New Netherland Settlers

The NYG&B is pleased to announce the launch of New Netherland Settlers—a groundbreaking, multiyear project to develop detailed, peer-reviewed sketches of all the people residing in New Netherland prior to 1664. This first-of-its-kind initiative combines new research and existing scholarship to provide a comprehensive, reputable, scholarly source for many generations of New Netherland families. The NYG&B is grateful to the Society of Daughters of Holland Dames, the project’s foundational sponsor, for its generous funding to launch New Netherland Settlers.

A vast and dynamic colony, New Netherland encompassed parts of the present-day states of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. Major settlements included New Amsterdam (present-day New York City), Fort Orange (near present-day Albany), and Pavonia (present-day Jersey City), in addition to numerous forts and outposts.

The NYG&B will continuously research, compile, and publish this monumental project with the aim of documenting all residents of the colony, including settlers, those who did not settle, free and enslaved individuals, Indigenous people, and the many others who contributed to the diverse, multilingual dynamics of New Netherland.

New Netherland Settlers will have a fundamental and ongoing impact on genealogists, biographers, historians, researchers, and those seeking membership in lineage organizations for years to come.

Project Details

• Key team members, including researchers, editors, subject experts, and others, have been gathered to ensure the project's long-term success. We are pleased to welcome renowned expert genealogists John Blythe Dobson, FASG, FGBS, and Yvette Hoitink, CG®, QG™, who have joined the project during its initial phase.
• A preliminary list of initial sketches—beginning with more than 750 settlers—is in development and continues to be curated, working with an objective of inclusion and the broadest definition of New Netherland as possible.
• A subset of sample sketches will then be identified for preparation. Sketches will be strategically chosen to represent different aspects of the project and include well-documented individuals (with and without known overseas origins) and settlers for whom little (or no) documentation currently exists.
• Following the sample sketches, the first set of complete sketches will be researched and developed. We estimate that between 50 and 150 sketches will be completed during the inaugural year of the project, which will begin in August 2024.

Key Team Members

John Blythe Dobson, FASG, FGBS. Mr. Dobson is engaged as a consultant on the project, specifically in preparing the initial sample sketches, advising on the preparation of additional sketches by others, and working on adding further sources to the database. Mr. Dobson has been a contributing editor to the NYG&B Record since 2010 and is an expert at identifying the origins of early immigrants to New Netherland. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, bringing a large network of interested researchers to the project.

Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™. Ms. Hoitink is engaged as a consultant on the project to prepare sketches; review and select source material; and advise about the project’s information architecture, direction, and scope. Ms. Hoitink is a board-certified genealogist from the Netherlands who specializes in research in the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. She holds a Master of Letters degree with distinction in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee. As a former IT consultant and project manager for the National Archives in the Hague, she will bring both research and IT skills to the project. 

New Netherland Settlers Sketch Components

The following components are envisioned for each sketch:

Name, [filed by surname] including the name in its natural order; patronymic (where directly attested); aliases; and any persons with whom the subject has been confused, or from whom the subject remains indistinguishable.

Origin, including place(s) of residence prior to emigration and ethnicity (when attested independently from place of residence).

Migration, including date, point of departure, and name of ship.

Settlement, including place(s) of residence within New Netherland and subsequent residence(s), in the case of those who left.

Education, including language(s) spoken, evidence of literacy or illiteracy, level of education, places and dates of study, and academic degrees.

Occupation, including kind of work, apprenticeships, indentures, employees, and apprentices.

Offices, noting offices or positions held in any level of government.

Holdings and Estates, including land(s) owned (as evidenced by grants, deeds, mortgages, leases, etc.) and estate details (as evidenced by bankruptcies, testaments, inventories, divisions of estates, etc.).

Biographical Details, including date and place of birth, date and place of death, and any life event not covered in another category, such as return trips to the place of origin, military service, political activity or protest (apart from holding of office, as above), involvement in legal action(s), and authorship.

Marriage and Children, including name of spouse (if identified) and genealogical details for each known child.

Church Membership, including church affiliation (as evidenced by taking of communion, the baptisms of children, service as marriage witnesses or baptismal sponsors, etc.) and church membership (as evidenced by membership lists, consistory records, etc.).

Associations, including relatives, business associates, and others.

Literature, including published sources such as books and articles relevant to at least one person explicitly mentioned in the sketch and a discussion of their relevance (if not obvious).