Simon Congo

Name

Simon Congo was a Black man in New Netherland.[1] On one occasion, he was called Simon Congo Augustijn.[2]

Origin

Simon’s name indicates he was from Congo.

Migration

Simon Congo was probably one of the twenty-two Black slaves brought to New Netherland on the Bruijnvisch in 1627. Jaap Jacobs reconstructed this first arrival of enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam, and identified some of them with the group manumitted in 1644.[3] 

In 1627, ships belonging to the Zeeland chamber of the West India Company seized a Portuguese ship carrying 225 Black people. The ship had sailed from São Tomé and may have been en route to Cartagena.[4] The captured ship was leaky. The Dutch took twenty-two of the healthiest people, and let the ship continue with the rest.[5] They transferred the captives to the Bruijnvisch, which sailed via Hispaniola and the Florida coast to New Netherland. They arrived on 29 August 1627.[6]

Settlement

Simon Congo lived on Manhattan, where he owned land.[7]

Biographical Details

Simon was probably between say 15 and 25 years old in 1627, if he was one of the twenty-two healthiest people selected for continued enslavement, suggesting a birth date between say 1602 and 1612. He died after 18 October 1667, when governor Nicolls confirmed a land grant to him.[8]

Enslavement

If Simon Congo was indeed brought to New Netherland on the Bruijnvisch, he was first held in bondage by the Portuguese.[9] In 1627, Simon would have been enslaved by the Dutch West India Company.

In 1644, eleven Black men, including “Sijmon Congo,” petitioned the New Netherland governor for their freedom. They explained how they had served the West India Company for eighteen or nineteen years and had long been promised their freedom. In the company’s service, it would be impossible to support their families. On 25 February 1644, governor Willem Kieft granted their request. They would receive farmland to provide for their families. In return, they had to provide 30 schepel of corn annually to the company and remain available for (paid) work. Their current or future children would not be free, but would remain serfs of the West India Company.[10] Although the land patent called Sijmon Congo a “free Negroe,”[11] the imposed conditions indicate it was rather a half-freedom—with more rights than enslaved people, but fewer than free colonists.

In 1650, the New Netherland committee explained that the freed slaves had been confiscated from the Spanish and had served the West India Company for a long time before their eventual emancipation. Of all the children, only three were still used as slaves.[12] Apart from the nationality of the ship that first transported the slaves, this explanation matches Jacobs’s argument that the manumitted slaves were part of the human cargo transported on the Bruijnvisch. The 1650 committee report and the 1644 book documenting the capture were created years after the 1627 capture,[13] so minor discrepancies are to be expected.

Simon was called “Simon Congo Augustijn” when he witnessed the baptism of a child in 1647.[14] This suggests a possible connection to Augustijn Hermans, a merchant and trader, including in slaves.[15] Augustijn Heermans may have owned Simon at one point, or rented his services.

Occupation

The West India Company exploited Simon Congo’s labor between 1627 ( when he probably arrived) and 1644 (when he was manumitted). After obtaining his freedom, he still had to be available to work for the company, for a wage.[16] Laborers enslaved by the West India Company were tasked with building Fort Amsterdam (completed in 1635), cutting timber and firewood, clearing land, burning lime, and gathering the harvest.[17] 

Holdings and Estate

On 15 December 1644, New Netherland governor Willem Kieft granted land to Sijmon Congo. The land was located on Manhattan, to the west of the land then belonging to Jan Coles [Celes, Sales], between that land and a swamp. The land bordered Pieter Santomee’s land on the east side, extended to the swamp next to Jan Coles’s land southeast by south 25 rod, east-southeast 75 rod, east-northeast 30 rod, north somewhat easterly 48 rod on both sides of the swamp. In total, the land measured about eight acres of 4 margen and 357 rods. Governor Nicolls confirmed the patent on 18 October 1667.[18] According to I.N. Phelps Stokes, Simon Congo later sold the land to Derick Siecken.[19]

According to Phelps, Simon Congo also received a grant for a 45-acre tract, later known as the Brevoort farm, as annotated on an “ancient map,” which was based on a map of 1760.[20] The second land grant to Simon Congo could not be verified with records created during his lifetime.

Church Membership

Simon Congo witnessed the baptism of the following children at the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam:

• Maria, daughter of Jan van ’t Fort Orangien, baptized on 22 July 1640. Witnesses: Simon Congoij, Isabel d’Angola, “negers” [negroes].[21]
• Adam and Eva, twin son and daughter of Emanuel Neger, baptized on 31 March 1647. Witnesses: Simon Congoij Augustijn, Palas and Cecilia.[22]
• [probably] Çecilia, daughter of Anthonij Mathijs, “neger” [negroe], baptized on 7 February 1655. Witnesses: Simon Conck, Christina d’Angola.[23]

Associations

Simon Congo was part of a group of Black men that appear in several records together. Simon Congo was accused of Jan Premero’s murder along with Paulo d’Angola, Jan van Fort Orange, Manuel de Gerrit de Reus, Anthonij de Portugees, Manuel Minuit, Gracia d’Angola, and Groote Manuel.[24] Most of these men were among those that requested manumission in 1644 alongside Simon: Paulo Angolo, Groot [Big] Manuel, Cleijn [Small] Manuel, Manuel de Gerrit de Reus, Gracia d’Angola, Antonij Portugis, Piter Santomee, Jan Francisco, Cleijn [Small] Antonij, Jan Fort Orange.[25] He also knew Anthonij Mathijs, who asked him to witness the baptism of his daughter Çecilia.[26] 

Additional Details

On 17 January 1641, Simon Congo was one of nine Black men accused of killing Jan Premero, also a Black man. The men confessed to killing Premero on 6 January 1641 in the woods behind their houses, but did not say who had dealt the final blow. The New Netherland Council decided to draw lots instead of convicting everyone. Manuel de Gerrit de Reus was selected and sentenced to death, though he was later pardoned after a failed execution. Simon Congo and the other seven men were acquitted.[27]

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.

Jacobs, Jaap. “The First Arrival of Enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam.” New York History 104 (Summer 2023): 96–114. https://doi.org/10.1353/nyh.2023.a902905. Although the article does not name the twenty-two enslaved Africans, it provides insights into the likely circumstances of Simon’s arrival in New Netherland.

_____.  “Van Angola Naar Manhattan: Slavernij in Nieuw-Nederland in de Zeventiende Eeuw.” In Daalder, Remmert, Dirk J. Tang, and Leo Balai, eds. Slaven En Schepen in Het Atlantisch Gebied, 75–80. Leiden, Netherlands: Primavera, 2013.

Mosterman, Andrea C. Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 2021. Pages 13, 26, 41, 43, 154.

Phelps Stokes, Isaac Newton. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909: Compiled from Original Sources and Illustrated by Photo-Intaglio Reproductions of Important Maps, Plans, Views, and Documents in Public and Private Collections. 6 vols. New York City, New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1928. Vol. 6:81 discusses the grant of 45 acres to Simon Congo. Vol. 6:75 discusses Simon Congo’s land as neighboring the grant to Pieter Santome.

Source Editions

Dickenson, Richard. “Abstracts of Early Black Manhattanites.” New York Genealogical & Biographical Record 116 (April 1985): 100–104.

Scott, Kenneth, and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, eds. Council Minutes, 1638–1649. Translated by A.J.F. Van Laer. Vol. IV. New York Historical Manuscripts: Dutch. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1974. Pages 97–100, 212–13.

Sypher, Francis J., ed. Liber A of the Collegiate Churches of New York, Part 2: Baptisms 1639 to 1697, Members 1649 to 1701, Marriages 1639 to 1701. Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015. Simon Congo is mentioned as a baptismal witness on pp. 5, 34.

Citations

[1] Fiscal vs. Cleijn Antonio and others, 17 January 1641, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 4, 1638–1649, p. 83; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11480), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V04_p083; citing series A1809, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[2] Baptism of Adam and Eva, children of Emanuel Neger, 31 March 1647, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 269; 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 169 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

[3] 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.

[4] Jacobs, “The First Arrival of Enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam.”

[5] Joannes de Laet, Historie ofte iaerlyck verhael van de verrichtinghen der geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie, zedert haer begin, tot het eynde van ’t jaer sesthien-hondert ses-en-dertich; begrepen in derthien boecken, ende met verscheyden koperen platen verciert: beschreven door Ioannes de Laet . . . (Elzevir, Bonaventura & Abraham, 1644), 117.

[6] De Laet, Historie ofte iaerlyck verhael, 119.

[7] Confirmation of patent to Symon Congoe, 15 December 1644, confirmed 18 October 1667, in Richard Nicolls, governor (New York), letters patent, vol. 2, p. 129–30; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/88134), identifier NYSA_12943-78_V02_p129-130; citing series 12943-78, Department of State, Bureau of Miscellaneous Records, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[8] Confirmation of patent to Symon Congoe, 15 December 1644, confirmed 18 October 1667, in Richard Nicolls, governor (New York), letters patent, vol. 2, p. 129–30; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/88134), identifier NYSA_12943-78_V02_p129-130; citing series 12943-78, Department of State, Bureau of Miscellaneous Records, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[9] Jacobs, “The First Arrival of Enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam.”

[10] 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.

[11] Confirmation of patent to Gratia Dangola, 15 December 1644, confirmed 19 October 1667.

[12] New Netherland committee, reply to the remonstrance about situation in New Netherland, 31 January 1650, article 43, in States-General, records regarding the situation in New-Netherland, in particular the position of patroons and population, 1649–1650; call no. 12564.30A, Record Group 1.01.02: Archief van de Staten-Generaal [Records of the States-General], Nationaal Archief, The Hague, Netherlands; scans supplied by Nationaal Archief.

[13] De Laet, Historie often iaerlyck verhael, 119.

[14] Baptism of Adam and Eva, children of Emanuel Neger, 31 March 1647

[15] Earl L. W. Heck, Augustine Herrman, Beginner of the Virginia Tobacco Trade, Merchant of New Amsterdam and First Lord of Bohemia Manor in Maryland (Englewood, Ohio: William Bird, 1941), 13.

[16] Manumission of eleven black men, 25 February 1644.

[17] “Deposition of Jacob Stoffelsen, overseer of Negroes, as to the employment of said Negroes during the administration of Wouter van Twiller,” Kenneth Scott and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, eds., Register of the Provincial Secretary, 1638–1642, trans. Arnold J. F Van Laer, vol. 1 (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1974), 112–13.

[18] Confirmation of patent to Symon Congoe, 15 December 1644, confirmed 18 October 1667, in Richard Nicolls, governor (New York), letters patent, vol. 2, p. 129–30; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/88134), identifier NYSA_12943-78_V02_p129-130; citing series 12943-78, Department of State, Bureau of Miscellaneous Records, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

[19] Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909: Compiled from Original Sources and Illustrated by Photo-Intaglio Reproductions of Important Maps, Plans, Views, and Documents in Public and Private Collections, 6 vols. (New York City, New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1928), 6:147–48; citing Alexander Papers, New York Historical Society.

[20] Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 6:81.

[21] Baptism of Maria van ’t Fort Orangien, 22 July 1640, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 250; image 150 of 1410.

[22] Baptism of Adam and Eva, children of Emanuel Neger, 31 March 1647, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 269; image 169 of 1410.

[23] Baptism of Çecilia, daughter of Anthonij Matthijs, 7 February 1655, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 292; image 194 of 1410.

[24] Fiscal vs. Cleijn Antonio and others, 17 January 1641.

[25] Manumission of eleven black men, 25 February 1644.

[26] Baptism of Çecilia, daughter of Anthonij Matthijs, 7 February 1655.

[27] Fiscal vs. Cleijn Antonio and others, 17 January 1641. Sentence of Cleijn Antonio and others, 24 January 1641, in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 4, 1638–1649, p. 84; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11481), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V04_p083; citing series A1809, New York State Archives. For Manuel de Gerrit de Reus’s pardon, see description of Manuel de Gerrit de Reus’s execution and pardon, 24 January 1641 in New Netherland Council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 4, 1638–1649, p. 85; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/11482), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V04_p085.

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