New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

New Netherland

17th Century Immigrant Ancestors (Podcast)

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crossroads of rockland historyThe October 2021 episode of “Crossroads of Rockland History,” focused on the new book by Ralph Blauvelt: Four Hundred Years in America: 17th Century Immigrant Ancestors (Self-Published, 2021).

This the story of the first immigrant settlers in New Netherland, including Blauvelt’s own ancestors. Their lives are reconstructed from the documents they left behind, and their stories are those of strangers in a strange land trying to build a new life. [Read more…] about 17th Century Immigrant Ancestors (Podcast)

Huguenots & New Rochelle’s Spirit of Liberty

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Monument in Hudson Park commemorating the Huguenot founders of New RochelleThe city of New Rochelle has a relevant place in the founding history of the United States. It was here that in 1689 a small community of French Protestant refugees would settle.

Known as Huguenots, they exercised considerable influence on America’s course towards self-determination. George Washington descended from a Huguenot refugee on his mother’s side. [Read more…] about Huguenots & New Rochelle’s Spirit of Liberty

New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned

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Bevier-Elting HouseHistoric Huguenot Street (HHS) has been awarded a $500,000 Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant support much-needed major repairs and restoration work at the Bevier-Elting House (ca. 1700, 1735, and 1760) in New Paltz.

The project, expected to start in 2022 and continue over the next five years, is one of 49 projects in 29 states funded by the SAT program this year. [Read more…] about New Paltz Bevier-Elting House Restoration Project Planned

Asparagus Officinalis: A Spear of Transatlantic History

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The Apicius manuscriptOne of the first crops to emerge from the ground in New York State is asparagus (scientific name: asparagus officinalis). The vegetable is an integral part of America’s colonial history. It must have been a taste of nostalgia that prompted New Netherland settlers to try and cultivate asparagus in unfamiliar surroundings. [Read more…] about Asparagus Officinalis: A Spear of Transatlantic History

Meppel to Manhattan: Duveen, Altman, and the Relocation of European Art

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front of Benjamin Altmans Department StoreMeppel is relatively small Dutch municipality in the north-easterly agricultural province of Drenthe. It is a market town for dairy products, cereals, and pigs. What is the association between this sleepy country place and cosmopolitan New York City? [Read more…] about Meppel to Manhattan: Duveen, Altman, and the Relocation of European Art

Evert de Ridder & The Albany-Amerongen Connection

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The church of St. Andries AmerongenEvert 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

Latest Columbia County History & Heritage Magazine Published

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Columbia County History & Heritage magazineThe Columbia County Historical Society (CCHS) has announced the release of its Spring 2021 issue of Columbia County History & Heritage magazine. Titled “Dutch Culture in the Hudson Valley,” the issue explores the varied ways Dutch colonists shaped the culture and landscapes of the Hudson Valley — including Columbia County — beginning in the early 1600s. [Read more…] about Latest Columbia County History & Heritage Magazine Published

Exchanging New Amsterdam for Paramaribo

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Sea Captains Carousing in SurinamIn 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

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Hudson River valley c 1635Between 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

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The Lair of the Sea SerpentYoung 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