New Netherland Settlers

The NYG&B’s New Netherland Settlers initiative is a groundbreaking, multiyear project to develop detailed, peer-reviewed sketches of all the people residing in New Netherland prior to 1664. Launched in 2024, 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.

Access the New Netherland Settler Sketches >

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)
• Pavonia (present-day Jersey City)
• Numerous other forts and outposts

Under this initiative, the NYG&B is continuously researching, compiling, and publishing this monumental project with the aim of documenting all people who resided within the boundaries the colony, including:

• Settlers
• Those who did not settle
• Free and enslaved individuals
• Indigenous people
• The many others who contributed to the diverse, multilingual dynamics of New Netherland

New Netherland Settlers is a far-reaching, large-scale endeavor that will have a fundamental and ongoing impact on genealogists, biographers, historians, researchers, and those seeking membership in lineage organizations well into the future. An initiative as expansive and comprehensive as this will require long-term research, commitment, and support, and the NYG&B will continue to identify and cultivate researchers, partners, and funders to see it to its fullest realization.

Project Details

• Key team members, including researchers, editors, subject experts, and others, have initiated the project, and we continue to seek additional expert partners to ensure the project's long-term success.
• A list of known residents to be included for sketches is in development and will be made public in fall 2025. This list will be continuously curated, working with an objective of inclusion and the broadest definition of New Netherland as possible.
• Sketches are strategically chosen to represent different aspects of the project and include (1) well-documented individuals (with and without known overseas origins) and (2) those for whom little (or no) documentation currently exists. Learn more about components included for each sketch, as applicable.
• The first set of complete sketches was released online in July 2025 in an interactive, interlinked format, with ongoing releases of complete sketches to follow. Over time, publication volumes comprising numerous sketches will be published as printed volumes.

Current 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 Fellow on the project to conduct research of underrepresented and underexamined populations within New Netherland such as free and enslaved individuals, Indigenous people, and the many others. The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation has provided generous support for the fellowship. Ms. Hoitink's work will include preparing sketches; reviewing and selecting source material; and advising 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. 

Interested in becoming a researcher or assistant for the project? Email adminaccounts@nygbs.org for more information.