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This chapter includes...

• Governors of New Netherland
• Great Burghers (1657-1668)
• Notable Citizens...

Governors of Nieuw-Nederland (New Netherland)

• 1621-1624 : Adriaen Jorissen Thienpont
• 1624-1625 : Cornelis May
• 1625-1626 : Willem Verhulst
• 1626-1631 : Peter Minuit
• 1632-1633 : Bastiaen Janssen Crol
• 1633-1638 : Wouter van Twiller
• 1638-1647 : Willem Kieft
• 1647-1664 : Peter Stuyvesant
• 1664-1673 - English occupation, 1664-1668 : Richard Nicolls, 1668-1673 : Francis Lovelace
• 1673-1673 : Cornelis Evertsen de Jongste and Jacob Binckes
• 1673-1674 : Anthony Colve

Great Burghers

Between 1657-1668, New Amsterdam ran a system of citizenship, meant to protect the interests of the citizens against the commercial competition of non-resident traders. The system recognized 'great burghers' and 'small burghers'.

This, in effect, created a certain 'aristocracy' as it confirmed the positions of the most powerful families in the colony. Besides the fact that the title of 'great burgher' was hereditary, one of its privileges was access to the highest public positions in the colony.

Nevertheless, the system had fundamentally democratic principles, because everyone could become a citizen of both types - depending on a few rules and the payment of a fee. Per 1657, twenty citizens were privileged as 'great burghers', whilst a further 216 became 'small burghers'. More citizens acquired the status throughout the existence of the system.

The 'great burghers' in 1657 were:

• Jan de la Montagne, Jr
• Jan Gillesen van Brugh
• Hendrick Hendricksen Kip
• Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, Jr
• Isaac Kip
• Peter Stuyvesant
• Johannes Theodorus Polhemus a.k.a. Joannes Megapolensis
• Jacob Gerritsen Stryker
• Jan Vigne
• The wife of Cornelis Van Tienhoven
• Hendrick Van Dyck
• Marten Cregier
• Carel van Brugh
• Jacob Wolfertse van Couwenhoven
• Laurens Cornelissen van der Wel
• Johannes Pietersen van Brugh
• Cornelius Jacobsz van Steenwyck
• Willem Bogardus
• Daniel Litschoe
• Pieter Van Couwenhoven

Notable Citizens in the New Netherland settlements and towns

Currently being researched:

• Mayors (in Dutch: burgemeesters)
• Aldermen (in Dutch: schepenen)
• Bailiffs (in Dutch: schouten, or baljuws)
• Schoolmasters
• Clergymen

Early Governance

Though New Netherland was a province of Holland, the colony was run in its early days by the Dutch West India Company. The early governors of the colony were also called 'Directors', and they ran the colony as a business. Though all major decisions about the colony were taken by the WIC in Amsterdam, the governors appointed their own council for the management of practical affairs in the colony.

Minuit's Council - 1626-1632

• Peter Bylevelt
• Jacob Elbertsen Wissinck
• Jan Jansen Brouwer
• Symon Dirckssen Post
• Reynert Harmensen
• Isaac de Rasières, secretary

Twiller's Council - 1633-1638

• Jacques Bentyn
• Reynert Harmensen
• Andries Hudde
• Martin Gerritsen van Bergen
• Jacobus van Curler
• Lubertuse van Dincklage
• Claes van Elslant

The New Amsterdam Council

Before the incorporation of New Amsterdam as a city, in 1653, the affairs of the settlement were run by the governor, assisted by a council of elected men (a first form of direct representation of the citizens). The council is identified by their number upon election. Below, we list all recorded members.

Twelve Men (elected August 29, 1641, abolished February 18, 1642)

• Maryn Adriaensen
• Jacques Benteyn
• Jan Jansen Damen
• David Pietersen de Vries, chairman
• Gerrit Dircksen
• Hendrik Jansen
• Jochem Pietersen Kuyter
• Frederick Lubbertsen
• Joris Jansen Rapalje
• Jacob Stoffelsen
• Abraham Pietersen van Deursen
• Jacob Walichsz van Winkle
• Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck

Eight Men (elected in 1643 and 1645)

• Isaac Allerton
• George Baxter (1645)
• Jan Evertse Bout
• Jan Jansen Damen
• Barent Dircksen
• Francis Douty (1645)
• Thomas Hall
• Jochem Pietersen Kuyter
• Cornelis Melyn, president
• Gysbert op den Dyck (1645)
• Richard Smith (1645)
• Jacob Stoffelsen (1645)
• John Underhill (1645)
• Gerrit Wolfertse van Couwenhoven
• Abraham Pietersen van Deursen
• Olof Stevensen van Cortlandt (1645)

Nine Men (elected in 1647, 1649, 1650 and 1652)

• Allard Anthony (Antonides), 1652
• Willem Beekman, 1652
• Jan Evertse Bout, 1647, 1650
• Peter Cornelissen, 1652
• Jan Jansen Damen, 1647
• Isaac de Foreest, 1652
• Thomas Hall, 1647, 1650
• Augustine Heerman, 1647, 1649, 1650
• Jacobus Hendricksen Kip, 1647, 1649, 1650
• Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, 1652
• Govert Loockermans, 1647, 1649, 1650
• David Provoost, 1652
• Jacob Wolfertse van Couwenhoven, 1647, 1649, 1650
• Jacobus van Curler, 1652
• Paulus Leendertz Vandergrift, 1652
• Arnoldus van Hardenbergh, 1647, 1649
• Arent van Hattem, 1652
• Elber Elbertsen van Stoothoff, 1649, 1650
• Olof Stevensen van Cortlandt, 1649, 1650, chairman
• Adriaen van der Donck, 1649, chairman
• Michiel Jansen Vreelandt, 1647, 1649, 1650

New Amsterdam

Mayors

• 1653 : Martin Cregier
• 1654 : Allard Anthony
• 1656 : Olof Stevensen van Cortlandt
• 1657 : Paulus Leendertz Vandergrift
• 1658 : Olof Stevensen van Cortlandt
• 1659 : Martin Cregier
• 1660 : Martin Cregier
• 1661 : Paulus Leendertz Vandergrift
• 1662 : Olof Stevensen van Cortlandt
• 1663 : Martin Cregier
• 1664 : Cornelius Steenwyck
• English occupation : 1665 : Captain Thomas Willett
• English occupation : 1666 : Thomas De Lavall
• English occupation : 1667 : Captain Thomas Willett
• English occupation : 1668 : Cornelius Steenwyck
• English occupation : 1671 : Thomas De Lavall
• English occupation : 1672 : Matthias Nicolls
• English occupation : 1673 : John Lawrence
• 1673 : Willem Beekman
• 1674 : Willem Beekman

Aldermen

• Allard Anthony
• Balthazar Bayard, in 1673
• Willem Beekman, in 1657
• Johannes de Peyster, in 1666, 1667 and 1669
• Hendrick Hendricksen Kip, 1656
• Jacobus Hendricksen Kip, 1656, 1659, 1663, 1673, 1674
• Govert Loockermans, 1657, 1660
• Jacob Stryker
• Pieter Wolfertsen van Couwenhoven
• Paulus Leendertz Vandergrift
• Laurens van der Spiegel, 1673
• Maximilian van Gheel
• Johannes Verveelen

Attorney General & Bailiffs (in Dutch: Schout-Fiscaal)

• 1623 : Adriaen Joris
• 1624 : Cornelis Jacobsen May
• 1625 : Willem Verhulst
• 1626 : Jan Lampo
• 1626-1632 : Peter Minuit
• 1632-1633 : Coenraed Notelman
• 1633 : Lubertus van Dincklage
• 1633-1637 : Wouter van Twiller
• 1638-1656 : Cornelis van Tienhoven
• 1656-1661 : Nicasius de Sille
• 1661 : Willem Beekman
• 1673 : Pierre Billiou
• 1673-1674 : Willem Knijff

Schoolmasters

• 1633-1643 : Adam Roelantsen
• 1643-1648 : Jan Stevensen
• 1648-1648 : Jan Cornelissen van Hoorn
• 1648-1649 : Pieter van der Linde (interim)
• 1649-1655 : Willem Verstius
• 1655-1660 : Harmanus van Hoboken
• 1660-1665 : Johannes de la Montagne
• 1665-xxxx : Evert Pietersen

Ministers of the Reformed Dutch Church (in Dutch: Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk)

• 1628-1633 : Jonas Michaelius
• 1633-1647 : Everardus Bogardus
• 1647-1649 : Johannes Backerus
• 1649-1670 : Johannes Theodorus Polhemus a.k.a. Joannes Megapolensis
• 1671-1681 : Wilhelmus Van Nieuwenhuysen

Bergen

Aldermen

• Pieter Marselis, in 1673

Beverwijck

Clergymen

• Gideon Schaets, in 1657

Breuckelen

Aldermen

• Frederick Lubbertsen, in 1673
• Joris Jan Rapalje, from 1656-1660

Bailiff

• David Provoost, 1651-1657

Flushing

Aldermen

• Frans Jansen Bloetgoet, in 1673
• Auke Jans van Nuyse, in 1673

Hurley

Aldermen

• Cornelis Wynkoop, 1672-1674

Midwout

Aldermen

• Jan Stryker, in 1673

New Haarlem

Aldermen

• Dirk Claessen, in 1662
• Jan Pietersen Haring, in 1673-1674

New Utrecht

Aldermen

• Jan Pietersen van Deventer, in 1673
• Jan Thomasse van Dyke, in 1673

Renselaerwijck

Aldermen

• Brandt Peelen, in 1630

Bailiffs

• Brant Arentse van Slichtenhorst, in 1646
• Gerrit van Slichtenhorst, in 1646
• Anthony de Hooges, in 1655

Schenectady

Bailiffs

• Harmen Albertse Vedder, in 1674

St Mary's

Aldermen

• Gerrit van Sweringen, in 1668

Wiltwijck

Aldermen

• Albert Heymanse Roosa, in 1661
• Tjerck Claessen de Witt, in 1662, 1663, 1668, 1671