Maria Grande

Name

Maria Grande.[1]

Origin

As the wife of two Black men,[2] Maria must have been Black herself. It is unknown whether she was born in Africa or in the Americas.

Maria Grande’s name sounds Spanish or Portuguese rather than Dutch, suggesting that Maria may have been enslaved by the Spanish or Portuguese before coming to New Netherland. She may have been one of the twenty-two slaves who were captured from a Portuguese ship and brought to New Netherland in 1627.[3]

Migration

Maria Grande was in New Netherland by 29 July 1640.[4]

Settlement

Maria Grande’s second husband Jan Fort Oranje owned land on Manhattan,[5] suggesting she lived there.

Biographical Details

Maria Grande was born between say 1600 and 1628. Since the first Black people did not arrive in New Netherland until 1627,[6] she must have been brought to the Netherlands in bondage. Only young, healthy women would have been brought to the colony.  She was married by 1640,[7] and would have been at least twelve years old at the time. She died after 17 April 1645.[8] 

Marriage and Children

Maria Grande first married Jan Premero, also known as Premier and Premije. They married before 29 July 1640, when Maria Grande, wife of Johan Premije, witnessed a baptism in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam.[9] 

Jan Premero died on 6 January 1641, in the woods near the houses where Black people lived.[10] On 17 January, nine Black men were accused of his murder. They confessed that they had jointly murdered Premero but claimed not to know who delivered the final blow. After deliberation, the New Netherland Council decided to draw lots to determine who would be convicted.[11] Manuel de Gerrit de Reus was sentenced to death but pardoned after a failed execution.[12]

Nine months later, on 24 October 1641, Maria Grande registered her intentions to marry Jan Fort-Orangien, widower of Magdalena van Angola, at the Dutch Reformed Church in New Amsterdam.[13] Remarkably, he was one of the nine men who had confessed to killing her first husband.[14] In a discussion about slavery in New Netherland, Jaap Jacobs indicated that either Maria Grande was very forgiving towards her husband’s killers, or she may have been an accomplice. He raised the possibility that the Black men collectively decided to kill Jan Premero as a form of vigilante justice.[15] 

Enslavement

Both Maria Grande’s husbands were enslaved by the West India Company, implying she herself was held in bondage by the company. Her second husband Jan Fort Orange was one of eleven Black men conditionally freed on 25 February 1644, which probably freed Maria Grande and the other men’s wives too. The men requested manumission to be able to provide for their families. They were given their freedom and some farmland, on the condition that they would remain available to do (paid) work for the West India Company, and their children would remain serfs of the West India Company.[16]

Holdings and Estate

Maria Grande’s co-owned the land of her second husband, Jan de Fort Orange, on Manhattan. The land was part of a cluster of patents north of New Amsterdam granted to other freed Black men. Jan’s patent has not been preserved, but the land bordered Paulo Angola’s in 1644.[17] 

Church Membership

Maria Grande married Jan Fort Oranje in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam.[18] She witnessed the baptism of two children in that church:

• Philip, son of Johan Françisco, baptized 29 July 1640. Witness: Maria Grande, wife of Johan Premije.[19]
• Michiel, son of Emanuel van Angola, baptized 17 April 1645. Witnesses: Cleijn Anthonie van Angola, Maria Grandes.[20]

Associations

Maria Grande would have had close ties to the group of Black men who were manumitted in 1644 alongside her husband: Paulo Angolo, Groot [Big] Manuel, Cleijn [Small] Manuel, Manuel de Gerrit de Reus, Sijmon Congo, Antonij Portugis, Gracia d’Angola, Piter Santomee, Jan Francisco, Cleijn [Small] Antonij.[21]

Literature

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 a possible explanation of Maria’s arrival in the colony, and the historical context.

_____.  “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. The chapter discusses the killing of Jan Premero and Maria Grande’s marrying one of his killers.

Riker, David M. Genealogical and Biographical Directory to Persons in New Netherland, from 1613 to 1674. Vol. 1. Higginson Book Company, 1999. Includes an entry for Jan de Fort Orangien (alphabetized as DeFort) that mentions Maria Grande as his second wife.

Romney, Susanah Shaw. New Netherland Connections: Intimate Networks and Atlantic Ties in Seventeenth-Century America. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014. The chapter “Creating an African Community” (pages 199–244) discusses the killing of Jan Premero and the impact on the African community. Romney points out that Marie Grande chose to remain close to two of the confessed killers: she married one, and witnessed the baptism of a child of another probable killer. She does not explain why she thought the child’s father, Emanuel van Angola, was one of the killers named Manuel.

Source Editions

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 include the killing of Jan Premero and subsequent trial, attempted execution, and pardon.

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. Maria Grande is mentioned on pages 5 and 26 (baptismal witness), and 472 (marriage intentions).

Citations

[1] Marriage intentions of Jan Fort Orangien and Marie Grande, 24 November 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.

[2] Marriage intentions of Jan Fort Orangien and Marie Grande, 24 November 1641.

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

[4] Baptism of Philip, son of Johan Françisco, 29 July 1640, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 250; 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 150 of 1410; citing The Archives of the Reformed Church in America, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

[5] Jan de Fort Orange’s land was mentioned as neighbor in a patent to Manuel Pieters. Confirmation of patent to Paulo Dangola, now Manuel Pieters, 30 December 1664 [probably: 1644], confirmed 18 October 1667, in Richard Nicolls, governor (New York), letters patent, vol. 2, p. 128–29; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (URL), identifier IDENTIFIER; citing series 12943-78, Department of State, Bureau of Miscellaneous Records, New York State Archives, Albany, New York. The confirmation states that Dutch governor William Kieft issued the patent on 30 December 1664. However, Kieft was only in office until 1647. The correct date was probably 30 December 1644, around the same time Kieft granted land to other free Black people.

[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 Philip, son of Johan Françisco, 29 July 1640.

[8] Baptism of Michiel, son of Emanuel van Angola, 17 April 1645, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 264; 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 164 of 1410.

[9] Baptism of Philip, son of Johan Françisco, 29 July 1640.

[10] 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.

[11] 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.

[12] 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.

[13] Marriage intentions of Jan Fort Orangien and Marie Grande, 24 November 1641.

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

[15] Jaap Jacobs, “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 (Leiden, Netherlands: Primavera, 2013), 75–80.

[16] 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.

[17] Confirmation of patent to Paulo Dangola, now Manuel Pieters, 30 December 1664 [probably: 1644], confirmed 18 October 1667.

[18] Marriage intentions of Jan Fort Orangien and Marie Grande, 24 November 1641.

[19] Baptism of Philip, son of Johan Françisco, 29 July 1640.

[20] Baptism of Michiel, son of Emanuel van Angola, 17 April 1645, in Dutch Reformed Church (New Amsterdam), Liber A, baptismal register, 1639–1697, p. 264; 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 164 of 1410.

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

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