Name
Jan Kolthoff,[1] also spelled as Colthoff.[2]
Origin
Jan Kolthoff was from Aterendorp,[3] present-day Otterndorf in Lower Saxony, Germany. He was lodging in Amsterdam, Holland, the Netherlands, in 1654.[4]
Migration
Jan Kolthoff sailed to New Netherland in 1654, probably shortly after 9 May.[5]
Biographical Details
Jan Kolthoff was born, probably in Otterndorf, between say 1608 and 1636. He was likely between 18 and 50 years old when he worked as a soldier in 1654[6] and 1658.[7] He died at an unknown date after 1658.[8]
Education
Originally from Lower Saxony, Jan Kolthoff probably spoke a Low German dialect. He was apparently not able to write, as in 1654, he signed with a mark.[9]
Occupation
Jan Kolthoff was a soldier in New Netherland. In 1654, the West India Company hired him to sail to New Netherland as a soldier for a salary of eight guilders per month.[10] By 1658, Jan had served in that colony as a soldier for almost four years. He explained to the New Netherland Council that he would gladly continue, for slightly higher pay. The council agreed to increase his wages to ten guilders per month.[11]
Associations
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Before his departure to New Netherland, Jan Kolthoff lodged with Coert Stresen in Amsterdam. In 1654, Jan owed his landlord 60 guilders for room, board, and money for the gear and supplies he needed for his voyage. He authorized Stresen to garnish his wages from the West India Company to clear the debt.[12] Coert Stresen was a former soldier from Ritburgh,[13] present-day Rethberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He later worked as a cobbler.[14] In the 1640s, he also lent money to another West India Company soldier who had lodged with him in return for his future wages,[15] suggesting this was a usual way for him to supplement his income.
Source Editions
Gehring, Charles T., and Janny Venema, eds. Council Minutes, 1656–1658. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University, 2018. Petition to increase wages (p. 338).
Nieuwenhuis, Pim. “Abstracts from Notarial Documents in the Amsterdam Archive.” New Netherland Connections. Vols. 4 and 5. Debt to Coert Stresen (5.2: 52).
Citations
[1] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654, in Johan Dirksz Verhij, notary (Amsterdam), minutes and copies, 1 January 1654–29 December 1654, p. 218B; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/5a564302-c2e9-4bd3-3d13-f3bea33235bd), image 209 of 617; citing call no. 825, Record Group 5075: Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam [Records of the Notaries Residing in Amsterdam], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
[2] Request by Jan Colthoff, 7 January 1658, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 8, 1656–1658, p. 633; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/56225), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V08_0633a; citing series A1809, New York State Archives, Albany, New York. The archival description dates the document to 8 January 1658 rather than the 7 January 1658 date that is in the original record.
[3] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[4] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[5] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[6] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[7] Request by Jan Colthoff, 7 January 1658.
[8] Request by Jan Colthoff, 7 January 1658.
[9] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[10] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[11] Request by Jan Colthoff, 7 January 1658.
[12] Debt from Jan Kolthoff to Coert Stresen, 9 May 1654.
[13] Marriage intentions of Coert Streesen and Betgie Harmes, 1 March 1631, in Amsterdam, marriage intentions of the church, 1630–1631, p. 111; imaged, “Indexen,” Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/d45844c6-d9f2-4a5d-968e-4f2c36cb4fa2); citing call no. 437, RG 5001: Archief van de Burgerlijke Stand: doop-, trouw- en begraafboeken van Amsterdam (retroacta van de Burgerlijke Stand) [Archives of the Civil Registration: baptismal, marriage, and burial books of Amsterdam (predecessors of the civil registration)], Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
[14] Marriage intentions of Coert Strese and Anne Marie Ferdinands, 1 December 1663, in Amsterdam, marriage intentions of the church, 1663–1664, p. 81; imaged, “Indexen,” Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/b283d4b3-7b10-437c-957f-12f5e6536f89); citing call no. 485, RG 5001, Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
[15] Debt from Jan Jochumsz to Coert Stresen, 24 November 1644, in Hendrick Schaef, notary (Amsterdam), minutes of conveyances from soldiers and sailors, 1644, fol. 163v; imaged, “Indexen,” Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/9d6d21e3-aded-666d-e053-b784100a1840); citing call no. 1321, RG 5075, Stadsarchief Amsterdam.