necessary, had the power to make war and peace in defense of its interests — essentially a privatization of foreign policy. [Read more…] about Privatizing Colonization: The Patroonship of Rensselaerswijck

A Delft Tile Mystery at Schuyler Flatts, Hudson River

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Circa 1650 delft tile with standing figure of a North American Eastern Woodland Indian manDelft tiles are traditional, tin-glazed earthenware originating from the Netherlands as early as the 16th century. They are best known for their distinctive blue-and-white or polychrome hand-painted designs.

Developed in the Dutch city of Delft during the late 1500s as a local response to imported Chinese porcelain, these tiles were popular in New Netherland and New York, and were used on walls, hearths, and fireplace surrounds. [Read more…] about A Delft Tile Mystery at Schuyler Flatts, Hudson River

Dutch Doors in Colonial New York

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An artist’s rendering of Daniel Pieter Winne’s houseThe term “Low Countries” is a political and historic concept rather than a geographic one. Prior to modern nation-building, it referred to an area of northern Europe roughly stretching from Pas-de-Calais in France to the area of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, including French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders.

Born in Ghent in 1500 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ruled over the vast Habsburg Empire that included the Low Countries. Flanders was crucial to its economy. [Read more…] about Dutch Doors in Colonial New York

New York Land Grants: Some History Until The American Revolution

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"Map of the tracts, patents and land grants of northern New York," 1894 (New York Public Library)Land policy in colonial times in what is now New York State favored nobility and prominent men with connections to the Crown. This involved several countries (The Netherlands, England, and France), several explorers, several early pioneers, and appointed officials who oversaw the disbursement of land by land grants or patents. [Read more…] about New York Land Grants: Some History Until The American Revolution

New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

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First Dutch Church at Albany as it appears in several of the works of James EightsBy 1642, the number of inhabitants of Rensselaerwyck (spelled Rensselaerswijck in Dutch), at the time basically what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, had grown and Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer willingly complied with a requirement of the Dutch West India Company to secure a clergyman for a Dutch Church to conduct services for the settlers. [Read more…] about New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

Father Isaac Jogues, Pastor Johannes Megapolensis & Native People

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First Dutch Church at Albany as it appears in several of the works of James EightsBy 1642, the number of inhabitants of the van Rensselaer Manor Rensselaerswyck had grown and Patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer willingly complied with a requirement of the Dutch West India Company to secure a clergyman for a Dutch Church to conduct services for the settlers.

The Reverend Doctor Johannis Megapolensis, Jr., the dominie (pastor) of the congregation of Schorel and Berg, belonging to the classis of Alkmaar in Holland, was selected and accepted the call. He was to serve for six years at a salary of one thousand guilders (about $400) per year. He was also to receive a yearly donation of thirty schepels (22 ½ bushels) of wheat and two firkins of butter. [Read more…] about Father Isaac Jogues, Pastor Johannes Megapolensis & Native People

Rensselaerswyck, Beverwyck & Schenectady: The Stuyvesant, Van Rensselaer and Van Slichtenhorst Conflict

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Fort Orange, 1635, L. F. TantilloIn spite of his involvement and investment, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer never visited his new patroonship Rensselaerswyck; it was managed by his agent, and cousin, Arendt van Curler, commissioner general of the colony of New Netherland.

The second patroon, Johannes Van Rensselaer (1625–1662) succeeded his father after his father’s death in 1643 but also never came to America. He governed through an agent, Brant van Slichtenhorst. [Read more…] about Rensselaerswyck, Beverwyck & Schenectady: The Stuyvesant, Van Rensselaer and Van Slichtenhorst Conflict

Dutch, Mohawk & Mohican Fur Trade

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Castle Island and Fort Orange 1629After a 1627 conflict, when the Dutch sided with the Mahicans against the Mohawks, the relationship between the first settlers and the Indigenous People was relatively peaceful and cooperative.

This was due in part to the fact that the Patroon had purchased the land from them and also due to the business relationship established between local Indigenous People and the fur traders. [Read more…] about Dutch, Mohawk & Mohican Fur Trade

Early Settlers at Albany: The Founding of Rensselaerswyck

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New Netherland map published by Nicolaes Visscher II (1649–1702)In 1620, the English Puritans landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts and the following year the Dutch West India Company was chartered and given the exclusive right to conduct trade in New Netherland.

In 1624, eight families joined the Dutch traders at Albany arriving on the ship New Netherland captained by Cornelis May.

These settlers built homes and cultivated farms; they also constructed Fort Oranje (Fort Orange) on the west bank of the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Early Settlers at Albany: The Founding of Rensselaerswyck

Early Settlement Above The Helderberg Escarpment

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Detail of John Bleeker made a map of the van Rensselaer's patroonship, Rensselaerswijck, 1767, showing unidentified farms above the Helderberg escarpmentFrom 1630 until the Anti-Rent Movement of the 1840s, most of what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, along with parts of Columbia and Greene Counties, was part of the estate of the van Rensselaer family. They leased the land, but did not generally sell it.

Running north-south through Albany County is the Helderberg Escarpment, a vertical limestone cliff hundreds of feet high (Thatcher Park forms a part of this geologic feature) that separates the Hudson Valley lands in the eastern part of the county from the lands to the west, above the cliffs. Because the land above was difficult to reach, and the soils poorer, that area was settled somewhat later by Europeans. [Read more…] about Early Settlement Above The Helderberg Escarpment

Janny Venema On Her Time In Albany Translating Dutch Records

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The Historians LogoThis 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

Killaen van Rensselaer: Designing a New World

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Killaen van Rensselaer (1586-1643) Designing a New WorldA biography by New Netherland scholar Janny Venema of one of the founding directors of the Dutch West India Company and a leading figure in the establishment of the New Netherland colony, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, has been published by SUNY Press.

As one of the founding directors of the Dutch West India Company, he was instrumental in the establishment of the New Netherland colony on the East Coast of North America, becoming one of its first patroons. Although he never actually set foot in the New World, his patroonship, Rensselaerswyck, encompassed much of what is now New York State’s Capital District and survived as a legal entity up until the 1840s. [Read more…] about Killaen van Rensselaer: Designing a New World

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