Lucia van Angola

Name

Lucia van Angola, also spelled as Lucie, d’Angola.[1] She was also called Louisa.[2]

Origin

Lucia was originally from Angola, as indicated by “Van Angola” and “d’Angool.”[3]

Migration

Lucia van Angola was transported to New Netherland between 1627 (first arrival of enslaved Black people in the colony)[4] and 23 September 1640 (baptismal witness).[5]

Settlement

Lucia van Angola probably lived in or near New Amsterdam, where she married and had her child baptized.[6] She and her husband may have lived on the land north of New Amsterdam that was later granted to him.[7] 

Biographical Details

Lucia van Angola was born between say 1600 and 1625. She would not have been brought to New Netherland if she was an older woman. She was probably at least sixteen years old at the time of her second marriage in 1641.[8]

Lucia van Angola died about four weeks after the baptism of her only known child on 30 August 1643.[9]

Marriage and Children

Lucia van Angola first married Laurens van Angola. In her book Spaces of Enslavement, Andrea Mosterman infers they probably married in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam, before the surviving marriage records start in 1640. The Dutch Reformed minister knew of their marriage and considered it valid, or he would not have called Lucia the widow of Laurens van Angola.

Lucie d’Angool, widow of Laurens van Angola, registered her marriage intentions in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam on 5 May 1641. She married Anthonie van Angola, the widower of Catalina van Angola.[10] They were the first African couple in New Amsterdam whose marriage record still exists. He was also known as Cleijn Anthony.[11] 

Child of Lucia van Angola and Anthonij van Angola:

1. Anthonij, son of Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, “neger” [Black man], baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdan om 30 August 1643 (witnesses: Jan Augustinus, “neger,” Victorie Paulus, “negrinne” [Black woman]).[12] The baptismal registration shows Anthonij van Angola had the nickname “Cleijn Anthonij” [Little Anthonij]. 
   After Lucia’s death, about four weeks after the baptism, Anthonij’s godmother took him in. Called Victorie Paulus in the baptismal record, she later referred to herself as Reijtorij or Dorothea Angola. Cleijn Anthonij died five years later, and Reijtorij continued to raise the child as her own. On 21 March 1661, her husband successfully petitioned the New Netherland council for Anthonij’s freedom on her behalf.[13] On 19 October 1667, governor Nicolls confirmed the patent that had been granted to Cleijn Anthonij van Angola to his son, also called Cleijn Anthonij.[14]

Enslavement

Lucia van Angola was probably enslaved by the West India Company, like her husband was until he received his half-freedom on 25 February 1644 (several months after Lucia’s death).[15] It seems unlikely that Lucia would have been manumitted before her husband, though the woman who raised her orphaned child later claimed Lucia and Anthonij van Angola were “beijde vrije negros” [both free Black people].[16] A more likely explanation is that Retorij Angola remembered that the wives were freed along with their husbands, and did not realize (or did not want to emphasize) that Lucia had died before her husband’s manumission. She emphasized that both Lucia and Anthonij were free people in her petition to secure freedom for her adopted son.

Church Membership

Lucia van Angola married her second husband in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam and had her child baptized there.[17] She also witnessed the baptisms of three children in that church:

• Catharina, daughter of Emanuel van Angola, baptized 23 September 1640 (witnesses: Dominicus Theunis, Lucie van Angola).[18]
• Anthonij and Maria, twins, children of Anthonij Portugies, baptized 14 July 1641 (witnesses: Jacob Anthonij van Angola, Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, Lijcije and Anthone van Angola).[19]

Associations

Lucia knew Emanuel van Angola and Anthonij Portugies, who chose her to witness their children’s baptisms.[20] She also knew Jan Augustinus and Retorij Angola (also known as Dorothea Angola or Victorie Paulus), two Black people she chose to witness her son’s baptism.[21]

Literature

Christoph, Peter R. “The Freedmen of New Amsterdam.” In A Beautiful and Fruitful Place: Selected Rensselaerswijck Seminar Papers, edited by Nancy Anne McClure Zeller, 157–70. New Netherland Publishing, 1991. Discusses the care for the orphan child of Lucia and Cleijn Antonie van Angola (p. 161).

Mosterman, Andrea C. Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 2021. Discusses the marriages of Africans in New Netherland, including Lucia’s marriage to Anthonij van Angola (pp. 39–40).

Citations

[1] Marriage intentions of Anthonie van Angola and Lucie d’Angool, 5 May 1641, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, marriage register, 1639–1701, p. 572; imaged, “U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639–1989,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961) > New York > Manhattan > Collegiate Church . . . > image 463 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Baptism of Catharina, daughter of Emanuel van Angola, 23 September 1640, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 251; imaged, “U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639–1989,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961) > New York > Manhattan > Collegiate Church . . . > image 151 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

[2] Petition for freedom of Anthonij Angola, 21 March 1661, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 9, 1660–1661, p. 557–59; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/53726), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V09_0557; citing series A1809, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[3] Marriage intentions of Anthonie van Angola and Lucie d’Angool, 5 May 1641.

[4] Jaap Jacobs, “The First Arrival of Enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam,” New York History 104, no. 1 (Summer 2023): 96–114, https://doi.org/10.1353/nyh.2023.a902905.

[5] Baptism of Catharina, daughter of Emanuel van Angola, 23 September 1640.

[6] Marriage intentions of Anthonie van Angola and Lucie d’Angool, 5 May 1641. Baptism of Anthonij, son of Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, 30 August 1643.

[7] Confirmation of patent to Cleijn Antonio, 30 December 1644, confirmed 19 October 1667, in Richard Nicolls, governor (New York), letters patent, vol. 2, pp. 130–31; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/88136), identifier NYSA_12943-78_V02_p130-131; citing series 12943-78, Department of State, Bureau of Miscellaneous Records, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[8] Marriage intentions of Anthonie van Angola and Lucie d’Angool, 5 May 1641.

[9] Petition for freedom of Anthonij Angola, 21 March 1661.

[10] Marriage intentions of Anthonie van Angola and Lucie d’Angool, 5 May 1641.

[11] Petition for freedom of Anthonij Angola, 21 March 1661.

[12] Baptism of Anthonij, son of Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, 30 August 1643, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 258; image 158 of 1410.

[13] Petition for freedom of Anthonij Angola, 21 March 1661.

[14] Confirmation of patent to Cleijn Antonio, 30 December 1644, confirmed 19 October 1667.

[15] Manumission of eleven black men, 25 February 1644, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 4, 1638–1649, p. 183–84; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11580), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V04_p183-184.

[16] Petition for freedom of Anthonij Angola, 21 March 1661.

[17] Marriage intentions of Anthonie van Angola and Lucie d’Angool, 5 May 1641. Baptism of Anthonij, son of Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, 30 August 1643.

[18] Baptism of Catharina, daughter of Emanuel van Angola, 23 September 1640.

[19] Baptism of Anthonij and Maria, children of Anthonij Portugies, 14 July 1641.

[20] Baptism of Catharina, daughter of Emanuel van Angola, 23 September 1640. Baptism of Anthonij and Maria, children of Anthonij Portugies, 14 July 1641.

[21] Baptism of Anthonij, son of Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, 30 August 1643.

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