Name
Lourviso Barbosse was an enslaved boy in 1639. His name is known only from a deposition about his death.[1]
In the Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, E.B. O’Callaghan mistakenly called him “Lewis Berbese.”[2] The original record shows the name as Lourviso Barbosse, and Van Laer’s translation uses that spelling.[3]
Origin
Called a “Swarte jong[en]” [Black boy] and a “Swart” [Black], Lourviso Barbosse was of African origin.[4]
The name Lourviso Barbosse sounds Spanish or Portuguese rather than Dutch. Lourviso or his parents may have been enslaved in South America or seized from a Spanish ship before being brought to New Netherland, like many Africans in the early years of the colony.[5]
No known New Netherland records mention other people named Barbosse who could have been Lourviso’s parents. Since few enslaved Africans are mentioned in colonial records by name, this does not necessarily imply he was born elsewhere.
Migration
Lourviso Barbosse was in New Netherland by 1639. Whether he was brought to the colony or born there is unknown.
Settlement
In 1639, Lourviso Barbosse probably lived at Fort de Hoop [the Hope], where the man who held him in bondage was a commissioner.[6] Located on the Connecticut river at the current location of Hartford, the fort was established in 1633 to claim the territory for the Dutch and prevent westward expansion of the New England colony. The small fort probably housed only a garrison.[7]
Biographical Details
Lourviso Barbosse was called a boy in the 1639 deposition, suggesting he was under sixteen years old, probably under twelve. Trusted to handle a pan and a knife, Lourviso was probably at least six years old.[8] That puts Lourviso’s birth date between say 1627 and 1633, perhaps a few years earlier.
Lourviso Barbosse was killed before 9 November 1639, when Gijsbert Opdijck, commissioner at Fort the Hoop, gave a deposition about his death. Considering the travel time from Fort de Hoop to New Amsterdam, Lourviso’s death may have occurred several weeks or even months earlier. Gijsbert Opdijck had been called before the New Netherland council by the fiscal—an official who acted as prosecutor—to account for the death of his “Swarte Jongen” [Black boy]. Opdijck explained how he had handed his boy Lourviso Barbosse a pan to bake cakes. As the pan was too hot, Opdijck took the pan back and passed the boy a knife, and then ordered the boy to get a dish. When Lourviso returned with a dirty dish, Opdijck beat him. The boy attacked Opdijck to avoid the blows, causing Opdijck to thrust him away. He fell on his side, and Opdijck pushed him with his foot. Lourviso ran toward the door and fell, and Opdijck then found the said knife bent like a hoop. The boy had a wound in his torso, near his left arm, and died shortly afterward.[9] Gijsbert Opdijck’s deposition is the only known record about the incident. The apparent lack of prosecution or punishment indicates that the New Netherland council considered it an accident.
Hugo de Groot’s 1631 introduction to Holland jurisprudence, referenced in New Netherland,[10] describes the legal implications of a “misdaed tegen ’t leven” [crime against life], or manslaughter. In such cases, the victim’s next of kin were entitled to compensation for damages and loss of income. Additionally, the court determined whether the perpetrator would be punished (corporal punishment or banishment) or forgiven. The compensation and punishment depended on different factors: whether it was murder (premeditated), whether the death occurred during a fight, whether equal or unequal weapons were used, who caused the fight, and whether it was a case of negligence.[11] Gijsbert Opdijck’s statement echoes several mitigating circumstances mentioned in the Holland law: Lourviso’s death was not premeditated, the boy participated in the fight, had a knife, and attacked Opdijck. Opdijck apparently avoided punishment and was not required to pay compensation. As Lourviso’s enslaver, any compensation would have been due to himself.
In the opinion of Jaap Jacobs, the deposition illustrates that black people, whether enslaved or free, had legal rights, including protection against mistreatment.[12] The fiscal’s demand that Opdijck explain the death reflects those rights. However, the court’s handling of Lourviso Barbosse’s death also illustrates how vulnerable enslaved boys could be. Cases of manslaughter where the victim was white were investigated more fully. For example, when Jan Gysbertsen from Rotterdam was charged with manslaughter of Gerrit Jansen in 1638, witnesses were called and a surgeon examined the body.[13] A surgeon’s statement led to the release of Jochem Beeckman, accused of killing Jacob Jeuriaensz in 1639.[14] No witnesses were interrogated about Lourviso Barbosse’s death, nor did a surgeon examine his wounds to verify Opdijck’s account. As Charles William Opdyke put it, “Gysbert’s explanation of the circumstances of the death was received as final and his word was not questioned.”[15]
Enslavement
Lourviso Barbosse was held in bondage until his death in 1639. He was enslaved by Gijsbert Opdijck, who would beat Lourviso if the boy did not meet his demands. One such violent encounter led to Lourviso’s death.[16]
Gijsbert Opdijck probably acquired Lourviso Barbosse between 1635 and 1639. Opdijck arrived in New Netherland after 24 May 1635, when the West India Company chamber of Amsterdam appointed him as under-commissioner on the Zevenster, about to depart to New Netherland.[17] Lourviso was probably held in bondage by someone else during the first years of his life.
Occupation
Lourviso Barbosse was tasked with domestic duties, including cooking.[18]
Associations
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Gijsbert Opdijck held Lourviso Barbosse in bondage and started the violent encounter that led to Lourviso’s death.[19]
Literature
Jacobs, Jaap. New Netherland: A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America. Leiden, Netherlands and Boston, Massachusetts: Brill, 2005. Pages 380–8. Jacobs discusses the legal conditions of enslaved and free Africans in the colony, using the deposition about Lourviso Barbosse’s death as an example (p. 386).
____, “Van Angola Naar Manhattan.” Remmert Daalder, Dirk J. Tang, and Leo Balai, eds. Slaven en schepen in het Atlantisch Gebied. Leiden, Netherlands: Primavera, 2013. Jacobs treats the incident with Lourviso Barbosse as an example of protection from abuse that enslaved people had.
Opdyke, Charles Wilson and Leonard Eckstein Opdycke. The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Updyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families. Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1889. Opdyke provides biographical information about Gijsbert Opdijck. Opdyke discusses Lourviso’s death without mentioning his name, instead referring to him as “Gysbert’s ‘black boy’” (page 50).
Scott, Kenneth and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, eds. Council Minutes, 1638–1649. Trans. A.J.F. Van Laer. Vol. IV. New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1974. Page 66.
Citations
[1] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639 in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 4, 1638–1649, pp. 53–54; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11450), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V04_p053-054; citing series A1809, Dutch colonial council minutes, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
[2] E.B O’Callaghan, ed., Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, N.Y.: Dutch Manuscripts, 1630-1664, vol. 1 (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1856), 70.
[3] Kenneth Scott and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, eds., Council Minutes, 1638–1649, trans. A.J.F. Van Laer, vol. IV, New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1974), 66.
[4] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639. The last letters of “Jongen” are illegible in the margin due to fire damage.
[5] Andrea C. Mosterman, Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 2021), 21.
[6] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639.
[7] Jaap Jacobs, Dutch Colonial Fortifications in North America 1614-1676 (Amsterdam, Netherlands: New Holland Foundation, 2015), http://www.newhollandfoundation.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/PDF-Dutch-Colonial-Fortifications-in-North-America.pdf.
[8] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639.
[9] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639.
[10] Scott Christianson, “Criminal Punishment in New Netherland,” in A Beautiful and Fruitful Place: Selected Rensselaerswijck Seminar Papers, ed. Nancy Anne McClure Zeller (New Netherland Publishing, 1991), 83–90 (p. 84).
[11] Hugo de Groot, Inleiding tot de Hollandsche rechts-geleertheid, vol. 2 (The Hague, Netherlands: weduwe ende erfgenamen van wijlen Hillebrand Iacobssz. van Wouw, 1631), 90–91.
[12] Jaap Jacobs, New Netherland: A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America (Leiden, Netherlands and Boston, Massachusetts: Brill, 2005), 386. Also, Jaap Jacobs, “Van Angola Naar Manhattan,” in Remmert Daalder, Dirk J. Tang, and Leo Balai, eds., Slaven en schepen in het Atlantisch Gebied (Leiden, Netherlands: Primavera, 2013), 75–80.
[13] Scott and Stryker-Rodda, Council Minutes, 1638–1649, 24.
[14] Scott and Stryker-Rodda, Council Minutes, 1638–1649, 51.
[15] Charles Wilson Opdyke and Leonard Eckstein Opdycke, The Op Dyck Genealogy, Containing the Opdyck-Opdycke-Updyke-Updike American Descendants of the Wesel and Holland Families (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1889), 50.
[16] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639.
[17] Appointment of Gijsbert op den Dijck as under-commissioner on the Zevenster, 24 May 1635, in West India Company, minutes of the Chamber Amsterdam, 1635–1636, fol. 34v; imaged, Nationaal Archief (https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/1.05.01.01/invnr/14), image 68 of 443; citing call no. 14, Record Group 1.05.01.01: Archief van de Oude West-Indische Compagnie [Records of the Old West India Company], Nationaal Archief, The Hague, Netherlands.
[18] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639.
[19] Deposition about the death of Lourviso Barbosse, 9 November 1639.
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