New Netherland Settler Sketches

Name

Lucia van Angola, also spelled as Lucie, d’Angool.[1]

She is sometimes confused with Louiza, the wife of Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, who died in 1643.[2] Lucia’s husband Anthonij van Angola was not the same person as Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, however. Cleijn Anthonij acted as baptismal witness with Lucia and Anthonij on 14 July 1641,[3] and a petition identified Cleijn Anthonij’s wife as Louwize or Louize, not Lucia.[4]

Origin

Lucia was originally from Angola, as indicated by “Van Angola” and “d’Angool.”[5] She must have been a Black woman.

Migration

Lucia van Angola was probably transported to New Netherland between 1627 (first arrival of enslaved Black people in the colony)[6] and 23 September 1640 (her presence as a baptismal witness).[7]

Settlement

Lucia van Angola probably lived in or near New Amsterdam, where she married.[8]

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, but she was probably at least sixteen years old at the time of her second marriage in 1641.[9] She died at an unknown time after 14 July 1641 (baptismal witness).[10]

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.

As Lucie d’Angool, widow of Laurens van Angola, she registered her intentions in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam on 5 May 1641 to marry Anthonie van Angola, the widower of Catalina van Angola.[11] They were the first African couple in New Amsterdam whose marriage record still exists.

Enslavement

As a Black woman in New Netherland, Lucia van Angola was probably brought to the colony in bondage.

Church Membership

Lucia van Angola married her second husband in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam.[12] She also witnessed the baptisms of two children in that church:

• Catharina, daughter of Emanuel van Angola, baptized 23 September 1640 (witnesses: Dominicus Theunis, Lucie van Angola).[13]

• Anthonij and Maria, twins, children of Anthonij Portugies, baptized 14 July 1641 (witnesses: Jacom Anthonij van Angola, Cleijn Anthonij van Angola, Lijcije and Anthone van Angola).[14]

Associations

Lucia knew Emanuel van Angola and Anthonij Portugies, who chose her to witness their children’s baptisms.[15]

Literature

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).

Source Editions

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. Marriage intentions (p. 472), baptismal witness (pp. 6, 9).

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 of Emanuel Pietersen and Reijtorij or Dorothe Angola, for freedom of their adopted son Anthony, 21 March 1661, in Salomon LaChaire, notary (New Amsterdam), records, 20 January–23 May 1661 fol. 26r–v; imaged, “Digital Collections,” NYC Department of Records & Information Services (https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/), identifier MSS0040_1_6_01, images 55–56 of 120; citing subseries 1.6: records of the notary public, series 1: Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam records, New York City Municipal Archives, New York City, New York.

[3] Baptism of Catharina, daughter of Jacom Anthonij van Angola, 7 July 1641, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 253; 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 153 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

[4] Petition of Emanuel Pietersen and Reijtorij or Dorothe Angola, for freedom of their adopted son Anthony, 21 March 1661.

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

[6] 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.

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

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

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

[10] Baptism of Anthonij and Maria, twins, children of Anthonij Portugies, 14 July 1641, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 253; image 153 of 1410.

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

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

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

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

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