Leonora Paijé

Name

Leonora Paijé. Her name is known from a single document, a 1644 deposition about her marriages to two Dutch soldiers.[1] Historian Mark Ponte suggests her name may have been Paz.[2]

Origin

Leonora Paijé was a Portuguese woman who was living in Maranhão, Brazil in 1643.[3] Whether she was born in Brazil or Portugal is unknown.

Migration

Leonora Paijé left Brazil in 1644, probably after the recapture of São Luis in Maranhão by the Portuguese. Hundreds of Dutch soldiers fled from Brazil to Curaçao, and about 130, including Leonora’s second husband, were sent on to New Netherland.[4] 

Leonora Paijé and her husband sailed from Curaçao to Manhattan on the ship de Blauwen Haen [The Blue Cock].[5] They arrived by 21 July 1644, when the New Netherland council discussed employing the newly arrived soldiers for the war against the Native Americans.[6]

Settlement

It is unknown how long Leonora Paijé stayed in New Netherland, since she is not mentioned in any records created there. Her second husband Gijsbert de Leeuw lived in New Amsterdam, in a house that belonged to Nicholas Stillwell, on the north side of the canal.[7] 

Gijsbert de Leeuw served in New Netherland until 1647, when he boarded the Prinses [Princess] to return to Amsterdam. The ship sunk off the coast of Wales, but Gijsbert survived. On 7 November 1647, he was back in Amsterdam, where he gave a deposition about his voyage.[8]  On 4 December 1647, he was about to depart to Brazil when he gave another deposition.[9] Gijsbert made the depositions to prove the death of two passengers on behalf of their next-of-kin. He did not mention his wife, nor would that be expected in depositions about other passengers. If Leonora went with him on the Prinses, she probably perished, since only 21 of the 107 passengers and crew survived.[10] 

Gijsbert de Leeuw was in Brazil in 1654, when that Dutch colony was recaptured by the Portuguese. In 1655, he was still owed 163 guilders in back wages.[11] Whether Leonora was still alive and returned with him to Brazil is unknown.

Biographical Details

Leonora was probably between 20 and 40 years old when she first married in 1643, and born between say 1603 and 1623. She died at an unknown date after July 1644,[12] perhaps when the Prinses sank in 1647.

Marriage and Children

According to the 1644 deposition, Leonora Paijé first married Matheus Harmensz van Lingen, a sergeant in the service of the West India Company, in the church of Maranhão, Brazil (probably in Sâo Luis) in May 1643. The service was performed by Rev. Velthuijsen. After Van Lingen’s death, his dead body was put over the side of the Spreeuw, implying Matheus had died at sea. Leonora Paijé sailed with other soldiers to Curaçao, where she married Gijsbert de Leeuw, an ensign from Utrecht, just five weeks after the death of her husband. They were married in the church at Curaçao by Rev. Johannes Backer, and sailed to New Netherland shortly after.[13] 

On 14 October 1644, Niclaes Servaes and Jaacq Teilleu gave a deposition to Amsterdam notary Hendrick Schaeff about Leonora and her two husbands at the request of David Loman, former ensign in Maranhão.[14] They did not give a reason for the deposition, but its recitation of the details about her marriages suggests the deposition served to prove their validity. Perhaps Leonora Paijé or Gijsbert de Leeuw had given David Loman a power of attorney to claim her first husband’s wages.

Church Membership

Leonora married in the Dutch Reformed Churches in Maranhão and Curaçao.[15] Her Portuguese background suggests she may have been raised in the Catholic faith.

Associations

Leonora Paijé was acquainted with Niclaes Servaes and Jaacq Teilleu, two West India Company soldiers who had served in Brazil and gave a deposition about her marriages in 1644. Niclaes Servaes was born in Middelburg around 1598. He had sailed to Brazil in 1633 and had attended both her marriages. He had even helped carry her late husband’s body overboard. Jaacq Teilleu was born in Calais about 1615. He had arrived in Maranhão shortly after Leonora’s marriage to her first husband, and had witnessed them living together as man and wife. Servaes and Teilleu sailed with Leonora to Curaçao, where they attended her second marriage, and then sailed on the Blauwen Haen to New Netherland together. Leonora Paijé would also have known David Loman, who requested the deposition.[16] 

Literature

Ponte, Mark. “Mulheres Europeias no Brasil Holandês.” BN Digital Brasil. https://bndigital.bn.gov.br/dossies/historias-da-nova-holanda/mulheres-europeias-no-brasil-holandes/.

_____. “Reislustige Vrouwen: Daar Was Laatst Een Meisje Loos.” Ons Amsterdam, January 1, 2020. https://onsamsterdam.nl/artikelen/reislustige-vrouwen-daar-was-laatst-een-meisje-loos.

Citations

[1] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644, in Hendrik Schaef, notary (Amsterdam), minutes and copies of attestations, procurations, inventories, and other records, 2 January–1 November 1644, folio 183r–v; imaged, “Indexen,” Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/a3cb51cc-74c0-50ee-e053-b784100a6caf), image 185–86 of 199; citing call no. 1289, Record Group [RG] 5075: Archief van de Notarissen ter Standplaats Amsterdam [Records of the Notaries Residing in Amsterdam], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

[2] Mark Ponte, “Mulheres Europeias no Brasil Holandês,” BN Digital Brasil (https://bndigital.bn.gov.br/dossies/historias-da-nova-holanda/mulheres-europeias-no-brasil-holandes/).

[3] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

[4] Jeff Snedeker, “The Men Who Fought the Manhattan India War: Part I, The Background,” New Netherland Connections 4 (July, August, September 1999): 77–84.

[5] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

[6] Resolution for the distribution of soldiers arrived from Curaçao, 21 July 1644, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 4, 1638–1649, p. 195–96; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11592), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V04_p195-196; citing series A1809, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[7] Contract of sale from Nicholas Stillwell to Jan Jansen Schepmoes, 25 November 1646, in New Netherland, register of the secretary of the province, vol. 2, 1642–1647, p. 152; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11267), identifier NYSA_A0270-78_V2_152e; citing series A0270-78, New Netherland Provincial Secretary Register of the Provincial Secretary, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[8] Deposition by Gijsbert de Leeuw, Henrick Ellerts, and Lourens Eckerman, 7 November 1647, in Hendrik Schaef, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 1647, folios 188v–189r; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/7e5ff5c2-2f40-09d9-896c-26…), image 190 of 230; citing call no. 2123, RG 5075, Stadsarchief Amsterdam.

[9] Power of attorney by Gijsbert de Leeuw to Maijcken de Leeuw, 4 December 1647, in Joannes Weer, notary (Amsterdam), minutes, 1646–1647, pages 425–26; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/a92ef313-9647-5331-803e-de…), images 244–45 of 283; citing call no. 2123, RG 5075, Stadsarchief Amsterdam.

[10]  Simon Groenveld, "New Light on a Drowned Princess: Information from London," De Halve Maen 74 (Summer2001): 23–28. Charles T. Gehring, “Wringing Information from a Drowned Princess: Using the Notarial Records of Amsterdam for Historical Research,” in Elisabeth Paling Funk and Martha Dickinson Shattuck, eds., A Beautiful and Fruitful Place: Selected Rensselaerswijck Paper,  Vol. 2 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011), 131–34.

[11] List of open accounts for officers and soldiers at the time of the loss of Brazil, received 28 August 1655, p. 3, entry for Gijsbert de Leeu, in States-General, incoming ordinary letters and records, 1654–1655; imaged, Nationaal Archief (https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/1.01.02/invnr/5765), images 433–39; citing call no. 5765, RG 1.01.02: Archief van de Staten-Generaal [Records of the States-General], Nationaal Archief, The Hague, Netherlands.

[12] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

[13] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

[14] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

[15] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

[16] Deposition about Leonora Paijé, 14 October 1644.

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