Reading: The Early Dutch Reformed Christian Leaders in New Amsterdam
Jonas Michaelius
He was probably born Jonas Joannis Michielsz in Hoorn.[1] He studied at the University of Leyden from 1600-1605, and worked as a clergyman in various towns in Brabant from 1607-1612, from 1612-14 in "Nieuwbokswoude" (modern Nibbixwoud), and from 1614-1624 in Hem. He married in 1614.[2] In 1624 he traveled, presumably with the fleet of Piet Hein, to Salvador, Brazil, where he served until the town was recaptured by the Portuguese in May 1625. From there he crossed the Atlantic to Guinea where he stayed until 1627. After briefly returning to the Netherlands, he went to New Amsterdam in January 1628, and was thus the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in what would become the United States. He organized a consistory, and administered the sacraments, but returned to Holland in a few years, probably before the arrival of his successor, Everardus Bogardus, in 1633.
Michaëlius' wife died in New Amsterdam shortly after his arrival.[3] The classis of Amsterdam wished to send Michaëlius back to America in 1637, but he did not return owing to political opposition from New Amsterdam.[4]
It was long supposed that Bogardus was the first Reformed Church clergyman in the future United States, but the precedence of Michaëlius was established by a letter from him to Adrian Smoutius, dated New Amsterdam, 11 August 1628, which was found in the late 19th century in the Dutch archives at The Hague. In this letter, he describes the degraded state of the natives and proposes to educate their children without trying to redeem the parents. The letter is printed in an appendix to Mary L. Booth's History of the City of New York (New York, 1859).
He was probably born Jonas Joannis Michielsz in Hoorn.[1] He studied at the University of Leyden from 1600-1605, and worked as a clergyman in various towns in Brabant from 1607-1612, from 1612-14 in "Nieuwbokswoude" (modern Nibbixwoud), and from 1614-1624 in Hem. He married in 1614.[2] In 1624 he traveled, presumably with the fleet of Piet Hein, to Salvador, Brazil, where he served until the town was recaptured by the Portuguese in May 1625. From there he crossed the Atlantic to Guinea where he stayed until 1627. After briefly returning to the Netherlands, he went to New Amsterdam in January 1628, and was thus the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in what would become the United States. He organized a consistory, and administered the sacraments, but returned to Holland in a few years, probably before the arrival of his successor, Everardus Bogardus, in 1633.
Michaëlius' wife died in New Amsterdam shortly after his arrival.[3] The classis of Amsterdam wished to send Michaëlius back to America in 1637, but he did not return owing to political opposition from New Amsterdam.[4]
It was long supposed that Bogardus was the first Reformed Church clergyman in the future United States, but the precedence of Michaëlius was established by a letter from him to Adrian Smoutius, dated New Amsterdam, 11 August 1628, which was found in the late 19th century in the Dutch archives at The Hague. In this letter, he describes the degraded state of the natives and proposes to educate their children without trying to redeem the parents. The letter is printed in an appendix to Mary L. Booth's History of the City of New York (New York, 1859).
Everardus Bogardus
The Reverend Everardus Bogardus (1607 – 27 September 1647) was the dominie of the New Netherlands, and was the second minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, the oldest established church in present-day New York, which was then located on Pearl Street at its first location built in 1633, the year of his arrival. Bogardus was, in fact, the second clergyman in all of the New Netherlands.[1] (The slightly obscure early history of the Dutch colony meant that he was often considered the first clergyman.)[2]
Contents
Early life in the Netherlands
Everardus Bogardus was born in Woerden, in the province of Utrecht, Holland in 1607. He entered Leyden University for the study of theology in July, 1627.[3] On January 11, 1632, just five years after he had entered Leyden University, he was ordained a regular minister of the Dutch Reformed church. Soon after he was commissioned by the "Lords Directors of the Honorable West India Company of the United Provinces of the Netherlands," to minister to the spiritual needs of the colony at New Amsterdam.[3]
Life in New Netherland
Bogardus arrived in New Netherland in 1633, sailing from Amsterdam on the ship "Zoutberg". When it became known that Kiliaen van Rensselaer planned to erect a church upriver at Rensselaerswyck, Governor Kieft hastened his plans to rebuild the church in Fort Amsterdam.[4] A humorous anecdote about the building of this church contends that
Governor Kieft decided that there should be [a new church] of stone, and that it should be built inside the fort. There was a question as how to secure the money to build it. Kieft gave a small amount, as did other colonists, but there was not enough. Fortunately, just at this time, a daughter of Bogardus, the minister, was married. At the wedding, when the guests were in good humor, a subscription-list was handed out. The guests tried to outdo one another in subscribing money for the new church. Next day some of the subscribers were sorry they had agreed to give so much, but the Governor accepted no excuses and insisted on the money. It was collected, and the church was built.[5]
Bogardus frequently was combative with the Directors of New Netherland and their management of the Dutch West India Company colony, going up against the often-drunk Wouter van Twiller and famously denouncing Willem Kieft from the pulpit during the colony's disastrously bloody Kieft's War (1643–1645).[1] He stepped up his denouncements when Kieft tried to place a tax on beer.[1]
Willem Kieft was appointed to the rank of director by the Dutch West India Company in 1638.[1] He formed the council of twelve men, the first representative body in New Netherland, but ignored its advice.[2]
He tried to tax, and then, drive out, local Native Americans.[1] He ordered attacks on Pavonia and Corlears Hook on February 25, 1643 in a massacre (129 Dutch soldiers killed 120 Indians, including women and children), followed by retaliations resulting in what would become known as Kieft's War (1643–1645). The war took a huge toll on both sides, and Dutch West India Company Board of Directors fired him in 1647. He was replaced with Peter Stuyvesant.[1]
Death
Bogardus died September 27, 1647 in the Princess Amelia shipwreck near Swansea, Wales, while en route to Amsterdam along with many of his congregants as well as his opponent Willem Kieft, himself.[1] Popular sources describe Bogardus... "on his way to Holland on a mission relating to his church. The people of New Amsterdam mourned for their minister, but there was little sorrow felt for the Governor who had plunged the colony in war by his obstinate and cruel temper."[5]
Legacy
Prominent members of that family included James Bogardus, who pioneered in the construction of cast-iron buildings during the 1840s.[6] Bogardus Place is located in the Washington Heightssection of New York City borough of Manhattan (ZIP code 10040). It was opened in 1912, and runs one block (641.7 feet) between Hillside Avenue and Ellwood Street, and is named for the family who previously owned much of the land that forms both Fort Tryon Park, and the Fort Tryon section.
References
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America. First Edition. New York City: Vintage Books (a Division of Random House, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-7867-9
- ^ See Charles Hemstreet, "CHAPTER IV: Walter Van Twiller, Second of the Dutch Governors From 1633 to 1637" Chap. in The Story of Manhattan, (New York City: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901), Released as The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of Manhattan, by Charles Hemstreet, E-text prepared by Gregory Smith, David Garcia, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, Cuyler Reynolds, ed. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911), Vol. II, pp. 504-510
- ^ Frijhoff, Willem. Fulfilling God's Mission: The Two Worlds of Dominie Everardus Bogardus, 1607-1647, BRILL, 2007, ISBN 9789004162112, p. 460
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hemstreet, Charles., "CHAPTER V: WILLIAM KIEFT and the WAR with the INDIANS" Chap. in The Story of Manhattan, (New York City: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901), Released as The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of Manhattan, by Charles Hemstreet, E-text prepared by Gregory Smith, David Garcia, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
- ^ The Street Book by Henry Moscow; Fordham University Press 1978.
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