New Netherland Settler Sketches

Name

Claesje.[1] Her name is known from one record, her deposition about stealing from the people who held her in bondage.[2] In other records, she is called the “swartinne” [Black woman] of Sander Leenderts, without the use of her name.[3]

Origin

Described as a “swartinne” [female version of a Black], Claesje was of African origin.[4]

Migration

Whether Claesje was born in New Netherland or brought to the colony in bondage is unknown.

Settlement

In her book Spaces of Enslavement, Andrea C. Mosterman called Claesje “one of the few enslaved women who lived in Rensselaerswijck.”[5] Claesje’s enslavers had lived there since 1639,[6] and she was called before that court in March 1652.[7] She was banned from that jurisdiction in June 1652[8] and forcibly removed in July 1652.[9]

Marriage and Children

Claesje was unmarried in 1652 but wanted to find a husband.[10]

Enslavement

Claesje was enslaved by Sander Leendertsen Glen and his wife Catherine Duncanson. On 2 March 1652, Claesje was called the “slaevin van Sander Leendersen” [female slave of Sander Leendersen].[11]

On 2 March 1652, Claesje was interrogated before the court of Rensselaerswijck for stealing goods from her “meester” [master, i.e. Sander Leendertsen]. Claesje admitted to having stolen blankets, bars of lead, combs, and candles, which she had given to Jan Michielsen. She clarified that Jan Michielsen, not her, had removed the blankets, lead, and combs from the house. He had threatened her with a knife and forced her to let him steal the lead. In return he gave her an old undershirt and promised her a new shirt and a lace cap. To Jacob Luijersen she had given three yards of red cloth, after he promised to take her to Manhattan to find a husband. She also let him steal a small barrel of butter. Catalijn Sanders [the wife of Sander Leendertsen] appeared in court and said that Jan Michiels had come to her with the candles and told her that Claesje had stolen them. Claesje was crying during her statement, and begged Catalijn for forgiveness.[12]

Claesje’s accusations were not without repercussions. The court decided not to prosecute the men she had accused of stealing, but instead came after Claesje for slandering honest men. Sander Leendersz and Catalyn Donckesz testified that commissary Dijckman came to their house on 21 March 1651 to arrest Claesje. When Sander refused to let her go, the commissary drew his rapier and stabbed Sander when he defended himself. The commissary returned to the fort without Claesje but summoned Sander to come to him. Although he intended to arrest Sander, he apparently backed down when Sander presented him with three commissions from two directors-general and the patroon of Rensselaerswijck.[13]

Although Sander Leenderts initially supported and even physically defended Claesje, this changed when Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz, the two men whom Claesje had accused of theft, sued him for defamation in April 1652. When called before the court to defend himself, Sander Leendertsz explained that it had been his “Swartinne” [Black woman], not him, who had circulated the story about the theft.[14] On 11 June 1652 the court ordered Claesje to leave the jurisdiction within four days. She could either go to the island of Cornelis Segertsz or elsewhere. Machielsz and Luijersz were ordered to advance the costs of the court case, but whomever Claesje went to live with had to reimburse them.[15] Claesje did not leave within the appointed time, and on 16 July 1652, the court ordered commissary Dijckman to take her outside the jurisdiction. Anybody harboring her would be fined six guilders for the first offense, twelve guilders for the second, and more severe punishment for the third offense.[16]

Associations

Claesje was enslaved by Sander Leendertsen Glen and Catherine Duncanson, also known as Catalijn Sanders.[17] They had married in Amsterdam and had come to Rensselaerwijck in 1639, where Sander worked as a sailor and trader. In 1652, Sander received a patent for land in Beverwijck, where he settled. He also owned property in New Amsterdam and near the South River [Delaware].[18]

Claesje knew Jan Michielsen and Jacob Luijersen, whom she accused of making her steal from the people who held her in bondage. They in turn sued Sander Leendertsen and Catherine Duncanson and caused Claesje to be banned. When Claesje did not leave within the stipulated time, they complained to the court.[19]

Literature

Mosterman, Andrea C. Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 2021. Discusses Claesje in a section about living in bondage outside of New Amsterdam (pp. 49–51).

Source Editions

Gehring, Charles T., ed. Fort Orange Court Minutes, 1652–1660. Syracuse University Press, 1990. Claesje accused of circulating the accusation of theft (p. 4), banishment of Claesje (p. 13), removal from jurisdiction (p. 16).

Van Laer, A. J. F., ed. Minutes of the Court of Rensselaerswyck, 1648–1652. University of the State of New York, 1922. Claesje’s testimony about theft (pp. 191–92), deposition about the officer’s attempt to take Claesje (pp. 195–96).

Citations

[1] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652, in Rensselaerswijck, court minutes, 1648–1652, fol. 108r; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/18885), identifier NYSL_sc7079-b15-f108_p108r_ncn; citing Van Rensselaer Manor Papers, series SC7079 Box 15, folder 108, New York State Archives, Albany, New York. A portion of the document is not legible in the scanned originals, which are heavily damaged, but was preserved in a translation. A.J.F. Van Laer, ed., Minutes of the Court of Rensselaerswyck, 1648–1652 (Albany, New York: University of the State of New York, 1922), 191–92.

[2] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652.

[3] Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz vs. Cathalina Sanders, 11 June 1652, in Fort Orange, court minutes, vol. 1, 1652–1656, p. 10; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL5-WSXJ-N), image group no. 008201155, image 14 of 667; citing County Albany, New York.

[4] Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz vs. Cathalina Sanders, 11 June 1652.

[5] Andrea C. Mosterman, Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 2021), 49.

[6] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652.

[7] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652.

[8] Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz vs. Cathalina Sanders, 11 June 1652.

[9] Complaint by Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz about continuing presence of Sander Leendertsen’s black woman, 16 July 1652, in Fort Orange, court minutes, vol. 1, 1652–1656, p. 10; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL5-WSX2-9), image group no. 008201155, image 15 of 667; citing County Albany, New York.

[10] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652.

[11] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652.

[12] Declaration by Claesje about stolen goods, 2 March 1652.

[13] Declaration by Sander Leendersz, Catalyn Donckesz and Egbert Dojesz, 22 March 1652, in Rensselaerswijck, court minutes, 1648–1652, fol. 101r–102r; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/18890), identifier NYSL_sc7079-b15-f110_p110v-f111_p111v_ncn; citing Van Rensselaer Manor Papers, series SC7079 Box 15, folder 111, New York State Archives, Albany, New York. Parts of the document are illegible due to fire damage, and the reading is based on A. J. F. Van Laer, ed., Minutes of the Court of Rensselaerswyck, 1648–1652 (University of the State of New York, 1922), 195–96.

[14] Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz vs. Sander Leendertsz, 17 April 1652, in Fort Orange, court minutes, vol. 1, 1652–1656, p. 2; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL5-WSX2-Z), image group no. 008201155, image 10 of 667; citing County Albany, New York.

[15] Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz vs. Cathalina Sanders, 11 June 1652, in Fort Orange, court minutes, vol. 1, 1652–1656, p. 10; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL5-WSXJ-N), image group no. 008201155, image 14 of 667; citing County Albany, New York.

[16] Complaint by Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz about continuing presence of Sander Leendertsen’s black woman, 16 July 1652, in Fort Orange, court minutes, vol. 1, 1652–1656, p. 10; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL5-WSX2-9), image group no. 008201155, image 15 of 667; citing County Albany, New York.

[17] For Sander Leendertsen Glen see Adrian Benjamin Burke, “A Note on the Origins of Alexander Glen, Alias Sander Leendertz Glen, of Schenectady, New York,” New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 148 (April 2017): 129–37. For Catherine Duncanson see Gordon L. Remington, “The Duncanson Wives of Four New Netherland Settlers: Glen, Teller, Powell, and Loockermans,” New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 128 (January 1997): 1–10.

[18] Venema, Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 263.

[19] Complaint by Jan Machielsz and Jacob Luijersz about continuing presence of Sander Leendertsen’s black woman, 16 July 1652, in Fort Orange, court minutes, vol. 1, 1652–1656, p. 10; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL5-WSX2-9), image group no. 008201155, image 15 of 667; citing County Albany, New York.