An Album of New Netherland

133 Pages·2017·13.54 MB·English

AN ALBUM OF
New Netherland
Maud Esther Dilliard
ON Monday morning, September 8, 1664, Petrus
Stuyvesant, the sixth and last Director-General of
New Netherland, reluctantly surrendered New Am
sterdam to the English and officially ended almost
fifty years of Dutch dominion in North America.
Nevertheless, this capitulation did not mark the end
of Dutch cultural influence, for the descendants of
the original settlers lived much as they had before
and, at least among themselves, continued to speak
the Dutch language. They built their houses in the
Dutch fashion until well into the 19th century, and
passed on their customs and folklore so successfully
that almost 150 years later Washington Irving won
international fame by retelling the legends of old
New Netherland.
As the three-hundredth anniversary of the end of
Dutch dominion draws near—to be commemorated
by the New York World's Fair of 1964—it is fitting
to survey what remains of that historical period and
call it to the attention of those interested in the
heritage of our early colonial days.
AN ALBUM OF NEW NETHERLAND is a com
pact and highly informative history of the Dutch
settlements which stretched from Long Island south
to Delaware and far up the Hudson River. But more
than that, it is a handsome picture album of Dutch
colonial treasures preserved in the many collections
throughout old New Netherland and it displays
selected pieces from the Museum of the City of New
York, the New-York Historical Society, the Albany
Institute of History and Art, the Long Island His
torical Society, the Staten Island Historical Society,
and other public and private repositories.
AN ALBUM OF NEW NETHERLAND is divided
into the following sections: "Fifty Years of Dutch
Dominion," featuring ancient maps, engravings,
and paintings of the early days; "The Colonists,"
containing portraits and short biographies of lead
ing citizens, whose many descendants will enjoy
(Continued in back flap^)
Jacket design by Eugene Gordon
^W4®t«5t|plf
/
An Album of
New Netherland
New Amsterdam, now New York on Manhattan Island.
This is known as the Prototype View because many later drawings have been based on it. It is a water color 24112 by 161 \\ inches. Made after the
surrender, it shows the city between the autumn 0/1650 and the summer 0/1653. -At the left, Fort Amsterdam and the windmill
tower above the houses on t' Water (the StrandJ. At the extreme right is the Stadt Huys. The original belongs
to the Dutch government, which lent it to the Museum of the City of New Tork in the 1940's.
AN ALBUM OF
New Netherland
BY MAUD ESTHER DILLIARD
WITH A FOREWORD
BY V. ISABELLE MILLER
CURATOR OF
COSTUMES, FURNITURE
AND SILVER
AT THE
MUSEUM OF THE
CITY OF NEW YORK
Sutter County Free Library
463 Second Street
Yuba City, California
BRAMHALL HOUSE: NEW YORK
142239
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 63-9904
© Copyright 1963 in Japan and all nations of the Berne Convention
Published in the U.S.A. by Clarkson N. Potter, Inc.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
This edition published by Bramhall House,
a division of Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., by
arrangement with Walton H. Rawls
(A)
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
TO MY SISTER
Marion Kenny (Dilliard) Halpine
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
\ NUMBER of years ago, I was asked by the Holland House Corporation
I % of The Netherlands, then with headquarters at 10 Rockefeller Plaza in
New York, to assemble an exhibition of articles which had belonged to the
colonists of New Netherland. It was a unique collection that I was able to
gather together, for many of the antiques were family treasures which had
seldom, if ever, been displayed publicly. Rilled as an Exhibition of Dutch
Colonial Heirlooms, their showing drew more than J,000 visitors in the ten
weeks of its existence.
The great interest taken in the heirlooms led me to compile the present work.
Afew of the photographs in it were made for the Holland House Corporation's
scrapbook by Boutrelle of New York. The others were obtained especially for
this book. This was made possible through the kindness of many people. The
curators of museums, the directors of historical societies, the domines of
Dutch Reformed churches, and my many friends among the descendants of New
Netherlander have been most generous in granting me access to the treasures
which they possess, and to each and every one of them I wish to express my deep
appreciation.
Special thanks are due Miss V. Isabelle Miller of the Museum of the City of
New York; Miss Janet McFarlane and Mr. Norman Rice of the Albany Insti
tute of History and Art; Mr. Marvin Schwartz of the Brooklyn Museum; Mr.
Loring McMillan and Miss Margery Kerr of the Staten Island Historical
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