The Fulkerson Family Pages
Peter Stuyvesant (c.1612—1672) served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He expanded the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan; he oversaw the building of the protective wall on Wall Street; and established the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.
Stuyvesant lost his leg to canon fire in a battle with the Spanish in April 1644, which he replaced with a peg leg embellished with silver bands, leading to his nickname, "Old Silver Leg."Under his leadership, the New Netherlands colony was renamed New Amsterdam on February 2, 1653.
In 1653, when challenged in his authority, Stuyvesant came close to invoking a Divine Right of Kings, saying: "We derive our authority from God and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects."
In 1655, Stuyvesant traveled down the Delaware River with about 700 men and conquered the colony of New Sweden, which was renamed "New Amstel." In his absence, Pavonia was attacked by Native Americans, during the "Peach War" on September 15, 1655. (Also blamed in no small part on Cornelis Van Tienhoven).
In 1657 Stuyvesant, who did not tolerate full religious freedom in the colony,[3] and was strongly committed to the supremacy of the Dutch Reformed Church, refused to allow Lutherans the right to organize a church. When he also issued an ordinance forbidding them from worshiping in their own homes, the directors of the Dutch West Indies Company, of whom three were Lutherans, told him to rescind the order and allow private gatherings of Lutherans.[4]
Freedom of religion was also tested when Peter Stuyvesant refused to allow Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil to settle permanently in New Amsterdam (without passports) and join the existing community of Jews (with passports from Amsterdam). Stuyvesant attempted to have Jews "in a friendly way to depart" the colony. As he wrote to the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company in 1654 he hoped that "the deceitful race, — such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, — be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony."[5] He referred to Jews as a "repugnant race" and "usurers", and was concerned that "Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to the colony."[6]
Stuyvesant's decision was rescinded after pressure from the directors of the Company; as a result, Stuyvesant allowed Jewish immigrants to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting, but — with the support of the company — would not allow them to build a synagogue, forcing them to worship instead in a private house.[7]
Then, in 1657, Stuyvesant turned to the newly arrived Quakers in the colony. He ordered the public torture of Robert Hodgson, a 23-year-old Quaker convert who had become an influential preacher. Stuyvesant then made an ordinance, punishable by fine and imprisonment, against anyone found guilty of harboring Quakers. That action led to a protest from the citizens of Flushing, Queens, which came to be known as the Flushing Remonstrance, considered by some[by whom?] a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.
Capitulation[edit]
In 1664, King Charles II of England ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, later King James II, a large tract of land that included New Netherland. Four English ships bearing 450 men, commanded by Richard Nicolls, seized the Dutch colony. On 30 August 1664, George Cartwright sent the governor a letter demanding surrender. He promised "life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority." Stuyvesant signed a treaty at his Bouwerij house on 9 September 1664. Nicolls was declared governor, and the city was renamed New York. Stuyvesant obtained civil rights and freedom of religion in the Articles of Capitulation. The Dutch settlers mainly belonged to the Dutch Reformed church, a Calvinist denomination, holding to the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt). The English were Anglicans, holding to the 39 Articles, a Protestant confession, with Bishops.
In 1665, Stuyvesant went to the Netherlands to report on his term as governor. On his return, he spent the remainder of his life on his farm of sixty-two acres outside the city, called the Great Bouwerie, beyond which stretched the woods and swamps of the village of Haarlem. A pear tree that he reputedly brought from the Netherlands in 1647 remained at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue until 1867, bearing fruit almost to the last. The house was destroyed by fire in 1777. He also built an executive mansion of stone called Whitehall. He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which sits on the site of Stuyvesant’s family chapel.[8][9]
Legacy[edit]
A bust of Stuyvesant by Dutch artist Toon Dupuis which was presented by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and the Dutch Government to St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on December 5, 1915[10]
New York Governor Hamilton Fish was descended from Stuyvesant
Stuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with three places in Manhattan's East Side, near present-day Gramercy Park: the Stuyvesant Town housing complex; Stuyvesant Square, a park in the area; and the Stuyvesant Apartments on East 18th Street. His farm, called the "Bouwerij" — the seventeenth-century Dutch word for farm — was the source for the name of the Manhattan street and surrounding neighborhood named the "Bowery". The chapel facing Bouwerie's long approach road (now Stuyvesant Street) became St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery. The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County, New York, where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where the Dutch Reformed Church remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was. A statue of Stuyvesant by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there[11][12][13] More modestly, Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands was also named after Stuyvesant during the Dutch West India Company's administration of that Territory.
Stuyvesant was a great believer in education. In 1660 he was quoted as saying that "Nothing is of greater importance than the early instruction of youth." In 1661, New Amsterdam had one grammar school, two free elementary schools, and had licensed 28 masters of school. To honor Stuyvesant's dedication to education and New Amsterdam's legal-cultural tradition of toleration under Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan was named after him. This stands in stark contrast to Stuyvesant's criticism of religious minorities, such as the Jews of New Amsterdam, whom he described, in a letter dated 22 September 1654, to the Dutch East India Company, as "deceitful", "very repugnant", and "hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ," in hopes that they would be made to leave the territory.[14][15]
In 1657 the directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant to tell him that they are not going to be able to send him all the tradesmen that he requested and that he will have to purchase slaves in addition to the tradesmen he will receive.
The last acknowledged direct descendant of Pieter Stuyvesant to bear his surname was Augustus van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., who died a bachelor in 1953 at the age of 83 in his mansion at 2 East 79th Street. Rutherford Stuyvesant, the 19th century New York developer, and his descendants are also descended from Pieter Stuyvesant, however Rutherford Stuyvesant's name was changed from Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of the 1847 will of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant.[16][17][18]
In popular culture[edit]
Children of Rachel Vigne
Rachel gave birth to five children, but only two of them survived into adulthood. The eldest girl had been named Jannetje, a name the family would re-use for her younger sister. Lucas, born in 1649, the second child, despite the hateful and onerous legacy of his father and his father's name, would become a doctor. The third child, Cornelius, died at a young age as did Johannes. The fifth child, a daughter, was named Jannetje, and there is a record of her baptism 20 May 1657.
Rachel's Daughter, Jannetje Van Tienhoven
Lucas Van Tienhoven was baptized , 17 Jan 1649, which was witnessed by Jan Janszen Damen, Adriaen Van Tienhoven, Adriaentie Kuypers. Lucas married Tryentje Bording. The couple were listed as members of the New York Dutch Reformed Church in 1686. They lived on Pine Street, where the skyscrapers of New York City's financial district now tower. Their 10 children were: Rachel, Capt. Nicholas, Susanna, Cornelia, Sara, Johannes, Cornelis [1st, died young], Cornelis [2nd, also died young], Lysbeth, and Cornelis [3rd]. Their descendants are among our family of cousins today.
Rachel's Son, Lucas Van Tienhoven
Jannetje Van Tienhoven was baptized 20 May 1657, and this was witnessed by De Hr. Willem Kieft, gouvneur, Adriaene Nuvielle.
Jannetje Adriaens married John Smith by 1685. They were listed as members of the New York Dutch Reformed Church in 1686. John Smith died in 1693. The inventory of his estate on 18 August of that year included: 1 negro woman cook and her child, 2 bibles, 2 gold rings, 12 silver spoons, 2 silver buckles, 1 silver porringer [a bowl with a handle] and some household goods. Jannetje owned land near her brother's on Pine Street. They were believed to have had three children, whose names are not known for certain. One may have been the John Smith who married Judith Outman in 1708.
Rachel's Daughter, Jennetje Van Tienhoven
Further details on this branch of the family can be seen at this site.
