Name Wolphert Gerretse | ||
 | ||
Died 1662, Flatlands, New York City, New York, United States | ||
Wolphert Gerretse (1 May 1579 – 1662), also known as Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven and Wolfert Gerritsen Van Couwenhoven, was an original patentee, director of bouweries (farms), and a founder of the New Netherlands colony; founder of the first European settlement on Long Island, New Amersfoort, and a Schepen of New Amsterdam in 1654. "He played an active role in laying the foundations of the communities of Manhattan, Albany, Rensselaer, and Brooklyn."
Contents
- Early life
- Dutch West India Company
- Director of Bouweries for Kiliaen van Rensselaer
- New Amersfoort
- Public service
- Marriage and children
- Notable descendants
- Legacy
- References
Some descendants of Wolphert anglicized the surname "Van Kouwenhoven" to "Conover," as well as "Crownover", with Dennis Conover (born 1764) being the first direct descendent (4th Great Grandson) to use "'Conover'" as his surname.
Early life
Wolphert was born on 1 May 1579 in Amersfoort, Netherlands, one of three sons of Gerrit Wolfert Suype Van Kouwenhoven and his wife, Styne Sara Roberts.
Dutch West India Company
Gerretse ran a baking and clothes bleaching business, when in 1625 he was assigned as one of the first settlers to cultivate farms in the New Netherlands colony by the Dutch West India Company.
Director of Bouweries for Kiliaen van Rensselaer
Following that service, in 1630 he returned to the Netherlands, where he entered into a contract with Kiliaen Van Rensselaer to return to the colony to manage his farms. Wolphert arrived back in the colony aboard the ship "Eendracht", where he proceeded in his duties as director for van Rensselaer's farms in Rensselaerwyck and Fort Orange. His contract was to run through 1636, but Gerretse requested it cancelled early so he could pursue his own interests. Rensselaer agreed. In 1632, Gerretse was released from his contractual obligations.
New Amersfoort
Shortly thereafter, he leased a bouwerie in New Amsterdam and managed it until 1636, when he was granted a patent of several hundred acres on Long Island. He called his plantation "Achervelt"; later it served as the founding of the town of New Amersfoort, named after Gerretse's original home. Today the area is known as Flatlands. His plantation was located near the current intersection of King's Highway and Flatbush Avenue.
In 2007 the deed of the granted land in Long Island was sold to a private collector for $156,000 becoming “one of the oldest Dutch documents in private hands.” The deed dated June 6, 1663 is written in Dutch and outlines the purchase of the land (3,600-acre) from the Lenape Indians.
Public service
In 1637, he became a Freeholder in Midwout, and again in 1641. In 1653, he was sent by the colony to the States-General in the Netherlands as a Commissioner. In 1654, Wolphert served as a Schepen of New Amsterdam, and in 1657 was made a Burgher. He served on the citizens council of Eight Men.
Marriage and children
Gerretse died in 1662. A member of the Dutch Reformed Church, on 17 January 1605, he married Neeltje Jacobsdochter at the church in Amersfoort, Netherlands. With her he had three sons: