Table of contents

• Chapter 1 : Brief History
• Chapter 2 : Immigrant Ships
• Chapter 3 : Territorial Development
• Chapter 4 : Origins
• Chapter 5 : Immigrants.
• Chapter 6 : Notable Citizens
• Chapter 7 : Famous Descendants
• Chapter 8 : Living Descendants
• Chapter 9 : Lost Traces
• Research & Bibliography

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News Flash (January 14, 2012) - We've now identified over 2,100 New Amsterdam immigrants! You can find them here.

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This is the master project for the history of immigration in the Americas through New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam). It is the story of the primarily Dutch, Flemish and Walloon settlers of the island of Manhattan and the surrounding territories between 1609 and 1674.

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Objective

This project is VERY FOCUSED. It only considers people and profiles who arrived in New Amsterdam between 1609 and 1674 - the timeframe in which New Netherland (which later became more or less the state of New York) was a Dutch province. As such, New Netherland was pivotal in the birth of the United States.

The project seeks to provide...

• A repository of the earliest settlers in and around Manhattan
• A collaboration platform for Geni users searching ancestors of Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, and other European origin

For many Americans, New Amsterdam is the gateway to their European ancestors. In turn, for many Europeans, there are lots of 'lost relatives' who simply disappeared from the European records because they emigrated to New Amsterdam and the 'new world'. The project seeks to further collaboration between American and European Geni users to connect the dots. A good place to start may be the Portal for Dutch Speakers - as it provides useful links to online sources where you can continue your own research - or ask the help of others.

Scope of the project

Though called 'New Amsterdam', the project encompasses the whole of New Netherland (Nieuw-Nederland) - the formal Dutch province that governed these territories. For further information and detail on people and profiles, please check the related subprojects:

• New Amsterdam - Brief History, as short overview of how New Amsterdam started and how it developed until 1674, when the Treaty of Westminster transferred the Dutch province to English possession.
• New Amsterdam - Immigrant Ships, which provides an inventory of the ships that sailed from The Netherlands to New Amsterdam.
• New Amsterdam - Immigrants, which provides an overview of the New Netherland immigrants that arrived from The Netherlands.
• New Amsterdam - Territorial Development, which provides an overview of the early development of settlements, townships and counties.
• New Amsterdam - Notable Citizens, which provides an overview of New Netherland magistrates, burghers, and clergymen.
• New Amsterdam - Living Descendants, where you can register as a living descendant of New Amsterdam immigrants, and connect with your relatives. You will also find a growing list of private family pages that will help.
• New Amsterdam - Famous Descendants, an overview of famous direct descendants of New Amsterdam immigrants.
• New Amsterdam - Lost Traces, which provides a collaboration platform for connecting relatives to their overseas origins. If you have ancestors whose 'tracks' stop in New Amsterdam, please add their profiles to this project.

Join the team...

If you have a keen interest in the objectives of this project - please join!

To see the extent of the settlements, please see New Netherland settlements.

Given the millions of Americans of New Amsterdam descent, this could become a thriving project, so all help is more than welcome. Why not take responsibility for a related project, or develop a new one?