Departing Amsterdam, 1624

Johann Teyler after Jan van Call, 1648/1697. River IJ at Amsterdam.

Around New Years I hinted at extensive research on my Dutch roots. This is still in process, just moving a bit slow at the moment due to other obligations. The print above shows a scene that my 10th-great-grandparents may have seen when they departed Amsterdam for America (although several decades before this etching was made).

Philippe du Trieux was descended from Walloons on the border of northeast France and present-day Belgium. He and his first and second wives were members at the Walloon Church in Amsterdam and Leiden from 1615-1624. According to the book by Lucy Garrison Green, The De Forests and the Walloon Founding of New Amsterdam (1916), Philippe, second wife Susanna Duchesne and children Maria and Philippe were among 30 Walloon families aboard the Niew Nederlandt (New Netherland) to be the first settlers of New Amsterdam in 1624. They departed Amsterdam in March 1624, sailing first to the Canary Islands, before continuing on to America. The Niew Nederlandt arrived in May 1624. The colony was created by the Dutch West India Company. Philippe would have signed a contract with the West India Company to make the voyage.

Philippe would have been about 39 when he arrived in New Amsterdam. Susanna would have been about 23. A copy of their marriage record from Amsterdam dated 17 July 1621 (via the Amsterdam City Archives) is below:

Source: Amsterdam Archives, 17 Jul 1621.

Much more to follow.