Name
Otto Jansz was an orphan from Amsterdam who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1655.[1] His last name, Jansz, is a patronymic, indicating his father’s name was Jan. His common name complicates identification.
Origin
Otto Jansz lived in Amsterdam before his departure to New Netherland in 1655.[2] His given name suggests a German or Scandinavian background.
In the 1650s, the Amsterdam almoners who oversaw the care for poor orphans paid residents to house and feed the children. By 1652 Otto Jansz had lost his mother and his father had abandoned him, so the almoners placed the eleven-year-old boy with Lijsbet Bouwes, the wife of Claes Cornelissen at the Kolck.[3]
Migration
Otto Jansz was one of seventeen teenaged and young adult orphans who were brought to New Netherland from Amsterdam in 1655. He was thirteen years old when he arrived.[4]
The orphans probably sailed on the Waegh, a war ship sent from Amsterdam to New Netherland in the summer of 1655. On 26 April 1655, Amsterdam promised to send one of its largest and best ships, the Waegh, armed with 36 cannon, to sail with 200 men to deal with the Swedes on the South River [the Delaware].[5] Guillaume Roelants is not explicitly mentioned as a passenger, but other orphans sent over by the almoners travelled on that ship.[6]
Settlement
Otto Jansz may have settled in New Amsterdam, where he was tried for horse theft in 1666.[7]
Biographical Details
Otto Jansz was born, perhaps in Amsterdam, say 1641–1642. He was eleven years old when the almoners started making lists of orphans to send to New Netherland in 1652,[8] and thirteen when he arrived in 1655.[9] He died at an unknown date after 4 December 1666, when he was on trial for horse theft.[10]
Education
Raised in Amsterdam, Otto Jansz would have spoken Dutch.
Occupation
Otto Jansz would have been apprenticed after his arrival in New Netherland.
Associations
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Otto Jansz boarded with Lijsbet Bouwes, the wife of Claes Cornelisz at the Kolck in Amsterdam.[11] Claes Cornelisz was a rope maker,[12] and may have taught Otto Jansz that craft.
Otto Jansz was sent over to New Netherland along with Trijntge Pieters, Trijntge Jans, Lijsbet Jans, Dieuwer Volckerts, Jannetge Dircx, Annitge Pieters, Lijsbet Gerrits, Debora Jans, Marritge Hendrix, Catalijntge Jans, Guillaume Roelants, Jan [—?—], Mathijs Coenraetsz, Hendrick Thomasz, Pieter Stoffelsz, and Jan Hendricksz.[13] He may have known some of them in Amsterdam and would have gotten to known them all during the voyage to New Netherland.
Otto Jansz also knew Pieter Fabien of Milford, whose horse he stole;[14] Jan Hendrick van Gunst, whom Otto claimed put him up to it;[15] and mayor De Lavall of Albany, to whom Otto sold the horse.[16]
Additional Details
On 30 October 1666, Otto Jansen of Amsterdam was interrogated by the New York court. He confessed that he had stolen two horses in New England that summer.[17] He had sold one bay horse to captain de Lavall at Albany. The lawful owner, Pieter Fabien, sent an attorney to retrieve his stolen property.[18] On 4 December 1666, de Lavall testified that Otto Jansen had stolen horses from Milfort [probably present-day Milford, Connecticut] and that Otto claimed Jan Hendricksen van Gunst had put him up to it. Van Gunst denied that.[19] The court minutes do not record the outcome of the case against Otto Jansz, but it seems likely that he was convicted, perhaps even banished or put to death.
Literature
Scott, Kenneth. “Orphan Children Sent to New Netherland.” Halve Maen 49, no. 3 (October 1974): 5–6. The article discusses several groups of orphans that were sent to New Netherland, and lists those brought over in 1655, including Otto Jansz.
Source Editions
Fernow, Berthold, ed. Documents Relating to the History of the Early Colonial Settlements Principally on Long Island. Vol. 14. Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York. Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1853. Pp. 325–326. Includes a translation of the letter from the burgomasters of Amsterdam regarding the orphans sent to New Netherland.
Gehring, Charles T., ed. Correspondence, 1654–1658. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2003. Pp. 64–66. This includes the translation of the correspondence about the children sent over in 1655, including the list of children.
Citations
[1] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655, in New Netherland council, Dutch colonial administrative correspondence, vol. 12, 1654–1658, document 25; imaged, “Digital Collections” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/45209), identifier NYSA_A1810-78_V12_25; citing series A1810-78, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
[2] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 560, Otto Jansz; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/d27fe62c-e13a-5f27-067f-656553aecf6b), images 29 and 62; citing call no. 437, Record Group [RG] 343: Archief van de Regenten van het Aalmoezeniersweeshuis en rechtsvoorganger [Records of the Regents of the Almoners’ Orphanage and Legal Predecessors], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
[3] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 560, Otto Jansz.
[4] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655.
[5] Letter from Amsterdam to Stuijvesant, 26 April 1655, in New Netherland council, Dutch colonial administrative correspondence, vol. 12, 1646–1664, document 18; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/45201), identifier NYSA_A1810-78_V12_18; citing series A1810-78, New York State Archives.
[6] Order for the punishment of a boy and girl in the service of Pieter van Couwenhoven for dishonesty, 4 January 1656, in New Netherland council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 6, 1655–1656, p. 213a; imaged, New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/52560), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V06_0213a; citing series A1809, Dutch colonial council minutes, New York State Archives.
[7] Confession by Otto Jansen, 30 October 1666, in Court of Mayors and Aldermen (New York), minutes, vol. 5, 1665–1670, p. 263; imaged, “Digital Collections,” NYC Department of Records & Information Services (https://nycrecords.access.preservica.com/), identifier MSS0040_1_2_05, image 271 of 640; citing Minutes of Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam, series 1: Original Dutch records of New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam records, New York City Municipal Archives, New York City, New York.
[8] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 560, Otto Jansz.
[9] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655.
[10] Declaration by mayor d’Lavall, 4 December 1666, in Court of Mayors and Aldermen (New York), minutes, vol. 5, 1665–1670, p. 266; image 274 of 640.
[11] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 560, Otto Jansz.
[12] Marriage intentions of Claas Corneliss and Lijsbeth Bouwers, 6 July 1630, in Amsterdam, marriage intentions of the church, 1630, p. 34; imaged, “Indexen,” Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/febcfc4e-1a1b-4415-a1bf-b6e077a…); citing call no. 436, RG 5001: Archief van de Burgerlijke Stand: doop-, trouw- en begraafboeken van Amsterdam (retroacta van de Burgerlijke Stand) [Archives of the Civil Registration: baptismal, marriage, and burial books of Amsterdam (predecessors of the civil registration)], Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
[13] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655.
[14] Examination of Otto Jansen, 30 October 1666, in Court of Mayors and Aldermen (New York), minutes, vol. 5, 1665–1670, p. 261; image 269 of 40.
[15] Declaration by mayor d’Lavall, 4 December 1666.
[16] Examination of Otto Jansen, 30 October 1666.
[17] Confession by Otto Jansen, 30 October 1666.
[18] Examination of Otto Jansen, 30 October 1666, in Court of Mayors and Aldermen (New York), minutes, vol. 5, 1665–1670, p. 261; image 269 of 40.
[19] Declaration by mayor d’Lavall, 4 December 1666.
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